Columns

Remembering Wanda Coleman: The Unofficial Poet Laureate of Los Angeles

April 21st, 2021

It’s hard to imagine the fierce voice of Wanda Coleman comfortable with the slighted title of The Unofficial Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, but the backhanded relegation was the best CBS could offer when memorializing the trailblazing American poet working entirely on her own terms. She’s been called many things: the L.A. Blueswoman, Mad Dog Black Lady, or “hateful and hilarious, heartbroken and hellbent,” as author/poet Mary Karr described Coleman’s Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 2020).

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Don't Fear the Short Story

April 20th, 2021

Images via Andrea Piacquadio & Korhan Erdol I have had some unexpected conversations with my fiction students over the last semester or two. It turns out that they are far more nervous about writing short stories than about writing novels. I would almost say there is a fear of the short story form amongst some of the students, and this ranges from freshman in an introductory creative writing course right up through graduate students.

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Five Books To Optimize Workflow And Avoid Burnout

April 19th, 2021

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood Vowing to write four or five books during the pandemic is one of those declarations that sound impressive—and almost realistic—because who doesn’t want to make up for lost time and come out of a bad situation better off than when things started?

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Critical Analysis: The Key Skill High School Kills

April 16th, 2021

Here's the most concerning insight I've had as a college instructor: Beyond simply lacking experience with critical analysis, most college freshmen struggle to move beyond established modes of "high school thinking." Their education, it seems, has entrenched them in patterns of disengagement and factual regurgitation.

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Why Bad Writers Are Good Mentors

April 15th, 2021

Let me tell you about my best coach. He was a running coach, mostly worked with distance runners. He taught me how to train, how to coach, how to recruit students who’d never thought of running (it’s as easy as taking interest in their lives and saying something along the lines of “Why don’t you come out and run with us? I think you’d like it, and I think you’d be a fun person to have out on the track.”).

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How My Father and I Bonded Over Thieves’ World

April 14th, 2021

Thieves’ World was a shared-world, sword-and-sorcery anthology series that debuted in 1979. The stories from different authors took place in the gritty city of Sanctuary out on the coastal edge of a thriving empire. Twelve anthologies came out between ’79 and ’89, one a year every year except ’86, which saw two releases. About ten authors at a time per book played in this universe, including some recognized talent, who joined in to create stories and characters. Over the course of a decade's worth of stories, regimes rose and fell.

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How to Write a Cover Letter That Won’t Kill You

April 13th, 2021

Original image by Vickie Intili Most literary journals ask for a “cover letter” to go with their submissions. This, of course, sends many writers into an anxious frenzy. What should the cover letter say? Should it talk about the meaning of the piece submitted? Should it include a bio? What does it all mean?? 

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Storyville: Reasons Authors Don't Submit Their Work—And My Responses

April 12th, 2021

I was talking to the students in one of my classes the other day and the topic of submissions came up. We had a long chat about stories, the process, and the dread. That prompted me to ask them WHY they didn’t send out their stories. What was stopping them? What stood in their way? Here are their answers and my responses, which will hopefully encourage them, and YOU, dear reader, to send out your work. How are you going to be discovered if nobody reads your amazing new story? Here is my advice. Hope it helps.

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"Reflecting Burroughs" by Chris Kelso

April 8th, 2021

In Burroughs and Scotland, Chris Kelso explores the relationship between William S. Burroughs (author of Naked Lunch, Junkie, and The Soft Machine) and a country very much attuned to the Beat author’s provocative, transgressive sci-fi style of literature. Kelso investigates why Burroughs was drawn to Scotland, why Scotland was drawn to Burroughs, and what exactly the author got up to during his various visits to Edinburgh.

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How To Help Indie Authors Without Spending A Penny

April 7th, 2021

There used to be a time when readers would join a local book club and get together to discuss their latest read, but since social media emerged and organizations like Amazon began dominating the online retail space, things have drastically changed. We live in a world where anyone can publish a book, which is amazing. There are so many talented writers out there that will never have their stories accepted by a massive publishing house, but they can get their book into readers' hands by utilizing tools such as online marketplaces and social media.

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