Posts Tagged "Boston Marathon Bombing"
Behind the Words: Jenni Nance
Jenni Nance is a creative nonfiction MFA candidate at the University of South Florida. She is the recipient of The Knocky Parker Creative Nonfiction Award and nominated for 2014’s AWP Intro Journals Award for Creative Nonfiction. Jenni teaches creative writing at the University of South Florida and with the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Mother, Sweet: A Literary Confection and Necessary Fiction. Spry is lucky to have published two of Jenni’s pieces, “Variations of Numbness” and “Hefty Bag.” Allison: You’ve published both creative nonfiction and fiction in Spry, but you write poetry, too....
Read MoreBehind the Words: Joshua Scott Ricker
Joshua Scott Ricker’s “I’m an Asshole: Marathon Monday” is a bravely written essay that explores regret and fear on the sidelines of the Boston Marathon. He is the author of Hephaestus: A Modren Affair, which can be found on Amazon. Julia: In “I’m an Asshole: Marathon Monday” you seamlessly shift the tone of your work from frivolity to contrition and concern, which I would suspect captures a slice of many experiences that day—normality followed by its complete toppling. What helped you to decide that this would be the focus of your piece on the Boston Marathon bombings? Joshua: When we made those jokes to the runners about Copley...
Read MoreBehind the Words: Jennifer Crystal
Jennifer Crystal’s “Thank God for Naps,” published in the “Beanstalks” section, illustrates how terror and compassion coexisted on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing. Jennifer is enrolled in Emerson College’s MFA program, and she writes for the websites Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance. Her website can be found here. Julia: “Thank God for Naps” pulls the reader fully into your emotional journey the day of the bombing. We feel your uncertainty at first, then the dread and horror. We also experience the comfort that you found with your friends that day—the comfort of food, the comfort of safe harbor, the comfort of...
Read MoreBehind the Words: Lauren Kay Halloran
Lauren Kay Halloran’s nonfiction piece Stay was published in the “Beanstalks” section of Spry’s second issue, a portion of the journal created in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. Lauren’s work highlights the vulnerability that is pervasive following a tragedy, and she masterfully weaves together past events to highlight how emotional reactions are formed in the present. The 2013 winner of Glamour’s personal essay contest, Lauren is earning her MFA in nonfiction at Emerson College and blogs here. Julia: Your nonfiction piece Stay (included in Spry’s “Beanstalks” section focused on the...
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