Philip Lopate

The Fall 2012 issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Patricia Hampl. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different and personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

Award-winning memoirist and author Patricia Hampl (The Florist's Daughter, I Could Tell You Stories) compiles this all-essay issue of Ploughshares. Showcasing the diversity and range of nonfiction in English, the issue contains family memoir (“My Mother’s Story,” by Xu Xi), travel writing (“What the Desert Said,” by Kimberly Meyer), a graphic essay by the cartoonist L. K. Hanson (from “The Story of My Hand”), and everything from science writing to reflections on faith.

Featuring acclaimed authors like Phillip Lopate, Charles Baxter, and Dani Shapiro, the issue also contains Hampl’s thoughts on the art of nonfiction and the American love for the first person voice.

INTRODUCTION
Patricia Hampl

EDITOR PROFILE
Jennifer Brice

NONFICTION

“What Happens in Hell,” by Charles Baxter
“A Goodly Heritage,” by Kelly Grey Carlisle
“Snow on Snow,” by Robert Clark
“Mapping Yolanda,” by Jennifer De Leon
“Inside,” by Patricia Foster
“Gloria Mundi,” by Lynn Freed
“The Taste of Almonds,” by Mary Gordon
“Some Pages from The Story of My Hand,” by L. K. Hanson
“Why I Remain a Baseball Fan,” by Phillip Lopate
“My Acid Cruise,” by Nancy Lord
“The Twittering Machine,” by David Stuart MacLean
“Forty More Years: Nixon and Me,” by Thomas Mallon
“What the Desert Said,” by Kimberly Meyer
“Didn’t Anyone Tell You,” by Eileen Pollack
“Myself on High,” by Ralph James Savarese
“Evil Tongue,” by Dani Shapiro
“The Academy of Sciences,” by Mark Slouka
“My Mother’s Story: The Fiction & Fact,” by Xu Xi

MISC

“Real Estate,” a Plan B essay by Terese Svoboda
“Notes on Neihardt,” a Look2 essay by Barry Gifford