Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Three quick updates from my desk.

1. Birthright (specifically, the poem “Self-Portrait with Root Rescue™”) and I make a cameo in Judy Bolton-Fasman’s new article on “Going Gray in Quarantine.”

2. After falling away from the practice for several weeks, I’m back to attempting brief mindfulness/meditation sessions each morning. Not a panacea. But helpful.

3. I’m readying the July issue of The Practicing Writer. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll have it by this time next week (and if you’re not a subscriber, it’s never too late to join us!).

Markets & Jobs for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
0
Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

The weekly batch of no-fee, paying competitions, contests, and calls for submissions—plus jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction). These posts are intended to complement/supplement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province (this blog, on the other hand, does sometimes include those more restricted opportunities).

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Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
0

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.”

There would be, or might be, a time when the virus is behind us, when we are open again, when we can waft here and there and everywhere, my heathers healthy, glowing in the hill, night falling fast but the plants still beaming, as if they had sucked on some sun and were now stuffed with her light.

Source: Lauren Slater, “Distance May Protect Us From COVID-19. But I Worry About Another Kind of Crisis” (TIME)

Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
0
Description: closed trunk and text label announcing, "Finds for Writers."
Image of a wooden trunk, with text label that reads, “Finds for Writers” beside it.

Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend.

  • From Publishers Weekly: “L. L. McKinney, the author who developed the #PublishingPaidMe hashtag campaign earlier this month, has announced the Juneteenth Book Festival, which will take place on Friday, June 19. The event is being co-organized by Saraciea Fennell, a book publicist and founder of The Bronx is Reading – Bronx Book Festival.”
  • Speaking of the #PublishingPaidMe hashtag—that’s one of the threads in Sophfronia Scott’s latest, moving “Ruminations” in The Waking, Ruminate magazine’s online journal. (Full title of the piece: “Self-Deception in the #PublishingPaidMe Marketplace.”
  • Another moving piece, this time on the Brevity blog: “Never Too Late: On Finding a Literary Life,” by Shiv Dutta (one of the many wonderful people I met when I attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts Postgraduate Writers Conference a few summers ago).
  • Also noted in Publishers Weekly: “The Association of University Presses presented two awards during its virtual annual meeting on Monday: Larin McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of the University of Washington Press, received the Constituency Award for her commitment to advancing the goals of diversity and inclusion in the university press community; Ned Stuckey-French was awarded posthumously the inaugural StandUP Award to honor people who are not on staff at a university press but who have done extraordinary work to support, defend, and celebrate university presses.” I don’t know Larin McLaughlin, but I was acquainted with Ned Stuckey-French, and I hope that if you have some time you’ll check out the short video tribute that’s linked within the brief article.
  • And, as always, there’s a new batch of Jewish literary links posted over on the My Machberet blog. On this Juneteenth, I’ll recommend especially that you click on over to check out some “representations of black struggle in the pages of Yiddish literature,” as sourced in the Yiddish Book Center’s latest “Weekly Reader.”

Have a meaningful, peaceful, healthy weekend, everyone.

Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

by Erika Dreifus on
9

Three quick updates from my desk.

1. Still feeling pretty overwhelmed by…everything. But I am managing to (occasionally) accomplish small things.

For instance, I’ve been working on updates to my c.v. Which has caused me to realize that I haven’t yet shared the beautiful, recently unveiled cover to this forthcoming anthology:

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Markets & Jobs for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2
Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

The weekly batch of no-fee, paying competitions, contests, and calls for submissions—plus jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction). These posts are intended to complement/supplement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province (this blog, on the other hand, does sometimes include those more restricted opportunities).

(more…)