<h4>Barrett Swanson is the 2016–2017 Halls Emerging Artist Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. He is the recipient of a 2015 Pushcart Prize, and his short fiction and essays have been distinguished as notable in The Best American Nonrequired Reading and The Best American Essays.</h4>

Barrett Swanson

On Commuting

"For a long time now I haven't been I."
— Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Around the World

"There is nothing more poetic and terrible than the skyscrapers' battle with the heavens that cover them." — Federico García Lorca

Nonfiction

Pretentiousness: Why It Matters

Cool Characters: Irony and American Fiction

Act Naturally: Pretentiousness, Coolness, and Culture

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Literary Criticism

"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think." — Lorraine Hansberry

Philosophy &amp; Religion

Barrett Swanson is the 2016–2017 Halls Emerging Artist Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. He is the recipient of a 2015 Pushcart Prize, and his short fiction and essays have been distinguished as notable in The Best American Nonrequired Reading and The Best American Essays.

Barrett Swanson

Articles

On Commuting

Act Naturally: Pretentiousness, Coolness, and Culture