Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!
On Ships, Stories, and Writing Into the Wind
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28 Dec 2025 Casting Off as PhilosophyReader, Have you heard of Neurath's Boat as a philosophical analogy? I just came across it in my reading of Gila Sher's epistemology. It's similar to the Ship of Theseus but with a lot of different applications. Rather than write overmuch here about its creator's original use, here's the metaphor to play with. You (or you and a crew) set off on your ship on a quest to "know" or understand something. As you journey, a leak develops in your ship of tools for understanding. You have two choices. 1) You can do what most of Western Civ has always done: sail back to port for fresh supplies and repairs; then reoutfitted, try again. 2) You can seek about you, patch the ship with what you have, and keep going, now bracing yourself against the new patch to search for other leaks. (Once, of course, the boat is repaired, your new patches or tools may suggest other approaches to upgrading the first leak.) Why go back to find the same tools at the port over and over? And what is the advantage to improvising repairs with your tools while they exist in the broader world of investigation? We could explore a lot of applications of the idea here. Whatever you use, it must be proof against the water coming in, but also (very likely) supplied from the sea itself. Rather than rely upon agents at port with their traditional tools, you have to work creatively and with intention to find new solutions. And this is done entirely--the problem, solution, revision, reconsideration, enlightenment, re-engagement--in the midst of a dynamic and unpredictable scene. In other words, how we're all of us always living. Epistemologically, this is an argument against traditional static foundations for thinking while addressing concerns of relativism and amorphous models for abandoning that foundation. For most of us, it speaks to an approach to reading and meaning-making which I have argued for through my teaching as an act of bricolage, of assembling our ideas with the materials we find around us, leaving ourselves open to what our new experiences and later tools might reveal and revise. So no, this is isn't the Theseus ship where we fret over identity; but it is about ourselves as meaning-makers and what we depend upon, what is most vital for our agency and understanding. At any rate, this brief mention in Sher produced about four pages of notes in my work, so it made sense to share: I bet you find lots of applications to your own work! Or, if you've already used it somewhere, let me know!
Literary Nomads: Writing Into the WindIt's Sunday on the brink of the New Year and I'm reminding us our our resolution homework. It's time to get louder, get public, speak your "strenuous mood." At least that's what Literary Nomads listeners have been challenged to do: find a passion or injustice in their space and write a letter of address to name it, complete with a literary link to what we've been talking about. It's part of our strategy for cementing our reading, to grounding it in a richer long-term memory of praxis, building reading from solitary practice to public agency. But of course, it's more than this, too. Chinua Achebe urged us to responsibility as narrators, to consider whether our work was "for" or "against" the Emperor, whether art could help but exist in a community and political space. And I offered a venue for address, as well: topics, ideas, and even drafts can be shared on the podcast! Why worry about the how of delivery when my venue makes it easy? Want to join in? Go ahead and give this recent episode a listen, and then send me your topics or approaches. Drop them in the Mailbag link below! No deadline, but as a New Year's Resolution, this is so much better than trying that "Quit Doritos" one you failed last year, anyway! Episodes ahead:
Have a question or comment about what we're talking about? Use that mailbag and let me know!
Calendar: Opening a New YearPublic Domain Day? What new goodies can I play with?
Early Book Review:The Courage To Be by Paul Tillich (1952) I'm a bit late to the Tillich fandom, though my mother spoke of him for years (a mark both for and against). Ah, but here is a thinker of spirituality who is also profoundly literate, who is not fearful of engaging the modernist stigma and arguments begun by Nietzsche and devolving to the postmodern nihilism of the age. Yes, Tillich responds, yes. These have always been the questions, and where existentialism calls into question the nature of being, the modern church may have failed to understand the motivation for that ennui. I've only just begun this thicker read, and am finding his take hugely refreshing!
My Faves of 2025My reviews have slowed down a bit here at the end of the year (a bit on my plate!) but my reading has not! Here are a few of my most memorable reads, ones that mesmerize! It's also a good time to mention that I use Storygraph as my reading/review/tracking app for my reads. It's 1) far superior to GoodReads in tracking and graphics and UI; 2) it's equal to GR in terms of offers, contests, challenges, etc.; 3) it's community continues to grow, though not as large as GR; 4) it's not an Amazon product; and 5) everything you may have on GR can be directly imported into Storygraph.
Fiction
Poetry
Graphic Novels
Non-Fiction
What's in 2026?Lots of reading ahead for all of us! I will be focusing on two primary themes/topics for my reading. First, I need to dive quite a bit deeper into my understanding of indigenous history and culture, so these will run through the year. Also, I am researching heavily into "frictional" works and references. Somehow, with these two big projects, I'll make room for some more relaxing reads, too! Have some recommendations for any of these? Write me a note!
Resolved to read or work on something interesting in 2026? Let's make it happen! Let me know what you're thinking about and how I might help! Steve What's Still Ahead?
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Waywords Studio
Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!