Writing Life
“Prison Writer”: A Meditation on Histories and the Sentences that Create Them
From PEN America’s ‘The Sentences That Create Us Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison.’
What Do You Do After the MFA?
Whatever your MFA experience, it takes time to create or recreate the life that you can keep writing in. In this essay, Rachel Taube speaks to her cohort members regarding their first year post-MFA.
Grieving My Father—And My Book—By Building a Dollhouse
My book haunted me, as did Lizzie Borden. I thought by making something with my hands, I could transform that fear into care.
To All the Readers Who Taught Us to Love Books
For Valentine’s Day, some members of the Catapult staff thank the people who encouraged their love of books and reading.
I Couldn’t Write, So I Baked Cookies Instead
Writing had become my career goal, and everything else had bent in service to it.
Slow Readers, Let’s Leave Shame Behind
I, a slow reader, will never get to all the words I long to read, but I will relish the ones before me.
I May Not Look Like a “Respectable” Teacher, But I’m a Good One
As part of our Education Week series, Edgar Gomez reflects on how presenting himself authentically as a teacher cultivates a more open and honest learning environment.
After I Left Teaching, the Best Writing Lesson Came from My Students
As part of our Education Week series, Purnima Mani reflects on her career as a teacher—and which lessons stayed with her when she quit to write full-time.
Why PhDs Need to Study Creative Writing
To reach audiences outside the ivory tower of academia, one must care about the storytelling as much as the sociology.
Dreaming of Writing While Waiting Tables
I recently realized that my dream of being a writer, which escorted me into the restaurant industry, will eventually escort me out.