Finds for Writers
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.”
- I’m behind on so many things—including podcasts. This week, I finally listened to another superb episode of the Virtual Memories Show, featuring author and critic Daniel Mendelsohn. It cheered me.
- Solid tips on finding agents to query, via Allison K. Williams.
- Also super-smart: Jane Friedman’s “Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Writers Conference.”
- Earlier this week, as Publishers Weekly reported, “higher-ups from Macmillan met privately in their offices in New York for two hours on Monday with representatives of #DignidadLiteraria, a coalition of Latinx members of the literary, publishing, and academic communities, to discuss the recent controversy over this season’s Flatiron Books lead title, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, and attempt to chart a way forward.”
- And of course, there’s another set of Jewish-lit links available over on the My Machberet blog. (I’m especially excited about a new, Jewishly-focused writing retreat that’s planned to take place on the West Coast later this year.)
Have a good weekend, everyone.
