Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 33
May 8, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Channel Your Emotions
The prolific and beloved poet May Sarton was an emotive, careful writer who seemingly never published a line that had not been weighed, judged, fully understood, and buffed to a high sheen. Given her attention to both raw inspiration and careful editing, she had a lot to say about the art of poetry that can …
May 1, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Learn from the Pros
I covered three new books about writing (how to do it, why do it) for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. You can read the whole piece here. Generally it’s not a great idea for writers to spend too much time reading about how to do their work. Better to just dive in and do it. But sometimes, …
April 26, 2022
Screening Room: ‘THX 1138’
If you are not familiar with George Lucas’ first feature movie, THX 1138, then now is the time to seek it out. My article about THX 1138 ran at Eyes Wide Open: George Lucas’s most grown-up piece of work is, oddly enough, his first feature. He premiered his instant classic of dystopic angst, THX 1138, in …
April 24, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Use Your Past
According to Graham Greene, one should never overlook the value of a difficult past: An unhappy childhood is a writer’s gold mine. Don’t be afraid to go digging.
April 17, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Write Badly
Making art of any kind generally involves granting yourself permission. This can take many forms. Allowing yourself to fail, to be criticized, to bare your soul. According to Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible), novel writing is not that complicated. She provided some tips to Publishers Weekly: To begin, give yourself permission to write a bad …
April 13, 2022
Screening Room: ‘The Northman’
The Northman opens next Friday. It has Vikings, Bjork, and a story sort of derived from Hamlet. My review is at PopMatters: A revenge thriller with an elevated horror heart and an anthropologist’s eye for detail and ritual, The Northman is a witchy and weird piece of work. But despite the layered imagination that went into recreating …
April 10, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Ask, But Don’t Answer
At a recent panel for the American Booksellers Association, several novelists discussed “Storytelling in the Cultural Moment.” Several themes were played with, including the idea of how to play with a “rupture” in your story. But one particularly salient point came from Jennifer Egan on the topic of curiosity: Fiction for me is about asking …
April 3, 2022
Writer’s Desk: Find Perfection in the Little Things
The polymathically prodigious Samuel R. Delany (who turned 80 this week) published several novels by the time many people have yet to graduate from college, re-orienting the entire field of science fiction just as it was entering its great period of 1960s experimentation. He kept that going for decades, knocking out everything from space opera …
Continue reading Writer’s Desk: Find Perfection in the Little Things
April 2, 2022
TV Room: ‘The Invisible Pilot’
The new HBO documentary miniseries The Invisible Pilot starts on Monday. My review ran at The Playlist: Some jobs do not prepare you for much of anything else. Work as a barista and you will know how to make a great latte, perhaps with that cute little leaf in the foam, but that is it. …
March 30, 2022
Screening Room: ‘Donbass’
My review of the new Ukraine-set black comedy Donbass, which opens next week, is at The Playlist: Winner of the 2018 Un Certain Regard award for Best Director at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival but only getting released in the United States now, “Donbass” makes for eerie viewing coming just weeks after the Russo-Ukrainian war entered a new phase …
