Her Town's Claim to a Kind of Fame by Suzanne Strempek Shea

Her Town’s Claim to a Kind of Fame

By Suzanne Strempek Shea I left home for college with the normal amount of angst about meeting new people. I needn’t have wasted time fretting—I quickly found out I had an easy icebreaker. “You’re from where?” strangers would ask. “Palmer, Massachusetts.” They’d nod blankly, as […]

The Presidential Classroom by Kara Lynn Puskey-Noble

The Presidential Classroom

By Kara Lynn Puskey-Noble When life gets stressful, I go to the barn and clean stalls. Forking up manure, pushing around a loaded wheelbarrow, sweeping—caring for my livestock settles my mind and clears my head. Between the pandemic and the election, I’ve needed to spend […]

Poll Tales by Robert Surbrug

Poll Tales

By Robert Surbrug I’ve been a passionate advocate of voting for most of my life. I’ve thrown myself into voter registration drives and taught the history of voting-rights struggles. That’s partly because I’m an historian and partly because I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock. But […]

Remembering How to Pray by Heidi Fettig Parton

Remembering How to Pray

By Heidi Fettig Parton In the middle of September, you are in the backyard on your knees. You are not praying, but perhaps you should be. Bended knees can lift up, bended knees can kill. The world, heavy with sorrow; you persist. Using your gloved […]

What It's Like by Deirdre Mahoney

Emerald Blog: What It’s Like

Every summer, Bay Path University’s MFA program in Creative Nonfiction writing offers a weeklong Writing Seminar based in Dingle, a town nestled on the Atlantic coast on the western shore of County Kerry, Ireland. Each day throughout the week, Seminar Facilitator Suzanne Strempek Shea gives […]

Secrets of the Deep by Fabrice Poussin

Secrets of the Deep

By Fabrice Poussin From the Photographer: There is nothing more awe inspiring than the wonders and power of the earth, which grants us the privilege of its nurturing for but a few decades. This image, like so many taken in the vicinity of Yellowstone Park, […]