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Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

APOLLINAIRE Alcools
Another Sunday in which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, which asks others to share the best sentence(s) we’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

“Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure//Les jours s’en vont je demeure”

–Source: Guillaume Apollinaire’s “Le Pont Mirabeau,” which I revisited this week when @JenniferSolheim reminded me of this recording of the poet reading it aloud. Merveilleux! (I have a hard time with the “out of context and without commentary bit, as you can see!)

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • A few submission questions–especially for nonfiction/essay writers–answered by Michelle Seaton.
  • Kelly James-Enger reveals “10 Reasons Why Your Pitch Got Rejected.” (Wish that I’d had this post to share with the students in my freelancing seminars last week.)
  • Robert Lee Brewer shares his experience securing blurbs for his new poetry collection.
  • “The men couldn’t fight back against being prisoners—but they could take on perceived abuse by a writer’s imagination.” So writes Carol Muske-Dukes in an extraordinary post on John Cheever’s visit to the Ossining Correctional Facility (“Sing Sing”).
  • One of my favorite reading series is Sunday Salon NYC. Even if I weren’t a past participant and didn’t have a piece in the latest issue of the complementary SalonZine, I’d point you to the online offerings that Nita Noveno and Sara Lippmann have assembled. Check out their introduction to the “Shaken” issue.

    • Have a great weekend, everyone!

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • From London: new audio recordings from the 2013 Jewish Book Week festival. Listen to sessions that featured Shani Boianjiu, Edith Pearlman, Francesca Segal and Jami Attenberg, Laurent Binet, and many others.
  • Also from Britain: B.J. Epstein acquaints us with Into the Light: The Medieval Hebrew Poetry of Meir of Norwich for Wales Arts Review.
  • Back in the U.S.A., The Forward brings together authors Joanna Hershon and Adelle Waldman and asks them, among other questions, “What are your thoughts about being a Jewish writer?”
  • Lots of Jewish-lit info in the August Jewish Book Carnival, hosted by Leora Wenger.
  • On the Jewesses with Attitude blog, Miriam Cantor-Stone writes a letter to the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein.

    • Shabbat shalom, everyone.

    Words of the Week: David Horovitz

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “Only Israel could be pressured by the free world to release convicted killers before the ends of their sentences (something that the US, UK and others would not dream of doing), agree to do so at the start rather than the culmination of peace negotiations, and still wind up looking like the bad guy the next morning.”

    Source: David Horovitz, “The Worst of Both Worlds,” The Times of Israel, August 14, 2013.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Visiting the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program

    by Erika Dreifus on
    5

    IMG_0325One week ago, I was on my way to the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA program in Washington state. It was a quick trip (I was back in New York City Sunday morning) but a glorious one.

    I taught two classes on Thursday afternoon and two on Friday. I attended a student reading one evening and on another, an alumni association fundraiser that featured both alumni readers and guest faculty Rikki Ducornet. I enjoyed so many conversations with students, alumni, and faculty (all of whom impressed me as smart, generous, and incredibly hard-working). And I was lucky enough to stay long enough to attend the beautiful graduation ceremony on Sunday.

    In addition to all of that, I got to soak in the scenery. My photos don’t really do the place justice–but I hope that you’ll get a sense of the beauty and inspiration that surrounded me. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. (more…)