Rock Island: 1989-2019
Fall '89 My good friend, and brother Tony James reminds me that today is the 30th anniversary of Rock Island. It was love at first listen and, in hindsight, the…
Fall '89 My good friend, and brother Tony James reminds me that today is the 30th anniversary of Rock Island. It was love at first listen and, in hindsight, the…
Of course, what we write about is what we think about, and what we think about is invariably influenced by what we’re doing, what we’re reading, what we’re ceaselessly reacting…
I’m not certain if it has anything to do with what you study in college, or the type of person you already are (of course the two are not mutually…
Herman Melville is not only, arguably, our most American author; he is America. Author of the most successful second act in literary history (posthumous, alas), Melville is sui generis as…
Life is strange. I had a wonderful day today: I cleaned, I cooked, I took a long, restorative walk, I wrote a poem, I watched the Red Sox, I enjoyed…
This is the first essay in my second collection of non-fiction, Murphy's Law Vol Two. If I ever need to check myself and consider what a privileged life I’ve led,…
2019 Summer Literary Festival Teen Poet Contest Awards Grand Prize ($500 Award): Taylor Fang, “Solstice,” “Prehistory” Second Prize: Sabrina Guo, “Huài shì h?o shì” (“Evil Things, Good Things”) Third Prize: Kaja Rae Lucas,…
What a sad anniversary. Still, it seems selfish, even ungrateful, to lament all the amazing adventures he left unexplored when he gave us a body of work that will provide…
October, 2011. I've never been able to appreciate the aesthetic perfection (that is to say, the perfection of baseball's most imperfect play; it's most jarringly incongruous moment) because it was…
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” That, from the ever-quotable Oscar Wilde. Does age impart wisdom? Maybe. It definitely provides opinions. Some of them, perhaps, are worthwhile.…