Graduation Season Sugar
“The most terrible and beautiful and interesting things happen in a life. For some of you, those things have already happened. Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself...
View ArticleWords of Wisdom from Writers
It’s commencement speech season, and New York Daily News‘s books blog has a roundup of some of the best graduation advice from literary figures. Like this, from Toni Morrison:…art takes us and makes us...
View ArticleBe Kind—You Won’t Regret It
Check out George Saunders’s graduation speech to the students of Syracuse University, where he is a professor.It’s rife with exhortations to kindness and references to monkey-borne illnesses. You know,...
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Funny Women #117: How’s that Barnard Thing Working out for You?
Oh my god, hi! It’s great to see you too. It’s been ages since we graduated! How’s that Barnard thing working out for you?Are you empowered? Validated? Have you found your voice and are you expressing...
View ArticleThose Kinds Of People are The Only People Here
Electric Literature posts a graduation speech from Vonnegut; he riffs on World War II, busboys, ambition, and suicide notes:A young woman told me a couple of years ago that she had applied for...
View ArticleIs This Water?
Graduation season is upon us again, and with it comes the vacant, cliché-ridden literary animal that is the graduation speech. Over at Lit Hub, Emily Harnett revisits David Foster Wallace’s famous...
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Readers Report: Harvest
A collection of short pieces written by Rumpus readers pertaining to the subject of “Harvest.” Edited by Susan Clements. * * * Thanksgiving was her least favorite day of the year, but the weeks leading...
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Rumpus Original Fiction: Reina with White Roses
A block away from my house, Reina killed herself. Three days before graduation. It felt like I didn’t know her well enough to cry during class like some of the other kids. But I was sad, too. The next...
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Voices on Addiction: None of This Is Bullshit
I Was on That Bullshit June 10, 1998, I decided my father had abandoned me for the last time. My father didn’t attend my high school graduation and as far as I was concerned, he could fuck off forever....
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