Tag: long river

10 Examples of Why Rappers are among the Best Writers of the 21st Century

By: Sten Spinella

March 5, 2017

Last year, one of my blog posts for the Long River Review claimed that hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar is America’s leading public intellectual. In sports journalism terms, that would be called an “electric” or “hot” take. Continuing in that direction this year, I’d like to posit a deeply held conviction of mine: rappers are some… More 10 Examples of Why Rappers are among the Best Writers of the 21st Century By: Sten Spinella

The Sputter: The Monster Under Every Writer’s Bed (and how you can fight it)

By: Amanda McCarthy

March 3, 2017

It is nine-thirty on a Monday night. Usually, you’re not a last-minute-poet. But tonight, your midnight deadline is drowning under pages and pages of beginning lines that, at this point, sound more like the humming of a garbage disposal than poetry. You do really well under pressure, so generally this shouldn’t be that big of… More The Sputter: The Monster Under Every Writer’s Bed (and how you can fight it) By: Amanda McCarthy

Becoming the Writer That I’ve Always Been

By: Julia Alexander

March 1, 2017

Ever since I could read and write, I have been infatuated with storytelling. I remember the desk in my childhood bedroom overflowing with half-filled notebooks and the scraps of torn out pages. My handwriting, barely legible to anyone but myself, was scrawled across papers that were stalked high like mountains. My older sister, always vigilant,… More Becoming the Writer That I’ve Always Been By: Julia Alexander

How to Surive an Attack from an Ex-M15 Agent: Eleven Steps to Getting the Most out of Your Writing Workshop

By: Jameson Croteau

February 27, 2017

Someone told me— right before my transatlantic flight—that Englishmen hate confrontation. Flash forward to my writing internship in London and I have an ex-MI5 agent, veins popping purple through the Skype window on my 16-inch laptop screen, about to burst from my criticism of his second to-be-published novel. His vitriol, hardly avoiding curses, were being… More How to Surive an Attack from an Ex-M15 Agent: Eleven Steps to Getting the Most out of Your Writing Workshop By: Jameson Croteau

When is a Good Time to Stop Writing? Spoiler Alert: Probably Never.

By Emily Catenzaro

February 20, 2017

On the subject of perseverance in writing, a question that may linger in many writers’ minds is: what is the correct timetable for getting published? If your goal is to publish a book of prose or poetry, sell a screenplay, or land a job at a prominent periodical, you may have already asked yourself this… More When is a Good Time to Stop Writing? Spoiler Alert: Probably Never. By Emily Catenzaro

How to Read a Book (in Case You Didn’t Know)

By Sabrina O’Brien

February 19, 2017

People often find that I am the most unconventional of English majors. No, I don’t write a lot; no I don’t read novels in a day; no I don’t like Hemingway (which is a comment that has earned me many looks from my fellow students); if you want a story about the American dream, I’m… More How to Read a Book (in Case You Didn’t Know) By Sabrina O’Brien

My Inconsistent Affair with Literature

By: Parker Gregory Shpak

February 14, 2017

My relationship with literature has been inconsistent at best. As much as I would like to pass myself off as the prodigal son of the modern literati, heralding the return of the writer-artist to the public eye, it would be dishonest to posture as anything resembling that figure. When I was young, however, I was… More My Inconsistent Affair with Literature By: Parker Gregory Shpak