O Bod
The Coffin Path
Part travelogue, part literary history, part memoir, this essay offers a glimpse into the power of literature and nature to heal the human body and soothe the human spirit. This piece is still in the works, but I wanted to post it for all those who have asked for it.
The Thirty-Third Street Club
Awarded New Millennium Fiction Prize
First appeared in New Millennium Writings, Winter 1997
let me tell you somethin
Runnin as quick as these stupid high heels will carry me, and over my shoulder I see Amahl comin up behind me. Ain’t runnin, but walkin real fast so he don’t attract no attention. The street crowded from all the people walkin to Rockefeller Center to see the tree light up, all lookin at me like I some kind of thief or somethin.
Quick turn up Fifth Avenue to Forty-Eighth Street where I cross into the plaza. Jammed with people, but I turn the corner and throw myself into the doorway of some office buildin. The door locked so I just sit there, real quiet, breathin fast, out of sight. Some of the Yuppies stare at me.
glare back at them
Feet screamin, I take my heels off, leave them in the doorway and start windin through the crowd. Think I lost him, but no harm in workin a little deeper into hidin. After a few blocks an alley where no one is hangin, and I squat behind a dumpster to catch my breath.
Harlem jazz club: 1988
Thou Shall Have Balance: The Ten Commandments of Teaching Creative Writing
With so many writers seeking the mfa credential, I wanted to take a look at how teachers and writing programs might balance the needs of so many within the demands of a professional program. Is it wrong to encourage those who clearly will have a difficult time achieveing any success? Is there a place in the $25,000 workshop for “writing for its own sake?” In giving this some thought, I realized that in my workshops, only careful attention to balance will reconcile my goals with those of my students.
Technology for Art’s Sake
While covering a supercomputing conference in San Jose, California, I stumbled upon an exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art that I found infinitely more interesting than supercomputers. Sure enough, two stories came of it that began to change the course of my career, though I’ve never revisited the subjects again. I’m grateful to the editorial staff at IEEE Spectrum for humoring me in my discovery; it certainly wasn’t what they bargained for!