My Writerly Life

  • COMING HOME

    It feels like a homecoming of sorts this return to blogging—a great love that got lost in the minutiae of the last couple of years. So let me welcome you back, invite you to follow along, and tell you what to expect. But first, I guess I should account for my absence. I doubt it… Read more

  • LITERARY DRAMA

    Some forms of communication deal with cold facts, while others intend to rouse emotions. For example, it would be possible to read an historical report on the Holocaust without feeling deep sorrow or moral outrage. But read about it in Thomas Kenneally’s 1982 novel Schindler’s Ark, or watch it unfold on the screen in the… Read more

  • EDGING INTO JAMES JOYCE

    For a very long time, I have been avoiding that great Irish writer, James Joyce (1882-1941) even though I have a thing for Irish authors (Sebastian Barry, John Banville, Colum McCann, Kevin Barry, Sara Baume, each with a wonderful lilt to their writing, and each more accessible than Joyce). Take McCann’s emotional short story, “Everything… Read more

  • INTRIGUING PLOT TWISTS

    Stories told in every medium may take advantage of the literary device informally known as the plot twist, but none do it quite so well as the older short stories. Today let’s take a look at four of my favorites—and fair warning: I intend to report the surprise endings! Kate Chopin wrote in the late… Read more