Words of the Week: Etgar Keret

Gigi’s mom had once told him that when she was a little girl in the ghetto, a hunched old man named Max came up to her before one of the roundups, and said his whole family had already perished and he knew his time was up. He asked Gigi’s mother to look at him and remember all his features. Gigi’s mother scrutinized the old man, trying to memorize every single wrinkle on his face. Max was very grateful: “No matter whether you’re dead or alive,” he said, stroking her hair, “as long as someone remembers you, you exist.” The Nazis put Max on a train that same day, and for the rest of her life, Gigi’s mother thought about him every single day. She told Gigi that in her most difficult and frightening moments during the war, she knew she had to survive, because if she died, no one would be left to remember the hunched old man, and he would cease to exist.

Etgar Keret, “As Long as Someone Remembers You” (trans. Jessica Cohen)

Markets & Jobs for Writers

Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

Each week in this space, Practicing Writing shares no-fee, paying markets for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: competitions, contests, and calls for submissions. These weekly posts complement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province. (But this blog does share those more localized opportunities, including jobs.)

As always, if you’d like to share a specific opportunity listed here, please credit the blog for the find. Thanks for respecting the time and effort that I put into researching, curating, and posting this information! I do notice, and I appreciate the courtesy.

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