April is National Poetry Month. Do people hate poetry? According to novelist and poet Ben Lerner, yes. His new book, The Hatred of Poetry, argues we are always looking for our humanity in poetry and find mere poems instead. There are three reasons why I haven’t picked up an epic poem for decades. 1. The Epic of Gilgamesh. 2. The Illiad. 3. The Odyssey. My… [Read More]
Across the nation there are community reading programs that ask everyone to read and discuss the same book. For almost 20 years the American Library Association has developed resources for librarians to build community–wide reading programs. People who share a common reading experience come together to discuss the book. “The idea is that the city that opens the same book closes it in greater harmony,”… [Read More]
If you watch a lot of movies, then you’ve likely seen continuity errors. In Jurassic Park, there is a scene where programmer-turned-thief Dennis Nedry converses live with an accomplice on his computer but the workstation clearly shows he’s speaking to a pre-recorded video instead. Plot hole. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an action hero in Commando where he badly damages his Porsche giving chase and in the… [Read More]
What’s bookcamp? Think boot-camp for your book. Spend six days in an intensive program to help you finish a manuscript worthy of publication and figure out how to pitch it to win a successful publishing deal. Dave Rank, past president of the Wisconsin Writers Association, is the host and director of Bookcamp which he established four years ago to attract and encourage emerging novelists. Last… [Read More]
Let me introduce my guestblogger today, Ira Rabois. Rowman & Littlefield released his new book, Compassionate Critical Thinking, in late October 2016. I invited Ira to write a meditation for today because we all need compassionate critical thinking to write well. “How do you write well? Probably thousands have written about this. On the surface, it seems writing is about language, which to a large… [Read More]