May 2023 – Princeton Writes

On the Merits of Raisin Bread by Stephanie Whetstone

admin2023-09-26T07:29:43-04:00

On the Merits of Raisin Bread by Stephanie Whetstone At Princeton Writes, we are often called upon to help scientists, mathematicians, and writers in other highly technical fields translate their work for the general public—to take complex ideas that people have been working on in labs or on advanced computers for years and bring them into the world in context, not by watering them down, but by making them more accessible to non-specialists. After all, if you can explain your work to funders to continue your research on the human brain or generate interest in things like the impacts of climate [...]

On the Merits of Raisin Bread by Stephanie Whetstoneadmin2023-09-26T07:29:43-04:00

Word of the Week: vocation (voh-KAY-shun)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:54:57-04:00

Word of the Week: vocation (voh-KAY-shun) Definition (noun)1. a) summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially : a divine call to the religious life. b) an entry into the priesthood or a religious order 2. a) the work in which a person is employed : occupation b) the persons engaged in a particular occupation 3. the special function of an individual or group In Context "The superpower I've always wished for is invisibility, and I chose my vocation accordingly. A novelist gets 140,000 words per one tiny author photo. That's a visibility ratio I can live with." [...]

Word of the Week: vocation (voh-KAY-shun)Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:54:57-04:00

A Poem for You: A Memory of Us by Safia Elhillo

admin2023-05-01T12:22:25-04:00

A Memory of Us BY SAFIA ELHILLO when i think of us i think of the lakewater near longtown, what might not technically constitute a lake but i prefer that word for the open mouth of its vowel, how it called us to its throat & held us there, in the sun, the high points of our faces slick with light & its arc around our shoulders, the soft gathering of flesh around our knees, the lone chair we found near the shore where we took turns posing, jutting out an eloquent hip, cackling in the bright language of flowers for whom [...]

A Poem for You: A Memory of Us by Safia Elhilloadmin2023-05-01T12:22:25-04:00

Word of the Week: cathexis (kuh-THEK-sis)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:35:17-04:00

Word of the Week: cathexis (kuh-THEK-sis) Definition (Noun) investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea In Context "In 2004, Bowie had a heart attack, and he was recently rumored to be in poor health. Leading up to the release of 'The Next Day,' a jittery cathexis formed. Do we judge Bowie as we always have, by his own standards? Would a new album be received reverentially, like those of the post-motorcycle-crash Bob Dylan?" — Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2013

Word of the Week: cathexis (kuh-THEK-sis)Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:35:17-04:00

Word of the Week: accoutrement (ə-ˈkü-trə-mənt , -ˈkü-tər-mənt)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:32:24-04:00

Word of the Week: accoutrement (ə-ˈkü-trə-mənt , -ˈkü-tər-mənt) Definition (Noun) equipment or clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing In Context The umbrella of the title refers, of course, to the Penguin’s signature prop, which we see him carrying in the opening scene while flanked by two new flunkies, signaling his continuing evolution toward his supervillain destiny. But the accoutrement also functions as a handy metaphor for both the Penguin’s unparalleled ability to shield himself from trouble and the broad shadow the little man is casting across Gotham City. Everything in Monday’s episode sprang [...]

Word of the Week: accoutrement (ə-ˈkü-trə-mənt , -ˈkü-tər-mənt)Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-25T14:32:24-04:00

A Poem for You: I Dare You by Dorianne Laux

admin2023-04-11T10:35:21-04:00

I Dare You by Dorianne Laux It’s autumn, and we’re getting rid of books, getting ready to retire, to move some place smaller, more manageable. We’re living in reverse, age-proofing the new house, nothing on the floors to trip over, no hindrances to the slowed mechanisms of our bodies, a small table for two. Our world is shrinking, our closets mostly empty, gone the tight skirts and dancing shoes, the bells and whistles. Now, when someone comes to visit and admires our complete works of Shakespeare, the hawk feather in the open dictionary, the iron angel on a shelf, we say [...]

A Poem for You: I Dare You by Dorianne Lauxadmin2023-04-11T10:35:21-04:00

Book of the Month: Demon Copperhead (2022) by Barbara Kingsolver

admin2023-05-22T13:56:49-04:00

Book of the Month: Demon Copperhead (2022) by Barbara Kingsolver Critical Evaluation "In 'Demon Copperhead,' Barbara Kingsolver offers a close retelling of Charles Dickens’s 'David Copperfield,' which is either a baffling choice or an ingenious maneuver from a novelist who has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and selected for Oprah’s Book Club and regularly — inevitably, even — appears on the best-seller list of this newspaper, all while reaping a surprising quantity of stinging pans from critics. "Kingsolver’s resurrection of Dickens’s most sentimental (though cherished by many, including me) novel might seem a bit strange — as if Harry Styles [...]

Book of the Month: Demon Copperhead (2022) by Barbara Kingsolveradmin2023-05-22T13:56:49-04:00

A Poem for You: Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising by Paul Tran

admin2023-04-11T10:20:23-04:00

Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising by Paul Tran Sigh of the Santa Ana through the chaparral clinging to the mountain. Through the sunflowers at night, searching for the sun, along the river no longer a river. The wind kissing the river, its stone face, and making each stone a matchbook. A match. A book on fire. The river a library on fire. The wind a woman running through the valley on fire. Searching. The sunflowers turning toward her. Her nightgown a book turning its own bright pages in the wind. Smoke the color of chaparral. Smoke clinging to her, making [...]

A Poem for You: Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising by Paul Tranadmin2023-04-11T10:20:23-04:00

Word of the Week: ineluctable (in-ih-LUK-tuh-bul)

Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-11T10:58:47-04:00

Word of the Week: ineluctable (in-ih-LUK-tuh-bul) Definition (Adjective) not to be avoided, changed, or resisted : inevitable In Context Mr. Unkrich faced a dilemma. On the one hand, he believed that artists should not be restricted to 'only telling stories about what they know and their own culture.' But he also needed to safeguard against his ineluctable biases and blind spots, and ensure that his film didn't 'lapse into cliché or stereotype.'" Reggie Ugwu, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2017

Word of the Week: ineluctable (in-ih-LUK-tuh-bul)Stephanie Whetstone2023-04-11T10:58:47-04:00

A Poem for You: Who’s That BY ANA BOŽIČEVIĆ

admin2023-04-06T12:21:21-04:00

Who's That BY ANA BOŽIČEVIĆ Eloquent Silence of everyone I ever loved This cloudy Friday evening Spring but still cold A smattering of new buds Who's that Swaddled in The uneasy atmosphere In silence No chatter or pleasant surprise The lusty rush of a weekend With the beloved Who's that Sprouting now out of The cottony silence With silky whips Still hanging from their little chops Who is it straining To pop out Of the hardwood Rings of time Into the cool air Like there's another cool world On the other side of this one Worth pushing Through to or maybe We're [...]

A Poem for You: Who’s That BY ANA BOŽIČEVIĆadmin2023-04-06T12:21:21-04:00

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