Category: Blog Post
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The Distance Between Brooklyn and Long Island
By Kayley Shanks The world was first introduced to Eilis Lacey in Colm Toibin’s novel, Brooklyn. Eilis was a young woman living in Ireland during the 1950’s who, due to the lack of prospects for her future there, was urged to emigrate to Brooklyn. There she met Tony Fiorello, a young Italian native, and they…
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The Shining: King’s or Kubrick’s?
by Kayley Shanks Have you ever anxiously anticipated the film adaptation of your favorite novel, only to be alarmingly disappointed when it came out? Do you refuse to watch the movie before the book? Adaptation has taken on a strange twist of artistic license and opinion among viewers, in a way that is very interesting. …
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Setting the Tone: How Music Enhances the Writing Process
By Nayeli Roldan Music has an extraordinary power to evoke emotions, create atmospheres, and even influence our thoughts. For writers, harnessing this power can transform the writing process, helping to set the tone for their narratives and enhance the creative flow. Whether it’s the backdrop for a gripping scene or a catalyst for a character’s…
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Exorcism Through Writing
By Ethan Luce Content Warning for Suicide Many writers have an emotion they wish to exorcize. And many feel suffering can only improve art. But is that true? Vincent van Gogh was a tormented man, but one of the greatest artists of our time. The Bell Jar was an instant best seller, inspired by the…
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BookTube and BookTok: How Online Book Communities Have Changed the Landscape of Reading
By Sydney Maria People online can garner thousands—even millions (especially on TikTok)—of views for talking about books. As someone who has spent years getting recommendations from other readers online, I understand the appeal of watching videos about books. It was one of the things that propelled my love of reading as a young teen, and…
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Godzilla Returning to His Roots
By Alira Cohen Monsters are important. You might laugh at this statement, but it’s true. I first realized this when I was eight years old watching the 1956 American cut of Ishiro Honda’s “Gojira,” a cautionary tale about nuclear war. In spite of the American cut’s obvious efforts to soften the blow of the message…
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Virginia and Vita: Star-Crossed Lovers in Literature
By Kay Mancino Have you ever read a book by Virginia Woolf? Your professor may have handed you a copy of The Waves and asked you to write a five-page paper. Maybe you stumbled across Mrs. Dalloway in your hometown library and decided to pick it up. Perhaps you watched the film Orlando because you…
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On Commonplace Poetry
By Cydni Thompson “Full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths, tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.” Gwendolyn Brooks, “The Bean Eaters” What defines the average life is a series of routines, mundanities, and commonplace objects. What life does not include a phone, a bed, a faucet, a blanket, a house; the filth that…
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Historical Fiction: Writing What You Don’t Know
By Rachel Garrison Sometimes it’s because of an assignment, and at other times it’s a wandering fascination, a slight pull, a spark from a corner of your heart: to write about what you do not yet know. The question is how? As young writers, we are taught in high school to write what we know…
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Writing the Memory of the Never-Happened
By Kirry Kaufer Many writers are daunted by poetry. I used to be one of these writers, too. I used to think poems had to be vulnerable and confessional. However, poetry is different from nonfiction. In a poem, writers can dramatize their memories while remaining true to the authenticity of their experiences. As the poet…
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