Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

“There are many times, writing this, when I have been afraid of Virginia Woolf.  I think I would have been afraid of meeting her.  I am afraid of not being intelligent enough for her.  Reading and writing her life, I am often afraid […] for her.” ~ Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf   The fall semester begins [...]

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An Archetypal Year

One year ago on this day, with a succinct, autogenous “Hello, World!” announcing its quiet arrival on the heavily populated, cyber literary landscape, Archetype was born.  Originally conceived to chronicle my journey through Chapman University’s MFA program, I promptly posted original essay excerpts on Franzen and the waning of a literary America, mirrors and reflective imagery in [...]

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Farewell Summer

“[His] library was a fine dark place bricked with books, so anything could happen there and always did.  All you had to do was pull a book from the shelf and open it and suddenly the darkness was not so dark anymore.” ~ Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer: A Novel   American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and [...]

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Tebot Bach

As part of the 2010 Tebot Bach Poetry Reading and Workshop Series, Gail Wronsky will be reading her poetry on Friday, August 27.  Wronsky is the author of Poems for Infidels; Dying for Beauty, a finalist for the Western Arts Federation Poetry Award; The Love-talkers; Again the Gemini are in the Orchard; and Dogland.  She [...]

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More on Memoir

The annual Books Issue of Newsweek (“Secrets, Lies, and the American Writer,” August 9) features an intimate look at the reclusive Salinger and two forthcoming works about his life by Shane Salerno (Salinger, a two-hour documentary, and The Private War of J.D. Salinger, an 800-page biography co-written with David Shields), an exclusive excerpt from Twain’s [...]

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Demons and Darlings

After two years in Chapman University’s MFA program and four semesters of writing workshops, conferences, and purposeful study of the craft of writing, I have debunked any notion that existed in my mind that writing is a peaceful, innocuous, inner journey of the soul.  Naïve pre-enrollment images of my writer self stretched out on a [...]

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2011 MLA Convention

The 126th Modern Language Association Annual Convention will be held January 6-9, 2011, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  With a new format that showcases presentations and fosters interactive participation, the convention is sure to be a highlight of the 2011 literary scene.    The Presidential Forum theme of this event, “Narrating Lives,” addresses the diversity [...]

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Common Good Books

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” ~ Garrison Keillor  American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality Gary Edward “Garrison” Keillor was born on this day in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota.  While perhaps best known as the radio host of A Prairie Home Companion, Keillor is also the author of more [...]

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Robert Watson Literary Prizes

Entries for the 2011 Robert Watson Literary Prizes are now being accepted through September 15, 2010.  Fiction submissions must not exceed 25 typed pages, double-spaced, and up to ten pages of poetry of any number of poems will be considered.  Simultaneous submissions are accepted; however, entries must be previously unpublished.  All manuscripts that meet the [...]

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Welcome, Sweet August

The yellow goldenrod is dressed In gala-day attire; The glowing redweed by the fence Shines like a crimson fire; And from the hot field’s farthest edge The cricket’s soft refrain With mellow accent tells the tale That August’s here again.   In shining blue the aster wild Unfolds her petals fair; The clematis, upreaching, seeks [...]

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