Truth and Lies: Where to Draw the Line?
I’m still sorting through my reactions to the controversy emerging around Three Cups of Tea (co-authored by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin). The book has inspired many and been a platform for raising millions of dollars for the Central Asia Institute ( I recommend reading Jon Krakauer’s full allegations (pdf) against the book and [...]
“Costume” Published
My essay, “Costume,” has been published in the Bio Issue of In Posse Review.
Listed as Notable in Best American Essays 2010
My essay, “Ama,” published in Crab Orchard Review, has been chosen as a Notable for The Best American Essays 2010. Although, I did not get selected for the final book, I am proud to be among such authors as Barry Lopez, Susan Orlean, Paul Theroux, Naomi Klein and many others who also made the Notable [...]
From Prose to Poetry and Back
‘m sad that I’m not participating in the poem-a-day madness of National Poetry Month. That’s what pulled me into a poetry last year. I hoped to discover new ways to bring music and imagery into my prose, never thinking I’d fall in love with writing and reading poetry itself (something I’d always avoided)….
Nominated for Pushcart Prize
Last week, I found my name on a list of Pushcart Prize nominees at The Gettysburg Review. I published “Natural Births,” a chapter from Sacred Threads, in their Spring 2009 issue….
First Wednesday Reading at Blackbird Wineshop
On Wednesday, April 7 from 7-9 pm, I’ll be joining Peter Sears, Jackie Shannon-Hollis and Brian Christopher for a reading and wine-tasting co-hosted by Oregon Literary Review and Blackbird Wine Shop in Portland, Oregon….
Dances With Titles
I work hard to polish the content of my literary nonfiction and poetry but don’t always give the same attention to titles….
Waking to the New Year in a Treehouse
I woke to the first day of 2007 in a treehouse in Northern Laos. That set a standard for New Year’s celebrations that I’ll probably never live up to again. It was just me, my partner Jerry, and all the wildlife of Bokeo Nature Reserve. We could have joined eight other travelers at the main treehouse for a night of revelry, but we longed for solitude….
“A Grammar for Yurt Living” Published
I have a new essay published in The Smoking Poet. It’s new in the sense of being recently completed and published but also in the sense of process….
Forthcoming Literary Nonfiction
More recent successes in publishing my literary nonfiction: The Raven Chronicles has accepted a condensed and modified chapter from my ethnographic memoir, Sacred Threads, for publication. “Meeting my Future in the Dark” about the first meeting with my Nepali in-laws over twenty years ago should be out in print next spring or summer. After following [...]
Literary Rejections I’m Grateful For
It’s easy for an emerging writer like myself to become obsessed with rejection. That’s mostly what comes back from all the packets I mail or documents I upload with a hopeful, electronic click….
Ama: My Greatest Teacher
Growing food this summer in northeast Oregon, I relied on all that I’ve learned over the years from books, conversations, observations, and personal experience. But I probably heard Ama’s voice more than any other….
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Promiscuous Metaphors
I’ve outgrown my confusion over how to use Twitter. I’ve even learned to enjoy it. But until recently, I was still enough of a snob to be skeptical about finding literary inspiration there….
Lunacy
In grade school, I used to love those assignments where the teacher gave us ten vocabulary words and said we had to use all of them in a story. Those were good times, and I’ve already tried to revive them here in prose and poetry. Today, the NaPoWriMo prompt at Read Write Poem invited us [...]
Master the Art of Writer’s Block With Strunk and White
I wrote (or rather, pirated) this for the “How-To” prompt at Read Write Poem with inspiration from Geoffrey K. Pullum’s recent essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education. _______________________________________________ Master the Art of Writer’s Block With Strunk and White Avoid a succession of loose sentences. Use definite, specific, concrete language, place yourself in the background [...]
Witnessing
It’s wonderful to have more and more pieces published online and in-print. But it also feels a bit disembodied. If I’m lucky, I may exchange a few emails or have a phone conversation with an editor. I never meet the others whose pieces share the same binding with me. It’s all understandable given how busy the world is, but still odd….
Introducing “Species of the Week”
I grew up an introverted, only child. With my cat or rabbit stretched out beside me, I spent many evenings curled up in some cozy corner, thumbing through animal books…
Nature Writing
I’ve published (or will soon have published) six pieces over the last year of full-time writing, but the lyric essay – “A Nature Lover’s Phobia” – posted online in Fringe Magazine: The Environment Issue yesterday makes me particularly happy. I have wanted to be a nature writer since childhood. I thought becoming a zoologist would [...]
