Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

New Essay/Article-in-Progress

At long last, I have begun devoting chunks of time to the project I agreed to back in February: a chapter in a forthcoming volume tentatively titled Third-Generation Holocaust Narratives: The Intergenerational Transmission of Memory, Longing, and Loss. My own contribution, titled (for the moment) “Theory and Practice of Third-Generation Writing,” will ideally combine reflection on my own writing experiences and analyses of works by others.

So, I am revisiting some of my past writings on the subject; reading (or re-reading) fiction by other “3G” writers–writers who are also grandchildren of refugees from and/or survivors of Nazi persecution; and locating relevant new nonfiction (essays/interviews) by these writers. Throw in some permissions requests, and some additional reading/re-reading in earlier scholarship/criticism, and you get a sense of the multi-tasking involved with this one project. Stay tuned for updates!

Routine Rejections


I won’t bore you with the full list of the rejections that I (I mean, MY WORK) received this week.

You know how it goes. Suffice to say that there was more than one.

But I also continued to send things out. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
 

Time with “Artists & Friends”

It has been a good week for catching up with several friends-who-write over drinks, meals, and even a museum visit. Sunday found me with one of these friends over at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we wandered through this superb John Singer Sargent exhibition.

Sargent_DIGITAL_Hero

The exhibit’s focus on “artists and friends” who were acquainted with Sargent means that among the featured paintings and drawings are likenesses of Robert Louis Stevenson, William Butler Yeats, Henry James, and many others. You have until October 4 to see the exhibit for yourself. Do try to get there.

9 thoughts on “Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

  1. Hi Erika,
    I hear you about getting rejections. I got 3 this week and one last week! So it goes. Later this week, I will be doing another round of submissions. Good luck to you.

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      I hear you, too, Michele! Good luck right back atcha.

  2. Gargi says:

    Yep, I can sympathize too. I got 3 in the space of a day and a half! Needless to say that hasn’t stopped me putting the same pieces into circulation almost immediately!

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      We are all AWESOME!

  3. Lisa Romeo says:

    I am right with you, getting back to submissions at end of this week. Oddly, because I got a rather nice acceptance two weeks ago, I’ve been hesitating on sending out more stuff…just want to make that YES feeling last! Because you know a rejection is just around the corner… Good luck to us both.

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      Congrats on the acceptance, Lisa–I look forward to finding out more! I wonder if you are now worried about “jinxing” yourself. Of course, we *know* this is irrational. And yet….

      1. Lisa Romeo says:

        I do worry about jinxing, but only if I actually name the publication…which I never do until the piece is actually published. (Yes, I make my own jinxing rules!)

  4. Marlena Maduro Baraf says:

    Thank you Erika and all for putting a knowing smile on my face. A little extra difficult rejection was one in which I was sure my work was a perfect fit. …plus c’est la meme chose…

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      Chin up, Marlena!

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