Craft and Creativity
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“Trapped Between an Animal and a God”: Writing Human Nature’s Contrasts
Cloud and Lizard My dad once said, offhandedly, that to be human is to be “trapped between an animal and a god.” That stuck with me, and more so over time, to the point now that if I was good at drawing, I would post online a diagram of an enormous roiling cloud of royal…
Body Text: Reflections on Mixing Kundalini Yoga and Writing
Our team just got back from AWP 2024, a huge conference for writers and writing programs. On Thursday morning, we sponsored a yoga and writing session with poet and instructor Nadia Colburn. It made a large impression on me, which I’d like to share. The style of yoga Nadia led us in is called kundalini…
How to Be Real When You’re Making Stuff Up?
Authenticity in Fiction As a fiction writer and novelist, I spend an embarrassing amount of time contemplating the components of good writing. I’ve sat through countless writing workshops, classes, and seminars where the instructor tosses out some variation of the question: What is good writing? It’s a simple enough ask, but the answers are varied…