Chris Abouzeid's Blog, page 42

Friday Faves: Commencement Compendium

By Laura Harrington It’s the season of commencement and commencement addresses, so in honor of graduates everywhere, this is a small sampling of some of the advice, old and new, floating around on the internet right now. First, from artist, strategist and interviewer Debbie Millman, an address to the graduating ...

Can You Tell Whether This Book Was Written By A Man or A Woman?

By Nichole Bernier In 2011, V.S. Naipaul said famously, “I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not. I think [it is] unequal to me.” * Whether or not this was hyperbole on Naipaul’s part, in addition ...

Living on Both Sides of the Brain

Guest Post by Kim Triedman Shortly after I started writing poetry, in my mid-40’s, an editor looking at my work asked me what it felt like, to write a poem.  At the time it seemed like some kind of test.  I was not a student of poetry, and he was ...

The Weight of Objects

Guest Post by Erika Robuck “Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! here, here! — It is the beating of his hideous heart!” — Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” Wooden boards, an old man’s heart, pale blue eyes—these tangible things pull ...

Protected: BTM Naipaul Quiz — Answers

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

The Submitter’s Dilemma: Choosing the Right Literary Magazine for Your Work

By Becky Tuch There are over 600 print and online literary magazines today, not to mention dozens of new journals starting up all the time. If you are new to submitting your work, the sheer quantity of literary magazines can be quite terrifying. How do you even begin to sort ...

Friday Faves: Gender & Gatsby

By Juliette Fay Our list of literary links this fine Friday revolve around gender issues in the literary world, and Jay Gatsby. Enjoy! How would book covers be designed if they were written by the opposite gender? Take a look at   Coverflip: Maureen Johnson Calls For An End To Gendered ...

Give Mom Some Schadenfreude for Mother’s Day!

By Randy Susan Meyers A few days ago, at an event at the incredibly wonderful Reading Public Library (in Reading Massachusetts) one of the librarians bought my book for her mother. For Mother’s Day. Using a large amount of not-usually-available-to-me control, I didn’t say any of the following: “Nothing says Mother’s Day ...

Intuition and the Creative Instinct

By Chris Abouzeid When I was six years old, my family took a trip on a ferry boat. I don’t remember where it was or where we were going, but what I do remember is my sister—only eight or nine at the time—telling my mother that the woman standing by ...

Flunking Art

  This post first appeared on Beyond the Margins February 21, 2012 By Julie Wu In Junior High, we took a test for artistic aptitude. The top scorers would be in “Art Band,” excused from classes once a week to be apprenticed to working artists. We took a standardized, timed ...