Challenge
Tracking the Pioneer of New Victorianism
Unravelling the mysteries of the early literary history and contributions of the foundational author of the now dominant movement New Victorianism, whose book If I May: Minding One's Manners--the Essentials of Behaving as a Gentleman or Lady in the Late Twenty-First Century, On Earth, the Moon, or Mars, unquestionably the greatest force in the literary mainstream of the twenty-first century, has proven to be a task too vexatious and fraught with controversy for the editors and reviewers of the New Churchillian to agree on. Accordingly it has been decided that we will offer a divided opinion, appropriately, we think, in the fashion that, at one time, long, long ago, the United States Supreme Court reported some of its findings.
By Paul A. Merkley3 months ago in Writers
Why him?. Honorable Mention in The Posthumous Author Challenge.
From the Canadian Authors’ Encyclopedia: In the annals of literary achievement, there may be nothing to compare to the career of Kendall August Defoe ( OC, OM, GG, Nobel? ). I add the question mark to this description because of recent news regarding the procedures of the Nobel Committee and the politics therein, but it is, surprisingly, the least interesting thing about this particular entry.
By Kendall Defoe 3 months ago in Writers
The Account Remains
The opening line, “It’s not my job or my commission to make you feel at ease when you turn the page in my ledger,” carries an implied message beneath the literal wording. If the person behind the ledger likely carried an attitude of “fuck you,” that meaning would exist as a hidden emotional layer rather than a spoken phrase. The poem begins with distance, refusal, and a rejection of responsibility for another person’s comfort.
By Tim Carmichael3 months ago in Writers
Explicating with Expletives . Content Warning.
Paul Stewart’s poem, Ledger , is essentially a triple-dog-dare on the page. It opens with a fuck you manifesto before it intentionally destabilizes language and meaning, employing Cummingsesque experimentation with punctuation, line breaks, and the visual flow on the page without descending into gimmick a la Herbert, or, God forbid, acrostics.
By Harper Lewis 3 months ago in Writers
Maybe Later, Nope NOW!
Alicia Anspaugh was primarily a fiction writer who achieved mild success in the 21st century. While she has been dead for over 235 years, her influence stays on in her style, subject matter, and some of the factual information that was a hallmark of her writings.
By Alicia Anspaugh3 months ago in Writers
‘What am I?’ Unofficial Challenge Results
For those of you who are new here, the ‘What am I?’ Challenge is about creating a new creature and telling us about them in the form of a story or poem. You can read all about the challenge (prompt, rules, etc.) here in my original post.
By Leslie Writes3 months ago in Writers
The Re-Appraisal of Rachel Robbins. Winner in The Posthumous Author Challenge.
Her image is inescapable. It adorns notebooks, handbags, coasters, pine framed posters in coffee shops and boxes of tampons. Her trademark red hair and mid- 20th century style graces our social media pages and aspirational lifestyle articles. We are saturated with close ups of her brown eyes giving that off-kilter stare that suggests an astigmatism. Yet, there was a time when Rachel Robbins was an unsung, little known writer. Her work may well have faded into obscurity had it not been brought back to life by her great-great-niece as part of her college history project.
By Rachel Robbins3 months ago in Writers
A Woman Built From Words
Megan Janousek has been dead for nearly forty years, which means we have had plenty of time to decide who she was. We have called her a prairie writer, a feminist writer, a working-class writer and, for a particularly popular stretch of literary criticism, an angry rural housewife. Her marriage has been examined, her motherhood discussed, and the roads appearing throughout her work mapped across western Kansas. Scholars have counted how often her female characters look out windows and searched her fictional men for traces of her husband.
By Megan Janousek3 months ago in Writers
Dear John: literary breakup letter challenge
This is my second third post about this challenge, which is to write a letter breaking up with a literary character. You may take the point of view of another character, real or of your own creation; there’s no wrong way to do this. You may choose anything from a nursery rhyme to a poem to a play to an opera to a short story—you get the picture: any genre.
By Harper Lewis 3 months ago in Writers
