The Weekly Atticus (03/16/2019)

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

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As a college writing teacher, I have to create assignment guidelines for students’ papers. I tend to have them write about their own interests and experiences, but also force them to extrapolate and expand on it in different ways. They get to write about what they love and know well, but now they have to make it matter for the reader, too.This is not new—we writers have our personal obsessions, and we spend our lives trying to make that personal universal.By permitting my students to indulge in their obsession, my hope is that it takes the pressure off creating content, and they will be more free to explore it, to ask questions, and to look outside themselves.I know with myself, my zeal to write an “original” story gets me stuck trying to come up with characters and settings out of thin air. I have to pull back and tell myself, in my teacher voice, it’s less about the “whats” and “whos” and more about the “hows” and the “whys.”  In those moments, coming back to what I know best is more exciting and productive than wandering in creative darkness.We often talk about the spaces that are conducive to our writing. The Room of One’s Own, yes. But there is also creating the figurative space on the page—the conditions that let the words flow. Maybe you do write about the same thing over and over. Maybe you’re even writing after, or paying homage to, another work you adore. But each time, your obsession has to matter for the reader. What questions will you ask? How will you look at this familiar thing (to you)  and give it  a fresh, new perspective?For my students, they’re usually first trying to write for me (to get the A, of course). I tell them: Look, you’re writing about something only you know. I have no idea what it is, so I have to believe you. I have to trust you. The only way I’m going to care about it is if you can show me why you care about it on the page.Speaking of on the page, this weekend is the final weekend to get us your Poetry Contest Submissions!Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.Aditya DesaiBook Reviews Editor 

ATTICUS NEWS

FINAL WEEKEND! After you finish that Guinness on Sunday,send us a poem about how it made you feel. It couldbe worth $400 and International Fame.SUBMIT YOUR POETRY NOW!

Our Print Annual, Volume 2 just came back from the printerand it looks great!Use code PREORDER2 at checkout for 25% discount.

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

INTERVIEW:THE SEARCH FOR APPEALING INCONGRUITYCat Delett did the cover art for our Print Annual, Volume 2. We sat down with her to discuss her art."What we show the world is not always our full self — sometimes we only show the parts which are acceptable to society, friends, family and keep the other parts hidden. My paintings are about both the hidden and revealed stories and how they intersect or collide."READ THE INTERVIEW

FICTION: WHAT THE UNICORNS SAWby Helen Rye"We found the unicorn in a backstreet behind the Walmart. It was stretched out nose-to-tail along a north-south alignment, like the others we’d been finding lately, its horn a compass point."READ ON

POETRY: A DELICACY OF ADDERby Samuel Prince"Blondie the Retriever confirms you exist,with a squeal from the hillside as he pawsat your fiefdom of heather. The cub scoutcamp fixing a tightrope between trees..."READ ON

CNF: PLUTOby Anna Chotlos"The solar system poster on the classroom wall pictures eight planets and an asteroid belt orbiting the Sun in tidy concentric circles. The second-grader sticks the former ninth planet on his shirt... "READ ON

FILM: HISS AND CRACKLE: THE BEAUTY OF THE OBSOLETEA Review of Josh Appignanesi’s FEMALE HUMAN ANIMAL by Brad Avery @BradAvery_"...[the film] vibrates with the crackle and hiss of an obsolete medium — an extra lens that grounds the action on screen in a state of unreality."READ ON

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