Sitemap - 2023 - Poor Man's Feast

a docile gentleman

the world's most dangerous Christmas cookie

what we talk about when we talk about writing

on memory and witness

Join me for an early January weekend workshop at Kripalu, on Permission to Write Your Story

looking for the helpers

between/the ground and the feast is where I live now

Maggie Smith: a breakfast conversation

the things we cling to

because of music.

competitive sorrow

Reading Room: Maggie Smith’s top Substack reads

Maira Kalman: a breakfast conversation

the ground is real.

your mother and my mother

midweek delights

in my autumn kitchen

imagination and memory go with them.

she said she was allergic to the sun.

on the birthday of the world

my old friend, water, my good companion

the notebook on my desk

what we tell and what we hide

a blue comma on the map of the world

a few announcements....

life and death in the garden

summer rain and frying bacon || From the Archives

This is 60: Author Elissa Altman Responds to The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire

the simple things come back to us

butterflies drink turtle tears

602: Life Without An Oven

paddling in place

what I know

something wild, something hidden

A quick note for paid subscribers

getting up before the day

my father, my friend

a contented weekend

the soul-killing myth of perfection

walk like a magician

trapped under something heavy*

join me this summer!

the first song I ever learned

for you, on Mother's Day Weekend

not me; the other me

my summer 2023 workshops

when my spirit faded

what do we eat when no one is looking?

lost in Texas

the truth behind the right-to-life

"I didn't drive eleven hours across the state of Texas to watch my cholesterol." - Robb Walsh

from the archives: losing your seat at the table

Join me on Notes

On Easter Dinner

status interruptus

the things we inherit

at midweek

committing to the asparagus

if the light is in your heart

midnight dinners

to be in interiority

Katherine May and Pico Iyer

From the archives: I want to live in the layers

living with awe

Spotlight: An interview with Jean Anderson

Archives: the things we almost do

it's National F**k Your Boundaries Day!

On Envy and Art-Making

Writing and the Permission to Succeed

Join my chat

anxiety soup

my Friday roundup

poor man's feast: the memoir

there's something bigger than Phil

man plans and God laughs

when the music saves us

when the bough breaks

Spotlight: Unplugged Kitchen

at midweek

we are asleep with compasses in our hands*

eggs, sustenance, and the maternal