Ghost in the Machine: A Typewriter, a Postcard, and the Objects of Memory
A writer’s search for a typewriter brings her face to face with both present and past, and helps her understand ideas of friendship, memory, connection, and loss.
Tags: craft
Boston Builds Edgar Allan Poe Statue, Pelican Books to Fly Again, and More
Going to the library increases happiness; Camille Rankine and Mary Gaitskill on the importance of being earnest; gay sex in fiction; and other news.
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Xiaolu Guo States American Literature is Overrated, Shia LaBeouf Scandal, and More
Liel Leibovitz reports that Listen Up Philip, a movie that premieres this week at the Sundance Film Festival, has glaring parallels to the work of Philip Roth; musician Trent Reznor is on board to collaborate on the score of David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl; University of Southern California students have launched a letter-writing campaign to save USC’s Master of Professional Writing program; and other news.
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No Ideas but in Things: The Importance of First Objects
Channeling some of our earliest memories, and specifically the physical objects that often exist at the center of such recollections, can prove to be a productive writing exercise—and might just open the floodgates to inspiration.
Pedestrian Adventures: Walking to Inspiration
A number of writers—including Dickens, Thoreau, Woolf, and Wordsworth, to name a few—have turned to walking for inspiration. This essay explores the myriad benefits that ambulatory excercise can have on the creative life.
Urban Tumbleweed: Perambulatory Poetry
Poet Harryette Mullen explains how daily walks inspired her most recent collection, Urban Tumbleweed: Notes From a Tanka Diary (Graywolf Press, 2013), and shares a selection of poems from the book.
Rethinking Restriction: Creative Limitation as a Positive Force
While writers often express the need for fewer restrictions in their writing lives, one author argues that implementing limitations may actually lead to surprising—and productive—results.
Literary Catchphrases, Digital Books Guide, Hilton Als, Best Books of 2013, and More
Flavorwire offers a list of great literary catchphrases; the New York Times examines the year in film adaptations of books and short stories; a holiday guide to e-readers; and other news.
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Best Essays on Writing, Holiday Traditions, Ned Vizzini, and More
Emily Temple reveals her list of the best essays on the craft of writing; the New York Times analyzes an Italian book scandal; Titi Nguyen explores the power of holiday traditions; and other news.
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Statue of Poet Radnóti Miklós Destroyed, Margaret Atwood Remembers Doris Lessing, and More
Margaret Atwood remembers Nobel-winning author Doris Lessing, who died yesterday at age ninety-four; right-wing extremists have destroyed a statue of Hungarian Jewish poet Radnóti Miklós; Elissa Schappell offers advice on story endings; and other news.
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