Author: Michael Martone

Michael Martone’s newest book is Table Talk & Second Thoughts (Cornerstone Press, 2025), a memoir in flash. Martone has won two Fellowships from the NEA and a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation. His stories and essays have appeared and been cited in the Pushcart Prize, The Best American Stories and The Best American Essays anthologies. He received his Master of Arts in Writing from Johns Hopkins University where he studied under John Barth. Recently retired after teaching creative writing at four universities including the University of Alabama, he now lives in Tuscaloosa, below the Bug Line, where he putters in his gardens and works on his new book, Fort Fort Wayne. Read more at fourforaquarter.com.
TABLE TALK & SECOND THOUGHTS: A Memoir in Flashes by Michael Martone

TABLE TALK & SECOND THOUGHTS: A Memoir in Flashes by Michael Martone

Enjoying Michael Martone's Table Talk & Second Thoughts (2025), a delightful memoir in flashes released from Cornerstone Press. The opening piece, "Trains: Tuscaloosa, 2010," recounts a moment that Martone shared with Adrienne Rich two years before her death: "She asked about the train trestle she'd seen crossing the Black Warrior ... Read More
Openings /
Four Walls: Bastian Cities or Trace Italienne

Four Walls: Bastian Cities or Trace Italienne

Gunpowder changed everything. Curtain walls of stone gave way, literally, with the shock of shot. Of course, it was Michelangelo who turned Florence into a star. Leonardo’s Palmanova became the ideal city ... Read More
Essays /