Category Archives: writing

MFAin’t gonna skip it after all

Posted on May 10, 2011 by catbird2

In which Katie makes peace with an acceptance letter As you may remember, gentle readers, a little over a year ago when this blog began, I had just received a slew of rejection letters from full time MFA programs, and … Continue reading →

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Odysseus into the 21st century

Posted on March 7, 2011 by catbird2

This post, gentle readers, will wrap up my theoretical anti-theory discussion about how books continue each other. In this previous post, I looked at how in the 1st century BC Roman poet Virgil continued the stories that Homer told in … Continue reading →

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Homer’s torch

Posted on February 4, 2011 by catbird2

A litero-historical tale of books continuing each other As you may remember, gentle readers, I’ve been working my way through some thoughts on how books continue each other. I use the word “books” in the loosest possible sense, because my … Continue reading →

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Books continue each other, part 2

Posted on January 2, 2011 by catbird2

Continuation distinguished from thematic contents and adaptation To begin, I must confess that I likely overstated my case in the previous post, when I claimed the idea that books continue each other is somehow an “anti-theory.” Though I think the … Continue reading →

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The poet lights the light and fades away. But the light goes on and on. — Emily Dickinson, quoted in The Sun

Posted on December 21, 2010 by catbird2 | Leave a comment

Books continue each other

Posted on December 19, 2010 by catbird2

A charming explanation of literary theory before I propose my anti-theory One thing I love about not being in graduate school is that now I can enjoy the things I read. Being in graduate school is like being an ambitious … Continue reading →

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Don’t hate the hiatus

Posted on August 16, 2010 by catbird2

Gentle readers, the Catbird Seat is taking a break for a few weeks so I can work on a big fat project. Sign up for an email subscription (the sign me up! link at the bottom right) to be notified … Continue reading →

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Writing it down as incarnation

Posted on August 9, 2010 by catbird2

As far as semester endings go, the past few weeks have been better than usual. They’ve turned out more breathlessly busy than mentally excruciating, and that is certainly an improvement. Still, there’s been enough to do with grading research projects … Continue reading →

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Heat

Posted on July 25, 2010 by catbird2

By H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) O wind, rend open the heat,                                                                                                           cut apart the heat,                                                                                                                         rend it to tatters. Fruit cannot drop                                                                … Continue reading →

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Tabouli

Posted on May 16, 2010 by catbird2

Dodge Drake Turner had eaten his entire lamb kabob and half his wild rice before he noticed that his mother, on the padded seat across from him, was completely still. Arthritic fingers gripped her fork, plunged deep into her tabouli … Continue reading →

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