by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 27, 2010 | Columbus GA, mfa, the day |
So this morning, at the suggestion of a reader, I took myself outside before I did anything else. Up and out my driveway for a walk–to wake the mind and the body at the same time. Seventy-four degrees in Columbus, Georgia, with a light breeze. Wonderful in the...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 22, 2010 | reading |
Well I’m going to momentarily halt my attempt to reduce the number of books in my to-be-read piles and reread The Maytrees. Because I want to, she sings from the rooftops. In the comments to my first post on the novel, I admitted that when I began reading it, I...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 18, 2010 | catching moments, Dani Shapiro, the day |
I was going to write a bit more about The Maytrees, but yesterday I read a post by Alexander Chee in which he wrote about, in addition to many other wonderful things including the connection between novels and the news, his pre-writing rituals and the need to adapt....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 14, 2010 | novels, provincetown |
Annie Dillard published her most recent book, The Maytrees, a novel, in 2007. The cover of the paperback has recessed letters that I can feel with my eyes closed and uneven pages that make me think the book was created by a real person. It’s interesting, I...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 8, 2010 | poetry |
In her first album in 7 years, Natalie Merchant brings 26 poems to life… “I pulled these obscure and eccentric poems off their flat, yellowed pages…” With her young daughter in mind and often on her lap, Merchant was inspired to show her that...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 1, 2010 | How We Spend Our Days |
Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” On the first of each month, Catching Days hosts a guest writer in the series, “How We Spend Our Days.” Today, please welcome writer Daniel Asa Rose: Having yet...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 30, 2010 | stories |
When I heard that Robin Black was going to be the Sirenland Fellow for 2009 and that she had published a story in One Story, I moved quickly to my back issues and began to thumb through. I only save the stories I love and pass the others forward. Of course I’d...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 29, 2010 | catching moments, journeys, stories, the day |
Today is the birthday of an author of a book–Robin Black. Her last birthday she was not the author of a book. Just like that it can happen. And get your pencils out. You need to write this one down too: If I loved you, I would tell you this. Each of the 10...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 28, 2010 | journeys, mfa |
Yesterday I mailed my fourth packet to my adviser. Every four weeks I complete one. That’s how most low-residency MFA programs work. Packets. Plus the twice-a-year residencies. I wrote a post in January about my first residency at the Vermont College of Fine...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 24, 2010 | first novels |
Edinburgh, the first novel by Alexander Chee, is the best book I’ve read so far this year. The subject matter is difficult, but the writing–with its repetitions, its wondrous quality, its innocence–lures the reader forward. “Blue. Blue because...
