i'm obsessed with shorts. short. stories.
Mavis Gallant has died at age 91 in Paris. a short story writer who was born in Canada, she lived her adult life in Paris. she wrote about expats living in Europe and themes of alienation/loneliness emerged. the stories of people living in-between cultures and their often shabby personal lives. i’ve read some of her … Read more
i recently worked a couple years at a literary magazine, processing submissions, reading the slush pile and, generally, helping out with the mountains of paperwork. i learned a thing or two about successful submissions: editors are on the lookout for fresh voices and what that means is that you, as a writer, must be true … Read more
uh, that was a weird trip to the Banff Centre. diagnosis: strep throat. great medical attention available at the clinic at the Banff Centre, if you must know, but that’s beside the point. it was -40 degrees the entire time. i managed approximately eight pages of new material before i fell into bed for three … Read more
i’m off to the banff centre for a writing frenzy. there will be words, put your keyboard down here.
last night, i watched the movie it’s a kind of funny story. the movie is adapted from the novel by Ned Vizzini, and the story is inspired by Ned’s personal struggle with depression/suicidal ideation that landed him in a psych ward in 2004. there’s a scene in the movie that takes me back to my days working … Read more
i’ve got a thing for reduplicatives. there, i said it. i cannot decide if it’s the repetition or the silliness but i love them. i use them in my writing when i can and, when it works, i’m happy. in my collection of short stories set in Hong Kong, the use of reduplicatives is a … Read more
i’m building a fort with leftover scrap wood my dad piled beside the carport. pieces of wood, strung with bits of bark, and plastic stapled into the gaps. it’s january and the snow is deep. i have to dig out my fort each day, add a few boards. the hammer is heavy in my hands, … Read more
this is a sabbatical. repeat, this is a sabbatical. thank you and good night.
memory. noun. a device or a component of a device in which information especially for a computer can be inserted and stored and from which it may be extracted when wanted (Merriam-Webster Online). i am a device. a machine. i store memory. extract only what is absolutely necessary. i avoid memory. memory avoids me. an … Read more