Mira Ptacin

Oct 17, 2024 | magazine.atavist.com | Mira Ptacin

How concerned citizens ran a neo-Nazi out of rural Maine. The Atavist Magazine, No. 156Mira Ptacin is a literary journalist, memoirist, ghostwriter, editor, and professor of creative writing. She is the author of the award-winning memoir Poor Your Soul and of The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Poets & Writers, Harper’s, Tin House, Lit Hub, and other publications.

Jul 22, 2024 | lithub.com | Mira Ptacin

Sometimes when I write, I wear heart-shaped, rose-colored glasses. Truly: they were $9.99, online. It’s one of the exercises my therapist Jess, who is the greatest therapist in the world, has prescribed to me in order to shift my way of thinking about my writing. Article continues belowAnd since I’m primarily an essayist and memoirist, when I get hypercritical of my writing, it’s often because I’m hypercritical of myself as a human-in-general.

Mar 11, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Mira Ptacin

Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Our contributor network of tens of thousands of creators appears alongside stories from established publications and journalists. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies.

Mar 11, 2024 | lithub.com | Mira Ptacin

One of my duties every single day as an author, journalist, and constituent, is to read. I study the written word the way a football coach studies football games. I don’t read for pleasure just like a football coach doesn’t attend games to zone out. As much as I’d like to avoid it, I have to read the news to find stories, local, national, and daily, and study their context to enhance my own stories and expand the breadth of my knowledge, and I often dread the effects of these studies: insomnia.

Nov 3, 2023 | vogue.com | Mira Ptacin

I stood in my driveway and tended to the fire, my body layered for the cold in a hunter-orange sweater, denim overalls and Blundstone boots. My hair was dyed green, lips blood red, with temporary black scars lined up and down my jaw. Next to me: a zombie princess and a manic joker. A man in a hard hat with a hammer. One set of twin ninjas, an alpine skier, a furry gorilla, and an LL Bean Barbie.