In “Vintage Contemporaries,” A Young Woman Reconciles Her Idealism With the Realities of Adulthood in New York City
In 1991, 22-year-old white Wisconsinite Emily was the beleaguered assistant to a literary agent. She wants to be a writer, loves Literature with a capital L, and is unimpressed by the feel-good writing of her mother’s college friend Lucy, who wrote a few novels for a small press. But Emily appreciates that Lucy is a […]
Ani Di Franco Calls Writing A Children’s Book ‘A Different Bag of Doughnuts’
Ani Di Franco has won a Grammy (and been nominated for eight others), released 22 albums on her own Righteous Babe Records, sold over five million copies, hit the New York Times bestseller list with her 2019 memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream: A Memoir, and has published volumes of poetry English and Italian. […]
Torch Literary Arts seeks to light the path for Black women writers
Gathered in a Zoom workshop, a group of Black women writers had the opportunity to do some “digging into that honesty box,” as presenter Ebony Stewart put it. Part of that exploration of honesty meant looking their imposter syndrome — or feeling of fraudulence and self-doubt — in the eye. “Self-sabotaging your greatness because you […]
Writing festival to bring Kansas poets laureate, singer-songwriter to Pittsburg State
High school, public, and university students will have the opportunity to learn from the masters at WritersFest, a literary festival planned by Pittsburg State University’s Creative Writing Program in March, with workshops and readings by noted authors. The festival honors writer Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Kansas Poet Laureate Emeritus, and celebrates her many and varied contributions to […]
The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class That Tried to Win the Cold War by Philip Oltermann
In the early 1960s, the East German secret police—commonly known as the Stasi—gathered some of its staff to compose and share their poetry. The group called themselves the Writing Circle of Chekists, borrowing the word “cheka” from their fellow spies in Russia, and they met once a month for almost three decades. But what exactly […]
Give Your Inner Voice A Life Through Creative Writing
When I started writing, I constantly worried about the form, style, and words I chose for my thoughts. Putting your thoughts into words is daunting, especially if you are a beginner. Please do not assume that I have written novels, dramas, and articles and got them published and I got enough knowledge to distribute them […]
ChatGPT is ominous, but the pen is mightier
A ChatGPT prompt is shown on a device near a public school in Brooklyn, New York, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. New York City school officials started blocking this week the impressive but controversial writing tool that can generate paragraphs of human-like text. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) American schools are woefully unprepared for the emergence of ChatGPT, […]
CBC Literary Prize winners get a writing residency — Chanel M. Sutherland shares how it’s life-changing
Two-time CBC Literary Prizes winner Chanel M. Sutherland won a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. (Submitted by Chanel M. Sutherland) Chanel M. Sutherland is a two-time CBC Literary Prize winner. She first won the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize for her essay, ‘Umbrella.’ Then in 2022, she won the CBC Short […]
‘Outlander’ Author Diana Gabaldon Drops an Excerpt From Her New Book — Even Though She Admits She Is Not ‘Actively’ Writing It
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon is busy writing the 10th and final book in her popular, long-running literary series. At the same time, she has other projects in the works — including a prequel about Jamie Fraser’s parents and a companion book titled What Frank Knew . Recently, Gabaldon dropped an excerpt from the Frank-focused story. […]
The Cruel Irony Of Being A Humor Writer With Crippling Depression
As a humor writer, I try to write about everything. It’s basically all that I know how to do. But the thing about writing humor is that it sometimes makes me feel like I’m hiding behind a mask and pretending I’m something I’m not. Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m a person who loves to […]