DANIEL PALIWODA
My Writer’s Notebook
Reflections on writing projects; observations from my classrooms; viewpoints on politics, war, and history; and thoughts on various other topics.
latest blogs
Monday 16 December 2024
The moment I finish grading the last student’s final exam (Finals Week begins this week), I will return to my Katyn manuscript. Although my slightly...
Monday 09 December 2024
You served as my Katyn manuscript reader. You bore witness when I conceived of the idea of writing a book about the Katyn Massacres and when I revised...
Monday 02 December 2024
The etymology of “acknowledgment” points to a recognition, a revelation, and a discovery. And when I think of all the people (and my dog, Laska) who...
Monday 25 November 2024
After convincing myself that I not only can but must write a children’s book, I next posed to myself the following technical questions: Whom would I be writing...
Monday 18 November 2024
Since I have embraced the idea of writing a children’s book, I now understand that what my conscious mind dismissed as a silly impulsive “joke,” is what my...
Tuesday 12 November 2024
I thought I was being funny, answering King Arthur’s earnest question: “What’s next after your Katyn book?”
I quipped, “a children’s book… (cue...
Monday 04 November 2024
I would never teach Elena Kostyuchenko’s (2023) I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country not because it’s a poorly written book. The book is one of the...
Monday 28 October 2024
On Sunday 27 October 2024, I lit a Yahrzeit candle, or Jewish memorial candle for Steve. Yesterday was the first time I ever lit a yahrzeit candle for Steve,...
Thursday 24 October 24, 2024
Dear Student:
Your request for additional literary books and/or movies about World War II and the Holocaust both pleased and frightened me. I...
learn more about me
My love for teaching literature and writing started in Fall 2000. I began my doctoral education. Linked with that love for teaching is my passion for writing. During the final six months of completing my doctorate in American Literature, I realized I was drawn more to Holocaust Studies and War Literature. I even taught my first Literature of the Holocaust course while I defended my Herman Melville dissertation. I sensed immediately this course had not only changed me as a scholar but also as a person.