Will Nixon

Guy Reed

In Praise of “The Effort to Hold Light” by Guy Reed

Every day before lunchtime, the boxy white mail van pulls up for a moment to the mail box across the road. Upstairs in my bathrobe at my computer with a window view of the road I’m tempted to interrupt whatever I’m writing to walk over in my slippers to see what the day has brought.

What is a Ruffed Grouse?

Did my mother have a fondness for ruffed grouse? Probably not. She birded in her suburban backyard or at the beach near her house in Connecticut or by the ponds and shoreline of Mount Desert Island, her summer vacation spot.

John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge

John Burroughs: The Anti-Santa Naturalist

By 1912, John Burroughs, a celebrated and opinionated author on the sublime importance of nature for one’s personal character, had noticed the birth of the automobile. And he didn’t like it.

Walt Whitman

Why Poets Love Walt Whitman

Will Nixon has a new, in-depth article up discussing the question of “Why Poets Love Walt Whitman” going into the history and life of one of America’s best poets.

Will Nixon

“What a Concept” by Michael Perkins

Recently, I attended two professional meetings at which leading national critics, artists and other creative folk discussed the future of what, for lack of a more “cutting edge” term everyone could agree on, they called art. (Although the real purpose … Continue reading

Will Nixon

“Read Local”: My Holiday Appeal

Among the nicest gifts I received this year were two heartfelt appraisals of my poetry books by Marc Schuster of Small Press Reviews. Many critics love to show off their smarts, but not so many share their real feelings as … Continue reading