Women & Children First Bookstore: A Chicago Destination
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August 16, 2016

On the north side of Chicago, I discovered Women & Children First, one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country. With an inventory of more than 30,000 books written by and for women, this independent bookstore caters exclusively to women, children, and the LGBTQ community. If you’ve never visited a feminist bookstore, you may have seen one on TV. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein… [Read More]

Swenson Book Development: What We’re Reading This Summer
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July 26, 2016

August is reading month and if you’re looking for something to take to the beach or enjoy at the cabin, consider these current titles the team at Swenson Book Development LLC is reading now. Samantha Kolb: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas     Alanna Rieser: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Mother… [Read More]

Choosing to follow your own path
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June 21, 2016

Amidst the nervous titter of soon-to-be graduates, I could feel the excitement boiling under the clean, black robes at Lawrence University’s graduation ceremony. This year’s commencement speaker was Lan Samantha Chang. An Appleton WI native, Chang is the author of Hunger, All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost, and Inheritance. Hunger is a novella and collection of short stories, published in 1988. Chang’s prose follows the… [Read More]

How Reading Poetry Makes You a Better Writer
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May 24, 2016

Contemporary poetry strays from traditional ideas of a poem: rigid structure, definitive rhyme scheme, commonly about nature or love. Poetry exemplifies and dissects certain internal states, tracing racial, political, and gendered themes of universality and solitude. At my university, I’m currently enrolled in a class dedicated to Contemporary American Poetry where we discuss the complexities of this genre. I’ve found studying poetry makes me a… [Read More]

Writing in more than one language
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April 26, 2016

Anyone who enjoys the painstakingly difficult process of writing probably has a love for words, which inspires their masochistic writer’s journey. Those who understand the slight intricacies of words and the importance of sentence structure choose their statements wisely, editing, re-editing, and editing again. This process is multiplied twofold for a writer who speaks more than one language, carrying with them the difficulty of creating… [Read More]

Writing for Ramen
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March 8, 2016

“You know, there’s no market for writers anymore.” “So, you’re going to be a teacher.” “I hope you like Ramen.” These are the three most common responses when I tell someone my major in college. While poking fun at English majors is one of America’s favorite past times, it is discouraging to have my main interest written off (pun intended) as something I cannot pursue… [Read More]