Category: Bullish Notions

  • Junot Díaz and Literary Racism

    Junot Díaz and Literary Racism

    Many have heard about the writer Junot Díaz. He is, or was, in the literary world, a rock star, the Latino writer. The only Latino writer. And that’s where the racism begins. Quick summary: Junot’s career took off in The New Yorker, when they published his short stories. He won the Pulitzer a few years ago for his novel The Brief Wondrous […]

  • Are You a Writer? Make Sourdough Bread!

    Are You a Writer? Make Sourdough Bread!

    Here’s a little entertainment for your Thursday evening, as you head into the weekend. One great habit to pick up if you’re a writer is to make sourdough bread. Because baking sourdough takes a long time. You have to stay in the house to keep an eye on it. There are long, long periods of it rising, […]

  • Summer Reading Begins

    Summer Reading Begins

    The semester is over, the students are heading home, some are hanging around to graduate. It rained last night, and today the clouds reign. A wonderful morning to begin summer reading. I never know what I’m going to start with. I just wander around in the library until something grabs me. And this year, once […]

  • The Salvadoran, Hip-Hop, Mormon Voice of William Palomo

    The Salvadoran, Hip-Hop, Mormon Voice of William Palomo

    I was at the Associated Writing Programs conference in Tampa in March, where students and professor of creative writing gather for a weekend. I had a great time, because I was on the lookout for Latino writers, and I found them. And this young man was a true find! William Palomo is the son of […]

  • Ode to Instagram

    Ode to Instagram

    I stayed away from the thing for a long time. To me, it was just another waste of entire days, something that got in the way of reading poetry or having coffee with a real human being across the table. And, it is, or it can be. But, that’s a question of self-discipline. I stayed […]