Blogs

Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues. William Ferris. The University of North Carolina Press, November 2009. $35.00. Review by Katya Cummins Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices ...

GwenIf you’re reading this Monday morning, the strike at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has begun, and I’m out taking a look at how the picketing is going outside the buildings ...

It’s good to collect Ph.D.s—people who have them, not the degrees themselves—to make yourself look smarter at cocktail parties. “Oh yes,” I’m able to say, “my recent acquaintance, ...

I met today's guest, Sandra Beasley, back at the start of the year, after a session at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference in Chicago. Sandra is the author of two poetry ...

51FYxC2f6TL._SL500_AA240_Upon receiving word Sunday that a brief essay of mine had been listed as notable in the new Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2009, I was so rattled that I let the ...

Season of Ash. Jorge Volpi (Translated by Alfred MacAdam.) Open Letter, University of Rochester, October 2009. Paperback, $12.75. Toward a Coherent Vision of the 20th Century—Or, Why Jorge ...

Gaze into the box: 71552_british_c_lgI had some fun yesterday doing a nearly hour-long interview on my novel with the local NPR affiliate. I don’t exactly have my NPR voice perfected, but ...

State workers here are required to take and pass an annual, online, ethics refresher course (it takes 30-60 minutes), and state university employees are no exception. The format has varied over ...

On a recent collecting trip through the thickets of creative nonfiction, I took note of a form that must have its roots in something ancient that I’m not remembering: I can remember the bare ...

Here’s the set-up; you have until Friday at 4:00 to answer: You’re teaching an introductory survey for non-majors to a lecture hall of 200 students. Since the class is only 50 minutes long, ...