The New Blog on the Block

But first, the pedagogy paper continues. I'm heartened by the (sometimes shocked) reports from writers about their own writing output during their semesters. Yeah, committee work and the other requirements of being a good member of an academic community can be draining, but if you accept that you don't--and never will--get an isolated garret to pursue your ego's whims, then you'll be fine. I'm told that it's like having kids. They seem like a distraction, but they also marvelously focus the mind and your time. My own distraction right now is having discovered Can It Really Be Taught?, a short book of essays on CW pedagogy (Ritter and Vanderslice, eds). The question is, how much of this do I need to fold into my own essay? I'm considering the sleight of hand that goes, "And this book of essays addresses the problem from a variety of useful perspectives, but covers too much ground to be considered in any detail here."

But that new blog... It's our newest baby at the magazine, and it's barely taking its first breaths: prairieschooner.typepad.com. And if you have design and/or post suggestions, send 'em my way.