BOOKS

Click on bold titles to purchase books:

LOVE IS BLIND IN ONE EYE: 7 STORIES

Shebooks, 2016

Nominated for the Pushcart Prize, 6 of 7 stories

“I loved reading these seven stories and spending time with Jewel. A curious, bold, sensual, and tender young woman, she pursues her adventures with light, sure steps.”

– Molly Giles, Author, All the Wrong Places (Spokane Prize) and Rough Translations (Flannery O’Connor Award)

“This is one beautiful book. I loved and devoured it–like candy, like medicine. What a gorgeous, devastating, liberating collection.”

– Lavinia Spalding, Editor, The Best Women’s Travel Writing

 “Deliciously poignant, the stories collected here are both raw and sophisticated, masterfully interwoven to reveal how one forges ahead with resilience and grace while on the precipice of a vast chasm of grief. An astounding, beautiful work.”

–  Bridget Crocker, Travel Writer/Blogger: adventuresoflittlemama.com 

“Marianne’s compelling yet simply told stories gently take our hand and lead us through moments of tragedy and daily triumph that could easily be our own as parents, as travelers, and as friends, and ultimately reveal the indelible strength of character and vulnerability that make us all human beings.”

–  Kimberley Lovato, Travel Journalist and Author of Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves

SILVIE'S LIFE

Zenobia Press, Berkeley, 1995

Gradiva, Lisbon, 2006 [translated into Portuguese]

“Silvie's Life is a tender and beautifully written book. I stayed up all night reading it, absolutely mesmerized, in awe of Silvie's parents and of Silvie herself. I couldn't put it down.”
~ Anne Lamott, Author, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year and Bird by Bird

“This story is so beautifully told and exquisitely woven with subtlety and suspense that it's almost impossible to put down. Thanks to the poetic, gripping, and unexpectedly uplifting narrative by writer Marianne Rogoff, Silvie's Life is a rare gem that glimmers in the eye and ear long after it ends.”
~ Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle

“Silvie’s Life is a true gift to the reader… an outstanding book.”

~ Elaine Petrocelli, Book Passage

“Big stuff, the stuff that takes us to the cemeteries outside of Tibet to initiate us. Stuff that brings us to know suffering and what brings us back around to sublimity.”

~ Susan Englebry, Commonweal Gardens

“Lucid, honest, full of poetry, humanity, wisdom.”

 ~ Alicia Ostriker, Poet and Scholar, Rutgers University

“A little jewel.”

 ~ Joanne Kyger, Poet and Scholar, Naropa Institute

ANTHOLOGIES

LIVING, LOVING, LONGING, LISBON

LiLoLoLi, 2021

“Can you love a city? Yes, and Lisbon is a great example. This European capital city is a bustling metropolis that averages 300 days of sunshine a year. Tourists flock here in ever-increasing numbers for the history, culture, great food, and people that have inspired this short anthology of Lisbon stories. The authors in this book come from all corners of the world. Some live here, while others have visited and fallen in love. Each of their tales shines a new and unique light on the city. Take a ride in an iconic tram with a broken-hearted tourist; find love in unexpected places; comb through the fragments in its nooks and crannies; go on a journey of healing that begins with loss; discover the city's quirks through the eyes of an observant writer; despair of its new architecture; take a surrealist flight of fantasy; step back in time for a glamorous cruise; and meet the eclectic residents of this ancient city with a modern heart.” ~ from Preface5.0 out of 5 stars Marianne Rogoff’s story was a well written short story. Check it out!

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2021

Marianne Rogoff’s story! “ALIVE IN LISBON” on p. 48

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

CSS, LLC, 2021

“You’ll laugh a lot, tear up at times, and nod your head in recognition as you read these tales about the magical experience of sharing life with a dog. From hilarious to heroic, mischievous to miraculous, and everything in between, you’ll enjoy a wide variety of entertaining stories about our canine companions.” ~ Amazon description

Marianne Rogoff’s story! “BFFs” on p. 173

REMIX PERSPECTIVES: TRANSDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES FOR THE ART OF WRITING

ProQuest, Dissertation, 2013

How do creative writers transform the complexity of life into literature? Remix Perspectives presents a bricolage synthesis of insights for workshop leaders and creative writers, appropriated from selected artistic and literary voices from the last hundred years. Seminal concepts from arts such as painting, poetry, dance, music, and photography are gathered here as they inform the arts of literary fiction and creative nonfiction. Thinkers from philosophy, psychology, literary theory, complexity, and metaphysics address the inner and outer realms where the work of the writer is generated and goes forth.

Click bold titles to read Marianne Rogoff’s travel stories.

“Ghosts in the Black Forest” | Gold Solas Award Winner, Love Story, Travelers Tales 2023

“Cornered in Madrid” | Soundtrack of Travel Competition Finalist, Intrepid Times 2023

“Where I’ve Been” Solas Award Honorable Mention 2021

“12 Hours in Barcelona” Nominated for Pushcart Prize 2016

“Alive in Lisbon” Solas Award Bronze Winner—Women’s Travel 2018

“Raven” Nominated for Pushcart Prize 2016

“Human Nature”

“Common Tongues”

“Days and Nights of San Miguel”

Short Stories & Flash Fiction [Published Online]

Click on bold titles to read stories:

“Reappearance” Dorothy Parker’s Ashes: The Clock Issue (May 2022)

“Running Boy” Reflex Fiction, Quarterly International Flash Fiction Competition (Longlisted Summer 2021; published August 28, 2021)

“About a Boy” My Paper Ghosts (June 29, 2021, scroll down to 13th story in collection inspired by found photos of a boy in Portugal)

“The Desk” ROAM: Representations of Home Creative Journal, University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (Spring/Summer 2021)

“Breezy Girl on a High Balcony” My Paper Ghosts (Spring 2021) Honorable Mention, Vintage Photo Story Contest

“Will Work for Food” Farmer-ish (Spring 2021)

“Reluctant to See the Sun Go Down” Crossroads International (February 2020), Winner Flash Nonfiction Contest

“BFFs” Chicken Soup for the Soul, Dogs Issue (Fall 2021), Fiction Southeast (November 2019), Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize 2018 Finalist; featured on Story Radio Podcast (June 2020)

“Tangible Things” The Coachella Review (November 2019), accepted for publication with no edits :)

“Attention” Tishman Review (July 2018), one of three Top 10 Tillie Olsen Short Story Award Winners selected for publication

"Apprehension" [excerpt], East Coast Ink, Portraiture Issue (July 2014, pp. 33-34)

"Dancing with J. D. Salinger" SOL: English Writing in Mexico (March 2013)

"Love Is Blind in One Eye" ChickLitReview.org (Jan 2007)

"La Gruta" BostonLiteraryMagazine.com (Fall 2006)

"Emporio Rulli” RedbridgeReview.co.uk (Summer 2006)

Short Stories [Print Anthologies]

"The Poet, Off Hours" Zebulon Nights (2003)

"Firewalking" Marin Review (Spring 1986)

"Indian Springs" Sideshow (1996)

"Purple and Red Mouths" Sideshow (1993)

"Someplace Else" Sideshow (1992)

"Waiting for God" Sideshow (1991)

"Meeting My Father Halfway, My Father’s Daughter : Stories by Women (Crossing Press, 1990) 

Click bold titles to read feature essays

“Sam Shepard Is a Place” The Critical Flame (Nov 2017)

“Dance with Death” Hektoen International (Winter 2018)

“Depth of the Surface: Paintings by Melinda Cootsona” Exhibit Catalog (Summer 2013)

“Is the Internet Ruining Our Lives? On The Cult of the Amateur“ by Andrew Keen The Rumpus (March 2009)

“In Search of Our Brains: On Reading and Teaching Proust Was a Neuroscientist” by Jonah Lehrer, The Rumpus (Jan 2009)

“On Dancing at the Devil's Party: Essays on Poetry, Politics & the Erotic” by Alicia Ostriker Bloomsbury Review (May 2001)

On Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende + Conversations with Isabel Allende by John Rodden and Isabel Allende, Bloomsbury Review (Sept/Oct 1999)

On The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought by Marilynne Robinson, Bloomsbury Review (Nov/Dec 1998)

On Sleeping Where I Fall by Peter Coyote, Bloomsbury Review (May/June 1998) 

Five Bilingual Magazines from Mexico, Bloomsbury Review (May/June 1997)

Tierra Poly-Vox/Land of Many Voices: Diverse Talents from Mexico, Bloomsbury Review (Sept/Oct 1996)

Click bold titles to read book reviews.

“Remembering Gina Berriault: On Three Short Novels: The Son, The Lights of Earth, Conference of Victims” (Counterpoint Press, 2014), Mill Valley Literary Review (Summer 2014)

Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, eds. Nina Simons, Terry Tempest Williams, Anneke Campbell, World Futures (Taylor & Francis, UK, 2012)

Intimate Strangers by Breyten Breytenbach, World Futures (Taylor & Francis, UK, 2011)

Into the Beautiful North by Alberto Urrea, The Rumpus (June 2009)

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville, The Rumpus (May 2009)

Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed by Marc Blatte, The Rumpus (April 2009)

The Wasp Eater by William Lychack, San Francisco Chronicle (Aug 2004)

Strange But True by John Searles, San Francisco Chronicle (July 2004)

World Famous Love Acts by Brian Leung, San Francisco Chronicle (May 2004)

Do the Blind Dream? by Barry Gifford, San Francisco Chronicle (May 2004)

My Mother’s Island by Marnie Mueller, Bloomsbury Review (May/June 2003)

Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry, eds. Michael Wieger and Monica de la Torre, Bloomsbury Review (March/April 2003)

The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington, Bloomsbury Review (Jan/Feb 2003)

No One Said a Word by Paula Varsavsky, Bloomsbury Review (Sept/Oct 2001)

In a State of Memory by Tununa Mercado, Bloomsbury Review (Sept/Oct 2001)

How We Want to Live: Narratives on Progress, eds. Shreve and Shreve, Bloomsbury Review (Jan/Feb 1999)

Thoughts from MOI

MOI is a character who appears throughout Marianne Rogoff’s remix dissertation, an alter-ego to insert as needed into the conversations she constructed among great authors, artists, and critics on the art of writing. 

MOI: Who is it that recommends starting your day of writing by typing someone else’s great prose, so that the feeling of good writing is in your fingertips when you move on to write your own words?

MOI: I have used the first pages of Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway to teach grammar. The entire book takes place in a single day. Clarissa Dalloway starts the morning in present tense, sunshine and flowers, then imagines (in future tense) the party she will throw later that night, while recalling memories of the last time she saw some of the guests she has invited (via past tense, or flashbacks).

MOI: I don’t write as a daily habit, just to get words on the page. I only write when I have something to say.

MOI: I can recall a handful of memorable times when everything I wanted to say came pouring out in a rush of energy and I barely had to change a word; I only had to keep my hand moving as fast as my thoughts were flying and heart was beating.

MOI: I enjoy revision much more than writing. The first draft is an ugly “lump of clay” which I mine with great effort from dark places. The pleasure comes as I sculpt it into shape, adding and subtracting until I feel satisfied when I step back and take a look at what I made.

MOI: Sometimes I draw pictures of what my book covers will look like when the mess is tidy and finally published.

MOI: Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook was a key book for me when I first read it in college. I liked the idea of keeping separate, colored notebooks as a way to compartmentalize life and take control, while also gathering them together in the golden notebook, the book I was holding, with its overarching perspective, the whole that embraced the parts.

MOI: I’ve tried to be organized about it, and I have file cabinets and bookshelves and notebooks that are vaguely organized. But they don’t stay that way. Everything changes. I guess that’s good too.

MOI: The writer has to stay in motion and be reasonably fit to sit still for so many hours and not be in pain.

MOI: Don’t be too drunk or too sober.

MOI: I’m in the pink cathedral in San Miguel de Allende, kneeling and praying with strangers in Spanish. This is one place in the world where I kneel.

MOI: I think I may have built myself from the top-down of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which explains the instability that underlies my “realization of potential.” I have only a glancing sense of “long-term survival and stability” or “affiliation and acceptance.”

MOI: Moving away is the first challenge, then being able to visit and still maintain your new self-description without disavowing who you also are.

MOI: In that first cross-country trip in Steve Gorski’s Volvo I saw how vast and empty landscape could be. We left the car far behind and hiked snowy mountains where all we heard was silence.

MOI: I remember meeting Carolyn Forché at a writers’ retreat in Taxco, Mexico, where the other teachers included Clark Blaise and Jayne Anne Phillips. On the first day I couldn’t help but notice Jayne Anne’s impeccable French manicure. Next day I saw that Forché had done her nails, too, and they looked splendid. That was a great trip. I learned that details matter.

MOI: I am a fan of joie de vivre, as it has taken me a while to perfect the art of it. On the other hand, I get why Phillip Lopate is against it. Sometimes I feel nostalgic for deep grief, when everything felt so exquisitely painful and real.

MOI: Writing was a way of ranting.

MOI: Why I love San Miguel de Allende so much: Death walks through the plaza on ten-foot stilts. Children eat skulls made of pink sugar. Tiny, painted skeletons drive buses, get married, play saxophone. Death smiles. Death is not a stranger.

MOI: Writing has saved my life many times, even just as a friend.

MOI: I appreciate the unconditional, nonjudgmental attitude of the blank page.

MOI: When I first read Hejinian I thought, ooh, this is how memories of home feel, that disjointed and vague.

MOI: Writing teachers recommend that we draft uncritically, free-associate, follow our meandering trains of thought, uncensored, and then put on the critical hat of the conscious mind when we craft and critique the “cogitated” “rolled bones” of raw draft material.

MOI: I try to be aware of the difference between private and public, the kind of intimate writing I should keep to myself versus what could be published or of interest to others.

MOI: Sometimes I hate myself and fear what I might say.

MOI: My 85-year-old student and friend, Minnette, is adamant that being vindictive is what writing is for. She believes that getting back at those who have harmed us is a perfectly fine use for the medium.

MOI: I taught a summer course at CCA one year called Brutal Aesthetics, which asked, Is “beauty truth, truth beauty” as Keats proclaimed in 1819? How can truth be beauty in times of war or disaster? What is the artist/writer’s role: to mirror the world, or create heroic ideals? We began by defining the concept of Beauty, according to Keats, Kant, Wikipedia, et al. We researched where beauty has been found and how defined in the past. Then the assignments were to photograph, find, and create beauty in the present; generate language to analyze beauty’s structures and possibilities; consider ugliness and how to coexist.

MOI: Some think it’s irresponsible for artists not to portray human suffering. But how? See Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others, among others.

MOI: Music seems the most able to move us, as it is so intangible: no body, no materials, at least for the listener. Or is the most direct route to Beauty through the body and the instrument, and this is why musicians love their work so much?

MOI: I love this idea, Elizabeth Bishop’s “compensatory glimpse,” as if what we are able to behold can potentially compensate for the impenetrable mystery of which the glimpse is but a peek.

MOI: During the years I’ve been teaching writing and literature at art school I’ve come to appreciate the strategies of artists, architects, and designers as potential models for alternative ways to construct writing; for example, the cubist collage styles of Picasso and Duchamp, made from found materials, reused and repurposed; Tom Phillips’ Humument series of renovated books (2005); David Hockney’s Cameraworks Polaroid grids (1984).

MOI: In writing, all kinds of hybrid forms are cutting-edge: graphic novels, book-as-object sculptures, text-image appropriations, the fragment, the ephemeral. . . .  CCA students are also street artists and graffiti masters in love with skateboard culture and industrial wastelands; they draw cities imploding, heads and minds exploding intricately detailed detritus; their sculptures are made of bones, branches, hairballs, dust, and bits of string and wire, with blood for glue.

MOI: The solitary work of artists and writers may serve society, among other ways, by being a tuning fork for collective emotions and experiences. Where no center or transcendent truth is discernible, new forms are devised to represent that fact.

MOI: I love solitude but am glad for the forced interactions of teaching, which keeps me in relationship, continually meeting new groups of young students.

MOI: Luxurious abundant creativity flows from every billboard, MP3 player, street corner jazzman, and graffiti artist, and this may be the very thing that can overwhelm our most tender urges to creativity of our own. There is so little space for the new to arise, distracted as we are by the enormous wealth of existing, ongoing creative output.

MOI: Perhaps the many ways to collaborate with the abundance—in the form of collages, found text, and Creative Commons remixing—are the contemporary upgrades to the old-fashioned cult of individual genius. The Creative Commons offers alternatives to standard copyright licenses, which allows makers to share their work freely. Google it or read Lawrence Lessig and Lewis Hyde for more about the concept of gift cultures, which Andrew Keen also has written about, and fears.

MOI: As a medium for representing the complexity of human experience, in the twentieth century words proved to be flimsy, ubiquitous, disposable, and truth elusive, relative.

MOI: Our relationship to privacy has changed drastically since the turn of the 21st century. Even if we want to, our ability to keep the facts of our lives private has been usurped absolutely by the Google algorithm, public video surveillance, and cell phone cameras. Before I know what hits me, my image has been posted to Facebook without my knowledge, and not looking my best.

MOI: There are distinct genres of writing—the poem, the essay, the testimony, the sociological study, the Facebook post, fiction—and they represent a range of possible perspectives or worldviews.

MOI: I went online to try to buy a Plot Wheel for Mary Beth Pringle and discovered that Stephen King may have made this up. If the Plot Wheel doesn’t exist, someone should invent it. The concept of plot implies that each action might lead to a meaningful conclusion.

MOI: If I persist, will I be published? Rich? Famous? Beloved?

MOI: I love seeing my book Silvie’s Life on bookstore shelves, how all the books to its left have to shift to the left, while all the books to the right shift to the right, to make room for its presence.

MOI: I’ve identified three purposes for literary writing in the zeitgeist of the last hundred years: catharsis, or therapeutic self-expression; witness, or social commentary; and uselessness, escape from self and society into lyric realms of art and beauty.

MOI: Be the camera lens, the map, a frame, an impulse, tuning fork, compass, water.