Nonfiction, Journalism, Essays

I’ve had bylines in places like Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, the New York Times, and The Writer’s Chronicle.

For the cover story of the October 2024 issue of The Writer’s Chronicle, “Here’s Where The Story Ends: Scenes from the End of a Teaching Career” attempts to sum up more than 20 years of teaching, most of it as a tenured professor of English and creative writing at the now-closed College of Saint Rose: The readership of The Writer’s Chronicle is composed of members of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs.

Among other topics, I tried to sum up teaching career: “My students made me a better writer, sure. But more importantly my teaching career made me a better person.”

In a first-person piece for The Atlantic, I wrote about “The Leap-Day Baby’s Paradox,” and how having a real birthday every four years on February 29 presents a set of unique circumstances in my fellow Leaplings’ everyday lives.

One of my guest essays for the New York Times, “The Sound of Philadelphia Fades Out,” discusses the lack of authentic Philly-South Jersey accents in movies and TV.

I’m attracted to subjects that explore the intersections of fandom and religious experience. One good example is this piece I wrote for Saratoga Living magazine, in which I visited a full-size replica of the Star Trek original series set, built inside a former grocery story by a devoted fan and Elvis Presley tribute artist. The stunning photos by Rob O’Neil capture the place beautifully.

My long-form nonfiction explores forgotten or unexamined corners of pop culture. “Was It Really a Game?” was published in The Millions, and offers a cultural and personal history of the Group Therapy board game.

For the Poetry Foundation, I traced the journey of Max Erhmann’s world-famous inspirational poem “Desiderata” from its birthplace in Terre Haute, Indiana, to its pre-viral status as a cultural phenomenon on hippie posters to a Grammy-winning performance on record by Les Crane.

My profile pieces center on underdogs and outcasts who are often ignored by the establishment, but nonetheless persist at their craft.

In this Poetry Foundation piece, “Diane Wakoski Rides Again,” I took a pilgrimage to visit the legendary poet in her home in East Lansing, Michigan.

More nonfiction, journalism, essays

“Here’s Where The Story Ends: Scenes from the End of a Teaching Career,” The Writer’s Chronicle, October 2024.

“When You’re Strange: Should we consider Jim Morrison, rock’s Bozo Dionysus, a real poet?” Poetry Foundation.

“Be True to Your School,” on the politics of the Beach Boys, New York Times.

“Commentary: Acknowledge history good and bad,” on the legacy of an incident in my hometown, Maple Shade, NJ, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was run out of a bar at gunpoint, Courier-Post.

“John Ashbery in the Physical World,” an examination of the poet’s legacy as seen though his posthumous output, in Full Stop.

“Defenders of the Faith,” profile of Judas Priestess, all-female tribute to Judas Priest, The Morning News.

“Total Consciousness: How Watching Caddyshack Helps Me Stave Off Depression,” Electric Literature.

“The Greed for Pure Poetry,” on the coterie of poets and poetry as seen through the work of Diane Wakoski, American Poetry Review.

Interview with Daniel Oppenheimer, author of Far from Respectable: Dave Hickey and His Art, Full Stop.

“Joan Didion and Aldous Huxley’s Three Poles,” teaching and craft essay, Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies.

“All My Friends,” long form memoir piece, Puerto Del Sol; named as a notable essay in Best American Essays.

“Conversations: Tomaž Šalamun and Daniel Nester,” interview with late Slovenian poet, The Critical Flame: A Journal of Literature and Culture.

“Chelsea Clinic, October 3, 1995,” micro memoir piece, on Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood.

“Every Atom, No. 34,” as contributor to “Every Atom: Reflections on Walt Whitman at 200” project, in North American Review.

“Behind the Sound,” essay on sound poet W. Bliem Kern, at the Poetry Foundation website.

“An Apprentice’s Tale,” on my former professor, Philip Levine. From Coming Close: Forty Essays on Philip Levine, edited by Mari L’Esperence and Tomas Q. Morin, Prairie Lights Books.

“Maple Shade,” n+1’s City by City feature.

“Man, Does The Capital Region Love Its Tribute Bands or What?” profile of several local tribute bands, Saratoga Living.

“Why Are the Poetry Format Options on the Web So Sh*tty,” Parenthetical Note.

“Shadow Boxing Music,” review of Anne Waldman’s Sciamachy, Boog City.

“Reaching for Fact and Reason from a Cabin in the Suburbs,” personal essay, Trolley: The online journal of the NYS Writers Institute.

“Late August” and “Two 90s Poetry Readings,” The Rupture.

“Cousin Mike: A Memoir,” The Indiana Review.

“Midnight Oil’s Time Has Come Again,” PopMatters.

“Notes on Purple Rain,” Ohio Edit.

“Second Thoughts on The Good Bad Boy,” Critical Mass, website of the National Book Critics Circle.

Excerpts from Shader and self-interview, The Nervous Breakdown.

Two excerpts from Shader, The Brooklyn Rail.

“Straddling the Working Class Memoir,” in Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies.

“In Defense of ‘Vaguebooking,’” BuzzFeed

“Type Hard or Go Home: In Praise of the Clicky Keyboard,” Passages North online.

“An Interview with Camille Paglia,” from Bookslut.