Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

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

  • Lots of good news from the (U.S.) National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) this week, especially for the recipients of the Creative Writing Fellowships. But even more of us are likely to benefit from the “Art Works” grants to presses and journals, whether simply by encountering writing that those grants will support or, in some cases, benefiting from the increased author/contributor payments promised by such publications as American Poetry Review, AGNI, and n+1.
  • Interesting issues raised in David Duhr’s “Hi! I Reviewed Your Book! A Twitter Guide.”
  • Great piece by Michelle Nijhuis for the NYT “Draft” column, on “The Science and Art of Science Writing.”
  • “Last October, after [Kaylie] Jones woke up one morning feeling particularly frustrated by the plight of many of her students and colleagues, who typically write artistic, literary novels not deemed commercially viable, she called one of her MFA students and her bosses, asking if they’d help her if she started an imprint. The answers were emphatic yeses.” Read more about Kaylie Jones Books.
  • “The 2013 Nobel Lecture in Literature was replaced by a pre-recorded video conversation with the Laureate: ‘Alice Munro: In her Own Words’, shown at the Swedish Academy on 7 December 2013.” I plan to watch the video this weekend; if you haven’t yet, you might want to do the same.

    • 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.

  • The Association for Jewish Studies annual conference begins on Sunday, December 15. I’ll be following along via the Twitter hashtag #AJS13.
  • My thanks to Zackary Sholem Berger for this introduction to the poetry of Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, on The Forward‘s Arty Semite blog.
  • This week I’m reading Jason K. Friedman’s prize-winning short-story collection Fire Year, described by Publishers Weekly as “seven funny, fearless outsiders’ tales set in Savannah and Atlanta—some depicting bygone orthodox Jewish communities, others the rife-with-irony ‘New South’.” The opening story, “Blue,” previously won the Moment-Karma Foundation fiction contest.
  • Must confess that I’m not satisfied with the conclusions drawn in “What is a Jewish Poem?” But the piece did add another essay to my tbr list.
  • “The YIVO Institute and Bard College are pleased to announce the third year of the Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization. This program, the first of its kind in the U.S., presents an integrated curriculum in the culture, history, language, and literature of East European Jews.” Courses offerings include “The Other Sholem Aleichem,” with Jonathan Brent; “New York Intellectuals Revisited,” with Adam Kirsch; “Jewish Literary Life in the Soviet Union,” with Gennady Estraikh; and more.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Wednesday WIP: Success in Holiday Gift Books for Kids

    by Erika Dreifus on
    3

    Auntie Erika can always be counted on to bestow books as gifts when it’s holiday time. This year’s family Hanukkah party–held slightly belatedly this past weekend, proved no exception.

    What was really wonderful, though, was the overall success of my book choices. Some years, it seems that my selections are more miss than hit. This year, however, I’d say most of the choices were exceptionally well received.

    Case in point: The Top 10 Everything in Sports, published by Sports Illustrated for Kids. Copies went to the 9-year-old and the 8-year-old in our group (but as you can see below, the 12-year-old was equally intrigued).

    Hanukkah2013

    Also popular picks this year: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Wait Till Next Year (for the aforementioned 12-year-old) and 100 Most Disgusting Things on the Planet, by Anna Claybourne, for the seven-year-old and the six-year-old (thanks to my sister for the recommendation of this one).

    Which books are you gifting to the young people in your life this year?