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Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

October 2018

October 08, 2018

On Writing Odes: Taking Time to Celebrate

Amidst the constant stream of bad news these days, we would do well to make...

July 2018

July 03, 2018

Sonnets in the Prime of My Life

The sonnet, of course, is the gold standard of form, the first one most people...

May 2018

May 08, 2018

Halted by Haiku

The last thing the world needs is another post about “living in the moment,” but...

April 2018

April 26, 2018

Do I Have Anything Left to Say?

When the email came in from my editor, I wasn’t sure how to answer. What...

March 2018

March 23, 2018

Poetry Friday: “Being the Song”

If you write poetry, odds are you don’t expect your work to achieve acclaim like...

March 01, 2018

The Spirituality of Sestinas

Several months ago, I found myself struggling with my hair—namely, snapping off my split ends...

February 2018

February 22, 2018

The Rhythm of Not Sleeping

I often rock my baby to sleep at the witching hour. These can be the...

February 20, 2018

A Conversation with Marilyn Nelson: Part 2

Marilyn Nelson is the author or translator of twelve books and three chapbooks. Her honors...

January 2018

January 31, 2018

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Hidden Identity

My annual family Christmas letter swelled from a single paragraph into a sixteen-page spread before...

September 2017

September 20, 2017

From Sophocles to Twin Peaks: What Killed Laura Palmer?

This post originally appeared at Good Letters on June 1, 2012. One of the toughest...

September 14, 2017

Why I’m Writing a Death Penalty Book for Teens

1. I was standing in the kitchen of a rental house in the middle of...

July 2017

July 06, 2017

How To Intuit a Book Title

How do poets and writers choose their book titles? I didn’t have a good answer...

July 05, 2017

The Mysteries of Revision

When a former MFA professor asked me to come to her class and speak on...

March 2017

March 07, 2017

An Interview with George Saunders, Part 2

Beloved fiction writer George Saunders just published his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, an...

March 06, 2017

An Interview with George Saunders, Part 1

Beloved fiction writer George Saunders has long been known for his daring short stories, collected...

October 2016

October 14, 2016

Poetry Friday: “Nothing More” by Todd Davis

Whenever I first meet a long skinny poem, I ask myself: Why has the poet...

September 2016

September 06, 2016

Of Cookbooks and Lynchings

“Men and women in automobiles stood up to watch him die.” That’s the sentence one...

August 2016

August 31, 2016

Microbes, Miracles, and Monstrosities

I’ve always promised myself I wouldn’t work with anything living, a prohibition I applied first...

August 22, 2016

Sitting Together: A Week at the Glen Workshop

I’m an introvert who loves to talk, an often confusing combination that can leave me...

July 2016

July 25, 2016

From the Engine Room, Part I: The Problem with Efficiency

By Mary Kenagy Mitchell About a year ago we at Image dragged ourselves into the...

July 20, 2016

Why We Write

What is it about words that so moves those of us who are writers? We...

June 2016

June 09, 2016

The Best Conditions for Work

For William Carlos Williams I work best alone. In an empty house. When I’m ready...

June 01, 2016

The Arab of the Future

I snuck into a chair while a friend was describing how growing up under a...

April 2016

April 18, 2016

Conference Envy: A Survival Guide

Yesterday I was running around the park in a T-shirt with a birthday party full...

April 06, 2016

James Tate: Finding the Ultimate in the Ordinary

The poet James Tate died last year. It happened in July. He was seventy-one years...

March 2016

March 04, 2016

Learning Poetry, Unlearning God

By Natasha Oladokun In my sophomore year of college, I wrote a poem. Though I...

January 2016

January 21, 2016

Wilberforce: An Interview with H.S. Cross, Part 2

By Gregory Wolfe and H. S. Cross Continued from yesterday. Read Part 1 here. GW: Religion and...

January 08, 2016

George Scialabba and the Problem of Critical Distance

George Scialabba retired from his job this October. He had worked at Harvard University for...

December 2015

December 17, 2015

For the Love of Hank Stuever, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Hank Stuever’s 2005 collection of essays Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in...

November 2015

November 30, 2015

Saying the Name of God

Recently, I spent a good part of three weeks promoting an event that my parish...