by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 13, 2010 | reading, stories |
Last spring I was trying to find a way to thank readers who took the time to add to the conversation here. One Story, I thought. For one year, I would send the reader who posted the most comments for the month a one-year subscription to One Story, my favorite journal....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 19, 2010 | craft of writing, shapes, stories, time |
15 stories in this slim volume from Amy Hempel published in 1985. Only 3 of the 15 written in third; the rest, in first. My clear favorite is the first-person story “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried.” It’s nicely developed and goes deeper...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 11, 2010 | stories |
“Naked Chinese People” is the first story in the collection California Transit by Diane Lefer, my adviser this semester at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I thought if I was going to be working with her, I should read some of her writing. California Transit...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jan 29, 2010 | craft of writing, details, journeys, stories, time |
Before I jump into the story, I’d just like to say that what follows are my notes–opinion not fact. And I hope to hear more opinions from you. Also, LONGEST POST EVER ALERT (I suggest a beverage of some sort, maybe a snack) and SPOILER ALERT:...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jan 27, 2010 | craft of writing, stories |
Many of the stories in the new Alice Munro collection, Too Much Happiness, were first published in The New Yorker and are still available online. “Dimensions,” the first story in the collection, will be the story I’ll take apart in the next post....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jan 25, 2010 | craft of writing, stories |
In an essay entitled “Artful Stealing” by Steven Schwartz in the current issue of “The Writer’s Chronicle,” he writes, “…you break into your own material by finding the key to someone else’s.” Each time I take a...
