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.”

• Happening next week (and we’re all invited!): Three Conversations on Contemporary Biography: Writing about Writers with Langdon Hammer & Terrance Hayes; Ruth Franklin & Imani Perry; Hermione Lee & Stacy Schiff.
• From Kelli Russell Agodon: “Thoughts on Putting Together a Poetry Manuscript.” (Spoiler: There’s no single way to do this. But there are many possibilities.)
• #HandlingHaters is an appropriate hashtag for this recent episode of the #AmWriting podcast. “We talk types of bad reviews, strategies for coping with them and how to arm yourself for everything your pub date can bring.”
• Selected content from the March/April issue of Poets & Writers is now available online.
• Don’t miss this week’s Jewish Lit Links on My Machberet: Purim-relevant info, my latest reading, and MORE!

Wishing you all a good weekend. Especially good vibes—heartfelt hopes for safety, warmth, water, and sustenance—go out to everyone in Texas.