Last year, when I started planning my summer reading list, I decided—instead of combing the usual lists of Great Beach/Hammock/Backyard Reads—to follow the advice of author Melissa Harris-Perry, to read books recommended by people under the age of 18. Continue reading “Summer Reading Suggestions”
Last week, social media exploded when a literary journal published an essay about transgender people. Social media explodes about something every week, but in this case, it was justified.
The essay, in the Antioch Review, was crammed with opinions guaranteed (maybe even intended) to offend. (It was also chock full of mistakes and logical fallacies, so many that I can’t wait to use it as an example of mistakes to avoid in my Essay & Opinion Writing classes.) Continue reading “Outside Yourself”
Recently, I read a story about a writer who wrote a story that landed her in hot water.
In an essay published on a blog, the writer said she wrote a short story satirizing close family friends. The friends read her manuscript without her permission, and were wounded. One refused to speak to her and sent an intermediary to her door, to tell her that their relationship was now over. Continue reading “Bait and Switch”