First, having recently met Thomas Mallon–and being a few pages into the autographed copy of Watergate that I purchased at that time–I recommend to you Nick Kocz’s Mallon/Watergate-inspired blog post.
Reading B.J. Epstein’s reflections on aspiring literary translators, I can’t help but see some parallels with the expectations often embedded among aspiring writers in MFA programs.
Finally, and especially if you need to put a smile on your face at this particular moment, check out Jane Roper’s new book trailer. Jane’s memoir of her first three years parenting twins (Double Time) will be out in May from St. Martin’s. I’m thrilled that the next issue of The Practicing Writer will feature a Q&A with Jane. But in the meantime, go ahead–enjoy this trailer and meet the two chief inspirations behind the book.
I really was moved by J. Guzlowski’s poems. I, too, tend to write direct poems in plain language
and I wonder if I am at some disadvantage because I don’t have an English degree and I am no
literary intellectual.
I am not clever. I like to think that the content and simplicity of the work will let it shine, however it might. And, too, I often write poems because I am trying to claim a place in the story
of this country. I want to tell the stories that never got told about my people, my family and the
American experience of genocide on our own shores.
We all need to write and to read these stories because that measure of truth is healing and redemptive and may, someday, lead to change in the way human beings treat one another.
Mihku, I, too, have faith in the content and simplicity of the work. Your poems sound important. Thank you of sharing your thoughts and your reaction to Guzlowski’s work.
Erika Dreifus is a freelance writer and book publicist. She is also the editor and publisher of The Practicing Writer, a free (and popular) e-newsletter that features opportunities and resources for fictionists, poets, and writers of creative nonfiction.
A high-ranking Nazi’s wife and a Jewish doctor in prewar Berlin. A Jewish immigrant soldier and the German POWs he is assigned to supervise. A refugee returning to Europe for the first time just as terrorists massacre Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. A son of survivors and the family secrets modern technology may reveal. These are some of the characters and conflicts that emerge in Quiet Americans, in stories that reframe familiar questions about what is right and wrong, remembered and repressed, resolved and unending. Portions of the proceeds from sales of Quiet Americans are being donated to The Blue Card. Quiet Americans has been named a 2012 Sophie Brody Medal Honor Title (American Library Association) and recognized as a “Notable Book” (The Jewish Journal) and “Top Book” (Shelf Unbound).
For nearly seven years, subscribers have welcomed The Practicing Writer, a free monthly e-newsletter that helps fiction writers, poets, and writers of creative nonfiction with their craft and business. Always listing paying publication opportunities, always announcing contests and other opportunities that don’t charge entry/application fees. Click here [HYPERLINK TO http://www.erikadreifus.com/newsletter/ ) to learn more, click here [HYPERLINK TO http://www.erikadreifus.com/newsletter/current/) to read the latest issue online, or go ahead and subscribe right now (and get a free writing-contest guide!).
Hi Erika,
I really was moved by J. Guzlowski’s poems. I, too, tend to write direct poems in plain language
and I wonder if I am at some disadvantage because I don’t have an English degree and I am no
literary intellectual.
I am not clever. I like to think that the content and simplicity of the work will let it shine, however it might. And, too, I often write poems because I am trying to claim a place in the story
of this country. I want to tell the stories that never got told about my people, my family and the
American experience of genocide on our own shores.
We all need to write and to read these stories because that measure of truth is healing and redemptive and may, someday, lead to change in the way human beings treat one another.
Mihku, I, too, have faith in the content and simplicity of the work. Your poems sound important. Thank you of sharing your thoughts and your reaction to Guzlowski’s work.