Syringa

Only love stays on the brain, and something these people, These other ones, call life.  Singing accurately So that the notes mount straight up out of the well of Dim noon and rival the tiny, sparkling yellow flowers Growing around the brink of the quarry, encapsulizes The different weights of the things. But it isn’t [...]

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Man and Superman

“People are always blaming circumstances for what they are.  I don’t believe in circumstances.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” ~ George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Act II  Playwright and socialist [...]

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Life’s Stories

“I dislike modern memoirs.  They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering.” ~ Oscar Wilde, “The Critic as Artist”  The current literary landscape is lush with memoir.  Contrary to autobiography, which tends to span the entire life of the author and is expected [...]

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Call for Submissions – Glimmer Train

Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Contest is currently accepting fiction submissions up to 3,000 words until midnight (PST) on July 31.  This opportunity is open to all writers and all themes.  The first place winner will receive $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and twenty copies of the issue in which his or her story [...]

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Pathetic Fallacy

The recent loss of a beloved pet has reminded me of how unconsciously we impute human thoughts and feelings to inanimate natural objects.  During the weeks leading up to her passing, I assumed she was feeling the same sadness and grief for the impending separation as I was, and I tried to comfort her with [...]

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An Evening with Literary Agents

Last night I attended An Evening with Literary Agents, part of Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s Pen on Fire Speaker Series held at the Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar.  The sold-out event was an intimate gathering of Orange County writers and literary agents Jamie Weiss Chilton (fiction for children and young adults), Sally van Haitsma (commercial and [...]

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Creativity from the Margins

Registration is still open for this year’s Glen Workshop taking place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 1-8.  The theme for this year’s conference, “Creativity from the Margins: Art as Witness” and the implications of the de-centering of faith and religious ideologies in art, will be explored throughout the week.  Courses in fiction writing, poetry, play [...]

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The Elements of Style

“The rules of The Elements of Style were as simple to state – ‘Omit needless words’ – as they were difficult to obey.” ~ E.B. White  American essayist, columnist, poet, and editor Elwyn Brooks “E.B.” White was born on this day in 1899 in Mt. Vernon, New York.  While he is probably best known for [...]

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Arvon International Poetry Competition 2010

The Arvon Foundation is currently welcoming entries for its prestigious biennial open poetry competition.  Now in its 30th year, the competition has a reputation for discovering the poetic talent of the future.   Poems must be written in English on any subject and can be up to 42 lines in length.  This year’s judges include Britain’s [...]

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Write About Now

I’m spinning.  I admit it.  I’m literally (and literarily) spinning.  With mid-July quickly approaching, my list of summer writing goals now seems a tad ambitious.  In my defense, I compiled the list toward the end of the spring semester when, during the month of May alone, I wrote four book reviews, a research paper on mythology [...]

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