Dinty W. Moore will lead a creative writing craft talk at 4:15 p.m. on February 19th, 2019. He will also be reading for the Kelly Writers series on March 13th at 7:30 in the Peeler Auditorium.
Between Panic and Desire by
Blending narrative and quizzes, memory and numerology, and imagined interviews and conversations with dead presidents on TV, the book dizzily documents the disorienting experience of growing up in a postmodern world. Here we see how the major events in the authorOCOs early lifeOCothe Kennedy assassination, NixonOCOs resignation, watching Father Knows Best, and dropping acid atop the World Trade Center, to name a fewOCoshaped the way he sees events both global and personal today. More to the point, we see how these events shaped, and possibly even distorted, todayOCOs world for all of us who spent our formative years in the OCO50s, OCO60s, and OCO70s. A curious meditation on family and bereavement, longing and fear, self-loathing and desire, Between Panic and Desire unfolds in kaleidoscopic formsOCoa coronerOCOs report, a TV movie script, a Zen koanOCoaptly reflecting the emergence of a fractured virtual America."
Lit from Within by
Lit from Within offers creative writers a window into the minds of some of America's most celebrated contemporary authors. Witty, direct, and thought-provoking, these essays offer something to creative writers of all backgrounds and experience. With contributions from fiction writers, poets, and nonfiction writers, this is a collection of unusual breadth and quality.Contributors: Lee K. Abbott, Rick Bass, Claire Bateman, Charles Baxter, Ron Carlson, Billy Collins, Peter Ho Davies, Carl Dennis, Stephen Dunn, Robin Hemley, Tony Hoagland, David Kirby, Maggie Nelson, Francine Prose, Mary Ruefle
The Emperor's Virtual Clothes by
A skeptic by nature, a writer and teacher more at home with ballpoint pens than computer programs, Dinty W. Moore wanted to find out for himself if the much-touted Internet and the electronic culture it has spawned is really going to be the Next Big Thing, or whether it's the emperor's new clothes. This is not a how-to guide, a giddy net-head's online magical mystery tour, or a binaries-in-the-sky futurist treatise. Instead, this book tells it like it is about the Internet. Anyone who's asked, Who's there? What am I missing? and What is it all about? will find Moore's good-natured skepticism a welcome break from the explosion of wide-eyed techno-hype raging all around us. "Moore is far and away the best pure writer of the 'Wired School.' He's like the Stage Manager poking his head in around the set of 'Our Town.' Funny that it took the arrival of this commonsensical outsider to finally put a real human face on the digital world."--San Jose Mercury-News.
Crafting the Personal Essay by
Award winning essayist Scott Russell Sanders once compared the art of essay writing to "the pursuit of mental rabbits"--a rambling through thickets of thought in search of some brief glimmer of fuzzy truth. While some people persist in the belief that essays are stuffy and antiquated, the truth is that the personal essay is an ever-changing creative medium that provides an ideal vehicle for satisfying the human urge to document truths as we experience them and share them with others--to capture a bit of life on paper. Crafting the Personal Essay is designed to help you explore the flexibility and power of the personal essay in your own writing. This hands-on, creativity-expanding guide will help you infuse your nonfiction with honesty, personality, and energy. You'll discover: An exploration of the basics of essay writing Ways to step back and scrutinize your experiences in order to separate out what may be fresh, powerful, surprising or fascinating to a reader How to move past private "journaling" and write for an audience How to write eight different types of essays including memoir, travel, humor, and nature essays among others Instruction for revision and strategies for getting published Brimming with helpful examples, exercises, and sample essays, this indispensable guide will help your personal essays transcend the merely private to become powerfully universal.
Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy by
Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy, I have a hot crush on the em dash. What does my need to stuff--while simultaneously fracturing--my sentences--with the meandering, the explanatory, the discursive, the perhaps not-entirely-necessary--say about me? --Cheryl Strayed Have you ever wished there were an advice columnist for writers, but one who didn't take things so damned seriously? This unique writing guide pairs questions sent in by top contemporary essayists with hilariously witty answers and essays from acclaimed author Dinty W. Moore. Phillip Lopate asks for advice on writing about your ex without sounding like an ass, Julianna Baggott worries that to be a great writer you must drink like a fish, and Roxane Gay asks whether it's kosher to write about writing. Taking advantage of all the tools available to today's personal essayist--egregious puns, embarrassing anecdotes, and cocktail napkins--Professor Moore answers these questions, and more, demystifying the world of nonfiction once and for all. With a tip of the hat to history's most infamous essay--Montaigne's "Of Cannibals"--this book provides rollicking relief for writers in distress.
The Accidental Buddhist by
THE ACCIDENTAL BUDDHIST is the funny, provocative story of how Dinty Moore went looking for the faith he'd lost in what might seem the most unlikely of places: the ancient Eastern tradition of Buddhism. Moore demystifies and explains the contradictions and concepts of this most mystic-seeming of religious traditions. This plain-spoken, insightful look at the dharma in America will fascinate anyone curious about the wisdom of other cultures and other religions. "Sure of foot in complex terrain, and packing a blessedly down-to-earth sense of humor, Dinty Moore is the perfect scout for the new frontiers of American Buddhism."--Rodger Kamenetz, author of THE JEW IN THE LOTUS and STALKING ELIJAH.
The Mindful Writer by
Going beyond the typical "how to write" book, The Mindful Writer illuminates the creative process: where writing and creativity originate, how mindfulness plays into work, how to cultivate good writing habits, how to grow as a writer and a person, and what it means to live a life dedicated to the craft of writing. There's not a writer alive, novice or master, who will not benefit from this book and fall in love with it. Cover to cover, this wise little book is riveting and delightful. The Mindful Writer will be a book that readers will turn to again and again as a source inspiration, guidance, and support.
The Story Cure by
People want to write the novel or memoir they know is inside of them, but they run into stumbling blocks that trouble everyone from beginners to seasoned writers. Drawing on his years of teaching at both the university level and at writing workshops across the country, Professor Dinty W. Moore dons his book-doctor hat to present an authoritative guide to curing the issues that truly plague writers at all levels. His hard-hitting handbook provides inspiring solutions for diagnoses such as character anemia, flat plot, and silent voice, and is peppered with flashes of Moore's signature wit and unique take on the writing life.
The Truth of the Matter by
This introduction to creative nonfiction examines the building blocks of nonfiction prose one by one, illustrating how individual voice and narrative strategies delineate this literary form from conventional nonfiction. Individual chapters are devoted to detail and description, characterization and scene, distinctive voice, intimate point-of-view, and the various ways in which writers discover the significance or universality of their work. Essays from contemporary nonfiction writers such as Henry Louis Gates, Norma Elia Cant#65533;, Pico Iyer, Joan Didion, and others are integrated directly into the text to illustrate concepts.
Toothpick Men by
Fiction. Short Stories. With subjects ranging from gun-wielding therapists to drunk taxidermists, Moore's exploration of human nature in both its humdrum and its hilarity surely reflects his work experience as a documentary filmmaker, professional modern dancer, wire service journalist, and zookeeper. His prose is sharp, his characters endearing, and his wit always on target.
The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction by
Literary Nonfiction. Writing Reference. Unmatched in its focus on a concise and popular emerging genre, THE ROSE METAL PRESS FIELD GUIDE TO WRITING FLASH NONFICTION features 26 eminent writers, editors, and teachers offering expert analysis, focused exercises, and helpful examples of what make the brief essay form such a perfect medium for experimentation, insight, and illumination. With a comprehensive introduction to the genre and book by editor Dinty W. Moore, this guide is perfect for both the classroom and the individual writer's desk—an essential handbook for anyone interested in the scintillating and succinct flash nonfiction form. How many words does it take to tell a compelling true story? The answer might surprise you. Featuring essays from: Barrie Jean Borich, Jenny Boully, Norma Elia Cantú, Rigoberto González, Carol Guess, Jeff Gundy, Philip Graham, Robin Hemley, Barbara Hurd, Judith Kitchen, Eric LeMay, Dinah Lenney, Bret Lott, Patrick Madden, Lee Martin, Maggie McKnight, Brenda Miller, Kyle Minor, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Anne Panning, Lia Purpura, Sue William Silverman, Jennifer Sinor, Peggy Shumaker, Ira Sukrungruang, and Nicole Walker. "THE ROSE METAL PRESS FIELD GUIDE TO WRITING FLASH NONFICTION, edited by the invaluable Dinty W. Moore, is a lot more than flashy. These thoughtful, thought-provoking essays and exercises have the paradoxical effect of slowing down our attention and encouraging an expansion of the moment, while seeming to be saving writing and reading time. A very useful compilation."—Phillip Lopate, author of Art of the Personal Essay "Flash-in-the-pan? Hardly. The flash nonfiction genre has staying power, and THE ROSE METAL PRESS FIELD GUIDE TO WRITING FLASH NONFICTION will show you why. Opening with a thorough and informative history of the genre, renowned writer, editor, and teacher Dinty W. Moore assembles a cast of writers who share their expertise, suggest writing exercises, and provide exemplary models of the best flash nonfiction being written today. This book is required reading for any writer, editor, or teacher of the brief nonfiction form."—Rebecca McClanahan, author of The Riddle Song and Other Rememberings and Word Painting
