Category Archives: Writing

Is Full the End of Associations?

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Jessica Yood

When I started this blog nearly a decade ago I called it “Associations.” The term invoked the “what” and the “who” of the endeavor. What: occasional musings about connections between writing and knowing, between writing and community, between writing and … Continue reading →

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Not Me On Social Media

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Jessica Yood

Writers, like runners, revel in long stretches of solitary time Still. I promised myself that when my book was published, I’d not make a break for it. Not run from the finish line. That is why I am trying my … Continue reading →

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Forgetting as Step in the (Writing) Process

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Jessica Yood

Last November I finished a book. I resisted returning to it because I didn’t want to make any changes before receiving feedback. But when January ends, so does my time in writing purgatory: the period when an author does nothing … Continue reading →

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Writing in The New Yorker in the New Year

Posted on January 20, 2022 by Jessica Yood

I read the The New Yorker to find out what to read. I take my direction from the magazine’s always on-point book reviews. But Louis Menand’s December 20th review essay, about the dire state of the humanities, prompted me to … Continue reading →

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Reading in Reverse: May Again

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Jessica Yood

I read in reverse. Here are two examples: Ocean Vuong’s poetic On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous got me through the endless month of pandemic March. But inexplicably I turned its mystery into my mania. “Magical realism in the outskirts of … Continue reading →

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Being A TryHard In An Era of FailBetters

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Jessica Yood

I am a tryhard. A tryhard wants to fit in and stand out at the same time. They want to be noticed but not remembered. Being a tryhard can be exhausting and sometimes leads to serious regret. (See my class … Continue reading →

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Visiting Day II: Revision and Expectation

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Jessica Yood

“Visiting Day,” last week’s entry, was revised eight times. Eight times (8!) I returned to that short piece, tweaked and tightened until I forgot why I wrote it in the first place. Long gone now, that first draft surprised me. … Continue reading →

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Visiting Day Again

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Jessica Yood

A rite of passage followed me back to the city. Visiting Day at summer camp came and went. But I can’t let it go this time. The day started out as it always does: we do what we’re supposed to … Continue reading →

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When Composition and Literature Meet

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Jessica Yood

March 15, 2019: This is the brief talk I gave as part of a panel welcoming students accepted or wait-listed to The Graduate Center at CUNY.  Here I describe a class I’m teaching now, focused on the “academic novel” and … Continue reading →

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Private Pain, Public Humanities: Critical University Studies and Composition

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Jessica Yood

This is the talk I gave at the Critical University Studies Friday Forum at The Graduate Center , CUNY on Friday October 20th. I’ll open my talk with something participatory. If that’s upsetting to you (as it would be to … Continue reading →

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