Tag: publication

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“Nathan” live in Longreads

After a time of few updates, owing to a heavy focus on teaching and raising my daughter, I have some writing news to report.

“Nathan” is live at Longreads. I could make the case that I began this essay in June 2009. The first actual draft came about in 2017. I submitted it to one contest, was a finalist, and then did not even look at it for the next 5 years. It wasn’t until the last year or so that I was able to revise it again and start submitting. Over a decade of thinking about it and it is still so fresh in my mind. I miss him a lot, but I’m grateful to share a little bit of him with the world.

Soon, I’ll have another link for everyone. I also have an essay (about being raised in a house of guns) coming out in Consequence Forum this month. I hope it contributes (constructively) to the dialogue we’re having about firearms.

The last update worth noting is that I will be returning to Vietnam at the end of the month with my father and younger brother in the hopes of completing everything we could not get to the first time around. All while the country is experiencing its worst heatwave on record.

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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.

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“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.

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Dole Institute Panel Discussion- “Marines Return to Vietnam”

John Musgrave at Con Thien, 2018

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.