Will Dowd
Author of Areas of Fog
Boston Globe Cartoonist
The Taste of Rain in Buenos Aires
October 6, 2026
A dream machine. Recordings of dead poets. And twenty stories that came out of the dark — by an author who can't read a word of them.
“Will Dowd writes beautifully. These stories are whimsical, sometimes comic, and wonderfully creative.”
Advanced Praise
“An original work whose sensuality and wildness compels rereading. A radiant success.”
“This book, the result of an extraordinary experiment, is extraordinarily good.”
“Lovely, strange, hilarious stories...Not just a fascinating experiment, but a triumph.”
“Like the swift undertow of a dream’s current, these stories tugged me into a world much more vivid than that of my everyday life.”
Will's dream experiment was featured in the BBC World Service documentary The Dream Makers
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Each month, on the night of the full moon, The Lunar Dispatch will bring you the latest news and musings about our nearest celestial neighbor.
JOIN 5,000 READERS FROM 100 COUNTRIES…
“I love your writing, how you weave together the moon, technology, history, literature.” -Emily B.
“I love your writing, how you weave together the moon, technology, history, literature.” -Emily B.
"This one piece broke my heart and then healed it. Thank you." - Evelyn B.
"This one piece broke my heart and then healed it. Thank you." - Evelyn B.
"I am looking forward to every full moon.” -Beth K.
"I am looking forward to every full moon.” -Beth K.
Areas of Fog
“AN ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL READ” - WBUR
"GET READY TO BE ENCHANTED BY HIS SPARKLING PROSE" — Marcia Bartusiak
"GET READY TO BE ENCHANTED BY HIS SPARKLING PROSE" — Marcia Bartusiak
"ONCE I STARTED IT I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN." — Paul Mariani
"ONCE I STARTED IT I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN." — Paul Mariani
"A WONDERFUL NEW BOOK ABOUT THE WEATHER - AND EVERYTHING ELSE" — Sy Montgomery
"A WONDERFUL NEW BOOK ABOUT THE WEATHER - AND EVERYTHING ELSE" — Sy Montgomery
Editorial Cartoons
about artists who turned illness, loss, or obscurity into beauty.
Will’s cartoons regularly appear in
The Boston Globe and elsewhere
“I am not sick. I am broken.
But I am happy to be alive
as long as I can paint.”
— Frida Kahlo
Experiments
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![Illustration of a hand with electrodes and an eye in the palm, set against a dark circle on a purple textured background.]()
Dreamfall
“Does Dream Inception Work?” An article about my dream inception experiment by Nautilus Magazine.
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![Stylized book icon with text "NEA Big Read" on an orange background.]()
Writing in the Dark
A talk for the NEA’S Big Read Program, hosted by Attleboro Public Library.
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![Black and white photo of a boy yelling into a professional microphone with a pop filter.]()
Finding my new voice
When a visual disorder made it impossible for me to read, I went looking for another voice.
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![VocaliD logo with rainbow background]()
Creating my new voice
I worked with the Boston-based technology company VocalID to create a bespoke artificial voice.
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![Double exposure image of a woman wearing a blue and yellow headscarf and pearl earring on a dark background.]()
Vermeer: A New Lens
A collection of 16 remixed paintings of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, exhibited at MIT’s Rotch Gallery.
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![Abstract black and white illustration of a figure wearing glasses]()
Blind Drawings
Beginning in Spring 2021, I adopted the practice of “blind drawing”—drawings sketched without looking at the page.
Come find me…
©2026