Randon Billings Noble has a view of writing that is at once both practical and romantic. Noble The fusion of those two outlooks, Noble said, is the key for how young writers can dodge the
Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s debut novel sits perfectly at the intersection of technology, race and satire. “Technology has been both a boon for our society and also, in some ways, one of the accelerants that have
History cannot be erased. It cannot be changed. It is immutable. But when it comes to erecting statues of problematic historical figures, Petina Gappah said, “we are who we honor.” Gappah, whose book, Out of
Maybe you get your newspaper delivered, or your pizza, or maybe you use apps like GrubHub and Doordash to get your favorite foods delivered straight to your doorstep. Svalina Thanks to Mathias Svalina, there’s now
To say that writing a Chautauqua Prize-winning historical novel like Out of Darkness, Shining Light takes a lot of research is an almost laughable understatement — it took 21 years for author Petina Gappah to
For Week Seven, it’s Mathias Svalina’s goal to have workshop and lecture attendees think about how they can “build a poetics out of the commonplace, or the personal non-poetic senses of mastery.” “Rather than a
How do authors describe a scene, setting or person without shattering the illusion of the story for its reader? Plum It’s a problem every fiction genre addresses differently, and one that has no single correct
He might be a novelist and expert in Medieval English literature now, but the truth is that Bruce Holsinger began his storied academic career by studying the clarinet. “I was a music major in college,
Chautauqua Residents Celebrated Smith Memorial Library’s 87th Birthday With A Kazoo Chorale On Thursday, August 2, 2018 Outside Of Smith Memorial Library. HALDAN KIRSCH/DAILY FILE PHOTO Grab your coffee, your toaster strudels and your kazoos,
RILEY ROBINSON/CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION Though its customary parade to and from the Hall of Philosophy may be absent, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle’s Recognition Day will carry on anyways, bringing the pomp and circumstance of
In 2016, instances of racial and religious bigotry were on the rise across the United States. Wertheimer Fast-forward to 2020, and though our country is still polarized by hate, Linda K. Wertheimer said, she believes
Persistence. In short, that’s what Allison Joseph wants to instill in her virtual lecture audience: persistence in writing, despite any and all of the obstacles blocking your path. Joseph “Those challenges can be having lost
Like many people right now, Allison Joseph has found herself on the cusp of a former life and a current life. “Here we are, in the midst of this terrible global pandemic that has taken
For 10 years, Joseph Earl Thomas has been working on his memoir. Thomas Though yet unpublished, Reality Marble begins with a scene from Thomas’ early childhood — in it, he’s scribbling drawings of sea monsters,
During her tenure as the Chautauqua Writers’ Center’s Week Five prose writer-in-residence, Charlotte Matthews said she’ll be asking writers and virtual lecture attendees a question: “What can we find around us?” Matthews “More specifically, what
Picture this: There’s a house in sun-baked Riverside, California, with a porch and two brown wicker chairs out front. It’s 90 degrees out. Maybe there’s a breeze. Straight In one of the chairs sits Susan