List of posts

  • ALICE MUNRO

    ALICE MUNRO

    For years, most of my life, I claimed I’d never been sexually assaulted, and I even believed that was true. I’m angry about it now. And even so, I get it. “We say of some things that they can’t be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do—we do it all the…

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  • WHY WE HATE THE 4th

    Okay, “hate” is too strong. We have mixed feelings for a holiday we both loved as kids. Now we are aware of dangers to our health, sleep, and wildlife. We have legitimate concerns about injuries and the risk to property. We won’t even pretend that the people making all this noise care what they are…

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  • I’M DANCING AS FAST AS I CAN

    The first time I ran the Hood to Coast relay, I was not expecting 96° on my first leg. Six miles in the heat of day was entirely new to me. I ran in the mornings in temperatures below the 60s. But I was in the middle of my life and managed to maintain about…

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  • RESIDENCY, the last day

    Several of my students went on to Pacific University, but that is not the reason I am fond, of course. Today is the last day of events scheduled for the MFA residency.

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  • RESIDENCY, day 8

    RESIDENCY, day 8

    I have no introductions to review and revise, but I will write today and tomorrow about what else is happening at Pacific.

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  • RESIDENCY, day 7

    RESIDENCY, day 7

    I used the forecast of rain to skip my run, but it’s not raining, and now I feel guilty for still sitting up in bed, draining my second cup of too-strong coffee (the only coffee I like), and listening to Jack Driscoll in a video from January of last year. I was there. In “First,…

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  • RESIDENCY, day 6

    RESIDENCY, day 6

    Today is Wednesday, which is noted at the top of today’s residency schedule, but which I find myself in need of reminding. Wednesday, and the last day, the day of graduation, will be Saturday. Count the days. [3.] I will introduce one more faculty reading, celebrate this 20th anniversary of my MFA program, and then…

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  • RESIDENCY, day 5

    RESIDENCY, day 5

    A little short of sleep, but went out for a short run at 6am and felt better. At the beach, I run to landmarks, in Portland I count city blocks, but here I run purely for time—measuring my slow ten-minute miles. Gary is coming to see me this morning, and I am ridiculously excited about…

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  • RESIDENCY, day 4

    RESIDENCY, day 4

    I am trying something different, something obvious. Instead of writing my report of the day all at once the following morning, I begin this day with my own beginning: I have four miles today, two running, which is usual for a Monday. When I was a student here in 2005-2007, I ran further and away…

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  • RESIDENCY, day 3

    RESIDENCY, day 3

    It feels very much like bragging to say I’ve so far had lunch with Claire Davis, dinner with Molly Gloss, and lunch with Omar El Akkad. But there, I’ve done it. Saturday, Claire and I talked about what book covers can do to reveal a book or damage its sales. Molly and I talked about…

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