The Loft Blog

When she isn't writing, Christine Ma-Kellams teaches at San Jose State University. As a social psychologist whose empirical work deals with understanding the psychological motives behind individuals' behaviors, Ma-Kellams pairs the art of fiction with the science of what makes people ticks.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Certain Dark Things is about Atl, a vampire on the run in Mexico City, and Domingo, a teenager who lives on the streets and decides to help her. I’m interested in the way Atl is described, how the sequence of the details creates a dynamic—and magical—understanding of her.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the essay "My Father Spent 30 Years in Prison. Not He's Out." by Ashley C. Ford.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the story "The Flowers" by Alice Walker and the power of extended metaphor.

Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World is the story of a woman crossing the border from Mexico to the United States in search of her brother. The novel is a study in unsettling the reader to create an experience that is frightening, beautiful, and astounding.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the poem "won't you celebrate with me" Lucille Clifton and calls to action.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the story "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried" by Amy Hempel and writing death.

Chris Stedman is a Minneapolis-based writer, speaker, and community organizer. He is the author of IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives (2020) and Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious (2012). 

Megha Majumdar’s A Burning is about a young Muslim woman in India who witnesses a terrorist attack and then makes a reckless post on Facebook. She is accused of being a terrorist and ultimately pays a terrible price. I'm interested in how Majumdar handles that price.

Warning: Spoilers in this post.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the essay "Living Like Weasels" by Annie Dillard and how to use structural image.

Every post in this series will focus a weekly reading and a list of prompts in response to that reading. Some of them will be focused on craft; some will ask you to evaluate content. This week, we're examining the poem "Rosa Parks" by Nikki Giovanni and the form of prose poetry.

Ge Gao is a Chinese writer based in New York City. She received a BA in philosophy from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University. Her essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Longreads, Words Without Borders, and elsewhere.