My latest essay, about a little nothing marital spat and the way it sent me full on relativistic, is now live at Ruminate’s website. It is featured along with other wonderful work related to the theme of “Regeneration”. If you detest screens, there’s good news and bad news. Bad news is you’re already using a screen so you may as well head over and give those good folks some views. Good news is this essay will also be included in a DOUBLE-STUFFED print issue that you can pre-order now. So double the content, a physical object you can put on your coffee table, the admiration and respect of your guests, and you also get to support a good lit mag. A win-win, win-win all the way around.
New Essay coming in Ruminate’s next issue
I have an essay coming out in the newest issue of Ruminate Magazine. Pre-orders are live and go a long way to supporting this excellent journal. You can find it at Ruminate Issue 63/64 orders. It’s a double issue, so you’re going to get your fill of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on the theme of Regeneration.
My essay, “In the Petrified Forest”, details a nothing fight my wife and I got into on a roadtrip through the Southwest. I do manage to dive millions of years into the past in the exploration of this totally insignificant and forgettably momentary disagreement.
“So I said I floss” live at The Razor
I have a short (just couldn’t get it down to flash-sized) fiction piece about a dental cleaning of the soul. If you enjoy cringing, please give it a look. You can find it here: https://therazormag.com/articles/so-i-said-i-floss/.
The Razor was great to work with, as they paired this little weirdness with original art (which was exactly what I envisioned it would be) and a professionally read audio version of the story. It was quite a trip to hear someone else read my work especially in something where I was very voice driven and was “hearing” the story the entire time I was drafting it.
“Secondhand” is Pushcart Nominated
Humbled and grateful to announce that “Secondhand” has been selected by New Letters as a Pushcart Prize Nominee. I am so happy this little essay got a chance. The support of Christie Hodgen, Ashley Wann, and the rest of the editorial team was invaluable throughout the process.
To read my essay and the other nominees from this fine journal, check out NewLetters.org.
“Secondhand” in New Letters
As noted in earlier posts, my essay, “Secondhand,” was recently published in New Letters. Since publication in the print journal, we’ve worked together to make the full text available online. You can now read the essay here: Secondhand. It was important to me that this piece, in particular, be made as easily accessible as possible.
Additionally, as a follow-up to the essay, New Letters has a Special Feature wherein I answer some questions elaborating on the context and craft of the piece. It also includes some of my photography from our return trip to Vietnam with my father, John Musgrave. The feature can be found here: Getting Ahold of the Heart.
Lastly, in not-my-writing-news, my father’s memoir is now available for preorder. I recommend it for a whole host of reasons, perhaps most of all because it’s a really good book that has important things to tell us all about war and the costs we pay to wage it. The Education of Corporal John Musgrave.
Dole Institute Program– Youtube link
Thank you to all who tuned in live to view the program “Marines Return to Vietnam” via the Dole Institute of Politics. Given 2020, and my father’s allergic reaction to modern technology, this was the first time I got to ‘see’ my father since December (2019).
For anyone who may have missed the program or who wants to view it again and/or share it with others, the Dole Institute has created a permanent recording of it on their Youtube channel. I have embedded the video below or you can visit the link directly at: Marines Return to Vietnam (on Youtube).
As always, if you would like to read more about John Musgrave, get updates about his upcoming memoir (third quarter 2021), or contact him, visit his personal site at JohnMusgraveVeteran.com.
Dole Institute Panel Discussion- “Marines Return to Vietnam”
This Thursday, Sept 10, I’ll be part of a panel discussion about the trip I took with my father, John Musgrave, for his first return to Vietnam in over 50 years. The program can be accessed and watched live at 3:00 CST via the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at KU. It will also be made available via their Youtube Channel to view asynchronously. Though the talk will be moderated, we’ll also be taking questions from the live-stream. I don’t anticipate speaking much, but a selection of my photographs from the trip will be part of the presentation.
The talk is well timed, as I have a short narrative nonfiction piece coming out in the Summer 2020 Issue of New Letters (arriving soon). The piece, “Secondhand,” is about the ways being raised by a combat veteran influenced me both explicitly and subconsciously. It focuses on three periods of my life when the interaction between his past and my future felt most tangible. And, perhaps also, most dire.
If you get a chance, stop by the stream and ask a question. I assure you you will not be disappointed, though you may experience deep emotions.
New Site Section- Ape Resources
For this site, I’ve tried to keep my writing and primatology lives distinct except where they overlap in my prose. However, every so often I get a heavy dose of brand new visitors who have stumbled on one of my stories (usually ape-related) out in the wild.
“No Machine“ just led a flood of new visitors here over the past 48 hours. While I might be a little too late to catch that particular wave, I want to ensure that this site is ready for any future ones. It’s a fault of mine that I have not been confident enough in my writing to believe that it would resonate with so wide an audience for so long after its publication date. But here we are, years after I sent that little story into the world, and people are still reading and sharing. I’m encouraged and inspired by my readers who continue to gift me their time and attention.
But my writing is just one step. If you’re inclined, I invite you to take another (or two) with me. I have created a separate page of this site where you can, if moved, find worthy primatological organizations to support. If you enjoyed my story— any of them— and are interested in the nonhuman people I describe, or just apes in general, please visit the Ape Resources tab of this site. The apes and animals I write about deserve every ounce of support I can send their way.
To the readers: Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. Continue to do good and be well.
New Essay Forthcoming…
Some time ago– perhaps an embarrassing amount– I mentioned I was preparing to move my desk half-way across the country. Well, mission accomplished. The side-effects of this (new job, new environment, new pandemic, etc) didn’t exactly spur my writing efforts.
That said…
I am happy to announce that I have a new essay forthcoming in New Letters literary journal. While the publication date isn’t set in stone yet, the current hope is the September 2020 issue.
This piece consolidates a lot of my thinking since visiting Vietnam with my father. I am still at work on drafting these thoughts and more into a book-length project in collaboration with my father. My hope is that it could become a supplement– sequel is the wrong word– to his upcoming memoir (coming in early 2021 if things stay as planned, so be on the lookout).
Hope you are all hanging in there. Be well. Do good.
UMSL Alumni Spotlight
Sandwiched between a 48-hr form rejection and a 328 day form rejection, this little alumni spotlight came out from one of my various Alma Maters. When I noted the context of its publication on Social Media, sort of half humble-bragging my butt off, they threw my own words right back at me.
“That’s part of the game. If I could give any young writers advice, I’d say, ‘Just dive in, just do it, take your lumps.'”
I stand by that quote and also all my lumps. Do as I say AND as I do. Shoot your shot, writers. Always.
To see the full piece and hear about some of my new goings ons, check it out here: https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2019/07/29/dan-musgrave/
Dan Musgrave 