Fiction – Page 44 – Michigan Quarterly Review

Fiction

On Doubt and Not-Knowing in Fiction

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While one can imagine the lyric impulse of the poem or the meandering logic of the essay easily fits with the notions of doubt and not-knowing, the question lingers: what of fiction, the genre that is conventionally thought of as “plotted”? Should writers of fiction come to a story or narrative with a conceit or concern already crafted, or does writing through, around, and among the consciousnesses, characters, and languages of fiction reveal to these writers their ultimate uptake?

On Doubt and Not-Knowing in Fiction Read More »

While one can imagine the lyric impulse of the poem or the meandering logic of the essay easily fits with the notions of doubt and not-knowing, the question lingers: what of fiction, the genre that is conventionally thought of as “plotted”? Should writers of fiction come to a story or narrative with a conceit or concern already crafted, or does writing through, around, and among the consciousnesses, characters, and languages of fiction reveal to these writers their ultimate uptake?

Cottages at the Atlantic Center for the Arts

On Writing Place: Coquinas and Paul Harding’s “Tinkers”

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In truth, there is probably no real “objectivity” in descriptions, because the minute we choose one word for another, we’ve already exercised a kind of bias. But relatively speaking, we can mimic the human experience by offering a version of alternating objectivity and subjectivity.

On Writing Place: Coquinas and Paul Harding’s “Tinkers” Read More »

In truth, there is probably no real “objectivity” in descriptions, because the minute we choose one word for another, we’ve already exercised a kind of bias. But relatively speaking, we can mimic the human experience by offering a version of alternating objectivity and subjectivity.

On Riding SideSaddle*: An Interview with Eric Suzanne

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“I’m more interested in challenging the broad belief that genre/form categories are solid or important. I consider this the first lesson of art history: there is no platonic form. No novel, or poem, or play (or woman, or white person, if we branch out of the arts). These categories exist as cultural reference points for better and worse, but the fences are arbitrary and constantly shifting.”

On Riding SideSaddle*: An Interview with Eric Suzanne Read More »

“I’m more interested in challenging the broad belief that genre/form categories are solid or important. I consider this the first lesson of art history: there is no platonic form. No novel, or poem, or play (or woman, or white person, if we branch out of the arts). These categories exist as cultural reference points for better and worse, but the fences are arbitrary and constantly shifting.”

The Love Hate, Joy Luck Club

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My mother tells me that if I want the novel I’m writing to be a bestseller in America, I should put in a couple of ghosts. Americans love ghosts, especially Chinese ghosts. I stammer back that I’m not selling out, and that I will never write about ghosts, Chinese or otherwise. “Remember the fortune cookies you used to get all the time?” she says. “They said, ‘Listen to your mother.’” “I only got that fortune three times,” I reply. “Three times in one year,” she says, wrapping up the conversation.

The Love Hate, Joy Luck Club Read More »

My mother tells me that if I want the novel I’m writing to be a bestseller in America, I should put in a couple of ghosts. Americans love ghosts, especially Chinese ghosts. I stammer back that I’m not selling out, and that I will never write about ghosts, Chinese or otherwise. “Remember the fortune cookies you used to get all the time?” she says. “They said, ‘Listen to your mother.’” “I only got that fortune three times,” I reply. “Three times in one year,” she says, wrapping up the conversation.

MQR 54:2 | Spring 2015

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Andrew D. Cohen tries going back to the Old Country, Laura Glen Louis sings—and meditates on—Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” Piotr Florczyk reviews the recent work of Jane Hirschfield, Mark Gustafson delineates the young Robert Bly in an unlikely gathering of his contemporaries in 1975.

Fiction from Ethan Chatagnier, Alison Hagy, Jane E. Martin, Matthew Pitt, and Debbie Urbanski.

Poetry from Jim Daniels, Martín Espada, Katie Hartsock, Dennis Hinrichsen, L. S. Klatt, Lance Larsen, Cintia Santana, and Diane Seuss.

MQR 54:2 | Spring 2015 Read More »

Andrew D. Cohen tries going back to the Old Country, Laura Glen Louis sings—and meditates on—Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” Piotr Florczyk reviews the recent work of Jane Hirschfield, Mark Gustafson delineates the young Robert Bly in an unlikely gathering of his contemporaries in 1975.

Fiction from Ethan Chatagnier, Alison Hagy, Jane E. Martin, Matthew Pitt, and Debbie Urbanski.

Poetry from Jim Daniels, Martín Espada, Katie Hartsock, Dennis Hinrichsen, L. S. Klatt, Lance Larsen, Cintia Santana, and Diane Seuss.

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