The Daily Scholar Archives

Zinsser on Friday

William Zinsser’s essays for this website—spanning writing, the arts, and popular culture—won the 2012 National Magazine Award in the category of Digital Commentary. Zinsser, who died in 2015, was the author of 18 books, including the beloved On Writing Well.


Writing Lessons

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Poets, novelists, essayists, journalists, and scholars recall a piece of advice or an experience that was most helpful to their writing career.


Psycho Babble


A blog about psycholinguistics by Jessica Love, a psychologist and science writer at Northwestern University. Her most recent article “Reading Fast and Slow” appeared in our Spring 2012 issue.


The Complete All Points

deresiewicz_sketch_cA blog about American culture by William Deresiewicz, author of the book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, based on his beloved essay “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education.”


Science Frictions

A blog about science by Priscilla Long, the author of The Writer’s Portable Mentor. Her essay “Genome Tome,” which appeared in our Summer 2005 issue, won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing.


Epiphanies

brian_doyleA blog about the stories that nourish and sustain us, and the small miracles of everyday life. Brian Doyle is the editor of Portland magazine and the author of numerous books, most recently the novel Chicago.


Northern Lights

miranda_weissA blog about the wonders and challenges of living in Homer, Alaska, by Miranda Weiss, the author of Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska.


Teaching Lessons

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An array of guest columnists recall the wisdom of a favorite teacher or mentor who helped them better understand themselves, their work, or their place in the universe.


Detroit: Summer of 2017

laura_bmA blog about the changing face of the Motor City by essayist Laura Bernstein-Machlay, who teaches literature and creative writing at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and is the author of a forthcoming book called Travelers.


Deep in the Heart

dennis_covingtonA journalist ponders where he’s been, where he is, and where he’s going. Dennis Covington is the author of six books, including Salvation on Sand Mountain, a finalist for the National Book Award. His most recent book is Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World.


Life in Transition

diana_goetschA blog about a person, and a culture, in flux. Diana Goetsch (formerly Douglas Goetsch) is a poet and freelance teacher of writing. Her latest book is Nameless Boy.


Neutral Ground

wayne_curtisA blog about the city of New Orleans in the months leading up to the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans resident Wayne Curtis is the author of The Last Great Walk and And a Bottle of Rum.


On Science

A blog about the new, the odd, and the wonderful by Josie Glausiusz, who has written about every topic known to science, from physics to furry animals, for magazines that include Nature, National Geographic, Discover, and Wired.


Reading Lessons

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Poets, novelists, essayists, journalists, and scholars name a book they prize above all others and tell us why.


World of Wonders

A blog about the natural world and our place in it, by science writer Gaia Vince, whose 2.5-year trek around 40 countries to witness the effects of humanity’s planetary changes is the subject of her book, Adventures in the Anthropocene.


Full Disclosure

miranda_weissA blog about the New York literary life by Phillip Lopate, celebrated essayist, director of Columbia University’s nonfiction program, editor of The Art of the Personal Essay, and author of Against Joie de Vivre, Portrait of My Body, and To Show and to Tell, among other books.


Class Notes

A blog about the art of teaching by Paula Marantz Cohen, a distinguished professor of English at Drexel University and the author of the novels Jane Austen in Scarsdale or Love, Death and the SATs and What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper.