J. R. Patterson

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J. R. Patterson was born on a cattle and grain farm in rural Manitoba, Canada. He has worked as a farm laborer, factory worker, and writer. He has written for a variety of international publications, including National Geographic, Literary Review of Canada, and LARB.

  • A photograph of Bordeaux at night

    Bordeaux

    May 2024
    J. R. Patterson
    Photo of Bordeaux, France by JackF / Stock.adobe.comIn December 1801 the poet Friedrich Hölderlin accepted a position as tutor at the Bordeaux residence of German wine merchant Daniel Christoph Meyer.…
  • An aerial photograph of a neighborhood in Óbidos, Portugal

    Óbidos, Portugal

    March 2024
    J. R. Patterson
    Photo by Reiseuhu and Katia De Juan / Unsplash.comLiterature can change the way we celebrate. The bull-running and fighting of Spain’s San Fermin festival was just a local affair before Hemingway brou…
  • An aerial photograph of Brandon, Manitoba

    Brandon, Manitoba

    January 2024
    J. R. Patterson
    Photo by Jacob Boomsma / istockphoto.comIn the Toronto airport, a young woman moved her bag from a seat so that someone might sit down. “You can sit here, eh. I’m from Brandon, in ‘Friendly Manitoba,’…
  • A photograph of a window box with roses spilling out of it

    Quito, Ecuador: A Literary Ode to Geraniums

    September 2023
    J. R. Patterson
    See something once, and you see it everywhere. In Quito’s old town it was geraniums: on the curly-whirly balconies, in the porticoes of the old baroque buildings, and the great open squares, there wer…