Category Archives: writing

National Novel Writing Month

Posted on October 5, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I wish Jon Hassler were still alive. That’s all I can think of these past few days as I’ve been rereading North of Hope, my favorite of his novels. Hassler lived in Minnesota his whole life, and taught at Saint … Continue reading →

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The Art of The Saint John’s Bible– complete!

Posted on October 2, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I believe one of the very highest highlights of my writing life so far has been to open a book that I wrote (published last week), The Art of The Saint John’s Bible: The Complete Reader’s Guide, and read this … Continue reading →

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Eating the Garden

Posted on September 26, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I am not a big garden journal keeper. At the beginning of the year, I try to record the dates that I planted everything, inside the house and out. I draw up my garden plan so that I can rotate … Continue reading →

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My Two Husbands

Posted on July 20, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I finished reading Second Nature by Michael Pollan last night and I will miss it. In fact, I’ll probably keep it by my bed for late-night reading in the winter. It’s a tour de force of thinking about Americans and … Continue reading →

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We Sinners, a review

Posted on April 14, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I just finished reading Hannah Pylväinen’s 2012 debut novel We Sinners. Of course, it caught my attention by the title alone, and the description that it was about a large family (9 children) in a Christian sect. The book is … Continue reading →

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The Habits Broadside Project

Posted on April 13, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

OK, so it turns out we weren’t exactly north of the storm… In the end, we got 10 inches of heavy snow over 30 hours. This morning, the sand hill cranes were very quiet, delaying their mating rituals until the … Continue reading →

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Chinua Achebe

Posted on March 23, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

If I were making my desert island list of fiction, my top four would be, in no particular order, Bleak House, My Antonia, Middlemarch and Things Fall Apart. I initially read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe to prepare for an assignment teaching … Continue reading →

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Flax

Posted on March 1, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Last year, some folks at the college planted a field of flax with the intention of using the fiber to make paper. The paper hasn’t been made yet, but the artist in residence mentioned to me that they were looking for text … Continue reading →

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Park Slope

Posted on February 20, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Here is a draft of a new poem. Often I start with a concept or a line. I was thinking about my bedroom, which has a very large desk in it. I never end up using that desk, however, because … Continue reading →

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The Women

Posted on February 16, 2013 by susanmsink@gmail.com

My last semester of college, in 1986, I took a course on American women poets that had a profound effect on me– as a writer and as a reader. The few poets I’d been introduced to by the more traditional … Continue reading →

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