Hi, everyone, I didn’t ask permission to make a guest appearance, but here I am anyway. Earlier this semester, I assigned the essay “Speak, Hoyt-Schermerhorn”* by Jonathan Lethem for my intermediate-level creative nonfiction classes to discuss. Their reactions to the essay were mixed, so if you want to read it, I’ll start there. It’s about a subway station in Brooklyn. No, it’s about Lethem’s memories of the subway station. No, it’s about crime. No, it’s about change. No, it’s about the history of the subway system in New York City. No, it’s about…. It’s about all of those things. I rather enjoyed the piece, though it’s exposition-heavy.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll get to the prompt. When I read the first sentence of Lethem’s essay, I stopped and let the memories rise. Then I resumed reading his essay. So here’s the first sentence. If you’re looking for something to write about, maybe this’ll stir something for you:

“When you’re a child, everything local is famous.”

I hope everyone got something of benefit from Writer’s March. I know I did. And I’d like to thank Sam and Randi and the guest contributors for their work on the blog and, more than that, the inspiration to get busy. Wishing you all the best–Marisa.

*My student Matt who’s from NY said it’s pronounced Hoyt-Skermerhorn, if you care about such things (as I do).