Wednesday’s WiP: Book Reviewing on the Brain (Again)

by Erika Dreifus on
3

18166873Book reviews were something of a big topic among the Twitterati this past week. I’m thinking mainly of the reaction to a review published (and subsequently withdrawn) by The Economist. But I saw some lively, if not especially incisive, commentary about another review, of a novel, in another well-known publication (summary: some people seemed to think the reviewer was too harsh).

But the book review that most caught my attention over the last week was one included in The New Yorker‘s “Briefly Noted” section. I’ll give you a moment to click over and read it (it’s the second one, on Frederick Brown’s The Embrace of Unreason).

You’ll see why I’m so dissatisfied by the anonymous New Yorker reviewer’s take when you read my own review of the same book, commissioned for a publication-that-shall-not-be-named, but eventually “killed.” I’ve been told that the review’s “death” resulted not from any specific problem with the piece; in fact, what you’re seeing here is the “final” version that incorporates revisions requested and approved by my editor.

Without further ado–my review: (more…)

Monday Markets for Writers: No Fees, Paying Gigs

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

dollar-sign-mdMonday 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).

  • From Tin House magazine: “We accept submissions September 1 through May 31, and, as always, our summer and winter issues are not themed. We consider each submission for all upcoming issues regardless of theme. If you wish to be considered for a particular theme, please make a note in your cover letter. We have provided suggested deadlines for each theme issue, but please be aware that these fill up fast, so get your theme-issue submissions in as soon as possible.” For the Spring 2015 issue, the theme is “rejection”: “We are looking for fiction, essays, memoir, poems, and interviews about rejecting or being rejected. Rejection of, or rejection by people, animals, organizations, institutions, belief systems, physical locations, a calling—the theme is open to interpretation. Deadline is September 15, publication date March 1, 2015.”
  • The Bay Area Discovery Museum is accepting proposals for its Artist-in-Residence program: “We invite artists – visual artists, musicians, composers, media artists, architects, poets, scientists, dancer/choreographers, writers, builders, naturalists, puppeteers, storytellers, actors, playwrights, etc. – to propose residencies and projects which support and enhance our 2014-2015 arts program. As outlined below, our arts program is based on quarterly themes. We look to the artists to propose how to best engage with these themes, from the type of residency proposed to its duration. Thus, there is no minimum duration for a residency; projects may take place at any time throughout the course of the 3 month theme.” Proposals are due September 15 for residencies to take place between December 2014-February, 2015 (Theme: Land). No application fee. Pays: “Artists-in-Residence will be supported by stipends starting at $1,000, the exact size of which will be determined by the cost of project not to exceed $20,000.”
  • The Sacrifice Anthology Writing Contest seeks “submissions for inclusion in the upcoming inspirational essay anthology – Sacrifice – What Would You Give? Submit a personal essay about someone who sacrificed for you or for someone else, in whatever style you feel best expresses the story. Tell us what was done and how it impacted you or the person who received the benefit of the sacrifice.” Prizes: for first place, $50 and two copies of the anthology and publication; second place, $30 and two copies of the anthology and publication; third place, $20 and two copies of the anthology and publication. No entry fee. Deadline: September 30, 2014. (h/t CRWROPPS-B)

    • (more…)

    Sunday Sentence

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    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 this day, his accent—a bewildering mix of Colonial English, Eton and Jackie Gleason—reflects this unusual provenance.)”

    Source: Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Everything Is Illuminated,”* The New York Times Magazine (*title appears to differ in print and electronic versions)

    Words of the Week

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “But forgive us if we experience a special kind of grief for the Jewish kid from Miami, who played rugby and video games and tweeted about American basketball and risked his life to tell an important story.”
    “Steven Sotloff Was Jewish,” editorial in The Forward

    “We only wish your response and your voice against this crime and the crime Hamas has committed against their own people.”
    “Letter by Parents of Daniel Tregerman to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.”

    “Vigilance means speaking out whenever protests devolve into the classic rhetoric and symbolism of Jew hatred: swastikas, blood libels, conspiracy theories. We must reject depictions of Israel as a spearhead of Western colonialism — a clash between ‘European’ and ‘brown’ people — and explain how that narrative depends on a stereotypical and caricatured image of the ‘Jew’ that ignores the diverse reality of Israel (which includes, not coincidentally, brown and black people who were either thrown out of or made miserable in a wide range of non-European, ‘post-colonial’ countries). And we need to keep reminding people that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement is not anti-Semitic because it seeks justice for the Palestinians, but because it sees no place for the Jewish state or the Jews who live there.”
    “Fight Anti-Semitism, Embrace Zionism,” by Andrew Silow-Carroll (New Jersey Jewish News) (more…)