Alissa Wilkinson founded The Curator in 2008 and was its editor for two years. She now teaches writing and humanities a The King's College and edits Fieldnotes. She has an MA in humanities and social thought from New York University and will graduate from Seattle Pacific University with an MFA in creative nonfiction in 2013. Her writing has appeared in Christianity Today, Books & Culture, Paste, The Other Journal, Q Ideas, The Gospel Coalition, WORLD, Relevant, and other magazines.
Alissa lives in Brooklyn with her husband Tom in a tiny apartment stuffed with books and photography equipment. She loves sci-fi, scotch, empty notebooks, cheap ramen noodles, and getting lost on purpose in unfamiliar cities.
From the Utne Reader: Zabar’s Urban Farming Future. The greenhouse, owned by the famous Zabar’s company, is growing fruits and vegetables in their custom greenhouse, and then selling the food in the market below. The food miles on that transaction are about as close to zero as possible.
From the Telegraph: The Internet is causing a poetry boom. Poetry reading groups – known as “series” – are becoming stronger thanks to the growth of online communities to back them up, he said. “These reading series often have Facebook groups around them. The net is helping smaller networks get together across the country so […]
From the Times Higher Education: the espresso is Italy’s gift to the world and the ideal stimulant for the creative mind, says Graham Farmelo. The combination of a cigarette and an espresso is, I’m told, sublime. But the only enhancements to this elixir I know of are the smell and rustle of newsprint (chef Heston […]
The new hip thing: food culture
From the New York Times: Brooklyn’s New Culinary Movement. These Brooklynites, most in their 20s and 30s, are hand-making pickles, cheeses and chocolates the way others form bands and artists’ collectives. They have a sense of community and an appreciation for traditional methods and flavors. They also share an aesthetic that’s equal parts 19th and […]
Free Bubble Wrap andOther Joys of Urban Simplicity By Rebecca Tirrell Talbot Our cultural imagination has us thinking the country life is the good and simple life. But it’s hardly the only simple life. The city has vast potential to provide an uncomplicated way of life – much more potential than it gets credit for. […]
Q & A with Elizabeth Alexander
From Newsweek: Inauguration poet Elizabeth Alexander – “The arts have a place in conversation”: What message do you think Obama is sending by including a poet in the ceremony? It’s that the arts have a place in conversation, that poetry, its distillation, its precision, its mindfulness, models for us a way that we might stop […]
From The Nation: A lengthy and fascinating interview with Ted Solotaroff on his days at Commentary and the literary culture of 1960s New York. The first morning, I was shown into my office by Sherry Abel, the managing editor, a large, graceful, middle-aged woman with a droll air. “Norman wants you to read these,” she […]
Robert Frank: Looking in at The Americans By Laura Bramon Good Thoughts on “Looking In: Robert Frank’s Americans”, now on view through April 26, 2009 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Bell of the Ball: An NFL Commentary By Brian Watkins Tatum Bell: a gridiron jock who won with humility. Moon Pies, […]
A Kegger in Your Brain:The United States of Tara By Alisa Harris Looking at United States of Tara and how TV treats personality disorders. Streaming Live:Orfeo ed Euridice By Linnea Kickasola A review of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Orfeo ed Euridice, streaming live in HD in select movie theaters. The San José: A Hotel […]
Morality Suspended in Seven Pounds By Sarah Hanssen Seven Pounds: touching, or morally reprehensible? Fallout 3:Maturing the Action RPG Genre By Ty Fujimura A review of Fallout 3, which offers gamers an engrossing and rich experience that sets the bar for the action RPG genre going forward. A Radical Proposal:Stay Home By Nicole Gliddon An […]
Magnificat:Vivid Deconstruction
I’m no art critic, but Bruce Herman’s work speaks volumes to me about the condition of humanity, and about the tension between terror and wondering joy. What I find so compelling in Herman’s work is his use of color and texture to communicate both the vibrant perfection to be found in the ordinary people whose stories make up history, and their flaws and imperfections.
Where is the Cinema?Some Cities and Films in 2008 By M. Leary A look at cities in the films of 2008, and how they arm us with ways to look at our neighborhoods and daily routines in thoughtful ways. So Much to Read:Updike, Angstrom and Procrastination By Matt Beck John Updike, RIP: the legacy and […]
Notes from a Budget Truck By Brian Watkins Does a lack of belonging breed materialism which leads to neuroticism which leads to paranoia which leads to believing that this downward spiral of material obsession will continue and Steve Jobs will eventually create a troop of iPod robots so sleek and desirable that they will seduce […]
Letter to a Young Poet By Daniel Nayeri So vast was my fanboy admiration of Billy Collins when I was in college, so unencumbered by facts my ambition, and so shameless my neophytic insolence, that I wrote the Poet Laureate of United States – Billy Collins – a poem. Financial Frenzy:Don Delillo’s Cosmopolis By Alisa […]
All the Sad Young Literary Men By Peter Jackson Gessen’s novel steps into three lives, watches them passively, and steps back out with only slightly abated passivity. Resent it as I do, Gessen’s book resonates somewhere with me. The Art of Inspiration in the Crescent City By Jay Urban New Orleans lives and still breathes. […]
We’ve reached the end of another year, and every critic and magazine around is publishing their top ten lists of the year. Being one of those magazines, we’re joining the fray; however, we’re putting our own special Curator twist on the tradition by publishing highly subjective, intensely quirky lists that are unique to the contributor. […]
These are the films which were artistically excellent, skillfully made, a long-lasting, positive contribution to the film canon, and stuck with me in some way.
Building Hope Through Sustainable Design An Interview with Margaret Smith of Clean Green Studios Creating green products that make the world spin more smoothly. “I Am Not A Machine”: Addressing God in Less-Established Terms By Samuel Kho The latest CIVA exhibition, called “I Am Not a Machine”, acts as a fitting follow-up for those curious […]
Building Hope Through Sustainable Design:An Interview with Clean Green Studios
We create green products that make the world spin more smoothly. That’s our mission; it’s not just something pretty to say.
Green Ogres and Other Unfortunate Trends on Broadway By Christy Tennant Lament the latest trend on the Great White Way: film adaptations for stage and revivals. Where are the new shows? Pandora: Rewarding Your Curiosity By the Staff of The Curator Whether or not Pandora released all evil on mankind, she did manage to lend […]
Pandora Radio:Rewarding Your Curiosity
Whether or not Pandora released all evil on mankind, she did manage to lend her name to a much more worthy project – the Music Genome Project’s Pandora internet radio.
The Courtyards of Rebirth:Oliver Sacks’s Awakenings, Part II By Rebecca Tirrell Talbot It is appropriate to tiptoe into the courtyards of suffering and rebirth and listen, watch, and learn. A Medieval Christmas(Downe in the Heart of Texas) By Jenni Simmons Musings on Kemper Crabb’s “Downe in Yon Forrest” medieval Christmas album, and its relevance in […]
Dysfunctional Festivities By Alisa Harris Why do movies like Rachel Getting Married and A Christmas Tale always take place at festive occasions? They make us feel better about our own crazy families. On Spezzatura and Chupa Chups By Daniel Nayeri On hard work, flukes, practice, genius, rap, and lollipops. An Interview with Katie HerzigPart 3 […]
The Dress Project By Tala Strauss An experiment in wearing the same dress for a month achieves some surprising and thought-provoking results. The Day Boy and the Night Girl By Linnea Leonard Kickasola Is classical music dying? Not if American opera composers have something to say about it, including Jordan Wentworth Farrar, composer of this […]
An Interview with Katie HerzigPart 1 By Tom Wilkinson The first of a three-part interview with singer/songwriter Katie Herzig. Wax On, Wax Off:Reflections on the Karate Kid By Christy Tennant Rediscovering your favorite movie of all time. On a Year of Vegetarianism By Wayne Adams It’s amazing what a year-long experiment in giving up meat […]
What Ghosts Teach:Oliver Sacks’s Awakenings, Part I By Rebecca Tirrell Talbot What could being asleep for fifty years, and then awakening, teach a person about life? Boffo Socko Jaco By Kevin Gosa Bassist Jaco Pastorius’ seminal work, The Birthday Concert. Belief in the Bones By Alisa Harris Rationalism, mystery, and forensic science – in prime […]
Choosing Creation Over Destruction By Matt Cox A brief profile of the father of video games, Shigeru Miyamoto. Chocolate Tasting By Daniel Nayeri Want to knock your significant other’s socks off? 3191: A Year of Beautiful, Ordinary Mornings By Jenni Simmons A long-distance friendship spawns an intimate photographic examination of daily life.
Doctor Atomic or:How Opera Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb By Linnea Leonard Kickasola Thoughts on the Metropolitan Opera’s production of John Adam’s Doctor Atomic. Pre-School Mayhem in Nursery University By Sarah Hanssen If you thought college applications were grueling, wait until you find out about Manhattan’s most competitive nursery schools. Performance and […]
Truth in Advertising By Kevin Gosa Tired of advertisers making you feel less than human? Never Underestimate the Power of Cartoons By Christy Tennant Political cartoons: child’s play, or public conscience? Broken Windows and Internet Civility By Alissa Wilkinson Could better internet aesthetics make for better virtual neighborhoods?
Broken Windows and Internet Civility
I have a hunch that the aesthetics of online space may contribute more to the friendliness and maturity level of a place than we suspect.
Keep Up the Conversation:A Reflection on David Foster Wallace By Rebecca Tirrell Talbot Considering the work and life of a great writer, and what his death means for us. On Fantasy Fiction;Or, You Should Read Cyndere’s Midnight By Annie Young Frisbie In defense of speculative fiction and great stories, and an introduction to one such […]
Sandra McCracken:A Red Balloon of Hope(Part 1) By Jenni Simmons Part one of a two-part interview with singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken. Playing God on Private Practice By Alisa Harris Bioethics makes an appearance on prime-time television. Sugar By Daniel Nayeri Sugar will kill you, right?
A Human Art:Sound and Spectacle in “La Gioconda” By Linnea Kickasola Audience and performer interaction through the lens of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of “La Gioconda”. Thoughts on Watching “Man on Wire” By Sarah Hanssen High-wire art and the best documentary you’ll see this year.
"In the Parlance of Our Times":An Insufficient Appreciation of the Coen Brothers Jeffrey Overstreet What has made the films of these masters of the dark comedy so distinct, and what does that say about their newest film, “Burn After Reading”? New York, New Art Wayne Adams A walk through some of the most talked-about openings […]
One of Authenticity’s Last Great Sanctuaries? Rebecca Tirrell Talbot A night of slam poetry at Chicago’s Green Mill Lounge. With All the Things Joe Kickasola Artist Daniel Domig explores process and animation. The Lifeblood That Drives the Dreams of Champions Kevin Gosa Finding culture in the most unlikely places. An American Beer Garden Brian Watkins […]
Caramel Daniel Nayeri Caramel is the saddest thing. Shutting Up Our Inner Censors Alisa Harris Michael Chabon, blogging, writer’s block, and learning to speak the truth. Wii Are the World Matt Cox Can a video game help us regain community? She Spoke to Silence Jenni Simmons Vassar Miller: beauty, humor, and poetry in the physically […]
A Note Thank you to everyone who visited The Curator over the past week, read the articles, sent encouraging notes, and shared the news with others. We are encouraged, and a little overwhelmed! We’re cooking up the next edition and will begin our weekly publishing schedule next Friday, September 12. In the meantime, please become […]
Why another culture magazine?
Three Sanctuaries Jenni Simmons A visit to the De Menil collections in Houston and the idea of sanctuary. Mütter Museum’s Gruesome Grace Rebecca Tirrell Talbot Seeing the human story in beauty’s ravages. Rethinking What It Means to Be “Made In America” Sarah Hanssen Entering a hopeless world to find humanity. McCain, Barack, and 30 Rock […]
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