<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.