My love letter to Boston on WBUR Cognoscenti
WBUR featured my radio essay as part of their "Love Letter to Boston" series that aired on WBUR's NPR Morning Edition program.
Antidepressant Brand Name, or Elf Character from Middle-Earth?
Humor! Over on Greener Pastures: “Antidepressant Brand Name, or Elf Character from Middle-Earth”
How to Prepare for A Difficult Conversation
Over on Brevity, I published this essay "How to Prepare for A Difficult Conversation."
Shall we play a game?
In which my co-author and I entice chat GPT to play Dungeons & Dragons.
Here's what we wrote for Wired Magazine.
DEAR CHATBOT, SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT MY DEAD MOTHER? A conversation between Ethan Gilsdorf and ChatGPT
Should I write about my dead mother?
Yes, you should write about your dead mother if you feel compelled to do so. Writing about someone you care about can be a cathartic and meaningful experience.
You'll find this essay published over on Electric Literature 
Quiz: Monster in the new Dungeons & Dragons movie or Republican Member of the Weaponization of the Federal Government Committee?
A connection with a stranger reminded me how to play
Over on WBUR's Cognoscenti, I published an essay about a chance, playful encounter with a boy in an airport and how that got my in touch with the power of play. Enjoy.
Discussing narrative structure on the 7am Novelist podcast
On Michelle Hoover's The 7am Novelist podcast, I discussed how to find alternative structures and shape your own with host Michelle and writer Christopher Boucher, and how to go "Beyond Freytag" in re-examinging traditional narrative structure in your novel, story or essay.
NASA crashed into an asteroid! Nerds like me are in heaven
A nerd out on the NASA's DART Mission to bump into an asteroid, published in WBUR's Cognoscenti
Watching the Red Sox. Looking for my mom
Did your mother coach your Little League team? Mine did. On #RedSox home opener day, my nostalgic reminincience, for WBUR Cognoscenti.
What Our Brains Do When We Play Wordle
A Q&A with Holly Taylor, Tufts University professor of psychology and mechanical engineering, about why that darned word game is so popular: "What Our Brains Do When We Play Wordle"
A celebration of Zoom's 50th
Half a century later, I can still sing the address: "Write Zoom. Z, double-O, M. Box 3-5-0. Boston, Mass. 0-2-1-3-4. Send it to Zoom!"
Read my essay/appreciation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking kids show Zoom.
Talking Tolkien on the Mythmakers podcast
Thank you Oxford Center for Fantasy for inviting me to be on the Mythmakers podcast. Listen as we talk all things fantasy writers --- especially Tolkien --- and the multitude of subcultures they inspired from D&D to LARPing and more.
Fall workshops with Ethan
Classes I'm offering this fall include:
- So You Wanna Be a Writer, Friday, October 1st, 10:30am-1:30pm (EST)
- The Hermit Crab Essay, Friday, October 15th, 10:30am-1:30pm (EST)
- Seaport Free Writes, Wednesday, October 6th, 12:30pm-1:15pm
- 6 Weeks, 6 Essays, 6 Tuesdays from 10:30am-1:30pm (EST), starting September 14th
- Developing Your Personal Essay, 8 Mondays from 6-9pm (EST) starting October 18th (to Dec 6)
- Writing the Short, Publishable Personal Essay: Online, 8 weeks online; NO LIVE MEETINGS. Class opens September 9th.
My TEDx talk now a podcast
It lives (again)! My TEDx talk "Why Dungeons and Dragons is good for you" has been turned into a TEDx SHORTS audio podcast on all your favorite platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, Stitcher, Castbox, iHeartRadio). Here's the Apple Podcasts link. Enjoy!
Take an online writing workshop with me this winter & spring
The downside of Covid is I don't get to teach in person. The upside is that all my classes are now on Zoom or online and anyone regardless of location can be a part of my writing workshops. Here's what I'm offering this winter and spring (thus far). I hope you'll join us!
GrubStreet Seminars and Multiweek workshops:
**Note: Due to Coronavirus, for the time being, all GrubStreet classes in Boston and Providence will be offered remotely, online, live via Zoom video conferencing. More info on how this works.
Seminars:
So You Want to Be a Writer in 2021? Section C - Remote!: Friday, February 5th, from 2:00pm-5:00pm
So You Want to Be a Writer in 2021?: Section D - Remote!: Friday, March 19th, 10:30am-1:30pm
Personal Narrative Essentials: Building Characters, Friday, February 12th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Personal Narrative Essentials: Structure and Form, Friday, February 26th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Generator Bootcamp, Friday, March 5th, 10:30am-1:30pm
Personal Narrative Essentials: Using Research and Immersion, Friday, March 12th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Personal Narrative Essentials: Finding Your Narrative Arc, Friday, March 26th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Personal Narrative Essentials: How to Publish, Friday, April 16th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Multi-week workshops:
Remote (Zoom) workshops:
Writing the Risky Personal Essay, 6 Thursdays, 10:30am-1:30pm, starting April 8
6 Weeks, 6 Op-Eds, Wednesdays from 10:30am-1:30pm, starting March 10th.
Online Multi-week, asynchronous workshops:
Online: 6 Weeks, 3 Essays, 6 Weeks, starting January 20th
In PROVIDENCE, for GrubStreet:
None at this time. Please see GrubStreet's Providence page for current info on all classes being offered in Providence.
Other venues:
The Westerly Writers Workshop: Online Memoir classes. Westerly, RI, at the Ocean Community YMCA, Westerly-Pawcatuck Branch. Classes will be held remotely via Zoom.
6 Wednesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Session 1: January 27 – March 3. Register here.
Session 2: May 19 – June 23. ;Registration info TBA.
Stay tuned for Summer 2021 sessions TBA soon.
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.
