On Anger as Purpose

A review of the English edition of Caroline Laurent’s An Impossible Return for Asymptote Journal.

All of Caroline Laurent’s substantive artistry of story and language is in service to a faith that literature can change the world.

Wine Tasting

PenDust Radio adapted my essay “Wine Tasting” into a podcast performed by Rebekah Nemethy.

You need a word, but the word alone isn’t enough. You need to have an actual sensory memory of the smell and taste that word represents. Think about a black currant. That word is written all over the backs of red wines. It’s a very popular descriptor. But how many black currants have you actually eaten? Do you really know what a black currant tastes like?

Oranges

“Oranges” was published in the 2020 edition of the Sierra Nevada Review.

There is beauty in the world and in an orange, and I have to be taught over and over again how to see it.

Coming Apart

“Coming Apart” was adapted into a podcast by The Dirty Spoon and illustrated by Kelly Minear.

Analysis is easy. Tearing something apart is as natural as breathing. It’s the bringing separate things together that is hard, maybe impossible. Synthesis is the problem of life. Or maybe it’s just my problem.

Leet

My essay “Leet” appeared in the anthology Family Stories from the Attic, edited by Christi Craig and Lisa Rivero and published by Hidden Timber Books.

I stand at the place where tamed land has turned wild.

You can read my “Meet the Author” Interview here.