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CRAFT ESSAYS, ELEMENTS, and TALKS

Image is the book cover for BEFORE THE MANGO RIPENS by Afabwaje Kurian; title card for the new hybrid interview with Anna Polonyi.

Hybrid Interview: Afabwaje Kurian

October 3, 2024

  Essay by Anna Polonyi • What does it mean to revise a novel? I’ve been doggedly asking this question ever since attending workshop beside Afabwaje Kurian, whose stunningly written debut novel, Before the Mango Ripens, was released on September…

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Image is a color photograph of choppy ocean waves; title card for the craft essay, "The Speculative Aesthetic: How Language Communicates Genre," by Devon Halliday.

The Speculative Aesthetic: How Language Communicates Genre

September 25, 2024

  By Devon Halliday • When I worked as a literary agent assistant, one of my tasks was to read (or skim) the manuscripts that my boss had requested from promising, unagented authors to determine whether my boss should offer…

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Image is a color photograph of books on a shelf; title card for the new craft essay, "What I Want to Write," by Gemini Wahhaj.

What I Want to Write

August 21, 2024

  By Gemini Wahhaj • After publishing my first novel, I found myself unable to write. I had lost language. I had lived in the US for more than twenty years with some sort of relationship with the writing community.…

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Image is a color photograph of open books; title card for the new craft essay, "A Contemporary Continuous Present: Revisiting the Work of Gertrude Stein," by Emilee Prado.

A Contemporary Continuous Present: Revisiting the Work of Gertrude Stein

July 24, 2024

  By Emilee Prado • The writing of Gertrude Stein, although idiosyncratic in genre and subject matter, might be best distinguished by its style. Both her poems and her longer works have been called literary cubism. They are impressionistic, introspective,…

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Image is the book cover for THE PRICE OF COOKIES by Finnian Burnett; title card for the new hybrid interview with Michelle Sinclair.

Hybrid Interview: Finnian Burnett

May 29, 2024

  Essay by Michelle Sinclair • If one were asked to compare the experience of reading to that of eating a dessert, would it be so far-fetched to connect reading flash fiction and enjoying a cookie? Both are “bite-sized” and…

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Image is a color photograph of a moss-covered tree; title card for the new critical essay, "Mother-Writers Are Writers," by Ann Guy.

Mother-Writers Are Writers

May 22, 2024

  By Ann Guy • Wading through a sea of blond hair and blue eyes every day felt normal in the tiny, rural Western Michigan town where I grew up. So did biking to the public library and loading up…

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Image is the book cover for WHAT'S NOT MINE by Nora Decter; title card for the new hybrid interview with Rachel León.

Hybrid Interview: Nora Decter

March 29, 2024

  Essay by Rachel León • I met Nora Decter over Zoom when we were tasked to outline her forthcoming novel, What’s Not Mine. We were both fellows in Stony Brook University’s BookEnds program, paired to work together on our…

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Image is a color photograph of a desk with a stack of old books next to an open notebook; title card for the new craft essay, "Her Own Elephant Outright," by Joseph Young.

Her Own Elephant Outright

February 21, 2024

  By Joseph Young • Writers are often told, whether by their instructors or about the internet in general, that in their finished stories, there should be no wasted words, no extraneous sentences, no details or lines of dialogue, that…

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Image is the book cover for SPLINTERS by Leslie Jamison; title card for the new hybrid interview with Yvonne Conza.

Hybrid Interview: Leslie Jamison

February 12, 2024

  Essay by Yvonne Conza • In Splinters, Leslie Jamison exposes a live nerve that makes vivid connections between emotions of motherhood, marriage, artistry, and selfhood. Alive and strengthened within this endeavor is Jamison’s iconic, singular awareness, that like her…

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Image is a color photograph of a window with white transparent curtains; title card for the new craft essay, "Insinuating Life: Diction and Syntax in the Short Story," by Rose Smith.

Insinuating Life: Diction and Syntax in the Short Story

January 24, 2024

  By Rose Smith • Here’s something I am curious about: when is a well-placed flourish, maybe even a flurry of adjectives and adverbs, perfect for a story, and when are the simplest of sentences called for? Two stories came…

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