“Nothing happened today. And if anything did, I’d rather not talk about it, because I didn’t understand it.” – Roberto Bolaño, “The Savage Detectives” I have discovered the work of Chilean poet/novelist/essayist, Roberto Bolaño, in the past year. For years […]
“Natural Symbols”: On the Brutality of Popular Opinion and Why You Think You’re Always Right
Anthropologist Mary Douglas published a book called Natural Symbols 45 years ago. It’s a gateway into thinking about how individuals encode their perceptions of reality through the complex cosmology of cultural symbols they live in — bodily or “natural” symbols in particular. The […]
“Magical Thinking” Without Defining Writing Talent
Over at The Millions Michael Bourne (the writer, not the center fielder) has an essay this week called “Magical Thinking: Talent and the Cult of Craft.” Lots of great comments and thinking come after his pretty thoughtful exploration of the question […]
Happy Birthday to Jeffy (Buckley)
#137339618 / gettyimages.com I’m about to bombard all my Facebook peeps and Twitter followers with a breadcrumb path of links to Jeff Buckley videos. No apologies folks. Jeffy would have been 48 on Monday, November 17 (my mom’s birthday…she’s wherever Jeff may […]
Tribute to Galway Kinnell, an American Poet
I published a tribute to Galway Kinnell over at Medium.com last week. Kinnell, certainly one of this country’s most important poets of the last fifty year, died on October 28. Read the beginning of the piece here, then check out […]
Economies of Scale in the Writing World: Beyond Talking Indies
My fall “Talking Indies” column, “Three Money Lessons for Starry Eyed Authors,” comes out today at TW. It summarizes three important lessons I’ve learned since I dove full-time into the publishing and writing world in 2012. The column is intended […]
It Always Comes Back to “Hey Joe”
Today marks the 44th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix’s death. He left this world when he was just 27. Thanks to my good friend Derrick Baldwin for reminding me of this. Derrick is one helluva keyboardist and I love it when […]
Bones of the Trade: An Argument for Pan-Human Poetics
All people are poets. Only some of us know this, but it’s true. Each person has these secret bones in them. This is pan-human. You need to know about these bones, though, to look for them, or you won’t know […]
“Writing Blue Highways”: My Interview with William Least Heat-Moon
Over at Talking Writing they just posted an interview I did with the great American travel writer and chronicler of deep culture, William Least Heat-Moon. I had a lot of fun researching and preparing for this Q&A session. I think Bill […]
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