Why the name?

The name Writing Grotesque was the name we (okay I) came up with in English 127 Creative Writing class last year to establish the class website I never quite completed. Both Flannery O'Connor and Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio) make use of the "grotesque" motif/persona that inhabits everyday life. Consider the misfit in " A Good Man is Hard to find" or Wing Biddlebaum in "Hands." Both are quite ordinary on the outside but a bundle of conflict on the inside which, of course, describes most of us. So these writers were able to capture the odd, the grim and make masterpieces out of that simple madness. Of course, to be a writer is to be a little bit grotesque, maybe delusional, and certainly mad. Wasn't it Doctorow who said, "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia?"

Inaugural Posting

Let's make it clear: My Shakespeare class rocks! It's not that I don't "love" my other classes, but teaching English at an inner-city, underserved, often undernourished (intellectually, academically) institution of higher learning means a teacher is often going to spend more time showing students how to spell "obstacle" (if I see "obsticle" one more fu***** time) and take the s off of the end of "police" as in the "polices are coming" than explore the existential meanderings of Hamlet, but forget that Danish basket case for now...

20 of my students (well, a couple didn't show up, so maybe 18) performed the trial scene, Act IV Scene I of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. I cut the scene down a bit for fear that they might not be able to memorize the dialogue within the quick turnaround time we had. Needless to say, the student-actors were ALL splendid! We managed to produce a finished product in 3 weeks, complete with costumes and props which we performed to a crowd of 200 people, open-air, on the grass as Monsieur Shakespeare did over 400 years ago. At some point, I will post video confirmation of this event. Tomorrow is my English 101 midterm. Rest assured that responses on the short answer portion are sure to delight readers of my next blog entry. Unless, of course, everyone in class studies. I sincerely hope that happens this year.