Quotation of the Week: Jocelyn Bartkevicius

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“Here is the most important thing: The best MFA program is the one that’s best for you—for your writing and related professional aspirations. Don’t rely on any “best of” guides or hearsay. Know your writing and where you want to take it. Are you an essayist? Make sure there’s an accomplished essayist teaching workshops in your dream program. Read what the faculty members in your genre are writing. Read their latest works in journals as well as their books. If they have interviews, articles, or reviews, read those, too. Do an aesthetic check. How likely are they to understand and embrace your vision? Are they superstars? Make sure they actually teach classes. Writers often teach or work as editors. Will your dream program allow you to teach and edit? Look for in-house and national literary journals, a solid reading series, a sense of community, and an opportunity to teach creative writing as well as composition.”
–Jocelyn Bartkevicius
University of Central Florida in Orlando

Source: Poets & Writers feature, “Advice from the Programs.”

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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  • “Shelf Unbound literary magazine, a digital-only bi-monthly, seeks a paid intern to strategize and execute a social media campaign to increase circulation (distribution of Shelf Unbound is free). The latest issue of Shelf Unbound can be found here: http://www.pagegangster.com//p/Mzc1n/. Salary commensurate with experience.” (Editorial note: I enjoy reading Shelf Unbound!)
  • Annual literary and art journal Ellipsis is now open for submissions (closes November 1). “We pay our contributors $10 for each poetry or art piece and $50 for each prose piece, plus two free copies of the issue.”
  • From The George Washington University (D.C.): “For appointment beginning in the fall of 2012, we seek a poet to teach two semesters at The George Washington University as the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Washington. The successful candidate will teach a small poetry workshop each semester for members of the metropolitan Washington community. No tuition is charged for these workshops, which are not open to University students. The successful candidate will also teach two classes, one each semester, for students at The George Washington University….The position is intended to serve as a fellowship for the visiting writer, since it involves only a moderate teaching load, and the program’s location at a university in the center of Washington should offer additional attractions for the writer.”
  • Maryland poets and fiction writers, it’s your time to shine! “Poets & Writers has selected Maryland for the 2012 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. Each year since 1984, Poets & Writers has invited writers from a selected state to apply for the award.” Application deadline is December 1, 2011. There’s no entry fee, and each prize package includes $500, a networking trip to New York, and a one-month residency at Jentel.
  • “The MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a tenure-track position in poetry at the Assistant Professor level to begin fall 2012. Job responsibilities include teaching graduate workshops and craft-based literature seminars and possibly an occasional undergraduate cw course. Administrative responsibilities include serving as coordinator for poetry curriculum and performing duties related to admissions and thesis approval. Expertise in a secondary genre (fiction or creative nonfiction) is desirable, but not required. The teaching requirement is two courses per semester….The candidate must have a strong publication record, with at least two books of poetry in print or under contract.”
  • “Dalkey Archive Press in the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, invites applications for a full-time Senior Editor, with target start date of September 16, 2011. The salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The position is reviewable each year and is contingent on funding and periodic strong performance reviews. The position has a wide range of responsibilities, including but not limited to acquiring, copyediting, and proofreading manuscripts for publication; assisting in fundraising activities; managing the Press’s editorial staff; and managing and serving as an instructor in the Press’s educational programs related to translation and literary publishing.”
  • Harvard Medical School (Mass.) seeks a Publications Coordinator (Staff Writer), Nicholls State University (La.) is looking for a Publications Coordinator, and Manhattanville College (N.Y.) is advertising for an Assistant Director, Graduate Program in Creative Writing.

    • Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    1
  • As an academically trained historian of modern France, I subscribe to an active listserv on French history. This week, the listserv presented a review of The Hidden Children of France, 1940-45: Stories of Survival, edited by Danielle Bailly and translated by Betty Becker-Theye.
  • Barbara Krasner (The Whole Megillah) recently returned from Prague, where she visited the graves of Franz Kafka and Arnost Lustig.
  • I neglected to create a dedicated post on the 15th to announce the latest monthly Jewish Book Carnival. But it’s a good one, so please go over to the August host, the HUC-JIR librarians’ blog, and take a look.
  • Tablet profiles the impressive founder of Yaldah magazine.
  • Commentary magazine has launched a literary blog: Literary Commentary. According to the magazine’s editor, John Podhoretz, the blog “will be a place to discuss matters fictional, science-fictional, Jewish-fictional, and all other manner of story, and it will be the charge of D.G. Myers, long a professor of English literature at Texas A&M and now a member of the faculty of the Melton Center for Jewish Studies at Ohio State University.”
  • The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow, is Chicago’s latest “One Book, One Chicago” pick.
  • I purchased two novels for my Kindle this week: The Submission, by Amy Waldman (whom Eric Herschthal has just profiled for The Jewish Week), and, at long last, Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay, which I hope to read before going to see the movie (my parents saw it last week, and they are still talking about it).

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Friday Find: Free eBooks for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    If you’re looking for something to read this weekend, you may want to pick up a book (or four, or nine) at a special Back to School Sale. As I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week, WritersDigest.com has announced the free availability of a set of eBooks. Titles include Grammatically Correct, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing, I’m an English Major—Now What?, and Robert’s Rules of Writing. Offer lasts until August 22.

    Enjoy, and have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday!

    Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: How My New Computer Continues to Change My Life

    by Erika Dreifus on
    3

    For those of you who have been following along the super-exciting story of my summer (yes, a bit of self-sarcasm there!), please recall that back in June I promised myself (and you) that I would acquire a new computer this summer, and not long ago, I fulfilled that promise.

    To emphasize how old my previous Mac was, allow me to share the fact that it lacked a built-in camera, and, late-adopter that I am, I never even investigated purchasing an external webcam. But my new computer is dazzlingly tricked-out with all kinds of accoutrements. And thanks to a reminder from a good friend who is based outside the U.S. that once upon a time I did, in fact, have a Skype account, I have reactivated said account.

    What this means is that I can now offer book groups video visits as well as chats on the phone. Sadly, I’ve had to turn down my most recent invitation (and for a variety of reasons, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to join any club meetings that are scheduled before late September). But from that point on, if you and your group are reading Quiet Americans, and you’d like me to “visit,” please invite me! I promise to learn more about how to be a good video visitor beforehand (thanks to this article, I’ve already discovered that I may need to add some lighting).

    P.S. Whether you’d like me to “attend” or not, please remember that you’ll find some discussion questions for book groups right here. Enjoy!