Author Archives: Margaret Blair Young

Sujfan Stevens and a Few Thoughts on Mormon Art

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

(Cross posted on Bycommonconsent.com) We should have known that anyone who could write a melodic, lyrical ballad about a serial killer (John Wayne Gacy) still had some secrets and mysteries to explore. In fact, he announced just that in the … Continue reading →

Posted in The Writer's Desk | Tagged , , | 46 Comments

I Am Jane (with a little Levinas)

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

I wrote the play I Am Jane a decade ago, and we had our premiere performance in an LDS chapel for the Genesis Group meeting. We turned the sacrament table into a deathbed and the choir seats into a pioneer camp. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit, On-stage, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Death Be Not Proud

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

I am in London, and will be until July. The week before I left, the editor of a documentary I helped make was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. Two days after I arrived in London, I learned that a … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

In Memoriam: Linda Sillitoe

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

I first read Linda’s work in the 1970s, and found her style evocative and deceptively simple. She was a remarkable woman, and fearlessly tackled such difficult issues as sexual abuse (Secrets Keep) and the Mark Hoffman case (Salamandar). She was … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Consecrating Our Talents Etc.

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

A little over a decade ago, I had met several of my goals as a writer. I had won awards and published books. Strangely, I found that publishing wasn’t that big of a deal. Neither was winning an award. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community, The Writer's Desk | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Mormon Literature: It’s In the Mail

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

For the past few years, I have been making a documentary.  For the past few months, I have been doing all of the business associated with distributing that documentary, since we haven’t yet found a distributor we’re satisfied with.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Narratives | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Approaching a New Semester and a New Blog–Conversations

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

I have been teaching English at BYU for twenty-five years, focusing on creative writing for more than half of that time. As I contemplate winter semester 2010 and the new AML blog, I have been thinking about conversations. A blog … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mormon Art Doesn’t Mean Utah Art

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Margaret Blair Young

When I was in my teens, Mormon literature was going through an adolescent phase, with clichéd romances asking such earth-shattering questions as “Will they get married in the temple or not?” Amidst the feel-good-because-I’m Mormon literature were some genuine breakthroughs, … Continue reading →

Posted in International Scene | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments