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June 27, 2015
Can We Hear a Cell?
When asked recently about influences on my writing, I expounded on literary things. But the exercise also led me to think about questions I come across in my day job as a scientist.A former professor ...
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October 01, 2015
Self-Promotion Doesn’t Have to Suck: a Crash Course in Online Marketing
I have good news and bad news.The good news is, as a writer, you live in a time when easy, free marketing opportunities are available en masse these days.The bad news is that regardless of the number ...
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May 30, 2015
Lollipops
Last Saturday, on a beautiful, cloudy morning in Vancouver, I went for a run on the Seawall. It was no ordinary run, mind you, but day 20 of my 16-week marathon-training schedule. I was to run 14 miles: ...
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September 01, 2014
Hello, My Name Is Diane!
Well, no. It’s not. But this is what happens when I get nervous—the wrong words leave my mouth. I blurt statements I don’t believe. I say things that are incredibly, obviously erroneous and false. ...
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May 26, 2020
Writing and the Body.
As I sit at my desk and stare at this screen, I’m reminded of the impact of writing on my body. I recognize being able-bodied carries a tremendous amount of privilege, and there are many others with ...
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April 20, 2015
Otherwiseness: Thinking with José Muñoz and Lauren Berlant
About seven years ago, I wrote a series of terrible poems, each of which was trying to work out in my own head and writing how to think about “otherwise” as a process of perceiving and thinking. I ...
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March 30, 2014
If Not DRM, What Then? (Part III)
Just a last few words and thoughts on DRM.DRM Can WorkOne hallmark of the anti-DRM argument is that DRM doesn't and cannot work. Doctorow lays out the reasons in the first part of his talk to the Microsoft ...
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April 05, 2014
Fear of Flying
I gave a public performance the other night. It was supposed to be a reading from my recent novel, “The Outside World,” but I thought I’d sneak in a few poems from my “Invisible Dogs” as well. ...
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July 10, 2015
On Sports and Writing
Years ago, when applying to MFA Programs, I was asked for a personal essay about my writing and writing influences. Without a shred of irony I stated that my earliest literary influences were televangelists ...
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June 20, 2015
Bravery Through Bestsellers
In a recent cultural comment in The New Yorker, South African-born social anthropologist and writer Ceridwen Dovey investigates whether reading can make us happier. She describes a session with a bibliotherapist ...