Author Archive

Home » Archives for Erika Dreifus » Page 627

Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Three Down, One to Go

by Erika Dreifus on
8
19_(25)_Pct_153_E67_jeh
The eponymous station house.

A few months ago, I wrote here about a series of linked essays that I’d been working on. Each essay in the sequence treats an element of an assault that took place in early 2009. The opening piece, “Sunday in the City,” was published in carte blanche last fall. In March, another essay appeared in Brevity.

Last week, “At the Station House,” which I see as closing out the sequence (at least for now), was published in the Summer 2013 issue of Contrary. This means that just one essay remains unpublished. Although it will be the fourth one in the sequence to meet readers, I think of it as “essay #2,” because chronologically (in terms of its own setting in time and place), it belongs between the carte blanche and Brevity pieces.

I can’t tell you the title of that last-to-be-published essay, because when I reviewed the proof for it a few weeks ago, I saw that the editor had written “TK” in the headline slot. We’ll see what happens there, and I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Meantime, it’s a little strange to be nearing the end of my writing and publishing journey with this sequence. (There is one more idea that I’m playing with, for a possible fifth essay, but I haven’t managed to do anything with it yet–not even the beginnings of a draft–so I just may have reached the end of this particular road.)

I’m immensely grateful to all of the editors who have given these essays such wonderful homes, and to all of the readers who have responded to the writings so warmly. I never saw myself as much of a memoirist, but these deeply personal essays took my writing practice in a different direction, and it’s gratifying to have the opportunity to share them.

From East Europe to the East Bay: 100 Years After Emigration, a Bar Mitzvah in Berkeley

by Erika Dreifus on
7

I’ve spent so much time writing about my paternal family history–particularly the refugee histories of my dad’s parents–that it sometimes seems as though my mom’s side doesn’t get very much attention. But appearances can be deceiving–just because I haven’t written quite so much about my maternal ancestors doesn’t mean that I don’t think about them. This past week, in fact, I’ve been thinking about them quite a lot. And that’s because I’ve just returned from several days in Berkeley, Calif., a trip occasioned by the Bar Mitzvah of my eldest cousin’s elder child.

My dad is an only child, and my mom is one of two siblings. My sister and I have three first cousins. Gathered together for the Bar Mitzvah, I found myself thinking again about our common past and the significance of our gathering in Berkeley for A’s Bar Mitzvah. I realized (and confirmed via the Ellis Island/Port of New York records) that it was 100 years ago–during the summer of 1913–that our grandmother’s father Jacob had left Eastern Europe to immigrate to the U.S. He left behind his wife (Yettie, after whom I am named), my then-infant grandmother, and two more children (twin daughters, then in utero).

Theirs was not an unusual story. (more…)

Upcoming Seminar on Teaching Holocaust Literature; Applications due October 21

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a call for applications for participation in the 2014 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar, “Holocaust Literature: Teaching Fiction and Poetry,” which will run January 3-8, 2014.

The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies announces the 2014 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar. This year’s Hess Seminar is designed for professors who are teaching or preparing to teach English, Jewish studies, modern languages, literature, or other courses that have a Holocaust-related literature component. Sessions will focus on imaginative responses to the Holocaust created by a variety of writers, from those writing during the Holocaust to survivors to second generation authors to those without an explicit family connection to this event.

The seminar will be co-led by Anita Norich, from the Department of English Language and Literature and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at University of Michigan, and Erin McGlothlin, from the Departments of Germanic Languages and Literatures and of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Washington University in St. Louis.

Applications are due on October 21, 2013. For application guidelines, please visit the museum’s website.

Monday Markets for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • Open for submissions: “Milkweed Editions is a nonprofit literary press, publishing between fifteen and twenty books each year. Founded in 1980, we have published nearly three hundred titles and are committed to attracting and retaining outstanding writers whose work is of enduring value. Our mission is to identify, nurture and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.” Considers fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and middle grade/YA. (h/t Lené A. Gary)
  • I’m not normally an enthusiastic sharer of contests that employ public voting, but I’m making an exception to tell you about the Second Annual Work Stew Essay Contest, organized by one of my college classmates (public voting leads to the selection of finalists, but a judge chooses the winner). Here’s the prompt: “Bring us into your world. What is something about your work (past or present) that outsiders typically don’t understand? It can be something required by the job, something that happens on the job, something you feel about the job—but whatever it is, do not exceed 800 words.” Prizes: 1st place, $1,000; 2nd place, $400; 3rd place, $100. As always, be sure to read the fine print! There’s no entry fee, and the deadline is July 22, 2013.
  • From Interfictions: A Journal of Interstitial Arts: “Interstitial writing breaks rules, transgresses boundaries, and cross-pollinates the fields of literature. Working between, across, through, and around the borders of literary forms, it falls between the cracks of other movements, terms, and definitions. We are looking for work that blurs the lines between literary genres (contemporary realism, mystery, historical, fantasy, speculative fiction, westerns), as well as pieces that bridge fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry.” Submission window closes July 31, 2013. Pays: $.05/word for fiction, $20/poem, $.03/word for nonfiction. NB: “We’re also interested in interviews with boundary-crossing artists. Please query if you know someone you’d like to interview, and let us know why you think this person’s work would interest us. We seek interviews of 2000-3000 words, and pay a flat rate of $50/interview.” (h/t @Duotrope)
  • From the American Psychoanalytic Association: “The Award for Excellence in Journalism recognizes professional reporting of outstanding merit that contributes in an exceptional way to the public understanding of psychoanalytic and psychological principles and phenomena. The $1,000 award is broadly conceived. Nominated work need not be specifically about psychoanalysis or psychotherapy per se. And, nominated work may critique or question psychoanalysis as long as it advances understanding of human relationships and/or the life of the mind.” Eligibility: The submitted work “must have been written in English, intended for the layperson, and must have been first published between July 1 and June 30 for decision the following October. The deadline for submissions is September 16, 2013.”
  • “The Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison seeks a fiction writer at the rank of assistant professor (tenure-track). We welcome applications from writers with excellent records of publication, teaching, and service. Candidates with administrative and fund-raising experience, and qualifications in a secondary genre (poetry, creative non-fiction, screen writing), are preferred.”

    • Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: While I’m Away

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I’m heading out to the West Coast early this morning for a family event, so I’m going to “cheat” and give you the weekly “finds for writers” links, which usually show up here on Friday, today. And I’m taking Friday “off.” Have a great few days–see you back here on Monday! And Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

  • It began as an innocent conversation between two riders on the D.C. Metro about Lauren Groff’s Arcadia. Here’s what happened next.
  • “8 Important Questions to Ask Before You Publish Your Book.” More wisdom from Carol Tice.
  • “My [paternal] grandparents had only one child, and the next generation is just me and my sister…so the story is mine to work out and tell.” Those could be my words, but they aren’t. They’re Rebecca Makkai’s, in a fascinating conversation organized around her amazing new Harper’s piece.
  • One writer tests his theory that “publishing in print literary journals is useless.”
  • Quite possibly, you’ve already heard the news that Alice Munro has declared her retirement from short-story writing. I’ll confess that I’m not looking forward to the all-too-likely wave of essays that will follow this announcement. Still, this New York Times article is worth a read, especially for the encouraging quote: “I think short stories are taken more seriously now than they were.”