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The Drum

Issue 33. February 2013

ROBERT ALAINE COUTURE Moment of Forgiveness

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Robert Alaine Couture's "Moment of Forgiveness" turns a Williamsburg, Massachusetts orchard into the setting for a fraught moment between lovers old and new. In just three minutes, Couture evokes the complications of long relationships and offers an intriguing twist on the idea of the snake in the garden. "Moment of Forgiveness" is our selection for the February 2013 round of Zip-Code Stories. (3:20)

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short fictionsmallrelationships

PAGAN KENNEDY How to Get High On Compost

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New York Times columnist Pagan Kennedy takes a whiff of her backyard compost pile and examines the science of terroir. In the seemingly lowly M. vaccae, she finds a rich scientific history and a personal memory--all tied to the soil beneath her feet. (4:06)

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smallessay

VIJEE VENKATRAMAN Improbable Cargo

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"Improbable Cargo" follows the "frozen-water trade" connecting India and the northeastern United States--from a personal perspective. Vijee Venkatraman muses on her life at each end of this journey of blocks of ice across oceans, and on how something as transient as ice could create a bond that lasted centuries. A version of this essay appeared in the Harvard Book Store's essay collection Paige Leaves. (3:57)

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smallessay

JACKSON CULPEPPER The Last Thing To Go

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A violent flood provides the backdrop for the tentative relationship developing in Jackson Culpepper's "The Last Thing To Go." As the storm waters surge, a young man searching for stability--and for connection with the young woman he meets at church--confronts new questions about himself and about the nature of love and salvation. (25:59)

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short fictionlargerelationships

D.J. LEE Collage

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D.J. Lee's essay "Collage" contemplates the difficult intersection between mothers and daughters, dramatized in the placement of photographs in a collage. Lee's essay explores how a two-dimensional image "can express the depth of pain and love between generations." (5:59)

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essaysmallfamily


theme: comedy

theme: crisis

theme: relationships

theme: family

genre: essay

novel excerpt

short fiction

poetry

under 10 min

under 20 min

under 30 min

under 40 min
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