Articles written by Brian Russell

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About me - Brian Russell

Brian Russell is a writer/director/producer/composer living in Chicago. He recently licensed his song "Stay With Me" (with lyrics by Margaret McClure) to MTV's popular reality-TV show "My Super Sweet Sixteen." His short story "Rutherford" received first place

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Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Facing death: 35 of 202

RUTHERFORD "In the event of my death," the letter to his wife began, "the following should ease your burden to the degree that I am able to predict." Rutherford Brace Hillman was sixty-four as he wrote the letter, and in relatively good health for a man his age, but he'd seen enough of his friends die unexpectedly to know th...
Arts & Humanities > 19th Century US History The 1989 film 'Glory' and how it helps expose an epic post-Civil War myth: 1 of 2

Considering the 1989 film Glory: Or, How A Previously Untold Story Helps Expose an Epic Myth I set out to evaluate the merit, or lack thereof, of the 1989 Edward Zwick film, Glory. Along the way, I discovered a powerful and, frankly, breathtaking myth that was created in the aftermath of the Civil War. Never in my earlier ed...
Arts & Humanities > American Authors Book reviews: The Ghost Writer, by Philip Roth: 1 of 1

The experience of reading Philip Roth's The Ghost Writer is not unlike the sensation one experiences in a room with mirrors on opposite walls - when you look into one mirror at just the right angle you see an endless series of cascading reflections in the other. The Ghost Writer presents layer after layer of texts, of famili...
Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Struggle in life: 212 of 383

PROBABLY Maybe it's just as well, she says though I don't really believe her. I understand the birch are all gone now. She takes my hand to lead me away. Maybe it's just as well I hear myself say, believing it less than her. Let's go in honey, it's getting cold. We'll sit here by the fire. It's warm and cold on the floor. I ...
Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Christmas: 184 of 202

Christmas In These United States In Cohasset, Minnesota, the young man and his wife ride in an old-fashioned sleigh, by the banks of Pokegama Lake. Their laughter and the sound of the bells on their horses' tails pierce the night. It is December the twenty-fourth. Billy and his brother Jud are out for a swim in Polacca Wash,...
Arts & Humanities > Theater & Drama Exploring the fine art of theater: 9 of 9

In beginning work for a book in process with the working title, PRACTICING THEATER, a friend and colleague asked me a simple question. Here is the question and my answer: What is your first memory of theater? Why is a seemingly so simple question so difficult to answer? I have several competing early memories of theater rush...