PS Picks: Geoff Dyer on the Photography of Garry Winogrand
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
writing
Dispatches: The Secret to Enjoying the AWP Writing Conference
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
PS Picks: Conquering Cynicism in a Secular World With Marilynne Robinson
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Can Fan Fiction Bridge the Gaps in Sex Education for Marginalized Communities?
For anyone who isn't a straight man, sexual education and the media can get sexuality wrong. Fan fiction is helping change that.
Letters to a Young Blogger
For academics looking to play a larger public role, publishing online can be a useful counter to some of the downsides of scholarly writing.
What Typos Can Tell Us About This White House
Typos in official correspondence are tiny errors on their own, but they suggest a much larger problem within the administration.
Creating in an Age of Anxiety, Depression, and Dread
Anxiety can lead to better art, but do the two have to be so mutually intertwined?
A Conversation With Blair Braverman, Author of ‘Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube’
Two writers with roots in Alaska talk landscape, identity, survival, and the problem with the term alpha male.
America's Problem With Writers of Color
Attempts to increase diversity must be coupled with an actual effort to realize how people of color crucially influence a society barreling toward change.
A Taxonomy of Writers’ Foes
They say that naming your fears makes them less scary. Here's a thorough categorization of universal writerly anxieties that everyone feels always and not just me.
What It Feels Like to Go Viral
BuzzFeed, YouTube, and (former) Gawker stars all describe a similar psychological rush, but riding the viral wave comes with dangers too.
How Do You Make a Living, Freddie deBoer?
Noah Davis talks to Freddie deBoer about making a living in the world of academia, why grad school worked for him (but probably not for you), and why you should get a job before you start writing about politics.
For a Writer of Color, Is Twitter More Valuable Than an MFA?
As if the overwhelmingly white world of publishing, institutional networking, and workshopping wasn't already hard for people of color. Morgan Jerkins found writerly advancement in the more informal space of Black Twitter.
The Power of Confession
What is it about the "I" in writing that keeps us so intrigued?
How Do You Make a Living, Freelance Investigative Reporter?
Noah Davis talks to Scott Carney about the difficulty of making a living as a freelance journalist, the art of negotiation, and the evil of Condé Nast.
Nostalgia Fosters Creativity
New research finds nostalgic longing opens us up and produces more imaginative writing.
How Do We Look Back on an Artist's Legacy?
Could a second Harper Lee book change the way people remember her?
Do Short Words Predict College Success?
The more articles and prepositions in college application essays, the better the GPA.
Advice From Great Writers About Kicking Writer's Block
A catalog of cures for writers in crisis.
Darkness Laughable: The Comic Genius of Cormac McCarthy
As one of our greatest living writers has his work lifted into the ivory tower, let’s reflect on how it’s the light, not the darkness, that keeps us going back for more.
What Is the Worst Thing You've Ever Made?
Jen Doll speaks to a bunch of different creative types about what they've all learned from being bad at what they now do well.