This semester, I am teaching a literature and composition course centered around short stories collections. For this course, I chose writers specific to the region where we are located in Appalachia, with one obvious outlier from Louisiana. Students read Frank Yerby, Ernest Gaines, Crystal Wilkinson, Dorothy Allison, and Ron Rash. As I worked on the syllabus for this course, I kept thinking about the … Read More Short Story Anthology Assignment
This semester, I am teaching four different courses, with four different preps. When thinking about these courses, I wanted to make sure that I had a firm grounding in the majority of the material to make it a little easier on myself when it came to class prep. So, for two of these courses I decided to construct the courses around texts and themes … Read More Short Story Collection Syllabus
Last post, I shared my latest short story “This Story is Continuing to Develop.” I wrote this piece because a colleague asked me to participate in a reading, and whenever someone does that, I usually try my hand at writing fiction. I’ve shared a few of these pieces before, namely “Paper” and “Adieu.” With the former, I also wrote a craft essay discussing where the idea … Read More Writing “This Story is Continuing to Develop”
Earlier this semester, Jadyn DeWald asked me to participate in a reading on campus. He asked me to do this a couple of years ago, and for that I event I wrote my short story “Paper.” Following that reading, I also wrote a post on the process behind composing the short story. For this semester’s reading, I debated what to read. I kept oscillating … Read More “This Story is Continuing to Develop”
The first memory I can recall, or at least the first one I wish to recall, occurred when I was about two years old. I see my reflection staring back at me. I don’t know when the event happened. I think it may have been Halloween. I’m wearing all white, and I have a white hat on my head. It looks like I’m dressed … Read More Memories of Years Past
Interminable Rambling 