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Four Intriguing Ideas from Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism

Four Intriguing Ideas from Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism

ByTim Ellison

With five new critical studies of Northrop Frye hitting the bookstores this year, 2015 is turning out to be Frye’s year. Frye was one of the 20th century masters of myth criticism: if you’re at all interested in archetypes, the hero’s journey, or the intersection of religion and literature, Frye is the writer for you….

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The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week: “Taxonomy” by Alix Ohlin

ByRoss McMeekin

The opening sections of Alix Ohlin’s wonderful short story “Taxonomy,” (TriQuarterly 146) shows how a simple plot can open into a compelling mystery through just a few quick descriptions. In the first scene, the narrator Ed stops at a roadside Amish gift shop to try to find an appropriate gift for his daughter. As you…

The Ploughshares Round Down: How To Tell People What Your Book Is About

The Ploughshares Round Down: How To Tell People What Your Book Is About

ByEric Nelson

Last week, I received a fiction pitch I knew I would reject a few lines in. It contained the phrase, “after he discovers a family secret long since buried.” (Or something like that.) I wrote back to the author and admitted that I was passing because, while other people might like books about that, I’m…