by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 16, 2011 | accumulation, craft of writing, novels, stories, time |
In the surprisingly interesting Reader’s Guide at the back of Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply, Chaon writes: As a writer, I feel like I’m always in conversation with the books that I’ve read. Yiyun Li, the author of The Vagrants, feels the same...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 15, 2011 | craft of writing, details, novels |
From the first page of Dan Chaon’s novel: On the seat beside him, in between him and his father, Ryan’s severed hand is resting on a bed of ice in an eight-quart Styrofoam cooler. Enough said? Dan Chaon’s second novel and fourth book, Await Your...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 26, 2011 | craft of writing, journeys, life, mfa |
I am at this minute high in the sky on my way to Vermont for my fourth residency, about to begin my last semester at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. How fast the time has gone. And I have loved every second of it–the residencies, the packets, the advisers, the...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 17, 2011 | craft of writing, essays, life, mfa, poetry, reviews, stories |
For the last couple of months at Hunger Mountain, Claire Guyton, former Art +Life editor, and I have been working together to expand that section of the journal into The Writing Life. Here’s what’s up and coming at THE WRITING LIFE: 1) ANOTHER LOOSE SALLY...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 8, 2011 | craft of writing, memoir |
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch. Wow. Some book. One reviewer admits to considering throwing it across the room. It’s a memoir, and the writing is uneven. But that fits the life it mirrors. Like the story out of which it grew, it’s About...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 30, 2011 | craft of writing, mfa, poetry |
In 1999, my first writing workshop: Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. Yes, in the Napa Valley. St. Helena. Mark Doty was there. David Lehman. Jane Hirshfield. Richard Bausch. (I always get him and his brother confused, never remembering which one it is I met....
