Archive for 'Literary Criticism'
Literary Criticism
I’ve posted some of this not because anyone has asked, but because I’m hopeful that someone will find it useful. My essays vary on a continuum from inanely obscure to mildly revelational and typically deal with ways of thinking about literature and writing that I have found interesting. I’ll also post an annotated bibliography of LitCrit I think has been helpful to me.
Read More..>>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.
Read More..>>“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”: A Prosody of Jazz
Sometimes you start to write something and it grows out of control, like this essay. Still, I know there is something to it because poetry and music share genetics. The music notation images are kind of blucky on the Web, but if you are researching this topic, leave me a comment and I’ll send you the originals.
Drummers and poets are used like ashtrays YES
–Howard Hart
A Whale of Two Cities: The New York and London Editions of Moby-Dick
I’m far from an expert on this topic; in fact, I’m just barely acquainted with Melville and the state of publishing in the mid 19th century, but I found this example of editing, or censorship, interesting. Warning: you should only read this paper if you really care.
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