Best American "Notable" Essay for 2020
OK some cool news! My essay "'Creative Trespassing' sets me free" was named a Best American "Notable" Essay for 2020. Read the essay the here. Thank you Experience magazine editor Joanna Weiss, Best American Essays editor Andre Aciman, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Such an honor.
Study the essay with me September 2020-April 2021
Take your essays to the next level and apply to GrubStreet's Essay Incubator program, our eight-month (September to April) intensive program for writers seeking high-level feedback on their essays, immersion in a community of essay writers, and a leg up on the publishing world. I'm your fearless leader on this creative writing adventure.
More info on the program here. If you have questions about the program or application process, or if you're unsure you're a good match for the program, please drop by the remote (Zoom) Open House & Info Session on July 14. For more info on that, and to tegister: http://ow.ly/tvjY50AmXF5
Geeking out about D&D
Sure D&D is fun ... But is it good for you? Over on the DiceGeeks podcast, I discuss this and share stories of growing up playing D&D and its benefits with host Matt Davids.
Best games against social isolation
I was asked by the Boston Globe to recommend my favorite games --- board and card games, charades-type games, and role-playing games --- to play in person with your quarantine crew or online via video conference. In the story, I recommend Cards against Humanity, Dungeons & Dragons, and Pandemic.
Here are some of my picks that didn't make it into the story:
Here's the full story.
take a spring or summer writing workshop with me
Hey writers. GrubStreet (the place where I teach) is adapting to the virus by offering all creative writing classes remotely. No matter where you live, you can take a workshop. Here's a sample of what classes I'm offering in May, June, July and August. More deets: http://ethangilsdorf.com/teaching/
Can a 53-year-old nerd with bad-hand eye coordination excel at esports?
Can a 53-year-old nerd with bad-hand eye coordination excel at esports? My essay explores that and the whole college esports scene.
https://expmag.com/2020/01/forget-football-video-games-are-the-next-big-college-sport/
Some teenagers play football ... others slay dragons.
Some teenagers play football ... others slay dragons. Morified meets Dungeons & Dragons in this new podcast. Take a listen! [I come on at about the 15 min. mark]
http://getmortified.com/episode/179-dungeons-dragons-and-totally-awkward-diaries/
Me, the New York Times and D&D
I wrote this feature story for the New York Times Books section "In a Chaotic World, Dungeons & Dragons Is Resurgent: The role-playing game has made a surprising return to mainstream culture." (published online Nov. 13, 2019; on print Nov. 15).
Come study the essay with me
I'll be leading GrubStreet's 2019-2020 Essay Incubator program.
Over 8 months (Sept-April), you'll take a deep dive into essay craft and tradition, work on 3 to 5 essays inthe company of other serious essayists, and workshop and revise three of them in preparation for publication. I'll invite guest writers and editors into the classroom to share their secrets, and you'll get a professional look at your work at Grub's Muse and the Marketplace conference. Among other cool things. You can read more details here. (Note: fellowships are available.)
I'll be holding a Free Open House and Info Session on Thursday, June 27th at 6pm at GrubStreet in Boston (sign-up in advance here, if you think you can make it). The open house will be a chance for you to ask any questions you may have about the Incubator re: the workload; application process; schedule; my teaching philosophy, or anything else. Perhaps most importantly, it's a chance to find out if the program is right for you. Drinks and snacks provided!
cheers,
Ethan Gilsdorf
writer | teacher | critic | nerd
ethan [at] ethangilsdorf.com | http://www.ethangilsdorf.com | @ethanfreak | YouTube
Quiz: Trump Administration Dismissal/Resignation or Monster Defeated in My Last D&D Campaign
1. Kirstjen Nielsen
2. Demogorgon
3. Manafort
4. Manticore
5. Shulkin
6. Reince Priebus
7. Gibbering Mouther
8. Gorka
9. Owlbear
10. Omaroso
11. Zinke
12. Mimic
13. Mattis
14. Githyanki
15. Scaramucci
16. Tarrasque
17. Slaad
18. Fleitz
19. Rex Tillerson
20. Displacer Beast
[Answers: Trump Dismissal/Resignation: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19; D&D Monster: 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20]
© Ethan Gilsdorf
My obsession with trespassing
My essay for Northeastern University's new Experience magazine, about the pleasures of being where I'm not supposed to be.
I got Mortified
As always, a great time performing at Mortified, that event where you get on stage to share journals, stories, poems and other artifacts from your childhood, teenage and young adulthood. I was at the Oberon Theater in Cambridge, Oct 12 and 13, laying bare my soul via my old Super 8 animated films and MTV-style videos from the 1980s. Thanks for Mortified producer Sara Faith Alterman for helping shape the stories.(Photos courtesy of Mary Ann Guillette).
In The Adventure Zone
I was thrilled to be part of this event to launch The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, the graphic novel adapted from The Adventure Zone comedy and adventure podcast (based loosely on D&D). Brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, and father Clint McElroy, were in Boston at the Wilbur Theater July 19th, 2018, and I was there to interview them/moderate their on stage antics. Thanks for inviting me!
Writing and the Literary Life in Rhode Island
Over 100 folks came out to the ”Writing and the Literary Life in Rhode Island" roundtable and meet-and-greet on Monday, September 17, that I helped organized with GrubStreet and SchoolOne. The event featured representatives from literary and writing organizations across the state including Frequency Writers, What Cheer Writers Club, Reading with Robin/Point Street Reading Series, Rhode Island Center for the Book, Association of Rhode Island Authors, Ocean State Review, and others.
here are some photos from the event itself, and you can watch my video interview preview of the event here on GoLocal Prov LIVE below. 
Preview of the event here on GoLocal Prov LIVE below.
Providence: Your New Favorite Lit Scene?
Don't mess with ... Rhode Island either! In which I make the case that Providence, RI has "emerged from the literary shadows of more established hubs New York City and Boston to hatch a burgeoning scene all its own" for the GrubStreet blog.
I celebrated the 1980s
I was thrilled to be part of NEON RetroFest in Warwick (Providence) on Aug 24.
The Providence Journal previewed the event here. 
We played Galaga and Star Castle, and drank Mountain Dew. I talked about "How D&D Changed the World." Peter Bebergal and I nerded out about the 1980s at our "INTELLI-VISION: THE PETER AND ETHAN PUBLIC ACCESS TV SHOW" event-- here's our intro video. Rad!
A visit to my nerd cave
The kind folks over at East Side Monthly came by to check out my nerd cave and chat. Here's what we talked about. They also got a shot of a nerd in his natural habitat.
I wrote about Dungeons & Dragons for the Ted Ideas site
Over at ted.ideas.com website, I wrote "How playing Dungeons & Dragons has helped me be more connected, creative and compassionate" --- in it, I talk about how agency, power, and the imagination can come from fantasy role-playing games.
Stranger Things have happened
I re-enacted a day from the 1980s, in celebration of the new season of Stranger Things. Read the story here.
Josh Reynold's photo shoot that captured my day below.
A Best American Essay notable essay
An essay that I published in Boston Magazine last May, “The Day My Mother Became a Stranger," was just named a "notable" Best American Essay for 2016 in this well-known annual anthology of "best" essays. It's quite an honor, even to be one of the many runners-up. Thank you Boston Magazine, especially my wonderful editors S.I. Rosenbaum, Carly Carioli and Matthew Reed Baker. 