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
Post originally appeared on Wellesley Underground on October 12, 2013. --- When I started in the MFA Writing Program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts last fall, I was pummeled with the names of more writers than I knew existed. I
Post originally appeared on Wellesley Underground on April 20, 2013. --- I found out that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been surrounded and subsequently captured, alive, last night while watching Pitch Perfect in my Manhattan apartment with my roommate. I had spent almost the
Post originally appeared on Wellesley Underground on March 8, 2013. --- It’s Women’s History Month, and I love it. I was born a woman, I have lived my whole life as a woman, I come from a family of strong, independent, take-nobody’s-shit