Read More Poetry

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

One of the many things I love about poetry is how deeply elusive it is. Which can also be maddening. But it is the thing most compatible (at least for me) with the fact of being alive. By… Read More

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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…

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

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