Last night I had a lovely time talking with a small group of writers about essays in general and a few essays in Best American Essays 2023 in particular. I appreciate those who joined in! Thank you so much. You are fabulous.
The essays we talked about? They’re full of love and heartbreak, confusion and reflection, and maybe most of all a kind of expansive empathy, a shared humanity.
Reading essays and thinking about how they’re put together—reading anything? —as well as considering what we like about them, what intrigues us (and sometimes what holds no weight, no water, what we have no truck with…) is such a crucial part of writing…it’s about listening to the larger conversation. What’s out there?
We talked about the elusive question of tone, on the page, as well as how to navigate through time without being bogged down in chronology. We looked at details and what is conveyed either directly or obliquely. Sometimes we raised the question, What is this author trying to say…and how?
Some things are clear, delivered in words. Other aspects may be murky, hidden.
Any favorite essays?
Links?
Take care of yourselves and each other. Keep going! Stay alive, stay creative, keep writing, and let’s keep listening….there’s always more than one way to live….
xo
I think this counts as memoir, but wow. https://brooklynrail.org/2020/03/fiction/Blacks-Gaslight-Village
My friend Matt Andersen inspired me to write the piece I’m bringing to workshop tomorrow.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mattandersen/p/the-real-drug-addict-of-slc-ii?r=fm9zt&utm_medium=ios