Marlon James makes us wish we were back in school again, taking his classes. Marlon James, the Jamaican-born Macalester College English professor who last month won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his ...

“John quickly pulled out his gun, shakily aimed it at Joe, and angrily shot him dead.” There’s one way you might write a line of fiction (or, if you’re a member of my immediate family, memoir). Here’s ...

Ah, the adverb train station. If you want to find out about adverbs, there is no better place. An adverb tells you how something happens. Here is a train moving "quickly" on the track. “Quickly” is an ...

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. ‘Farmer Frank drives carefully.’ ‘Carefully’ is an adverb describing ‘drives’. It tells us how Farmer Frank drives. Most adverbs end ...

I've been promoting a new book of short stories: I've been giving public readings and interviews. It's a great and privileged thing to be able to do and of course it bucks one's ego immensely. It's ...

I’m often astounded by the way people use “awhile” and “a while.” And, no, I’m not shocked by how badly they choose between these terms, but by how well. To understand when “a while” is preferable to ...