As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t get to the MLA this year; I was hanging out in Chicago with the historians. What’s been interesting to me, as I read reports from this year’s MLA in various venues, is to see themes re-emerge from previous years. Some of those reports inspired a sort of scholarly-conference deja… Continue reading »
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A New Year, a New Story
I’ve got a new short story out. It’s called “Mercury Rising,” and you can find it in Amazing Graces (Paycock Press, 2012), a collection edited by Richard Peabody. (Read a Washington Post profile of him.) Here’s the excerpt I read at Politics and Prose on Sunday, when we launched the book: “Call the fire department!”… Continue reading »
How To Survive a Conference
This winter, for the first time since I joined the Chronicle in 2005, I won’t be at the Modern Language Association’s annual conference. I’ll be at the American Historical Association’s confab instead. (Hello, Chicago in January!) Every conference has its own style. The MLA is not the AHA is not the APA is not the… Continue reading »
Cheers for the New Year
It’s 2012. I’m glad to be here. I hope you are too. Be inspired, be engaged by whatever you do, and be kind to yourself and others. Happy New Year. If you’re in search of a New Year’s mantra, you could do worse than the sentiment the New York Tribune came up with for the… Continue reading »
Want + Obstacles = Tension, or the Plot Thickens
It’s no secret that I’m not a very good member of my book club. I tend to read the book late if I read it at all. I go for the company (smart, friendly) and the wine (why not?). The latest book I didn’t read is A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick, which got raves… Continue reading »
