I’m teaching the Proust “Madeline” moment as a way into the essay. Anybody have good lyric celebrations of a specific food in Brevity-like very short essays they’d like to recommend?
Thanks to Sonya Huber for this list! Add your suggestions of brief, lyric essays on food in the comments!
- Gates, Jr., Henry Louis. “Sunday.” In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction.
- Gruchow, Paul. “The Transfiguration of Bread,” Grass Roots: The Universe of Home.
- Gruchow, Paul. “Putting Tomatoes By,” Grass Roots: The Universe of Home.
- Hampl, Patricia. “Come Eat.” In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal.
- Kumin, Maxine, “Enough Jam for a Lifetime.” In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction.
- Milne, A.A. “A Word for Autumn.”
- Orwell, George. “A Nice Cup of Tea.”
- Roberts, Matt. “Recipe: Marshmallow Rice Krispy Treats.” Sweet: A Literary Confection.
- Simic, Charles. “Dinner at Uncle Boris’s.” In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction.
- Walker, Nicole, “Fish,” Brevity. (See also Heidi Czerwiec, on Walker’s “Fish”)
Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies 
Not a short one, but “Playing God in the Garden” by Michael Pollen offers a fantastic way to discuss what students can and can’t do when they want to write about food. Pair that with an essay much more doable, such as Ann Hodgman’s “No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch,” not about potatoes but dog food, which uses immersion as the way in–all the research is within her grasp, whereas with Pollen’s essay, site visits and access to high-level operatives are necessary and often not possible for college students stuck at school.
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