Snapshots: An Album of Essay and Image

by Dinah Lenney (Editor)

Overview

If pictures are worth a thousand words, what kinds of words might they inspire? What stories would they tell and would they be joyful or sad, elegant or savage?

Snapshots features 36 such meditations from a diverse group of writers, each of whom draws on a photograph from their personal archive to inspire a short essay.

Intimate and powerful, these reflections exhibit a range of sensibilities and experiences, offering unique insight into the lives and interests of both established and emerging authors. Expressing a dynamic array of styles, relationships, landscapes, and preoccupations, Snapshots is an album for our life and times.

The book includes pieces from the writers below:

- Emilie Pascale Beck - Suzanne Berne - Aimee Bender - Sven Birkerts - Kate Carroll De Gutes - Stuart Dybek - Alex Espinoza - Lynell George - Amy Gerstler - Tod Goldberg - Hannah Howard - Vanessa Hua - Pico Iyer - Wayne Koestenbaum - Major Jackson - Leslie Jamison - Dinah Lenney - Alex Marzano-Lesnevich - Aimee Liu - Sonja Livingston - Attica Locke - Dinty W. Moore - Mara Naselli - Naomi Shihab Nye - Ivy Pochoda - Adriana E. Ramirez - Sejal Shah - Brandon Shimoda - Jessica Silvester - Aisha Sabatini Sloan - Susan Straight - Grace Talusan - Abigail Thomas - Clifford Thompson - David L. Ulin - Diana Wagman

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350397057
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/06/2025
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dinah Lenney has served as core faculty for the Bennington Writing Seminars and in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. A longtime nonfiction editor at LARB, she herself has published several books in the genre, including Coffee (as part of the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series), The Object Parade and Bigger than Life, and co-edited Brief Encounters: A Collection of Literary Nonfiction with the late Judith Kitchen. Dinah's essays and reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post among many other publications.

Table of Contents

Introduction: a picture is worth a thousand words
Prologue: Emerson Motorworks: Rochester, Vermont, MAJOR JACKSON

1. WAY BACK WHEN
Vigilante, SONJA LIVINGSTON
Girl By Default, KATE CARROLL DE GUTES
Goodbye to Everything and Everybody, NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

2. FAMILY PORTRAITS
Freedom, GRACE TALUSAN
Axed, AIMEE LIU
Serpentine, SEJAL SHAH
On the Street with the Three Red Brick Houses, CLIFFORD THOMPSON
The Celebration, SUZANNE BERNE

3. MIRROR, MIRROR
This is the Start of a Wednesday, HANNAH HOWARD
The Distance, ALEX MARZANO-LESNEVICH
MacIntosh, ATTICA LOCKE
Torn Self-Portrait with Striped Shirt, WAYNE KOESTENBAUM
My Shadow Self, PICO IYER

4. WISH YOU WERE HERE
Garden, IVY POCHODA
Power Lines, MARA NASELLI
The Feast of San Silverio, JESSICA SILVESTER
Off Map, LYNELL GEORGE
Backcountry, STUART DYBEK

5. BEFORE AND AFTER
Richard and Gabrielle Straight, SUSAN STRAIGHT
Fifty, SVEN BIRKERTS
Finita, ADRIANA E. RAMIREZ
Trick or Treat, DIANA WAGMAN
Capitola, TOD GOLDBERG
How to Safely Transport Your Wurlitzer, EMILIE PASCALE BECK
Easton, Maryland, LESLIE JAMISON

6. ELEGIES
Tan Guapos, ALEX ESPINOZA
Memento, VANESSA HUA
Envy, AMY GERSTLER
Yamato, BRANDON SHIMODA

7. VIEWFINDERS
Guitar with Burbaning Candle, AIMEE BENDER
What's in the Background, AISHA SABATINI SLOAN
Categories, DINAH LENNEY
Girl with Corn, DINTY W. MOORE
Wild Turkey, DAVID L. ULIN

Postscript: Piggies, ABIGAIL THOMAS

Alphabetical table of contents
Appendix: List Of Themes
Appendix: List Of Writing Prompts
Appendix: A Very Abbreviated List of Recommended Reading
Contributor Bios
Photo Credits