Curated links.

Favorite Essays I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

• Migratory flights
• Off camera
• I remember Arthur (CONTENT WARNING: this essay deals with suicide and suicidal ideation)
• How we carry the weight of it (a moving story)
• Cairo song
• The forest clearing
• Just a normal girl, hiding from the building inspector
• A boat ride to the confluence of the two Niles
• Meeting Mumbai again after a life-changing loss

Favorite Flash Fictions I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

• Bigfoot’s daughter
• This isn’t about a lake house

Favorite Short Stories I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

• The wig
• Being the murdered pageant girl
• Francas street
• How to catch cherry blossoms
• Dublin, We were
• Sheetz
• Scale

Favorite Writing Advice I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

Octavia Butler’s advice on writing (which applies to all creative practice)

Favorite Sentences I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

“The turtle reminds me that I owe my small human life to the generosity of the more-than-human beings with whom we share this precious homeland.” The Turtle Mothers Have Come Ashore to Ask About an Unpaid Debt, The New York Times

“As far as I could see, I was exactly the same this year as I had been last year and the year before.” Three Stories, Lydia Davis

“Creating any kind of art out of thin air—a book, a painting, a script, a great letter—is a practice in patience, of opening yourself up fully to your idea and giving yourself grace when you try to derail it, over and over again, which all artists inevitably do.” Reentry from My Time Away and What It Taught Me, Amber Tamblyn

“I think you’re only not meant to be a writer if you decide you no longer want to write.” Becky Tuch, How do you get out of a writing corner?

“It’s dangerous, really, being so in love with someone you’ll never forget.” Some Things I Know About Elvis, Megan Kamalei Kakimoto

Favorite Paragraphs I Read in the Past Two Weeks:

“In my own marriage, I had tried to hone my debate skills—to remain calm and logical against our arguments’ maddening twists and redirections, but it never made a difference. Every fight ended with me bewildered and defeated. And with each defeat, I left another layer of my soul behind. How much more could I afford to lose before I lost myself?” –This Isn’t About A Lake House, Christina Howell

When I saw him years ago in that cellar, an unhappier man than the dying man at lunch, I wrote: “His presence was an admission that every truth is fragile, that every knowledge must be learned over and over again, every night, that we grow not in a straight line but in ascending and descending and tilting circles, and that what gives us power one year robs us of power the next, for nothing is settled, ever, for anyone.” Homage to a Sorcerer, The Sun

Etcetera

• How to prepare for a difficult conversation
• A lovely poem
• Librarians on the front lines
• 7 cozy mysteries to curl up with
• Colorism in higher education
• This is New York in the not-so-distant future
• 9 spooky literary short story collections
• 7 craft books to help you become a better writer