blackbirdonline journalSpring 2022  Vol. 21  No. 1
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TRACKING THE MUSE

Since 2007 we have invited contributors featured in our annual Introductions Loop to comment on their creative process. This year, Caleb Braun, Catharina Coenen, Colby Cotton, Patricia García Luján, Simon Shieh, and Lena Fultz step up to the task.

Caleb Braun Caleb Braun
   Movement and Conversion

The title of this series, “Tracking the Muse,” feels accurate, as “tracking” implies the muse is always on the move. This resonates with me in . . .

     
     
Catharina Coenen   Catharina Coenen
   Whose Story, Whose Skin

In elementary school I already felt as though I should write my grandmother’s life story. Most likely the feeling came from listening to . . .

     
     
Colby Cotton   Colby Cotton
   Perpetual Beginning

I almost never remember drafting poems, and when they are good, I almost never remember writing them. As I learn more about . . .

     
     
Patricia García Luján   Patricia García Luján
   Write It Down—Now

Most of my stories start off in my Notes app as stray words and sentences that only make sense to me. Sometimes they’re specific images that have . . .

     
     
Simon Shieh   Simon Shieh
    From Anger to Forgiveness

When boys are young, they look everywhere for Him—the man above men, the progenitor of love and arbiter of death. His story is transmitted . . .

     
     
  Lena Fultz
   The Story as Window

So much of my fiction centers around coming-of-age, or more aptly, coming-to-awareness. Growing up gives us so many “wake up” moments, where . . .



Tracking the Muse texts appear in different sections of Blackbird but are organized in this alternative menu, a featured reading loop allowing easy navigation of related material.

A link to this Tracking the Muse menu appears at the bottom of every related page. You may also return to this menu at any time by visiting Features.

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