Single Essays

Reflections on “Glaciology,” by Lia Purpura

6 June 2024

Kate C, after reading my latest essay, directed me to this essay.

It is a lovely piece for writing, and on I can learn from. Looking more closely, I see this essay won the Pushcart Prize. You can find it here: https://agnionline.bu.edu/essay/glaciology And there is more by her — at least in the same place this was published — that you can find at https://agnionline.bu.edu/about/our-people/authors/lia-purpura/

It was as if after the big event of snowfall we’d forgotten there was more, still, to be said. A cache of loose details below to attend. A trove poised. A stealth gathering.

Deposition below the singular-seeming white cover.
—Lia Purpura, Glaciology

Reflections on Nine Drafts of an Essay

7 March 2024

This evening I had a productive discussion about the process of developing an essay. I was allowed to look through a series of drafts the led to a just-published essay, and discuss the author’s process with the author. Although different people obviously have different processes, it was a great exercise.