Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Some Jewish literary links to close out the week.

  • First up: Looking for some titles for your book club? Check out Makom’s suggestions for books by Israeli writers (books in English translation).
  • Next: Earlier this summer, I was lucky enough to attend “The Uses of History in American Jewish Fiction,” featuring novelists Anna Solomon and Dara Horn and moderated by Josh Lambert. And now, all of you are lucky enough to be able to watch the event on video.
  • Some exciting changes are afoot at The Forward.
  • Guess who’s coming to CUNY’s Baruch College this fall? Etgar Keret! I’m already marking my calendar.
  • As we begin preparing for Rosh Hashanah, The Whole Megillah has announced its First Pages Competition for Jewish-themed middle grade and young adult manuscripts (fiction or nonfiction). Deadline to enter: September 15.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: How to Make an Audio Recording

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    I’m immensely grateful to Qarrtsiluni magazine, not only for accepting and presenting my brief piece, “With or Without,” as part of its current “Fragments” issue, but also for encouraging me to acquire a new skill: how to make an audio recording.

    Following Qarrtsiluni‘s guidelines–and with the benefit of a little time, patience, and experimentation–I’ve become semi-comfortable with the iTalk application (I upgraded for a nominal fee). Hence, last week’s post and its incorporation of brief audio excerpts from “Homecomings,” one of the stories in Quiet Americans.

    I’m reminded, again, of the importance of adding new skills to my writing practice. What are some of the new items in your writing-practice toolbox? I’d like to know.

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee contests/competitions and paying gigs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • It’s time for the annual Helen Schaible Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest. “Open to all. Submit only one entry of either a Shakespearean or Petrarchan sonnet. The entry must be original and unpublished. First Prize $50.00. Second Prize $35.00. Third prize $15.00. Three Honorable Mentions Unranked. Three Special Recognitions Unranked. There is no fee.”
  • H.A.L Publishing announces The Big in China Short Fiction Competition. “Open only to residents of North America, the theme for this contest is China. This does not mean the contestants have to write about China the nation nor take place in China, though those stories will be gladly read as anything else. The theme is open to interpretation and can center around China, the history of China, life in China, life after China, life without China, fortune cookies (which actually are not Chinese, but whatever, we don’t care, we are open to anything), grandma’s china plates, Chinese take-out, Shanghai, being shanghaied, stuff for sale at Target, trade deficits, foreign affairs, NAFTA, firecrackers or gunpowder, silk dresses, opium dens or railroads in the American Wild West, the struggle of Chinese immigrants to the West, Richard Nixon, Chinatown, or any other conceivable application of the theme ”China.” We might not be ready to read Deadhead stories about China Cat Sunflower, but if that’s what you’ve got, send it in. We are always ready to be surprised.” No entry fee. First-place winner receives $50 (via Paypal) and other prizes, detailed at the site.” Deadline: September 15, 2012. No simultaneous submissions. (via Duotrope.com)
  • From Contrary magazine: “If you’d like your work to appear in our next issue, the deadline for Autumn is Sept. 1. Contrary accepts submissions only through this form.” Pays: “For original commentary, fiction, and poetry, Contrary Magazine pays $20 per author per issue, regardless of the number of works or nature of the submission.”
  • Legal Outreach is looking for part-time Writing Faculty to teach Saturday classes in Long Island City, N.Y.
  • Mother Earth News (Topeka, Kansas) seeks an Editor, The Washington Times (D.C.) is looking for an experienced Editorial Writer, and Carcanet Press (Manchester, U.K.) is advertising for a Managing Editor.

    • Friday Finds for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    5

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

  • Longtime readers know how much I admire author and teacher Sands Hall. On her way to teach at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival the other day, Sands noticed something special happening at the Cedar Rapids airport. And she wrote about it, in her own gorgeous way.
  • Next up: a beautiful essay by Lila Azam Zanganeh on Dmitri Nabokov, “his father’s best translator.”
  • Courtesy of The Rumpus: Found poetry, inspired by rejection letters!
  • You don’t need to be an AP staffer to pick up a tip or two from these “Social Media Guidelines for AP Employees.” (I find the “Retweeting” section especially worth thinking about.)
  • Finally, I’m sad to share the news that The Writer, where I’ve had the privilege of serving as a contributing editor, will be going on hiatus after the October 2012 issue. I’ll have more to say about this another time.

    • Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday, My Machberet presents a set of Jewish Literary Links to close out the week.

  • I’ve publicized application deadlines for the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative in the past. The latest issue of Moment features an article reported through that initiative. It’s gripping–if dispiriting–reading about anti-Israel sentiments and activism in Olympia, Wash.
  • Q&A with Lesléa Newman on the occasion of the adaptation for the stage of her short story, “A Letter to Harvey Milk.”
  • Sample poems from “four Jewish guys”: Philip Terman, Jake Marmer, Jay Michaelson, and Yehoshua November.
  • On my other blog, Practicing Writing, I make it a point to publicize only calls for submissions that promise payment to contributing writers. But because the literary marketplace for specifically Jewish-themed writing is smaller, I’ll consider nonpaying calls for My Machberet. This call, for work to be included in A Family Treasury of Mitzvah Stories, is one example.
  • And as the 2012 London Olympics open today, I remember the 11 Israeli athletes murdered 40 summers ago in Munich. Part of the commemoration: I’ve recorded brief excerpts from my short story, “Homecomings.” Background and link to the audio here.

    • Shabbat shalom.