Lots of writers have stories about creative writing classes that changed their lives. The remembrance of the pivotal class is a mini-genre in itself. At The Rumpus, Warren Adler writes about his own life-changing experience, looking back on a class he took at the New School all the way back in 1949.
Teachable Moments
Hardcore Book Lovers
Recommended Reading: Ben Parker constructs a short history of hardcore music in his review of Tony Rettman’s NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990 in n+1. Also, music for book lovers.
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In the Pope’s Own Words
Over at Asymptote, Oonagh Stransky talks about the transformative experience of translating Pope Francis. As she puts it, “I not only discovered a gentle, deeply human side to this Pope, I felt something change or soften inside me.”
Meet Edan Lepucki!
New Yorkers! Come out tonight and meet Edan Lepucki. She’s giving a reading alongside Alexander Chee and Baratunde Thurston, and the whole thing’s being hosted by our friends at Tumblr and Housing Works Bookstore.
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A Monument to Suffering and Courage
Everyone is talking about Nobel Prize winning Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich. Allow Jonathon Sturgeon at Flavorwire to explain why he believes Alexievich’s victory is a step in the right direction for the Prize.
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“No one remembers Mr Coffee Nerves”
“Suddenly I couldn’t believe/you have to put it back,/must be intelligent,/bring sandwich money,/whether British or American.” Three new poems by John Ashbery.
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