When the House is Alive
My book recommendation for this week is something to get your mind off all your schoolwork, but you can read it quickly enough to return to your schoolwork in a timely manner: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. The book… Read More
On Small Elliptical Novels
A lot of people have sent me a lot of writing this year, for which I’m grateful. I’ve done my best to offer thoughtful, kindly, and helpful advice. Sometimes, of course, this advice sounds a little rote in… Read More
Book Rec: Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey
March 12, 2024 I’ll go short this week. Just one book, but it’s a big weird sprawling experimental novel, only don’t be put off by that. You will be riveted. It’s an art novel, a marriage novel, a… Read More
In Praise of Books in Which Nothing Happens
Sometimes nothing needs to “happen.” Sometimes, as a reader, just following a mysterious fictional stranger as they go about the awkward and unstable business of living is enough. This can be one of the deepest and most satisfying… Read More
More Graphic Novels…
This week, a bit of an addendum, because of course as soon as I wrote my post on graphic novels I remembered ones I’d loved and forgotten. And because it’s February and I don’t know about you, but… Read More
Fail Again, Fail Better
I’ve been thinking a lot about failure as part of writing. This can be a professional setback (the publisher you wanted said no, you didn’t get the grant or the fellowship, that magazine turned you down even though… Read More
Question and Answer
At long last, a question! Thank you, whoever you are. More, please. Q: I need a sensitivity reader. How do I find a good/proper one? A: For those of you who haven’t caught on to this, the notion… Read More
Dialogue and Arguing the Other Side
I’ve been thinking lately about dialogue and what it means. The use of dialogue is, of course, obvious: a tool, the same as any other, a way to move the story forward, and make leaps in the reader’s… Read More
In Praise of Graphic Novels
Nothing has delighted me more, in terms of literary trends, than the rise of the graphic novel over the last decade or so. They’ve gone from poor relations to contenders, containing as much life, as much subtlety, as… Read More
Remembering Peter Steven
By Michael Baker It was with sadness that FHASS learned over the winter holiday of the passing of our retired colleague, Peter Steven (1950-2023). Peter arrived to Sheridan in 2007 and was a Professor of Film Studies until his… Read More
