Jill Christman The Humble Essayist River Teeth Thanks for posting this. I love the idea of time in nonfiction being different than real life, of slowing down those poignant moments. That’s important.

“Write towards your spark. Write towards the trouble.” - Ana Maria Spagna

The Paragraph of the Week goes to a fresh voice, Tierney Oberhammer, for her piece "God Forbid a Black Girl." Check it out at the-humble-essayist.com, and please spread the word.

The personal essay, if we honor its tradition, is thinking through and trying to get at something. And failing. This is the first essay I ever wrote. I am working to get back here. “On Longing” static1.squarespace.com/static/601700e…

Tomorrow! I am starting a series here: Tuesday Literary Essay Tips.

Literary Essay Tip 1: If you don't feel the urgency to write the essay, the reader won't feel the urgency to read it.

The Paragraph of the Week at The Humble Essayist is from Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry by Nikky Finney. It is "Hotbed 66," a stunning prose tribute to the woman who spotted the Mother Emanuel Church murderer and alerted police. Check it out at the-humble-essayist.com

Today is the last day to catch our feature on Nikky Finney. Her Paragraph of the Week is personal and political, poetry and prose, and a "must read" for our times. Don't miss this one. At the-humble-essayist.com

The Paragraph of the Week is from Robert Root's newest book, The Arc of the Escarpment, about a geological formation that comes to symbolize his place—and, by extension, our place—in the universe. Check it out at the-humble-essayist.com.

“My experience with the arc of the escarpment has surprisingly given me a spiritual certainty about existence.”—Robert Root It is the last day to see the feature on Robert Root. Check it out at the-humble-essayist.com

The Humble Essayist sorry if i’m missing something, but won’t this feature be available in the archive when the next entry is up?

The Paragraph of he Week at The Humble Essayist goes to Dorothy Parker, an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist best known for her caustic wit. At the-humble-essayist.com

The Paragraph of the Week by Kathryn Winograd asks why we are here and gives a stunning answer. It is from her collection called This Visible Speaking released today. Check it out here and spread the word!

“Swimming in a pool is like a meditation, an act of faith.”—Marcia Aldrich. Check out her Paragraph of the Week at the-humble-essayist.com

"The discipline of the writer is to be still and listen to what his subject has to tell him." ~ Rachel Carson

The Paragraph of the Week goes to a prose poem by Tom Hennen called "The Life of a Day" which reminds us not to let those days just pass. Check it out at the-humble-essayist.com .

The Paragraph of the Week is from "A Sweet Devouring" by Eudora Welty, a classic essay about maturing out of the youthful love of indiscriminate reading to become a reader with taste--all done with love and humor. At the-humble-essayist.com

To readers of The Humble Essayist: I have decided to leave X which has become too toxic for the literature I promote on my page. When it was twitter, the platform was a great help, but no longer. The best way to follow the page it to subscribe for free at the-humble-essayist.com

The Humble Essayist is now on Threads as the-humble-essayist. We no longer post on X but you can find us on Threads and Facebook. Please check us out there or come to our site every Friday. This week we feature Roland Barthes at the-humble-essayist.com.