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.”

• If, like me, your weekend plans include some quality time with the new “Hamilton” movie, you may also (again, like me,) enjoy this terrific piece by The New York Times’s Michael Paulson, on what it’s been like covering the show for the past five years. (I especially love the bit about the “stories that got away.”)
• Also on my weekend agenda: reading through this piece (also from The New York Times), featuring a multiplicity of voices on “what it’s like to be Black in publishing.”
• Creative Nonfiction has announced a new series of Food Writing Fridays: “Food is often a vehicle by which we see our culture, and writing about food can lead us to write about cultural history, family, religion, regional economies, immigration, and more. In this special month-long series of online programs, we’ll explore stories about food, but we’ll also see how creative nonfiction opens windows into the human experience.” NB: “All events are free and recordings will be archived and available through CNF’s Instagram page. View the presenters’ writing prompts and recipes here.” (Starts today!)
• Thank you, Library Journal, for this resource on “How to Make the Most of Zoom for Every Type of Event.”
• And remember to check in with the latest Jewish-lit links over on the My Machberet blog (including, this week, new short fiction written by friends of mine).

Have a good, safe, healthy weekend, everyone.