When we think of letters we think of literature, components of the alphabet or messages in envelopes. We don’t think of e-mail. But should we? A major body of our literature consists of the letters sent by famous people. Indeed some people are famous primarily for their letters. But now that few of us send [...]
Read More...The Association of Writers and Writing Programs each year creates a literary extravaganza that ripples out into the culture at large exponentially. There are readings, signings, lectures, symposia, panels, dances, parties, and, most of all, the sort of encounters that shape the literature of our time. For those of us to whom a root canal [...]
Read More...Americans and Australians, among English speakers, are hot shots, expressionists, conjurers. They believe there is no limit to the jobs language can be called on to do. Just as they rolled back geographic frontiers, the Americans and Aussies keep pushing language to its limits and find none. This is by no means to say that [...]
Read More...In spite of a near apocalyptic rainfall—four inches courtesy of Hurricane Kyle—the Baltimore Book Festival Saturday proved once again that city’s durable literary vibrancy. Dozens of white tents tethered to parking meters, lampposts and weighted barrels housed an exuberant crowd of diehard writers, publishers, educators and just plain readers as electrical cables snaked through impromptu [...]
Read More...Those of you who ordered Far From Algiers from Kent State University Press in advance of last Friday’s publication date have received notice that it’s “on the truck.” Thank you for this vote of confidence. I hope you will be rewarded. If you contact me, I will be happy to inscribe a bookplate for you. [...]
Read More...(Transcript of Hot Copy No. 44, a podcast for The Student Operated Press). There is nothing like reading something you have written aloud for finding and correcting its infelicities. An article, maybe just a headline, may be perfectly grammatical and yet awkward. If it sounds smooth it will read well. But what is just as [...]
Read More...There are certain days when things don’t hold their shape. This is not just a middle-age weight problem or distortion through a tear drop. It can happen in bright sunlight. People go convex and concave. Buildings seem to play with hula hoops. Sentences play hooky on their periods. Things are not exactly where they ought [...]
Read More...The gray region between sexism and misogyny is a gloaming filled with turned around street signs and delusions. I ought to know because I’ve been wallowing in it. I wrote in this space that Senator Hillary Clinton was marching like the Energizer Bunny off a cliff. I faulted her for playing the race card. I [...]
Read More...Is that your start scuffed in your coat? I asked my wife the other day. I meant, of course, to ask if that was her scarf stuffed in her coat. It was a humble example of a spoonerism. I love spoonerisms. I think if we declared one day a week Spoonerism Day and observed it [...]
Read More...Have you ever wondered long after a party about that certain somebody you didn’t meet but can’t forget? This is the subject of Gatecrasher, my short story in the June issue of The Country and Abroad. The beautiful woman whose image accompanies the story is my mother, the artist Juanita Guccione.
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