You can read Quinn’s post here. Reading War and Peace My big summer reading project. This is the third start as I’ve had to set it aside for teaching duties. I’m close to finishing (Book 11 of 15, plus two epilogues). Slowly I’ve been catching up on the great Russian literature I’ve missed. Epic, but … Continue reading Wherein I play catch-up to the Quinn again.
This is the catalog for episode three of The Laboratory, part of The Outrider Podcast. If you’re not sure what this is, start here. Episode 3 began with our discussion of our unique failures in handling the last prompt. Jason wrote a paragraph or so and I wrote over 2,100 words of a still unfinished … Continue reading Your story has to be about asking questions, not coming up with the right answer or There’s poop on the floor: Laboratory #3.
Read Quinn’s new post here. Reading White Egrets by Derek Walcott. Sometimes I read for surprise and difficulty. Sometimes I read for comfort. The voice and craft of this book put it in the latter category. Not that all the topics of the book were comforting: aging, losing gifts or talents, losing loved ones and … Continue reading Catching up with Quinn #3
You can read the previous post for an explanation of the title. Read Quinn’s new post. READING: Still reading The Apocrypha and Roethke. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. A student asked me about Cancer and I didn’t have much to say. That afternoon I went to the library to get a new audiobook and … Continue reading After Quinn: Catch-Up #2
The end of the grading period and the end of some kind of respiratory funk have taken my energy. I missed three great shows this weekend, two of which featured old friends. Hopefully next time I’ll be there. Lots of grading and congestion didn’t leave room for much else, but I did begin my first … Continue reading probably the only marathon I will attempt, but not the only one I will fail
Several interesting possibilities may be coming up, but for now they are all potential energy. It’s been a busy few weeks and I hope that some of the work pays off, but I also know that sometimes it just doesn’t. One of the projects that I know will pay off is getting ready for our … Continue reading potentiality
A highlight of my week was having Abraham Smith jump-start the visiting writers series I’m developing for my school. On the day he spoke his new book came out and we got to hear him read from his own work and from greats like Dylan Thomas. I hope my students enjoyed interacting with him as … Continue reading a new denomination ain’t a thing but a name
In order to hone my fiction chops, I decided to join The Five Hundred, a site that presents a prompt every month with the outcome being some form of flash fiction between 400-600 words. Next week, I’ll have a ghazal (based on a “bonus” 100 word prompt) and flash fiction piece called, “In the Cup … Continue reading you’re never too old to apprentice and 7+ pieces of audio inspiration
“Saturn,” one of my favorite Sun Ra tunes, is also part of the amazing class of 1959 (on Jazz In Silhouette) which included recordings such as Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus, The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, and Giant Steps recorded in … Continue reading The Sound of Joy Is Enlightenment
Stephen McClurg 