Clay Reynolds engages in what is today called “creative nonfiction,” publishing works that might be construed as “the personal essay” or matters of autobiographical or purely singular point of view perspective. These pieces are not topical and tied to specific ideas or points of immediate concern but are the products of considerable thought and experience tied together with a philosophical, personal, and often humorous outlook.
“Opinion on Opinions.” Graduate Caucus Newsletter. 30 January, 1979: 5.
“Evangelical English: Answering the Big Question.” English in Texas. 12.2 (1980): 40‑41.
“The Facts Concerning My Recent Publication.” Graduate Caucus Newsletter. 3.3 (1980): 1‑4.
“Versus Vocationalism.” Graduate Caucus Newsletter. 3.4 (1980): 5.
“No Roads Lead to Tenure: Some Thoughts on Revolving Door Contracts.” South Central Bulletin. 40.1 (1980): 5.
“Rebuilding the Ruins of Freshman Composition.” Freshman English Resource Notes. 5.1 (1981): 3‑5.
“Opening Night.” Lamar Journal of the Humanities. 9.1 (1983): 41‑48.
“Anatomy of a First Publication.” English in Texas. 17.2 (1986): 41‑44.
“The Long Walk to 114: The Ordeal of Teaching Remedial English,” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 15 October, 1986: 104; rpt. The Education Digest. February, 1989: 58‑60; rpt. Points of View of American Higher Education: Volume III, Students and Standards.” Ed., Stephen H. Barnes. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990: 92-97.
“Going by the Book: A Profile of Crime Writer, A. W. Gray.” Texas Monthly. 18.1 (1989): 122-125.
“Public and Private Voices: Views of a Redneck Intellectual.” The Roundup Quarterly. 2.3 (1990): 6-14.
“Wanted! Someone to Make Me a Writer.” Poets & Writers Magazine. 18.6 (1990): 18-23.
“We Are What We Do: The Importance of Truthful Violence in Art.” The Redneck Review of Literature of Literature. 19 (1990): 1-8.
“Vietnam’s Artistic Legacy: The Need to Understand.” Journal of American Culture. 14.1 (1991): 9-11.
“Three for the West: The Best Novels About the West.” South Dakota Review. 29.3 [Part One] (1991): 65-77.
“If They Don’t Win, It’s a Shame: Baseball as Myth and Equalizer.” Palo Alto Review. 1.1 (1992): 56-58, 60.
“Big Apples and Armadillos: Chasing the Muse Across the Country.” Concho River Review. 6.1 (1992): 54-66.
“Profs and Pros.” Texas Observer. 16 October, 1992: 20-22.
“Reynolds Responds.” The Roundup. [New Series] 5.4 (1993): 11-12.
“Reviewers Reviewed.” Popular Culture Review. 4.1 (1993): 5-13; rev. & rpt. The Roundup. 5.4 (1993): 7, 9-12.
“Playing Cowboy.” American Way. 1 June, 1993: 46-51, 70-77.
“Where Are the Reviews of University-Press Books?” Chronicle of Higher Education. 20 October, 1993: B3.
“Masques and Masks: The Importance of Point of View in Fiction.” The CEA Critic. 56 (1993): 16-21.
“Dreams of Fields.” Texas Observer. 28 October, 1994: 22.
“Long Time Passing: An Essay and Commentary On a New Novel about Vietnam.” Concho River Review. 8.2 (1994): 45-52.
“Academia: The Creativity Profession.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 19.3 (1995): 47-48.
“Enquête.” South Central Review. 12.1 (1995): 20-25.
“Sexual Harassment and the Academy: A Climate of Fear.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 19.5 (1995): 18-21.
[Anon] “Elegy: For a Player, Dying Young.” Denton Record Chronicle. 2 May, 1995: “Play Ball,” 2.
“Texas Pintos.” The Redneck Review of Literature. 28 (1995): 21-22.
“Elvis and US.” High Plains Literary Review. 10.3 (1995): 21-35.
“The Hardest Job in Baseball.” Gameday Magazine. (1996): 44-45.
“Condon: Not ‘Texas Enough.’ D Magazine. 23.9 (1996): 14.
“The Profits of Place: Using a Lie to Tell the Truth.” Texas Journal. 19.2 (1997): 48-57.
“Maxwell Perkins is Dead: The Decline of Commercial Publishing.” Chronicles: A M agazine of American Culture. 22.5 (1998): 18-21.
“Just So With the Sun: A Eulogy for a Texas Writer.” Texas Observer. 23 October, 1998: 26-27.
“Meeting the Author.” Roundup. 5.6 (1998): 7-9.
“Literary Worth and Popular Taste: Taking Proust to the Beach.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 24.4 (2000): 18-20.
“Where Will You Be When the Lights Go Out?” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 25.2 (2001): 43-46.
“Punkin Center.” Inc. Magazine. 24.7 (2002): 72.
“The Real Crisis of Higher Education.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 30.2 (2006): 46-48.
“Which Way Did They Go: What Happened to the Western?” Roundup Magazine. 13.4 (2006): 6-11; rpt. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume 260. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Publishing Group, 2009: 310-315.
“Why the MFA?” ALCS Newsletter. 13.4 (2007): 14.
“The Death of the Western: Backtrailing for Affirmation.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 32.2 (2008): 23-26.
“Put Up the Wimmin and the Whiskey—And the Dope! Outlaws is Coming: How Narcotics Nearly Lost the West.” Roundup Quarterly. 15.6 (2008): 15-18.
“On the Death of Newspapers.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 33.11 (2009): 3-40.
“Does the Workshop Work? (Or, How Much Work Could a Workshop Work, if a Workshop Workshopped Work?)” The Vocabula Review. 12.11 (2010): 1-11. http://www.vocabula.com/2010/VRNOV10Reynolds.asp?P=1
“Picketing the Zeitgeist: Bad Writing.” American Book Review. 32.4 (2011): 3.
“U No What I Meen: Technology and Illiteracy.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 35.9 (2011): 12-16.
“Where the South Meets the West.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 36.5 (2012): 44-47.
“A Spectacle of Joy, With a Touch of Discomfort.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 36.8 (2012): 16-21.
“From Castro to Cancun.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 38.5 (2014): 32-35.
“The Ice Storm.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 38.12 (2014): 44-45.
“Trigger Warnings.” Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. 39.5 (2015): 44-46.
“Reaching the Summit: Ruminations on Retirement of a Baby Boomer: A Confession and a Valediction.”” Texas Review. 37.3&4 (2016-2017): 139-149.
“Railroad Man.” New Madrid. 13.1 (2018): 47-65.