Ah, the free day. A good idea. After Wednesday’s richness and fullness (did I mention I had my poems critiqued on Wednesday), everyone’s a bit gassed and needs a breather. I spent most of the day wrestling with MS Word to get Sherry’s manuscript ready for the publisher. She felt horrible about needing the help …
Category Archives: At the Glen
2008 Glen: Day 3
Why not enlarge the thin verge of the moment –Carl Dennis, “Sarit Narai”
Glen 2008: Day 2
At noon, there came a tremor; cows Stopped chewing for a second; sun, Scarfed as in a heat-haze, dimmed. –Philip Larkin, from “The Explosion” Last night, in addition to thinking about Cain, we also heard a good bit about Bezalel. In Exodus 31, God tells Moses, “I have called by name Bezalel…and I have filled …
2008 Glen: Day 1
‘Lie down in the word-hoard, burrow the coil and gleam of your furrowed brain. Compose in darkness. Expect aurora borealis in the long foray but no cascade of light.’ –Seamus Heaney, from “North” I’ve been anticipating breakfast at the Glen for over a week, and it did not disappoint. Scrambled eggs with salsa verde has …
2008 Glen: Arrival Day
I must like getting up at ungodly hours in the summer. This morning Sherry and I were on the road at 3:45am to get me to the Toledo Airport in time for a 6:10 flight. Despite a close connection in Dallas, I sailed into Albequerque at the appointed time–with my luggage–only to be forced to …
I Knew Her When…
I first met Sara Zarr in the Fiction Workshop at The Glen in 2003. I don’t precisely remember what it was she was workshopping–it might have been a delightfully creepy piece involving a young girl and a stalker–but I do remember thinking, “This woman is a writer.” Over the next few years, I met her …
Glen07: The Book Report
This year my book buying was a bit subdued. I usually come home with so many books that they strain the luggage, but this year things fit neatly in the backpack. No particular reason. Well, I didn’t get into a bidding war at the silent auction; that helped. Of course, there’s one book I should …
Glen07 Day 6: The Music in our Hearts
The morning workshop session, our last, was a bit more open ended than previous days since we only had two or three stories to critique. We had more room for general discussion about various topics. Two of our members had already departed campus, which served to remind us that the week was coming to a …
Glen07 Day 5: The Cutting Room
So, today was the Big Day. After a week of reading other people’s stuff, my story was going to be critiqued. I looked forward to seeing how the story worked on a bunch of strangers, and, more importantly, I hoped that what I saw as the story’s flaws would not only be identified but also …
Glen07 Day 4: Thomas Parker and the Aliens
In the past I’ve spent my free day visiting holy sites or doing serious work or visiting museums: respectable, serious minded pursuits. This year, I decided that I’ve been way too close to a certain kind of American mecca not to visit. So, I decided to make the three hour drive down to Roswell, NM; …
