Michael Quinn
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Michael Quinn

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  • Cultural Criticism/
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  • Personal & Reported Essays/
  • Interviews/
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Michael Quinn

Critical Influences

Michael Quinn

  • About/
  • Cultural Criticism/
    • Book Reviews
    • Quinn on Books
    • Gay Sensibility
  • Critical Influences/
  • Script Doctor/
  • Personal & Reported Essays/
  • Interviews/
  • Contact/

Books shape us. Identity defines us. Culture connects us.

Critical Influences looks at how these forces intersect—through a gay lens.

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June 02, 2025

The Quiet Persistence of Poet Spencer Reece

June 02, 2025/ Michael Quinn
The Quiet Persistence of Poet Spencer Reece

Hundreds of rejections later, he sold something. That poem changed his life.

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June 02, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
LGBTQ+, literary criticism, reading & identity, writing life
LGBTQ, Literary Criticism, Reading & Identity, Writing Life, Pride, Pride Month, Poet, Poetry, Spencer Reece, The Secret Gospel of Mark, Seven Stories Press, Brooks Brothers, Writing Advice
April 08, 2025

What a Business Card Brought Back to Me

April 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn
What a Business Card Brought Back to Me

At a book critics’ lunch, I reconnected with someone from my very first publishing job—without realizing it at first. What came back to me was a quiet moment of encouragement that stayed with me far longer than she probably knew.

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April 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
critical influences, writing life
career reflection, first job in publishing, literary community, book critics, encouragement
March 08, 2025

The Book Club That Didn't Read Me

March 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn
The Book Club That Didn't Read Me

For years, I was part of a book club that shaped how I read—just as much by what we didn’t read as what we did.

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March 08, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
literary criticism, LGBTQ+, critical influences, writing life, reading & identity
LGBTQ+ books, book club, gay, book criticism, book critic

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Critical Influences photo credit: Michael Quinn

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