At Sewanee, I usually schedule my manuscript conferences in the afternoon while the alternating-day workshops are being held. The campus grows quiet then, and the heat and humidity hit their stride. There’s that academic stillness about the place: the sense, carried on the air, that out of the sun, in the cool confines of old buildings, minds are at work.
I like to use the small library in the Women’s Center for these meetings. I like the odd collections of books on the shelves, the worn couches, the wood paneling, and the dim light—a light that often grows dimmer as the afternoon progresses, ...