Tag Archives: Lyric Essay

My lyric essay “What You’re Thinking Now Is a Chunk of Marble” published Southeast Review!

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I’m thrilled to share that my lyric essay “What You’re Thinking Now Is a Chunk of Marble” has just been published in Southeast Review‘s new online issue. This essay is from my series inspired by the four fundamental forces. This is the gravity essay, so naturally it touches on…stuff that’s fallen on my head, visiting the local apple festival, Kansas meteorites, buying a house, hanging out on rooftops, Cal Tjader, Yves Klein, middle school science fair, and so on and so on. I wanna say a huge thanks to Zach Linge, Dyan Neary, and everyone at SER!

Read it HERE!

Reminder: My Free Zoom Creative Nonfiction Class Tomorrow!

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This is just a reminder that I’m teaching a free online creative writing class tomorrow, Wednesday July 1, from 10-12 Eastern Time. It’s a creative nonfiction class on Hermit Crab essays, a kind of lyric essay. They’re fun! No need to register or anything, just use the Zoom link below and join us! It’s part of this week’s virtual 11th year of Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, and it’s hosted by the Oak Bluff’s Public Library on Martha’s Vineyard. I can’t take you all out for a cup of chowder afterwards, but we should have a lovely digital time together! 🙂
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Weds July 1: 10am-12: Christopher Citro: Zoom Lyric Essay Writing Workshop:
The Hermit Crab Essay
In this class we’ll explore the hermit crab essay, a hybrid form of the lyric essay which uses the shell of an existing form of writing, such as a recipe or questionnaire, in which to write our own personal essay. We’ll gain an acquaintance with this popular new form of the personal essay, then use prompts to inspire us in our own writing journey. Previous writing experience welcomed but not required. Free and open to all writers.

https://oakbluffs.zoom.us/j/98698055535?pwd=K2NSaU1NYlBqWUtqajg4VnZhNktKdz09

My lyric essay “What You’re Thinking Now Is a Chunk of Marble” Accepted at Southeast Review!

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Oh my goodness! My lyric essay “What You’re Thinking Now Is a Chunk of Marble” has just been accepted at Southeast Review! It’s the second in my series of lyric essays inspired by the 4 fundamental forces of physics–this one being the gravity essay. Now I need to get on the stick and finish the remaining 2 on the strong and weak nuclear reactions… Thank you Dyan Neary and the rest of the CNF staff!

Write your lyric essay!

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The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, where I’ve taught seven of the last ten years, has begun sharing writing exercises as part of their new online content. The Institute won’t be happening in person this summer, for obvious reasons, but anyone can now enjoy free weekly writing prompts from the faculty. Today they’ve posted an exercise I created.

It’s a prompt to guide you in writing a lyric essay, specifically one of the fragmented/collage type lyric essays which I love so much. Happy writing!

To get the writing exercise, click HERE!

My Lyric Essay “Licked by Our World We Get Licked by Our World” Accepted by the Bellingham Review

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I’m thrilled to share the news that my lyric essay “Licked by Our World We Get Licked by Our World” has been accepted by the Bellingham Review. I’ve long loved this literary journal and their commitment to lyric and hybrid essays. It’s such a delight that they’ll be publishing this essay.
It’s the last of my four essays inspired by the four classical elements to have found a home–this is my water essay and touches on Jaws, Altered States, fishing, drowning, the Bermuda Triangle, etc. Now I need to finish the last two essays of my following series based on the four fundamental forces in physics. I’m currently knee deep in the Strong Force and have to find a 4000 word essay inside the *gulp* 14,000 words of rough draft I’ve so far spun.

My Interview & Reading on The Campbell Conversations on WRVO

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In case you missed this weekend’s radio broadcasts, you can now stream my interview on The Campbell Conversations on WRVO by Grant Reeher, Director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. I discuss my poetic practice, contemporary poetry…I read from my lyric essay “Each Breeze Began Life Somewhere As a Little Cough” and from my second poetry book, “If We Had a Lemon We’d Throw It and Call That the Sun,” which just won Elixir Press’ 2019 Antivenom Poetry Award and will be published there next year. You can stream the show HERE, and thanks for listening!

My Lyric Essay “Root That Mountain” Presented with the Meek Award from The Florida Review!

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I’m thrilled to learn that my lyric essay “Root That Mountain” has been awarded the 2018 Meek Award for Creative Nonfiction from The Florida Review. This award recognizes the best non-contest, non-solicited work published by the journal in 2018. Thank you Lisa Roney and the rest of The Florida Review editors and staff for this honor!

My Lyric Essay “Root That Mountain” Published in The Florida Review

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Even the sub-arctic chill of this polar vortex can’t cool the thrill of receiving my copies of The Florida Review, which contains my lyric essay “Root That Mountain.” I’ve shared the first three pages here. This essay is from my series on the four elements; it’s the dirt essay. Thank you to my friends J Keirn-Swanson and Dustin Nightingale for letting me interview them for it. Thank you to Lisa Roney, Mike Shier, and the rest of The Florida Review staff.