“Craft and Conviction: Gail Godwin’s History of the Heart,” by Kerstin W. Shands

Essay by Kerstin W. Shands Gail Godwin’s Heart: A Natural History of the Heart-Filled Life stems from a moment in time when Godwin had just re-read Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. She had been thinking about a new novel regarding “a woman’s journey into a heart of darkness where she would have to confront her shadow” […]

“The Cape May Carving Tree,” by John Riddle

Essay by John Riddle On a recent trip to Cape May, New Jersey, I needed a few moments to get out of the sun.  It was a hot and humid day, and the shade from three nearby trees was calling my name.  As I stood beneath the center tree, I noticed there were about three […]

“Larry Brown, Writer,” and a Place Called Tula

Essay by Rob McDonald   I lived almost ten years of my early life beside a railroad track in Memphis, and I never stopped longing to live in Mississippi, where I was born, and to be in the country, a place like this. . . . It’s one thing to have a life in a […]

Meet Sandra Cooper: An Author on a Mission!

Essay by John Riddle  Not many people are fortunate enough to find their passion and mission in life, but Sandra Cooper, author of Trauma to Triumph: Lessons Learned Along the Way, has done just that.  Throughout her life and career, she was not afraid to challenge the status quo as often as necessary.  “I think […]

“Friends in Writing: Bloomian Jealousies in Gail Godwin’s Old Lovegood Girls,” Essay by Kerstin W. Shands

Essay by Kerstin W. Shands A new novel by Gail Godwin is a treat. To enter the literary world created by Godwin is like stepping into a pleasant townhouse where spacious, sun-dappled rooms open up on the first floor. Then you notice that there are stairs, too, that may lead to other, more complex, secret, […]

Facing and Writing Trauma: Suffering and Survival in Post-traumatic America,” Essay by Kerstin W. Shands

Essay by Kerstin W. Shands When she was writing her book on trauma in American literature, Laura Castor could hardly have known that another traumatic time in American history would be just around the corner. The corona pandemic could be seen as a trauma on individual, national, and global levels, one that may well lead […]