Erika Dreifus

Most Fridays the Practicing Writing blog shares writing and publishing resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend. But it’s been an excruciating week for so many of us. And frankly, I’ve paid next-to-no attention to garden-variety news from the writing and publishing spheres.

On Wednesday, however, I received an email from Facing History and Ourselves, a Boston-based global nonprofit organization that I’ve admired for many years. The email introduced a “mini-lesson” titled “Processing Attacks in Israel and the Outbreak of War in the Region.”

The resource isn’t perfect. (What resource is?) But one of its segments impressed me as something that, though intended for educators and students, could be clarifying for writers as well, in our work and in the rest of our lives. It’s a section titled “Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Tropes in Discussing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

• This made me laugh: “How Dare You Submit to Our Literary Journal” (by Harmony Cox for The Belladonna).
• Also a fun read: my friend Elizabeth Bales Frank’s account, “My Life as Poet Laureate (of a Law Firm),” for Literary Hub.
• And over on the My Machberet blog, there’s a fresh batch of Jewish-lit links.

I know that I usually offer a few more finds each Friday, but it’s been a packed week. Please forgive the paucity of links today. I’ll aim to return to “normal” next week. Meantime—happy weekend!