My mother reads aloud from a book she just purchased, a sort of comedic take on the customs, sayings and mannerisms of Southern women. At least I hope it was a comedic effort.
Matriarch by Alyson Bannister
Prompts: Oh. My. God. What is that smell?
Everyone can get involved with Hippocampus Magazine with {prompts}! About each month, we’ll post a new creative nonfiction prompt, inspired by a real-life event. Fact is stranger than fiction–if we experience something unbelievable, others must have a similar story. From January 2011 “Oh. My. God. What is that smell?” Join the fun with our current…
Review: Anthropologies: A Family Memoir by Beth Alvarado
“My mother and I are sitting in the small dining room of her town-house; we are sitting at the table she’s had since I was a girl, but I am nearly fifty.” Thus begins Beth Alvarado’s memoir Anthropologies: A Family Memoir. This first sentence sets the tone and style of the book—clear pictures and underlying emotions presented in brevity and concise language that reads like poetry.
Craft: Reading Between the Lines in “Someone Like You” — What’s writing got to do with it? by Risa Nye
… appoggiaturas generate “tension in the listener,” … it’s this tension and release that results in the “tears and chills” of deep emotion.
As writers, we can’t rely on appoggiaturas to elicit this type of response in a reader…or can we?
The Piano Sale by Lucille Rains
It was unusual for anyone to shop for a piano on a Friday night, much less expect to have it delivered and tuned that same night, but this was a special occasion. Istvan was getting married over the weekend and he wanted to surprise his bride, Katalin.
March 2012: Editor’s Notes
Happy March! It’s been unseasonably warm in my neck of the woods this winter. And I’m not complaining. It’s not spring yet, but it sure feels like it. Just yesterday at my day job, at Elizabethtown College, I snapped a picture of an art class having class outside. As I write this, I am procrastinating…
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Issue: Seeking Submissions
Music and memories: two words closely related. In July 2012, our online magazine will turn into a mix tape of sorts, belting out originals from an array of wordsmiths. Hippocampus Magazine invites you to share your music-inspired story in our first rock ‘n’ roll issue. There’s a reason so many timeless hits are those story-songs…
Editor’s Notes: February 2012
The February issue is live! This issue may feature a photo of heart-shaped ravioli on the homepage, but don’t let that fool you: this image is attached to a story about a would-be romantic dinner where our author opens mouth and, instead, inserts foot–not pasta.
The Second Education by Michael Milburn
Every year my middle school students ask me why I became an English teacher. They appear to respect my colleagues and me; one or two might even admit to considering teaching as a career, but the tone of the question is usually incredulous.
Dust to Dust by Emily Johnson
That day in mid-August in the Congo was late in the dry season— the sun a seared-copper disc, a cigarette burn on the sky’s perfect palate of skin. I stepped off the boat at the “port” into the sucking, ankle-deep grey mud. I lost a sandal.
