This week I read an essay by Christopher Noël titled “Keeping Open the Wounds of Possibility: The Marvelous, the Uncanny, and the Fantastic in Fiction.” It was an approachable, hands-on review of ideas from the Russian Formalists (especially defamiliarization) and Wolfgang Iser (especially the reader and author co-creating the text). But I liked it mostContinue reading “Depicting Abuse in Fiction”
Author Archives: M.C. Easton
Book Picks: The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois
**Triggering Content (child abuse) Longlisted for the 2021 National Book Award (yes, people, I’m still catching up on early pandemic booklists), Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ novel The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois has given us an immensely rich novel, one that hooked me with the depth and drama of a Black family spanningContinue reading “Book Picks: The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois”
Submission Spotlight: Gulf Coast
You’ve got until September, so dust off that piece that’s seen too many rejections and get to work. In three months, give it another go and consider Gulf Coast. Founded in 1986, this is the literary journal of the University of Houston’s creative writing program. Phillip Lopate and Donald Barthelme founded the journal, which hasContinue reading “Submission Spotlight: Gulf Coast”
The Courage of Writing Nuance
One of my textbooks this semester is Words Overflown by Stars, a collection of craft essays by Vermont College MFA faculty. This week I contemplated Ellen Lesser’s essay “The Girl I Was, the Woman I Have Become: Fiction’s Reminiscent Narrators.” Specifically, she reflects on “the point in time from which the story gets told” andContinue reading “The Courage of Writing Nuance”
Book Picks: The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories
I’m continuing to work my way through titles that made waves in 2021 and 2022, and this is my favorite so far. If you are in the market for masterful short stories, Jamil Jan Kochai’s collection will not disappoint. A National Book Award finalist, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak feels like it enfolds the entireContinue reading “Book Picks: The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories”
Submission Spotlight: Blackbird
Okay, so the bad news is that a lot of literary magazines have closed their doors until fall. The good news? You’ve got a few months to pull up that piece you’d given up on, dust it off, and see what you can make of it. If it fluffs up into something pretty tasty, BlackbirdContinue reading “Submission Spotlight: Blackbird”
Feel Like You Want to Quit Writing? Try This
I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to for me to get caught up in the old tidal wave of self-doubt. You know how it goes—I’m too old for this, I’ll never succeed at it, I’ll never publish (again), what am I thinking spending all my weekends writing when no one will read anyContinue reading “Feel Like You Want to Quit Writing? Try This”
Book Picks: Palmares
Palmares is marvelous. Magical realist and at times even Biblical, Gayl Jones’ novel is set in a fictional Brazil at the end of the 17th century. It opens with the young first-person narrator Almeyda, observing Mexia, a mixed race woman. She serves as a model for a particular type of femininity: quiet, alluring, and outwardlyContinue reading “Book Picks: Palmares”
Submission Spotlight: Guernica
As of May 2023, Guernica is currently open for no-fee submissions here (follow their link to create a free Submittable account). Founded in 2004, Guernica publishes poetry, essays, fiction, criticism, and journalism online. Unlike most magazines, it pays contributors rather than staff; in fact, its staff are entirely volunteers. Rather than a university affiliation, theContinue reading “Submission Spotlight: Guernica”
A Revision Checklist
This was the week I said goodbye to George Saunders and his book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. I’ve learned so much from him that I worry it will be impossible to sum up, but I have to try. So here goes. My top lessons from Saunders over the semester so far:Continue reading “A Revision Checklist”
The Trailer Park MFA 