Oh fuck. I’m turning 50. Beginning with the expletive that seems most fitting for the occasion, I begin this project of reflecting on just what this whole thing means to me, how it feels, how I’m coping, if I’m coping, what might be learned as I crest the top of the hill and begin to danceContinue reading “I’m Turning 50!”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
School House Rock ‘n’ Sock
Almost two months ago now, in the throes and excitement and the optimism of a new school year, I found myself writing with my students and posting the results as blog entries here on the Michael Jarmer blog page. I was a happy camper then. Those were truly salad days in September. Fast forward toContinue reading “School House Rock ‘n’ Sock”
#140: I Was Raised By. . .
Another mentor text, this time the one we used with our freshmen, to inspire poetry about who or what we credit for “raising” us. The wonderful thing about using a mentor text, learning explicitly the moves of a writer we admire, is that all the 14 year olds end up writing these lively, effective poems.Continue reading “#140: I Was Raised By. . .”
#139: Another Random Autobiography
We’re kicking off the school year by introducing to students this lovely thing we call a “mentor text.” We look closely at a piece of good writing, observe its various moves and strategies, and then write our own piece of good writing inspired by the mentor text, mimicking as best we can the moves ofContinue reading “#139: Another Random Autobiography”
Radio Silence (An Interview)
It’s been quiet around here on the Michael Jarmer blog. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Don’t think I haven’t wondered what had become of that guy who was wont to be so prolific with his blogging. Don’t think I haven’t worried about him just a bit. Well, me and this Michael Jarmer guy happen toContinue reading “Radio Silence (An Interview)”
The Post Writer’s Camp Blah Blah Blahs: How to Deal
Of course I was happy to be home. Of course I missed my family and was immensely glad to see them. Of course I didn’t miss that ugly, tiny, springy, single dorm mattress and that sweltering dorm room. Of course it was good to sleep in my own bed on the second night home,Continue reading “The Post Writer’s Camp Blah Blah Blahs: How to Deal”
Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: A Wally By Any Other Name
I’ve never understood how graduates from the MFA in Creative Writing program at Warren Wilson College came to refer to themselves as Wallies. It turns out to be an ancient practice, going back all the way to the year the program moved to Warren Wilson from Goddard College in 1981. I’ve done a little researchContinue reading “Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: A Wally By Any Other Name”
Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: A Room Of One’s Own With A View
I offer up a rumination about rooms, on this 5th day of Writer’s Camp for Wallies. In the best of all possible worlds, if one is a writer, one needs a room of one’s own, but it would also be fine if it provided a view, a good view, of something either internally interesting or externally,Continue reading “Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: A Room Of One’s Own With A View”
Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: Tropical Flesh Mandala
I slept for seven hours cuddled up with my tiny electric fan–literally. I thought maybe I’d roll over in the middle of the night and knock it off the mattress, or, worse, dreaming that I was snuggling with this machine, I might wake up with my hair caught in the fan blades. No, it was safeContinue reading “Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: Tropical Flesh Mandala”
Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: That Whole Sleeping Thing
It may just be, for now, that I’m in the wrong zone. On the first night, I was exhausted when I arrived finally in South Hadley from clear across the country there in Portland, Oregon, but I was too excited to go to bed early; I slept fine, but I just didn’t sleep enough. OnContinue reading “Dispatches From Writer’s Camp: That Whole Sleeping Thing”
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