Eric Wohlstadter is pursuing an MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he is the Iowa Arts Fellow.
Eric Wohlstadter
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Writing on Public Books
Last Comic Standing
Why is a good novel like a joke? Before you think too hard, relax: there’s no single punch line here. I’m simply drawing attention to what might be a fruitful comparison. Like a joke, a good novel brings relief or provides escape. Both might make us laugh. Both upend audience assumptions. And both often find […]
As in Painting, So in Poetry
“Colors are not sounds and ears are not eyes,” wrote Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a mid-18th century German philosopher and art critic. He was making a point about what he saw as a crucial division between fine art and writing: not only do art and writing enter our minds via distinct senses, but we also require […]
When Art Disrupts Life
Since its debut at last year’s Sundance festival, the raucous, gorgeous new feature Tangerine has received plenty of well-deserved praise. It has been called, alternately, a “triumph,” “remarkable,” a “small wonder,” and a “minor miracle.” And yet beneath many of those accolades seems to run a thin current of condescension, a reluctance to take the film completely seriously. The […]
