Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

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In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

To turn from The Elementary Particles to The Rings of Saturn is like exchanging the passionate complaints of an outraged teenager for the quiet, hypnotic monologue of an old man.

Source: Adam Kirsch, “The Last Men: Houellebecq, Sebald, McEwan,” in Rocket and Lightship: Essays on Literature and Ideas

Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“Regrettably, instead of giving voice to the aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis, this text addresses the concerns of only one side. It is deeply imbalanced and contains many elements that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel’s legitimate security concerns. In addition, this resolution was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among Council members, which is highly unusual, especially considering the gravity of the matter at hand. We must proceed responsibly, not take actions that would risk a downward spiral.”
–Ambassador Samantha Power, “Explanation of Vote at the Security Council Session on the Situation in the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question”

“[The American Historical Association] would instead be correctly seen as an organization that places political opinions ahead of assiduous scholarship. It would send a chill especially to young scholars whose careers could be ended or damaged if they were to take a different view of these events.”
–Jeffrey Herf, quoted in “US Academic Org Ushers in New Year with Anti-Israel Vote” (The Times of Israel)

“[N]ot only does the committee stop short of calling for Salaita’s restoration, it also cites ‘legitimate concerns’ about whether Salaita’s anti-Israel expressions on social media make him ill-equipped to stand before a classroom.”
–Liel Leibovitz. “U. of Illinois: Donors Didn’t Derail Salaita Hiring” (Tablet)

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Treasure Chest
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • As happy as I was to meet my 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge, I couldn’t help thinking that I should have read more poetry during the past 12 months. So I’m grateful for this Page-Turner post featuring some of The New Yorker‘s 2014 poems.
  • My job change in summer 2014 has led to less of a focus for me on freelancing tips. But if freelance writing is *your* thing, you should perhaps take a look at these “17 Super-Useful Posts About Story Ideas, Article Writing, Interviews, and Editors” over on Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing blog.
  • As one of the few people on the planet who has ever heard an episode of Serial, I probably won’t stun anyone with the news that my forays into podcasts are few and infrequent. But I do plan to listen this weekend to the 100th episode of Gil Roth’s “The Virtual Memories” show. Gil’s is one of the few podcast series that I *do* make an effort to keep up with, and this episode seems especially intriguing to me: “For the 100th episode of The Virtual Memories Show, we bring you an interview with your podcast host, Gil Roth! Thirty past and future guests provide the questions for an in-depth conversation about books and life. Find out about my reading childhood, my dream list of pod-guests, my best practices for productivity (don’t have kids!), my favorite interview question, my top guest in the afterlife, the book I’d save if my house was on fire, what I’d do if I won a Macarthur Grant. and more!”
  • I’m proud to say that I’m not often guilty of committing the top offense cited within the NPR Grammar Hall of Shame. (But that doesn’t mean that I’m *always* so innocent!)
  • And to conclude, a reminder for those who may be inclined to be interested: I maintain an entirely separate blog, My Machberet, in which I focus on literary and other matters of primarily Jewish interest.

    • Pre-Shabbat Jewish Lit Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • “A smarter dream would be to get a quality Jewish paper in the hands of every Jew in America. At the very least, that would keep Judaism in the game for the multitudes that now ignore it.” So argues David Suissa as he explains “Why Judaism Needs Journalism.”
  • And several Jewish journalists and writers are among Batya Ungar-Sargon’s “10 Women’s Voices We Want To Hear More From.”
  • The Jewish Week‘s Gary Rosenblatt does a superb job presenting the significance of Yossi Klein Halevi’s Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist: The Story of a Transformation, one of the most memorable books I read in 2014.
  • ICYMI: Remember the Scholastic map flap last year? This time, HarperCollins is in the hot seat.
  • Just under 2 weeks left to enter poetry for this year’s Anna Davidson Rosenberg Awards for Poems on Jewish Experience. No entry fee indicated.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I suppose this post could also be called “End-of-Year Notes from a Practicing Writer.”

    I’m going to keep this short. Hope that bullet points are okay with all of you today!

  • I’m thinking of last year’s spotlight on Lisa Romeo’s wonderful “I Did It!” list idea. I’m thinking that I should work on my own “I Did It!” list for 2014.
  • I’m thinking of the seminar application that is my current “work-in-progress.” (3 essays required!)
  • I’m thinking of the post on “My Year in Jewish Books” that I’ve just published over on my other blog—and applauding myself for actually managing to meet my Goodreads challenge for the year.

    • How about you? What’s on your writerly mind as 2014 ends and 2015 begins?

    Happy New Year!