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Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
6

For the weekend: some writing-related reflections, news, and resources to enjoy.

  • First up: An assortment of authors’ book-promotion tips. I’m most intrigued by C. Hope Clark’s endorsement of the Square Card Reader, pictured to the left. (You may have seen Square elsewhere in the news this week, too.)
  • Next: “Got an MFA? Teach high school,” advises Nick Ripatrazone.
  • The Kenyon Review interviews George Singleton, on being told to “stick to fiction” in a poetry workshop, and other literary matters.
  • Sam Tanenhaus, who edits The New York Times Book Review, describes a typical workday and exemplary criticism.
  • Roxane Gay presents writers of color.
  • And in case you’ve missed the mentions elsewhere: I’m coming to Boston! And if this seminar on writing conferences, contests, and residencies appeals to you, please join us!

    • Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • First up is an event taking place this Sunday–in Yiddish–at NYC’s Center for Jewish History: “The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research together with the Congress for Jewish Culture, CYCO Books, the Forward Association, the Jewish Labor Committee, and the Workmen’s Circle invite you to attend a commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Soviet Yiddish writers and other members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee at the hands of Stalin. There will be several short films based on the poetry of Perets Markish; Boris Sandler, editor of the Forward, will read his own poems; well-known singers Hy Wolfe and Paula Teitelbaum will sing and recite poetry; Shane Baker will recite poetry; David Mandelbaum of New Yiddish Rep and Paul Glasser of YIVO will read prose. The emcee will be Tom Bird of Queens College.”
  • Lots to think about in Ilana Sichel’s review of Anouk Markovits’s I Am Forbidden.
  • In somewhat related news: Zackary Sholem Berger profiles “the writers and editors behind the astonishing rise of Orthodox magazines and fiction.”
  • The passing of businessman and philanthropist Sami Rohr this week has been noted in many quarters. Among the most lovely tributes is Gal Beckerman’s.
  • Finally, yet another contest from The Whole Megillah: “Yom Kippur often gets us thinking about our departed loved ones and our own lives. Perhaps you’ve even written your reflections about your family or yourself. If you have a memoir manuscript in progress, consider submitting its first page to The Whole Megillah First Page Competition for Memoir.”

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Saying Good-bye to The Writer Magazine

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    For years, I’ve looked forward to the arrival of The Writer magazine in my mailbox every month. I was a subscriber long before I became a contributor (my first article, “Surviving MFA Critiques,” appeared in the January 2004 issue). It’s fair and accurate to say that I’ve continued to learn at least as much from the magazine as a reader as I’ve given back as a writer and, since 2007, as a contributing editor. But the arrival of the September issue a few days ago was bittersweet, because–at least for now–it’s the last issue that I’ll be writing for.

    As many of you know, The Writer has been around for 125 years. But, as GalleyCat reported on July 26, the magazine will be going on hiatus after the October issue. The company that owns the magazine, Kalmbach Publishing, is looking for a buyer for it.

    I’m going to miss The Writer for many reasons. I’ve already mentioned my long-term commitment to it as a reader. But there’s much more to this particular good-bye.

    I’ve loved working with the magazine’s editors and staff, who have always treated me like the professional writer I’ve aimed to be, and I’ve especially appreciated their enthusiasm for my ideas. It will be odd to attend a conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) without heading straight toward The Writer‘s table at the Bookfair to catch up with everyone there. And I’ll miss the team’s sheer good-will and thoughtfulness, exemplified by the group get-well card they mailed after I suffered a major injury in 2009.

    My byline appears three final times in this September issue: for an article on book promotion, for a review of Janet Groth’s The Receptionist, and for a collaborative piece on must-read classic novels. I’m grateful to have the chance to sign off this way, and truly honored to have been part of The Writer‘s history.

    Words of the Week: Bret Stephens

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “But the important point is not whether you’re for a democratic Israel or you’re for a Palestinian state. The important question is how that Palestinian state is going to come into being, whether it’s going to be a — it’s going to come into being in a negotiated and peaceful way and, also, what the character of that state is going to be in the future.

    Is that state going to be a progressive, forward-looking, liberal-minded state that really wants to live in peace with Israel or is it going to be another miniature of Lebanon or Iran or another state the sort of remains irredeemably intent on destroying what remains of Israel.

    That’s the issue. It’s like needing an operation. Just because you need an operation, I think both Peter [Beinart] and I can agree that, at some point, Israel might need an operation, doesn’t mean that you just take out the hack saw and cut off your leg because otherwise you’re faced with the possibility of the cancer spreading.”

    Source: Fareed Zakaria GPS. I watched this on Sunday and I thought that in these lines, Stephens captured something significant. (Emphasis in the second paragraph is mine.)

    FROM THIRTYSOMETHING TO MOVING WATERS: A Q&A WITH RACELLE ROSETT

    by Erika Dreifus on
    13

    About three years ago, I gave a presentation on publishing short stories at a conference run by the Jewish Book Council here in New York City. Among the attendees was Racelle Rosett, who impressed me immediately as someone who knew quite a lot about writing short stories and who also shared my interest in writing about Jewish experience. We have stayed in touch since that conference. I’ve been delighted to see Racelle’s stories in print and online, and I’ve recommended them to friends and family. Now, I’m thrilled to introduce Racelle here on the occasion of the publication of her debut story collection, MOVING WATERS.

    Racelle Rosett is the winner of both the MOMENT Magazine-Karma Foundation Prize for Jewish short fiction and the LILITH Fiction Prize. Her work has also appeared in TIKKUN, PLOUGHSHARES, NEW VILNA REVIEW, JewishFiction.net, SANTA MONICA REVIEW, and ZEEK. As a television writer, she won the WGA award for THIRTYSOMETHING. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

    Please welcome Racelle Rosett!

    ERIKA DREIFUS (ED): Racelle, congratulations on the publication of MOVING WATERS. Your background includes a successful career writing for television. How has that background infused your work as a writer of short fiction? (more…)