Comments on: On the Lyric Essay

By: chilawoychik

chilawoychik — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 03:42:16 +0000

Good article. I’m the editor at Port Yonder Press and the new journal, Eastern Iowa Review. Would love to see some of your work, gals. Got quite a line-up going for the inaugural.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 21:17:10 +0000

Thank you for this distilled piece on lyrical essay writing. I like lists! I only recently have come across this format and it is calling to me. I think I’ve been doing it and not knowing it. Not what I’ve published, but when I write for myself.

By: Mary Heather

Mary Heather — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 04:59:25 +0000

Hi Erin, Thanks so much for your comment — I think that the lyric essay has made creative nonfiction more accessible to people new to the genre. I’m so glad you found my post to be helpful & wish you the best with your exploration of the lyric essay. Happy writing! – MHN

By: Erin Baldauf

Erin Baldauf — Sun, 14 Dec 2014 22:08:20 +0000

Mary Heather,
It seems we have a lot in common (despite my lack of knowledge in the sciences). I am a mother of four that dabbles in a whole bunch of other stuff. I’m a full-time humanities teacher that hopes to instil a drive for community service among my students – partially in an effort to engage them in the learning process, but quite honestly also to help make this world a better place for my own children. I have just begun my second masters program – this time in English/Nonfiction writing. I am writing an analysis paper on the language of lyric essays as my strongest draw is to creative nonfiction. I love your comparison of lyric essays to more formal essay writing. You quite aptly point out the lack of chronological (and stuffy??) organizational patterns and “different threads, patterns of thought, and points of intersection. It’s like walking on a path made of stepping stones — more fun than just walking on dirt.” I guess this is what draws me to the genre – I’ve never been much of one to walk a completely straight line. I tend to talk in parentheses and I think my writing reflects that. I enjoy reading other people’s writing that has that same meandering type of thought pattern. I think I’d like to reference your ideas above in my analysis of the language of the lyric essay and check out some of your other writing as well. I’m happy I came across your page!