The good people at Image Journal have named me their artist of the month. I like being reminded that writers are artists, and I’m honored to be included among the many fine artists—of all stripes—who have been similarly recognized by Image in the past. Here’s an excerpt from the kind things they say about me:
As editors we sometimes encourage writers who seem too closed to “open a vein” and bleed on the page a little. Tony has never needed to hear that advice, but he also writes with a tough-mindedness, an earthiness, and a serious theological underpinning that save his work from feeling like unformed confessional soup. He’s too frank for the reader to feel sorry for him. He’s capable of provoking a much deeper kind of empathy, and of getting us to look at things we might rather turn away from.
They’re being overly kind—I can remember on at least one occasion an editor emailing to ask, in his gentle, roundabout way: “Dude, are you okay?”
And the answer is yes. More yes than in a long, long time.
If you want to read the rest, which isn’t just flattering stuff they say about me, but an update on some of my writing projects, and an excerpt from one of my short stories, you can click here.
