How Katharine Whitcomb’s Sad Poems Lifted Me from the Blues
A few weeks ago I was blue. I can’t say exactly what caused my melancholy as I rode the bus to work that day amid passengers whose ears were occluded with ear buds and whose thumbs busily scrolled the smudged surfaces of their smart phones; or as I sat in my cubicle attending to my…
Read MoreThe Ugly Years
Recently I posted on Facebook several photos of me with others. In each photo, I’m standing with a different set of friends. All the photos were taken on the same day so that I appear in the same clothes in each one. I’m on the right, which is to say, I am actually standing to…
Read MoreTour the Hourglass Museum and Cloud Pharmacy
As a prose writer with very little experience with poetry, and, therefore, without the vocabulary to properly reflect on it with any degree of sophistication, I offer some unschooled, gut responses to these lovely new collections of poetry by Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich. I also asked them each a question, to which they…
Read MoreThe Endurance of the Raven
This year Raven Chronicles, the literary journal based in Seattle that publishes work reflective of the cultural diversity of the Pacific Northwest and beyond, turns twenty-three. To mark this milestone, there will be a panel at the 2014 AWP Conference February 26-March 1 held this year in Seattle at the Washington State Convention Center. The…
Read MoreMelancholy, Wonder, and Other Moments of Deep Feeling—Three Books to Immerse Yourself In
Like many of you, I have stacks of to-read books. Often, I’m reading more than one at a time. When I finish one, I might remember to add it to my Goodreads list. Once in a while, I feel organized enough to jot down a few thoughts about a book or three—such as these I…
Read MoreThanks to Places and People in 2013
It was a fun year for me. I saw old friends and met new ones. I learned new things. I got older and, if not wiser, maybe more reflective. Here are my thanks to some of the people and places that made the year memorable. San Francisco – April Thanks to Heyday Books for including…
Read MoreThe story arc gone awry: Entertainment Tonight’s feature on eating disorders
Our daughter Natalie is in recovery from an eating disorder. It’s a disorder that comes with a stigma and provokes a prurient curiosity, especially in terms of its most stereotypical physical manifestation—the aberrantly thin body, which, by the way, is not a symptom of all eating disorders. After wrestling for years with this pernicious beast,…
Read MoreUnsung Hero
Recently, I combined a visit to National City where I grew up and where my mother and older sister still live with an appearance at the FilAm Fest in San Diego to teach a workshop and participate in a reading. My workshop was titled “Homegrown Heroes—Writing Fiction from the Family Album.” It was created to…
Read MoreThe Radical Wonder of Hedgebrook
This year Hedgebrook, the writing retreat for women on Whidbey Island, celebrates 25 years of nurturing women writers. It’s the year of the alumnae, with former residents returning for one or two-week stays to reconnect with the place, the staff, and each other. And they come to write. Because that’s what happens at Hedgebrook. The…
Read MoreTaos Magic
Most summers I attend a writers conference. I want to be inspired by other writers, meet new people, and learn from an established writer whose work I admire and who has a reputation for being a good teacher. This summer I especially wanted an atmosphere that was serious, but not intense, a vibe that was…
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