Category Archives: fiction

Storming Heaven’s Gate

Posted on May 16, 2011 by

No, I’m not talking about the cult. This is the title of an anthology of spiritual writings by women, what I’m reading right now before I go to sleep. In my waking and dreaming life, I am circling around this … Continue reading →

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Guilt for Everyone! The Brothers Karamazov

Posted on May 9, 2011 by

This is the first in a series of posts of the critical papers I’m writing for the low-residency MFA program at Seattle Pacific University.  Since this part of the work– the task of reading and reflection– is so similar to … Continue reading →

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Par Lagerkvist’s Barabbas

Posted on February 2, 2011 by

Swedish poet and writer Par Fabian Lagerkvist’s novel Barabbas was published in 1950. The next year, Lagerkvist won the Nobel Prize, “for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers … Continue reading →

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Story Time: Pilgrim’s Progress, illustrated by Barry Moser

Posted on January 19, 2011 by

“In the fields just below a small house, a man walked slowly, bent over by the weight of the great pack heaped up over his back and shoulders. The breath of the wind pushed the wheatheads in ripples around him, … Continue reading →

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Waking up ordinary, or The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel

Posted on January 11, 2011 by

Sundial Snail, from the island of Espiritu Santo I think more than I probably should about what it means to live an “ordinary life.”  What makes one life ordinary, and another extraordinary? Doesn’t everyone, from the hippopotamus to the garden … Continue reading →

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Fall Catchall Catch-up: Part 1

Posted on October 1, 2010 by

Some of you have been asking when the next Instant Librarian post would be up, since I seem to have dropped off the radar screen in September– one little post! I’ve still been busy reading and writing, but also busy … Continue reading →

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Marilynne Robinson: Home & Gilead

Posted on September 14, 2010 by

Gilead has been my favorite book since I read it in 2006, and one of the very few novels I’ve read several times. (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Jane Eyre, and Siddhartha are all that come to mind.) Gilead touched me … Continue reading →

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Summer Reading Summary

Posted on August 7, 2010 by

It was early July, a late blue evening. Sitting in my room with a candle, watching the moon rise, I was filling up on a rare moment of peace in our busy southeast neighborhood. It was almost 10:00 and light … Continue reading →

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Review of The Lathe of Heaven

Posted on July 21, 2010 by

from Propeller Quarterly “And then I woke up,” is not an original ending to a story, but it is, perhaps, an interesting beginning. The borderlands of sleep and waking have long captivated the literary imagination, but have been especially appropriate … Continue reading →

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Dear Muriel Spark: On the Novels, Volume 1

Posted on June 23, 2010 by

Dear Ms  Spark, I realize you are no longer living, but that’s no reason for me to rudely withhold a fan letter.  I’ve just finished the first volume of your collected novels, and I’m floored. You kept me entertained for … Continue reading →

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