Author: Penny Guisinger

Penny is a sober alcoholic, duh. She's also the author Postcards from Here. She lives and writes on the easternmost tip of Maine. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Guernica, Solstice, Under the Gum Tree, and other terrifyingly important literary magazines. Her second book, Shift, is in progress. Penny is the founding director of Iota: Short Prose Conference and a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA Program. She lives with two dogs, two kids, her wife, and a family of porcupines that trundle across the lawn like bulldozers. Penny’s stable of literary agents is currently empty, and she would welcome eager calls, emails, unannounced visits, or other stalking behaviors. (From agents only, please. Regular stalkers should know that she's friends with lots of cops.)

Trampoline of Truth

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

Every year, Facebook memories makes sure I won’t forget an idyllic Mother’s Day of the past, which started with a breakfast-in-bed menu written in crayon. I got to choose between toast and cereal, and the fact that it was two hours earlier than I would normally eat was unimportant. Only half-awake, I blissfully ate my … Continue reading Trampoline of Truth →

Where Are Your Others?

Posted on April 28, 2019April 29, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

Whatever model or program or approach or belief system you employ, your recovery is made better by the presence of fellow travelers. In other words, people who share your diagnosis are prepared to listen to your bullshit and talk you off your personal ledges. This is true of every affliction. Whatever your diagnosis, you need … Continue reading Where Are Your Others? →

A Sober Person’s Guide to AWP

Posted on March 25, 2019March 25, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

For anyone who doesn't know, AWP is the annual gathering of approximately 12,000 writers and editors held at rotating locations around the US. It's the mother ship. It calls us home each year. We all know the stereotype that writers are heavy drinkers. While not every writer has spent years and thousands of dollars to … Continue reading A Sober Person’s Guide to AWP →

The Things I Drank From

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

a misty remembrance Stemware was standard, of course. I preferred wine glasses with a certain heft, a solidness. Most of mine were clear, but I once bought a violet blue glass I liked, and should have loved, but never did. At a Renaissance fair in the 80s, I bought one made from pottery, thrown on … Continue reading The Things I Drank From →

Cranky interview with author Alexis Paige

Posted on February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

Welcome to this month's sober author interview, featuring the amazing Alexis Paige, author of Not a Place on Any Map. When, what, and where was your last drink? It was thirteen years ago—Professor Plum in the Billiards Room with a candlestick. I like to play this game of drunkalogue in the form of…a Jeopardy Question, a … Continue reading Cranky interview with author Alexis Paige →

Keeping it together in sobriety: part one of five

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

I have to do five things, all the time, to stay comfortable in sobriety. Running is one of them. I’ve been an off and on runner (mostly off) for a couple of decades. Here’s my cyclical running pattern. Don’t run for a year or more. Go for one two-mile run. Sign up for a marathon. … Continue reading Keeping it together in sobriety: part one of five →

My dreams are three-ply plastic

Posted on February 16, 2019February 16, 2019 by Penny Guisinger

A friend told me that drinking dreams are merely “our subconscious taking out the trash” but I think it’s more like “our subconscious upending the trash can and spreading the trash all over the kitchen then leaving the door open on its way out”. These dreams are always a variation on the same theme. There … Continue reading My dreams are three-ply plastic →