Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Three quick updates from my desk.

  1. Maybe you didn’t expect to hear from me today. Isn’t it still Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), after all? Well, yes, for many. But in my Reform practice, we observe only the first day (beginning the preceding evening). It’s complicated! Here’s one rabbi’s explainer. But plenty of Jewish people are observing the second day, and, as I’ve been mentioning here and there, many among that group adhere to ritual observance that precludes work/travel, so that’s something to bear in mind when planning events. (I’m also bearing it in mind with pitches/submissions today, because even if I may be able/willing to work, that’s not necessarily the case for all of the editors in my world.)
  2. As you may have noted in the September newsletter, I’ve got an event coming up pretty soon! I’ll be one of the panelists taking part in a September 14 “Poetry Palooza” kickoff event moderated by Trish Hopkinson for the International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG). This free event will launch a whole series of poetry-related programming.
  3. And as part of that programming, I’ll be offering a version of my workshop on “being your own book publicist,” customized for poets, next month (October 12). NB: There is a registration fee for this event (discounted for IWWG members). Details on the IWWG site.

A quick, relevant postscript: As I’ve noted elsewhere, I’m extremely grateful to Trish and the IWWG for their flexibility and willingness to accommodate the Jewish holiday calendar when planning these events. And I suspect that I won’t be the only one.

an open spiral notebook with a pen resting on a blank page, plus a text label that reads, "Midweek Notes."