By Elizabeth Enslin on March 16, 2010
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….
...read more
Posted in Kudos | Tagged creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, memoir
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 11, 2010
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….
...read more
Posted in Readings, Recent | Tagged announcements, creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, memoir, Nepal
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 9, 2010
I had my first poem published in January and am proud to announce that another poem, “What the Photo Shows,” has been accepted for publication….
...read more
Posted in Poetry, Publication, Recent | Tagged maturity, motherhood, nature writing, parenting, Poetry
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 8, 2010
Four months after I gave birth to my son in Nepal, I celebrated my very first International Women’s Day in 1988 in Gunjanagar, a village in western Chitwan District. It was also Gunjangar’s first time to organize an event for that day. I describe the scene in Sacred Threads, my ethnographic memoir-in-progress….
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Politics and History, Recent, Sustainability, World Travel, Writing | Tagged inspiration, Nepal, women
By Elizabeth Enslin on February 20, 2010
I work hard to polish the content of my literary nonfiction and poetry but don’t always give the same attention to titles….
...read more
Posted in Recent, Writing Process | Tagged creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, Poetry, stories
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 8, 2010
I’m honored that my first poem ever to be published — “In the Flat Field” — is in The High Desert Journal. It’s a fabulous regional publication that showcases writing rooted in the Interior West of North America….
...read more
Posted in Poetry, Publication, Recent, Species Humor | Tagged cow poetry, cows, Homesteading, nature writing, Poetry
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 31, 2009
I’ve been blogging for about a year now and am finally discovering the secret to building an audience: hairy legs, lots and lots of hairy legs….
...read more
Posted in On Blogging, Recent, Social media, Species Humor | Tagged blogging, holidays, nature writing, species, tarantulas
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 21, 2009
I began blogging a year ago by reflecting on the challenges of Balancing Work and Play. I still haven’t figured that out, but I know what helps with that and with surviving this dark season: humor….
...read more
Posted in On Blogging, Recent, Seasons and Rituals, Species Humor | Tagged blogging, holidays, Humor, solstice
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 18, 2009
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….
...read more
Posted in Publication, Recent, Yurt Living | Tagged creative nonfiction, Writing, yurts
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 17, 2009
I’ve started a new website for my poetry drafts – www.poems.elizabethenslin.org. That’s where I’ve posted my response to “Get Your Poem On #105.”
...read more
Posted in On Blogging, Recent | Tagged blogging, Poetry
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 20, 2009
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….
...read more
Posted in Writing Process | Tagged creative nonfiction, gratitude, literary nonfiction, memoir
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 17, 2009
Yeah, I know. This is a Carolina anole, not a chameleon. When I was a kid, I lusted after chameleons. But anoles change color too, and they were cheaper and easier to find in local pet stores, so that’s what I got….
...read more
Posted in Humor, On Blogging, Species of the Week | Tagged blogging, childhood, inspiration, species
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 10, 2009
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….
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Publication, Recent, Sustainable Food, World Travel | Tagged creative nonfiction, inspiration, stories, Sustainable Gardening
By Elizabeth Enslin on September 9, 2009
My lyric essay, “Three Signs of Maturity,” has been published on Opium Magazine’s online edition. Parents of grown-up children might find it particularly interesting….
...read more
Posted in Publication, Writing | Tagged maturity, motherhood, Opium Magazine
By Elizabeth Enslin on June 24, 2009
Living off-grid in a yurt is mostly wonderful, at least this time of year. I know that spending time in such a beautiful place is a luxury not everyone can afford. So please understand, I’m not complaining….
...read more
Posted in Homesteading, On Blogging, Species of the Week, Yurt Living | Tagged beauty, Homesteading, patience, species
By Elizabeth Enslin on June 11, 2009
Just discovered that the content from my permanent pages (e.g., about, species of the week, humor) has disappeared from the public eye. It’s odd because I still see it in the editor, so hopefully it hasn’t gone too far. But iff you click the tabs above, you will get a blank page.
It suspect it’s some
...read more
Posted in On Blogging | Tagged blogging, wordpress
By Elizabeth Enslin on May 9, 2009
This week I began cross-posting my “Species of the Week” series at The Clade. Since Rachel Shaw is already writing a wonderful column of the same name, I changed the name of my column there to “Biodiversions” (thanks again to Rachel for suggesing the new name).
According to one of the founders, Chris Clarke:
The Clade will
...read more
Posted in On Blogging | Tagged blogging, nature writing
By Elizabeth Enslin on May 6, 2009
Here’s a round-up of recent blog carnivals I’m participating in:
Carnival of the Arid at Coyote Crossing includes Horned Toad: Species of the Week.
Circus of the Spineless at Birder’s Lounge includes Ladybug: Species of the Week.
Berry-Go-Round at Quiche Moraine includes Ocotillo: Species of the Week.
Outdoorsy Carnival at A Keeper’s Jackpot includes Packing, my humorous, poetic saga
...read more
Posted in Following the News, On Blogging
By Elizabeth Enslin on April 30, 2009
I overcame a lifelong fear of writing poetry on April Fool’s Day. It happened by accident. I had grown tired of my stale prose habits and surfed the web looking for distraction….
...read more
Posted in Humor, Poetry, Writing Process | Tagged Humor, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, wordplay
By Elizabeth Enslin on April 25, 2009
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
and make sure
the reader knows
who
is speaking.
Write in a way
that
...read more
Posted in NaPoWriMo, Writing | Tagged creative nonfiction, Poetry, wordplay
By Elizabeth Enslin on April 10, 2009
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….
...read more
Posted in Publication | Tagged creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, memoir, nature writing, stories
By Elizabeth Enslin on April 2, 2009
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
...read more
Posted in Following the News, NaPoWriMo, Writing | Tagged beauty, nature, nature writing, passion, sex, wild, wordplay
By Elizabeth Enslin on April 2, 2009
Out of some 850 species of tarantulas worldwide, the genus Aphonopelma includes the four dozen or so species native to the United States. Aphonopelma chalcodes – the Desert Tarantula – is the one I’ll be most likely to meet in Arizona…
...read more
Posted in Southwest Travel, Species of the Week, Travel, Wildlife Encounters, Writing | Tagged desert, nature, sex, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 20, 2009
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…
...read more
Posted in Biodiversity, On Blogging, Species of the Week, Writing | Tagged books, creative nonfiction, introductions, nostalgia, species
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 8, 2009
“If you’re still laughing, you’re not getting it.” I heard a respected elder in the environmental movement make these comments several weeks ago. I bow to the wisdom of all our elders: Thoreau, Leopold, Muir, Lao Tzu. But this appeal for us to stop laughing and get on with the environmentalist revolution bothered me. I
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged coyote, environmentalism, Humor, nature, nature writing, the wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on March 2, 2009
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 lead
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged creative nonfiction, cultural anthropology, ethnography, Fringe Magazine, nature, nature writing, stories, The Gettysburg Review, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on February 16, 2009
The Gettysburg Review, Spring 2009
Flu has laid me low for the last few days. But getting the Spring 2009 edition of The Gettysburg Review cheered me. It includes “Natural Births” — a chapter from the book I’m working to finish. This is my first piece of literary nonfiction in print (I’ve had a few
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged books, creative nonfiction, nature, nature writing, stories, The Gettysburg Review
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 31, 2009
I’ve been writing and rewriting a manuscript on Nepal for at least ten years and am ready to be done with it, but I’m not. I have to dig in and do some really hard work revising pieces that grew stale for me a long time ago. I’ve been over the same material many times
...read more
Posted in Cultural Diversity, Writing | Tagged music, play, rhythm
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 27, 2009
Snow on Mt. Tabor
Is it routine or breaks in routine that give me inspiration? I can’t be sure, but I do know that another unusual snowfall today invited me out for a morning walk with Django and invigorated my work the rest of the day.
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged inspiration, nature, snow, standard poodles
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 15, 2009
Putting a website together has sucked a lot of energy from my writing over the last month. But I’ve enjoyed it, almost to the point of addiction, and am sad about being finished. I knew it was bad when right after I finished, I began fantasizing about a complete redesign. And then I started bugging
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged creativity, inspiration, passion, photography, stories, web design
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 2, 2009
After several weeks of dabbling here, I’m still torn over the twenty-first century quandary: to blog or not? “Why I Blog,” an essay by Andrew Sullivan, senior editor of Atlantic Monthly, has helped put the practice in perspective and inspired me to continue exploring.
Sullivan considers historical cousins to the weblog: the ship’s log, diary writing,
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged blogging, creative nonfiction, exploration, Montaigne, rhythm
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 23, 2008
Over the last year, these books stand out for pulling me away from writing and inspiring me to return to it with fresh ideas and renewed passion.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
...read more
Posted in Writing | Tagged books, ideas, inspiration, passion
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 19, 2008
I came across a haunting essay, “Am I Still Here?” by Anthony Doerr in the January/February issue of Orion. It begins like this:
I HARBOR A DARK TWIN INSIDE. He’s a sun-starved, ropy bastard and he lives somewhere north of my heart. Every day he gets a little stronger. He’s a weed, he’s a creeper; he’s a
...read more
Posted in On Blogging, Writing | Tagged beauty, health, inspiration, passion, Pets, snow, standard poodles
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 17, 2008
It’s snowing here in Portland, Oregon, and I’m wondering whether or not to start a blog. Django – my eighty-two pound, chocolate, standard poodle- doesn’t care. He’s been hinting at other activities all day with barks, yawns, groans, hopeful looks, nudges, playbows. I’ve been ignoring him to work on this fledgling website, respond to a literary journal interested in one of my essays, send another essay on its first submissions round, eat lunch, answer phone calls, wash dishes, read some blogs to see if I really want to become one of millions sharing the minutiae of everyday life….
...read more
Posted in On Blogging, Seasons and Rituals, Writing | Tagged balance, blogging, inspiration, passion, Pets, play, snow, standard poodles
Fringe Magazine
High Desert Journal
In the Mist
Opium Magazine
Oregon Literary Review
The Smoking Poet
Recent Comments