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.”

• “Think of it as a Money Diaries post except it’s only about grad school and it’s not anonymous.”—Victoria Buitron introduces “Should You Go Into Debt for Your MFA,” her recent post for the Brevity blog.
• I’m a couple of weeks late sharing this one, but Mary Beth Keane’s New York Times essay is a gorgeous tribute to the power of a writing teacher (in this case, Mary Gordon).
• “I’ve been an event manager for two large independent bookstores for over four years, and I get asked all the time about what is the best way to reach out to your local indie. I’m starting a thread below containing some of my best tips!” Thank you, Elissa Sweet! (And thank you, @ShelfAwareness, for ensuring that I caught it.)
• The Washington Post offers an intriguing piece (reported by Travis DeShong) about training to become an audiobook narrator.
• And if it’s Friday, you’ll find a new Jewish-lit links post over on My Machberet.

Have a great weekend, everyone.