In Praise of Writing Critique Groups

How the Moon Regained Her ShapeI joined my first critique group for writers when I lived in Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s. I had met the other members of my group when we all co-edited the literary journal Primavera. We did not have time during our editorial staff meetings to discuss one another’s creative writing. So five of us started a monthly evening workshop just for our own work. These meetings motivated us to do at least some new writing every month. We gave constructive feedback to everyone, which we found helpful and encouraging. (more…)

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A Good Story about Frustrated Love

Last Sunday, I watched PBS’s The Song of Lunch on Masterpiece Theatre. This drama focuses on a reunion of two former lovers, who meet for lunch in an Italian restaurant fifteen years after their affair has ended. Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson play the two central un-named characters. This drama is based on Christopher Reid’s narrative poem. Rickman’s sonorous voice captures the poetic inner monologue and the frustration of the central character, a middle-aged man who resembles T. S. Eliot’s Prufrock in his inability to achieve what he wants. (more…)

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