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.

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…