Jewish Playwriting 101: Let’s #MakeItHappen

by Erika Dreifus on
3

SchustermanlogoIf you follow my Practicing Writing blog, you may recall that over the past several months, I’ve been trying to learn a little more about playwriting.

As with much of my creative work, I’m drawn especially to the idea of writing a play with specifically Jewish content. (Actually, I might adapt a short story by another writer, although I’ve also considered adapting work of my own.)

Part of my learning process to date has consisted of attending plays and, to stretch a popular phrase, “watching as a writer.” In the past 10 days or so, in fact, I’ve seen three Jewishly-focused productions: “The Model Apartment” (Judith Miller’s review for Tablet echoes my thoughts on that one); “Bad Jews” (about which I’m less enthusiastic than Miller is); and the standout: “Arafat in Therapy.”

A solo show written and performed by Australian-Israeli Jeremie Bracka, “Arafat in Therapy” came to my attention via The Jewish Week. Its format and style remind me of Anna Deavere Smith’s “Fires in the Mirror,” which I saw many years ago in Massachusetts (although Bracka did not use interviews to shape his characters). Again, I’m struck by the extraordinary talents that are involved in writing and performing these solo shows that feature multiple characters.

My personal ambitions are much more modest. At the moment, my main ambition is simply to learn how to write a play. Ideally, I’d do this in a Jewish context.

And if the Schusterman Foundation funds my #MakeItHappen micro-grant proposal, “Jewish Playwriting 101” will become a reality.

Read all about my idea. “Like” it! Share it! And let me know what you think about it!

Thank you.

Wednesday’s WIP: Nonacademic Jobs for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
6

If you haven’t seen it yet, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) has published its latest “Annual Report on the Academic Job Market.” What seems most important and relevant to me, as a writer working in a full-time office job (at a university), is the report’s very first line:

AWP estimates that roughly 4,000 graduates receive advanced degrees in creative writing each year; yet the AWP Job List reports that just over 100 tenure-track creative writing jobs were available in 2012-13.

Even a terrible math student like me can see how discouraging those numbers are for any writer who pursued an MFA (or is in the process of doing so) with the hope of securing a tenure-track teaching position in creative writing. (more…)

Words of the Week: Hillel Halkin

by Erika Dreifus on
1

LettersToAmericanJewishFriend

“I didn’t write the book to defend Israeli policies, and I have never believed that, as a Jew, I should have to make the case for Israel’s existence to anyone. Whoever disputes it deserves to be scorned, not reasoned with.”

Source: Hillel Halkin, “Letters to an American Friend,” in Mosaic magazine.

This piece is a version of the introduction to a reissued edition of the book, which I’ve already pre-ordered.

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).

  • Our November newsletter went out to subscribers last week. It is filled, as always, with plenty of listings for no-fee contests/competitions & paying calls for work from poets, fictionists, and writers of creative nonfiction. Go check it out, if you haven’t already.
  • “The Tapestry of Bronze is sponsoring a series of international poetry contests to celebrate Greek and Roman mythology and the Olympian gods. The subject of the current contest is Dionysus (also known as Bacchus), the God of Wine. The deadline is November 30, 2013.” There is no entry fee. A prize of $50 will be awarded to the winners in each of two categories: entrants under and over 18 years of age.
  • “The public affairs fellowship at Mother Jones is a great opportunity for upstart changemakers looking to learn the tools of the media trade….Fellows assist in all aspects of promotion and outreach for Mother Jones reporting including tracking impact, researching new opportunities, and generally tending to all of the department’s little-but-vital things. This opportunity includes ongoing skills-building in media relations and communications and broader trainings in all aspects of nonprofit publishing. This fellowship is full-time and is based in San Francisco. Fellows receive a stipend of $1,000/month supported by grants from the Irving Harris and Lannan Foundations (and by the generosity of our nearly 39,000 contributors). The fellowship lasts six months, with the opportunity to apply for an additional six months as a senior fellow (at an elevated monthly stipend rate).” No application fee. Deadline: December 15, 2013.
  • “Other Press [New York] seeks a paid intern to join our ambitious and growing team. This intern will gain exposure to and assist in backing up a variety of departments including Editorial, Rights, Publicity, Marketing, Production and Human Resources….Candidate should be detail oriented and highly motivated, with an interest in literary fiction and serious nonfiction. Proficiency in FileMaker is a plus. Bachelor’s degree (or pursuit of) is required. Competitive hourly-wage offered.”
  • The University of Northern Iowa is advertising for a tenure-track Assistant Professor to teach creative nonfiction.
  • Southeast Missouri State University seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor who will teach “equivalent of 12-credit hours per semester in undergraduate creative writing (poetry and fiction), advanced fiction writing, and rhetoric and composition courses.”
  • “Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in English, with a major concentration in Creative Writing and an emphasis in poetry.”
  • “The Department of English at Oakland University [Mich.] invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing, with primary expertise in modern poetics and instruction in poetry writing to begin August 15, 2014.”
  • “The Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago, located in the heart of Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, is searching for a Chair to begin July 2014.”

    • Sunday Sentence

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Michelle Nijhuis

    Another Sunday in which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, which asks others to share the best sentence(s) we’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

    “Finally, like pavement weakened by too many cycles of heat and frost, our resistance buckled and cracked.”

    Source: Michelle Nijhuis, “The Ghost Commune”, in Aeon magazine.

    (There are so many more excellent sentences where this one comes from. Go read them all!)