Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.
A lot of talk about MFA-land this week. The two best things I’ve read on the subject (or close enough to the subject) are this anonymously-authored piece for Electric Literature and a not-so-new item from Charles Johnson on the Writer’s Digest site. (h/t @matthunte)
“What makes a successful reading: what one author learned while preparing for his debut” – great advice from bookstore-employee AND debut author Josh Cook for suffering authors.
“On Reader Reviews: The Fault Is in Their Stars, Not Yours” – A.M. Khalifa’s post for the Foreword Reviews blog may provide some comfort!
For the Page-Turner blog, Sam Sacks examines “the rise of the nameless narrator.” As I told Mr. Sacks on Twitter, I’m waiting for a discussion of “the rise of the narrator who shares a name and eerily close identity with his–and it’s almost always “his”–fictive creation. (Ben Lerner, Eduardo Halfon, Michel Laub, and others–I’m looking at you.)
Finally, some of the best 1.25 hours I spent this week were those I spent listening to Gil Roth’s latest “Virtual Memories Show” podcast with translator Anthea Bell (to whom I owe many, many hours of memorable reading from the German). Generally speaking, I’m not a big podcast fan, but I really do try to listen to Gil’s programs as much as I can.
Have a great weekend, all! (We will be celebrating my great-uncle’s 104th birthday, albeit a few days late; here he is with a friend–yes, that’s Dr. Ruth! and yes, they’re at my uncle’s DESK, at the OFFICE he still goes to every day–earlier this week on the birthday proper.)
One hundred four and still active is wonderful. Enjoy your special weekend together.
Thanks, Dave!