“Does being ‘great’ simply mean writing poems that are ‘great’? If so, how many? Or does ‘greatness’ mean having a sufficiently ‘great’ project? If you have such a project, can you be ‘great’ while writing […]
Bad Writer Karma
I stole a book yesterday. I know, I know, I know. It was stupid, and I really didn’t meant to do it. It just…happened. There’s a Barnes & Noble about a five-minute drive from my […]
Writers as Luddites
We’re back…from Chicago, that is, and we have lots to recap for you. Zoe went to a great poetry reading featuring Robert Polito, Paul Muldoon, Frank Bidart and others. I attended a panel I want […]
Blake Butler and Daniel Bailey
[wpvideo q7WYC6YV] Blake Butler and Daniel Bailey read “Catalogue Entry for Aging” from Someone Else’s Body by Claire Donato.
A Quickie
Anna, AJ, and I decided to hop on the Blue line and head down to Wicker Park to see Joseph Salvatore read a “Quickie,” at Inner Town Pub’s reading series. The writer’s that participate only […]
Live Blogging?
Live Blogging! Ah! We’re complete liars! Well actually the bigger issue is somehow the AWP Conference is in a hotel that does not have wifi everywhere—I mean, we’d even be willing to pay for it. […]
Manly Writing v Girly Writing?
Two weeks ago I wrote a post about storytelling and a savory sea urchin. It was a love story—or, rather, my way of relaying a story someone had told me. It was soft, slow and effective. The […]
What I Will Be Doing at AWP
[wpvideo xL7ZEfUc] Puppet reading “I’M READY, ARE YOU? – 23 (Truth or Consequences)” by Leigh Stein. For more information on New School University-Sponsored Sock Puppets, please click here.
Don’t Yank My Yankerhorn
There are some things we overhear in our daily lives that stay with us, and sometimes they impact our writing. “I understand Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals. I don’t know who invented glasses, but Franklin, he […]
Writing and the Daily Grind
I’ve been thinking about how important it is for writers to write every day. I never put my writing first because I never think I have the time. Since I have to pay the rent—I […]
AWP Chicago
This year’s Association of Writers and Writing Program‘s Conference is in Chicago and 12th Street is attending! Not only does AWP have amazing panels and readings planned for us, but we’ve got some ideas of […]
Ideas About Origins
“Writing is a beautiful act. It is making something that will give pleasure to others later.” —Susan Sontag, from Reborn: Journals and Notebooks 1947-1963 Luc Sante begins his New York Times review of Susan Sontag’s newly published […]
10: The Conclusion
You’ve been waiting for it, and here it is: the tenth and final chapter of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. Tony Tallon has wrapped up a far-ranging story began last November by Mario […]
Of Course We Suck
I’m not one for celebrity autobiographies. They have a tendency to be to self-gratifying and in most cases boring. Most that are published (e.g., any Osmond sibling’s tell-all, or any book with the subtitle “In […]
A Recommendation
Over the holiday break I read—more like gorged on—Sandra Cisneros’ short story collection, Woman Hollering Creek. Many of her short stories are only a couple of pages, yet they left me feeling full, complete and utterly […]
It Gets Better After the First Time
Bread is like sex and writing. The first time is the same for all three: afterwards you feel kind of proud but also disgusted and you’re not sure you want to do it again, but […]
But What Does It Mean?
The other night someone told me a story- I think it was a love story. There was a plate in front of me and it was composed of three small offerings of sea urchin, which […]
Inaugural Poets
Officially, there have been four: Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, and Elizabeth Alexander. Frost recited The Gift Outright from memory at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. It’s a poem about place as identity, and a […]
10: Chapter 9
The following post, by Geoffrey Jason Kagan Trenchad, is the ninth installment of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. Last semester, five authors were asked to write two chapters each, not knowing what their fellow authors would write […]
Where Has It All Gone?
10? Zoe Miller’s Monday blog posts? Missing posts everyday last week? Well 12th Street is reading. The submission period has closed and all the editors and readers have taken your work and gone off to […]