Articles by Sonya Chung
January 10, 2012
Staff Writer Sonya Chung at Tin House 0
At the Tin House blog, I write about my literary education in independent bookstores Also, my piece about James Salter appears in Tin House‘s current issue.
December 30, 2011
Post-40 Bloomers: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Last Leopard 4
One indisputable factor that deprived us of more opportunities to luxuriate in Lampedusa’s gifts was a diagnosis of lung cancer at the age of 60. The diagnosis came just a few months after he finished the novel, two publisher rejections already in hand, a third which would arrive weeks before he died in July of that year.
November 15, 2011
On Spinach and the National Book Awards 12
I want to live in a world – and I believe we’re closer than we think – where “the reading public” consumes, likes, and engages with many different kinds of literary nourishment; and where writers, teachers, and critics trust and even expect readers to do so.
November 5, 2011
Poetry Walk in the Bronx 0
Don’t miss Jon Cotner‘s “Poem Forest” at the NY Botanical Gardens Nov 4-5 and Nov 11-12, 12-4:30. It’s a self-guided tour that promises “a new kind of poetry experience, as well as a new kind of walking experience. Poet-walker Jon Cotner has fused lines selected from 2500 years of nature poetry with Thain Forest’s autumnal landscape.” [...]
October 28, 2011
Post-40 Bloomers: The Stories of William Gay 2
While Gay himself might prize being considered among the Southern greats, his stories of desolation and beauty — brimming, yes, with the familiar Gothic elements of violence and darkness of hearts — feed and trouble our souls, whether or not we come to the text already knowing the “timeless tolling of whippoorwills, both bitter and reassuring,” or have passed ugly nights in a honkytonk, or keep a rifle or a pistol under the bed.
September 29, 2011
Post-40 Bloomers: Yvvette Edwards and A Cupboard Full of Coats 4
“I suppose I qualify as a late bloomer but I don’t feel like one. The term has connotations of stagnation, finally followed by some kind of transformation. I’d probably prefer to equate myself to a fine wine or good cheese, something that takes time, passion, and dedication to mature perfectly.”