Category: Craft

A bright yellow sunset over a black horizon with colorful dots overlaid.T
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The Endurance of A Classic

"While this fear is nothing compared to experiencing war, I worry that the circumstances will change me completely, as they changed him." - a 17-year old Kazakh student reflects on All Quiet on the Western Front
the london skyline at night with a drawing overlaid: a triangle, a circle, a triangle with a square and star inside with the language that says "how it is" and a circle with a square and a star inside with the words "how it should be," and a key to the side that indicates the square means people and the star means objects.O
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Objects of Affection

"I can’t stop thinking about how objects hold me. How they alter the way I carry myself in a new room. Or hug me when surrounded by strangers."
The photo is two red cherries hanging from a small branch, with the green leaves out of focus. Overlayed are a series of repeating Xes made of handwritten text.H
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How Many Rejections Does It Take To Get Published?

They said, “Ten percent of submissions get published.” I heard, “Nine out of every ten submissions gets rejected.” So, I decided I’d get one hundred..
orange-hued flowers that look like they've been cut out of images on a yellow background. the flowers include black-eyed susans, daisys, marigolds, and tropical flowersH
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How (Not) To Define A Lyric Essay

Heidi Czerwiec and Erica Trabold explore the function of lyric essays, and how lyric essay collections are illuminating this style of nonfiction writing.
a darkened image of a small wooden bridge over a creek with leaves on the groundA
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A Glimmer of Hope Among the Ruins

Shannon Tsonis talks with Kristine Ervin and reflects on her new book, Rabbit Heart, a memoir not unlike her own.
A somewhat blurry image of a lit-up carnival ride called The Shaker in motion. Overlayed are semi-transparent purple spirals in an indistinguishable pattern.W
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When the Arc is Too Small

When a narrative arc doesn't work, how do we find a structure for a work of narrative nonfiction?
A collage of three different houses with words overlaid.P
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Prose and Connotations

"It seems like such a small thing to consider, with all of the other elements writers are asked to pay attention to, but I know I need to consider the specific connotations of my words," writes Jenny Hughes.
A sunset that fades from a dark purple-pink at the top, to a pink orange, before becoming yellow at the black horizon of trees. Overlayed are handwritten words that are small and illegible.T
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The Writing Life: How Teaching Helped Me Reclaim My Voice

Olga Katsovskiy explores getting over the writer's block she faced after her dad's death through teaching others to "find the question that needs to be answered."
A photograph of a forest with the light coming through the middle of the trees. The photo is in grayscale and tinged pink, making it hard to see that it is a forest and trees.M
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Meeting the Complexity of Grief

Pam Anderson shows how B.J. Hollars takes on the complex task of writing about grief without sounding cliche or trite in his memoir, Year of Plenty: A Family's Season of Grief.
This is a long path that winds into the distance. It is surrounded by trees and a rainbow arches over the path.T
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The Power of Crafting Your Own Beginning: A Talk with Debut Author Suzette Mullen

Suzette Mullen shares how she stepped off the straight path of her life and onto the winding one that became her memoir.