Houses of the Holy, by Caitlin Skaalrud, Reviewed by Anna Krenz
Houses of the Holy Caitlyn Skaalrud uncivilizedbooks October 2015 ISBN 194125005X (ISBN13: 9781941250051) 180 pages Reviewed by ANNA KRANZ Caitlin Skaalrud’s graphic novel, Houses of the Holy, is a wild, surreal ride into its unnamed protagonist’s mind, full of...
Travel: How It Can Help (And Hinder) Your Writing, by Connor Rystedt
Last summer I stepped away from labor and academia to visit my girlfriend in the German town where she lives. Not everyone is lucky enough to cross the pond and get the European experience, but I spent two and a half months busting my tail on demolition sites to save...
Writing From Observation: Why it Matters, by Corva León
I was struggling with my writing, frustrated that none of my images were accurate or vivid enough. I asked my poetry professor, Gretchen Marquette, if she had advice on how to practice my images in poetry. She gave me a copy of Jim Moore’s Invisible Strings and told...
In a Writing Workshop? Advice for Productive Participation by Morgan Miller
Seasoned writer or a newcomer, workshops are great places helping you see needs improvement from fresh perspectives. However, there are a few things you need to be aware of before you get into one. Don't Share a Piece Without a Middle In my final year of undergrad,...
Meridian, by Kathleen Jesme, Reviewed by Debbie Johnson-Hill
Meridian Kathleen Jesme Tupelo Press September 2012 ISBN: 978-1-936797-18-9 40 pages Reviewed by DEBBIE JOHNSON-HILL I left the cemetery knee-deep the snow laying a wreath and then blotting it. (3) In the brief space of two stanzas, readers are introduced to the...
One Summer Day: An Essential Short Story Reading List for Every Writer, by Caitlin O’Brien
Throughout my college career as a creative writing major, I’ve been taught to read as a writer. Instead of simply enjoying a story for what it is, I look at it with a magnifying glass in hand, trying to decipher what the author has done and how. Once you can identify...
Five Spoken Word Resources for Young Writers by Blythe Baird
1. Young Chicago Authors (Chicago, IL) YCA is the nonprofit birthplace of “Louder Than A Bomb,” now recognized as the largest youth slam in the world. YCA provides a variety of free programs for young writers such as weekly open mics, and poetry/hip hop workshops. YCA...
Perfectly Good White Boy by Carrie Mesrobian, Reviewed by Grant Brengman
Perfectly Good White Boy Carrie Mesrobian Carolrhoda LAB 2014 ISBN 9781467734806 304 pages Reviewed by GRANT BRENGMAN Writer of the best book of 2013 according to Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, Carrie Mesrobian excellently renders the high school party life,...
Writing An Authentic Experience by Anna Kranz
In order to represent the diversity of our world, writers should strive to try to increase the diversity in the casts they write. It’s not that every story ever written from now has to be about a certain marginalized group, it’s just something the literary community...
Well, Well, Well… We Won an Award!
Runestone has been selected as the winner for content in this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Program’s National Program Directors’ Prize for Undergraduate Literary Magazines. The judge for content, Sharon Dolin, Director, Writing About Art in Barcelona,...
From Good to Great: Two Editing Strategies for Your Fiction
As writers, we all know that a first draft of a piece is far from the final product. It often takes multiple drafts before you reach a point of satisfaction. Even if you’re a big planner, like me, you will go through at least five drafts before you are remotely happy...
Ocular Proof, by Martha Ronk, reviewed by Corva León
Ocular Proof Marth Ronk Omnidawn Publishing October, 2016 ISBN 978-1-63243-025-0 80 pages Reviewed by Corva León The opening poem of Ocular Proof vividly describes a photograph and the actions of the viewer, beginning with “The tree azalea overwhelms...