From the Editor Struggling to explain American democracy to a visitor With something of a literary apology to Garrison Keillor … It was anything but a quiet week in Lake Woebegone, aka These dis-United States, as we headed into the nation’s 246th… July 5, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski The vital scramble after news that will reverberate forward Just when I think the dominant news of the day is too big to be pushed aside, it is eclipsed by other news. I was working through an early draft… June 28, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski What to do when words fail you Sometimes the words just don’t work. I don’t mean they don’t come together easily or work well or string together in pretty rhythms. Those are annoyances we seldom get to… June 13, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski When gun violence visits: Previous work to guide your stories After 19 students and two teachers were gunned down in a classroom in Uvalde, Texas, the chorus rose: “Enough!” It came with a sad refrain: “It will happen again.”And it… June 6, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Eternal pain, intractable politics and public detachment How much difference does three days make?Too much, at least when it comes to our gnat-like attention span. Three days is the time it takes for the public to shift… May 31, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Packing a punch in a few words If you want to see some creative short-form storytelling, you can skip right past Twitter and TikTok and head straight to the news. Newspapers, news sites, TV news — any… May 16, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski The U.S. Supreme Court leak: Resisting the erasure of human rights A friend came to the house on a recent evening with all he needed in his grocery tote. He took over my kitchen and let me chatter as he made… May 11, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Book bans: An assault on knowledge During summers of my childhood, a highlight was the twice-monthly visit by the bookmobile. Our small village had no formal public library at the time — we weren’t blessed with… April 25, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Word play: when clarity and creativity merge One of my engineer brothers often pesters me about the thicket that is the English language. Silent or paired letters that defy logic: psychic, knave, climb. Words that have letters… April 18, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Keeping faith in the face of unlearning A few days ago, I caught a Lyft to Sea-Tac Airport from my home in Seattle. The driver was originally from Eritrea, as are many of the taxi and share… April 11, 2022 Jacqui Banaszynski Previous 1 … 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 … 15 Next
