J. R. Patterson

;

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.

Barcelona: Golden Threads of Catalonian Fleece

July 2024
J. R. Patterson
Photo of Barcelona by ikuday / Stock.adobe.comMy amada and I arrived in Barcelona from Paris. We saw from the start the two cities have much in common. Both went through architectural reorganization i…
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.…
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…
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,’…
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…