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.”
- Congratulations to poet Major Jackson, the new host for The Slowdown.
- I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about C. Michael Curtis, longtime fiction editor at The Atlantic, and a source of encouragement for me as for so many other writers. He passed away last week. Although I’ve shared both elsewhere, if you haven’t caught them, I point you toward both The Atlantic‘s own fine tribute and Jane Roper’s writerly recollections.
- I’ve also previously recommended Emily Stoddard’s Poetry Bulletin Substack, but this is something else I want to pause and mention again. The latest issue, out this week, contains Stoddard’s 2023 poetry publisher update (“data, deadlines, and a tool to track submissions”), plus “new insight on prizes, fee waivers, first book reading periods, and more.”
- Somewhat belatedly, I’m starting to immerse myself on the impact of AI-generated writing, at least insofar as my teaching role is concerned. This week, for the first time, I’ve encountered a statement from a literary magazine (The Fabulist) on the subject. (If you’re aware of others, please share, in comments.)
- And there’s lots to check out in the latest Jewish lit links on the My Machberet blog.
Wishing everyone a good weekend!
