Caroline Rosenstone. Dedication to Rosenstone and handwritten note from former student Natalie Beach in a new book of essays. Caroline Rosenstone, who created and then for over three decades directed a writing program that turned high schoolers into skilled essayists and critics, died this week at the age of 70. The cause of death is […]
Somewhere in a faraway village of a war-torn nation lived a boy who dreamt of joining the military to fight against those who wronged him and his family. To achieve that dream, he left home at a young age, but his background and age created hurdles along the way, as they always had. The above […]
It’s hard not to enjoy the beloved book, “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss! To celebrate this rhythmic tale, we’ve curated a delightful collection of 38 unique writing prompts that will ignite your students’ imaginations and bring their creativity to life. Each prompt is designed to encourage critical thinking, reflection, and the exploration of […]
In 1986, Nora Ephron published in the New York Times an amusing essay on revision that ended in an exhortation: “Revise now, before it’s too late.” I am approximately the same age now as Ephron was then (she had gone from being a newspaper journalist to essayist to—at the time—screenplay writer; I have gone from […]
“THE FIRST RULE of in vitro fertilization is to never talk about in vitro fertilization,” writes Isabel Zapata in her memoir, In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation . In a defiant disavowal of this and other cultural norms surrounding fertility, pregnancy, and birth, the Mexican poet chronicles her experiences—both the visceral and the corporeal—in frank […]
A memoir that celebrates as much as it grieves, rages and broods, Jane Wong’s “ Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City ” charts its author’s progress from the casinos of New Jersey to the college dorms of Upstate New York, to Hong Kong and Iowa and finally Bellingham, Wash., where she now teaches creative writing […]
Photo courtesy of Ava Burzycki To the Victorians, tuberculosis was a deeply romantic ailment to be consumed by. To be rosy-cheeked, sweaty, pale and deteriorated to the point of extreme slenderness from tuberculosis was to be tragically beautiful — especially to artists, writers and other creative intellectuals. There was no greater sign of aestheticism and […]
I met Emily several years ago at Columbia University, where I was teaching and she was studying in the MFA writing program. She was one of my students in a seminar on process, where students dramatically experimented with the methods, times, and circumstances of their writing, . Many students can have difficulty working outside of […]
Six months into the pandemic, I hadn’t written a word. When I finally returned to the page, in September 2020, it wasn’t with the clarity and intention required for the essays and stories I was used to writing. Instead, my thoughts and feelings and pen meandered and explored; I wrote in a generally unfocused, sometimes […]
Six months into the pandemic, I hadn’t written a word. When I finally returned to the page, in September 2020, it wasn’t with the clarity and intention required for the essays and stories I was used to writing. Instead, my thoughts and feelings and pen meandered and explored; I wrote in a generally unfocused, sometimes […]
