Toward the Sensuous Form: Embracing New Forms of Knowing in the Essay
The author of Voice of the Fish: A Lyric Essay (Graywolf Press, 2022) considers what it would mean for the essay to embrace new kinds of meaning-making.
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Craft Capsules
In our weekly series of craft essays, some of the best and brightest minds in contemporary literature explore their craft in compact form, articulating their thoughts about creative obsessions and curiosities in a working notebook of lessons about the art of writing.
Toward the Sensuous Form: Origins and Possible Trajectories of the Essay
The author of Voice of the Fish: A Lyric Essay (Graywolf Press, 2022) reflects on the ancient origins of the essay form.
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The Long and Rolling Line
The author of Ocean of Clouds (Knopf, 2025) considers the lineage of his own loping lines and encourages poets to try them.
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Plotting Form Ahead of Time
The author of Ocean of Clouds (Knopf, 2025) considers the benefits of planning elements of a poem before its composition.
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Catching the “Chune”
The author of Ocean of Clouds (Knopf, 2025) reflects on the practice of poetry as one of both composition and listening.
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Queering Language
The author of Bright Fear (Faber & Faber, 2023) and Flèche (Faber & Faber, 2019) explores what it means to write a self that “is in a perpetual state of becoming.”
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Writing Queerly
The author of Bright Fear (Faber & Faber, 2023) and Flèche (Faber & Faber, 2019) considers what it means to estrange a familiar motif in one’s writing.
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Reading Queerly
The author of Bright Fear (Faber & Faber, 2023) and Flèche(Faber & Faber, 2019) reflects on how queer traces in literature can open doorways of possibility.
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Writing Ambivalence
The author of no swaddle (University of Iowa Press, 2025) reflects on approaching uncertainty on the page.
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Situating the Self in a Lineage of Writers
The author of no swaddle (University of Iowa Press, 2025) considers the legacies and influences of authors engaged in similar forms and topics.
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Writing Sonnets on the Question of Motherhood
The author of no swaddle (University of Iowa Press, 2025) considers the value of both engaging with and refuting a traditional form.
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Writing on Grief: Robert Frost
The author of Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) reflects on the lessons Robert Frost offers us when writing about loss.
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Writing on Grief: The Practice of Coding
The author of Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) recommends writers use coding when trying to describe loss.
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Writing on Grief: Transforming Loss Into Art
The author of Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) reflects on how writers can turn grief into literature.
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Historical Details: Approach With Caution!
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers refine their research and examine which details actually serve their characters and plots.
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Real Life as Experiment: Letting Characters Play in Your Life
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers use their own memories as a testing ground for their characters.
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Using Time to Create Emotional Tension in Fiction
The author of Restitution (Regal House Publishing, September 2025) recommends writers use time as a tool to shape the emotional stakes of novels.
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Listen and Learn: Beyond Lyrics and Preferred Genres
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) recommends poets expand their research beyond their typical interests.
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Listen and Learn: Poetry Collection as Concept Album
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) encourages poets to consider world-building in their collections like compiling a concept album.
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Listen and Learn: First Tracks and First Impressions
The author of Scream / Queen (Acre Books, 2025) encourages writers to consider how music albums are introduced as they craft the beginning of poetry collections.
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Foreign Objects 2: Seams and Borders
Writer and translator Elizabeth T. Gray considers the craft of integrating foreign objects into poetry.
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Foreign Objects 1: What’s This Doing Here?
Writer and translator Elizabeth T. Gray explores the history and function of foreign objects in poetry.
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Conveying Music and Dance in Fiction: Final Touches to Your Manuscript
The author of Duet for One (Regal House Publishing, May 2025) recommends rigorous revision strategies as writers polish their manuscripts.
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Conveying Music and Dance in Fiction: Getting It on the Page
The author of Duet for One (Regal House Publishing, May 2025) recommends writers research vocabularies specific to their characters’ lives to ensure the novel’s world feels believable.
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Conveying Music and Dance in Fiction: Forgetting the Outline
The author of Duet for One (Regal House Publishing, May 2025) recommends writers discover their structure as they write.
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