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.
Tag: writing
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.
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/
An Iceland Writers Retreat Post
If I’m being totally honest, I certainly didn’t expect the most memorable experiences of my Iceland Writers Retreat to occur indoors. In my defense, the reasoning seemed obvious at the time — it’s the “I” of IWR — but I still hesitate to admit it now. I was so impressed with the sharp minds and incredible writers at IWR that I don’t want to embody the quip, so often misattributed to Twain, about what happens when fools open their mouths. And yet, here we are.
The promise of the Icelandic landscape initially drew me in. In part, this can be attributed to the total dearth of photographs of hotel conference rooms in Iceland’s tourism adverts. Though, probably more of it has to do with the fact that I am only semi-domesticated. That I feel so much more myself with grass underfoot and foliage overhead in place of carpet and fluorescents. I’m happy to say that this part of me was not left wanting as we traveled the Golden Circle on my first day of the retreat. From Geysir to Gullfoss and Thingvellir, my eyes (and camera) feasted. And then, each clear night thereafter, I got to watch the northern lights dance until my toes threatened to secede from my feet…Read the full post.
It has been an active 2019. Mostly from the “life” standpoint. On the writing front, the only thing worth reporting is that I’m preparing to move my desk halfway across the country.
Above is a little teaser for a small retrospective post about my excellent time at Icelandwritersretreat.com with a couple of my photos for good measure. Check it out.
January Events
And so begins a new year. This household rang in the event by working on various Powerpoints or story drafts until about 10 PM and then headed to bed like the responsible adults we pretend to be in front of our parents’ friends. (I was still reading by the time the totally unnecessary fireworks went off. So, you know, I’m not a total square…)
This month is a busy one. My show, Convergence: Challenging Anthropocentrism opens on the 4th. Details for the reception can be found at Convergence: Opening. If you’re in the neighborhood for Tulsa’s First Friday, come on down and chat me and my co-curator up. For those that can’t make it, the exhibition will be up all month long. There will also be some cool programming after MLK Day. Such as:
Animal People— Lecture I will give a lecture on how my work with apes, and my education by animals, led me to writing. Science just couldn’t encompass all the truths I found in nature.
HumanNature— Photography and Writing Workshop For those who would like a more active event, I’ll also be leading a workshop wherein we explore the urban landscape and the ways nature rebels against our efforts to exile it from our human centers. Through photography, we will train presence, which will then be used to generate short written pieces questioning the human/nature binary.
Mural Design and Creation— Yatika Starr Fields My co-curator, Yatika, will be leading a mural workshop throughout the week. He, along with participants, will create a permanent mural exploring the themes of the show. Join in on this collaborative work and leave a (literal) lasting mark on the McKeon Center for Creativity.
The Development of Complex Tool Use Among Chimpanzees— Lastly, perhaps the real treat of the whole month, join us for a lecture with the smart, incredible, illustrious, beautiful, [superlative] [superlative] [superlative] Stephanie Musgrave to discuss her research on the development and transmission of chimpanzee tool use in Central Africa. I’m biased but I can’t recommend enough letting this woman learn you something.
In which I do a Q&A with the IWR
In preparation for my April trip to the Iceland Writers Retreat, they’ve given me the Q&A treatment over at IcelandWritersRetreat.com. From this, you may learn such incredible tidbits as:
- What drew me to the retreat and my (very minor) advice for future applicants.
- A little peak into my writerly journey and interests.
- Implicit guidance on how to succeed when you’ve only taken two college level English courses.
- How complicated I can make a fairly straightforward question.
- The milage I can get out of a single professional author photo.
- How many clauses I can fit into a single sentence.
- And much much more…
- (Much much more not guaranteed.)
Dan Musgrave 