First, a confession: I never finished reading Elif Batuman’s essay collection, The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. The book came out my senior year of undergrad, when I was already drowning in Russian literature
I can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I decided I wanted to write. It was an idea regularly reinforced throughout my childhood, adolescence, and adult life: reading Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech for the first time, writing a letter
This just in: Ted Conover, nonfiction writer famous for his immersion and undercover journalist, is cooler than your dad. Sorry, Rich Bartels, I still love you very much, but last night at the Columbia Graduate Writing Program’s Nonfiction Dialogue, Ted
For the full essay, see it on Ploughshares. Originally published on January 29, 2014. --- Usually, when writing, I practice what I call The Withholding Method: You wake up—time to write. But first you want coffee. STOP. Have you written a sentence yet? Write
For the full essay, buy a copy of the anthology The Places We've Been: Field Reports From Travelers Under 35 (The Places We've Been LLC, July 2013). --- As athletes make mix CDs to pump themselves up for games, I have a
For the full essay, see it in Volume 1, Issue 1 of Agave Magazine. Originally published in August 2013. --- Since it opened in 1930, Andersen Insurance, in Somerville, Massachusetts, has offered incredible job security. I started making photocopies and filing policies when
For the full essay, see it in Fall 2013 issue of The Wellesley Review. Originally published in December 2013. --- When, as an infant, I refused nap, my mom would often strap me into the car seat and drive head-on into the afternoon
For the full essay, see it on Fiction Advocate. Originally published on December 26, 2013. --- The first thing I notice about the book is its weight. The Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz is almost a square foot large and weighs
For the full essay, see it on Vitamin W. Originally published on November 27, 2013. --- I feel like taking a selfie. I received two rejection emails – for an internship and a fellowship – within ten minutes. Well, onward and upward, I
Post originally appeared on Catch & Release on June 18, 2013. --- Don’t be intimidated by the long title. I still can’t remember it exactly unless I’m looking at the blue-and-green cover: The House In The Woods By The Lake? The Dirt