Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Boston-bound!

muse10Boston’s amazing Grub Street has opened registration for its always-fabulous annual conference. This year, The Muse and The Marketplace will take place May 3-5th, 2013, in Beantown’s Park Plaza Hotel.

I’ll be there. How about you?

On Sunday afternoon, I’ll be moderating a session titled “Grubbie Guide to Writing Contests, Conferences, and Residencies.” I know that we’ll all learn a lot from Sheri Joseph (it would be easier to name the residencies she hasn’t won than those she has) and Douglas Trevor, whose honors include the Iowa Short Fiction Award (which resulted in the publication of his collection The Thin Tear in the Fabric of Space). It’s going to be a great session (#8K, if you want a registration shortcut).

I’m so looking forward to this particular trip. This conference is always terrific; I always love returning to Boston; and, above all, it will be springtime!

Monday Markets for Writers

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).

  • The February issue of The Practicing Writer went out to subscribers late last week. Plenty of no-fee contests and paying calls included there.
  • “The Cheryl Strayed/VIDA Memoir Scholarship will provide for one recipient the full registration fee for the Wild Mountain Memoir Retreat, March 15-17th 2013. The scholarship, provided by an anonymous donor, will be awarded to a female writer of demonstrated financial need and literary promise.” Deadline is February 14, 2013. No application fee.
  • Those of you in the NYC area: Gigi Rosenberg will be leading a free session on “Grantwriting for Artists: Perfecting Your Proposal,” on the afternoon of Thursday, February 14.
  • Canada-based Arc Poetry Magazine “is look­ing for sub­mis­sions of poetryor prose about poetrythat takes the North as its pole star. We are look­ing for writ­ing from the North and/or about the North in its many guises. We don’t take the North as a given and encour­age sub­mis­sions that engage with and chal­lenge ideas and his­tor­ies of the North. We encour­age sub­mis­sions of diverse North­ern voices, poetry styles, and lan­guages (sub­mis­sions in Eng­lish, French, Inuit lan­guages, Dené, and Cree are wel­come; how­ever, sub­mis­sions in lan­guages other than Eng­lish should be accom­pan­ied by author-approved translations).” Check the site for more guidelines and pay rates.
  • Westminster College [Utah] invites applications for an assistant professor in Fiction Writing, the New York Public Library is looking for a Production Assistant to join its Live from the NYPL series, and The University of Baltimore’s School of Communications Design seeks a published fiction or literary non-fiction writer for a half-time contractual position.
  • Friday Finds for Writers

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

  • Check out Chuck Sambuchino’s super list of 11 ways to support an author’s new book. And send it to all of the family members and friends who want to help you and your book(s)! (via Literary Citizenship)
  • “I became a writer when I was hit on the head with a rock.” So begins Karen E. Bender’s essay for the latest issue of The New York Times Book Review. But, as Bender notes, “Rocks can come from anywhere. You can write about the terrible event happening around the corner or about ones occurring far away in the world. You can take revenge; you can write about people you know who have been wronged; you can write about all the rocks careening through history….Your imagination takes any rock and throws it any way it wants.”
  • Helpful hints for writers on crafting query letters to agents.
  • More hard-hitting advice for freelancers (especially would-be freelancers), courtesy of Carol Tice.
  • Important words of wisdom/“gentle reminders about writing” from Roxane Gay. Example: “Getting your name out there is only as useful as the writing you’re associating with your name.”
  • If you’re a reviewer seeking not-yet-published titles for possible review, you’ll want to check out the Publishers Weekly/Edelweiss Spring Announcements database.
  • Finally, in case you missed it, over on my other blog I’ve offered some advice on promoting books with Jewish themes/subjects.
  • Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday!

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Five Ways to Finish Applications for Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies

    Raise your hand out there if you have recently applied for a grant, fellowship, residency, or similar competitive opportunity. Raise two hands if you’ve applied for multiple opportunities.

    I’ve recently emerged from a series of such applications. Six applications, to be exact. I’ve already heard good news about one of them – a tuition-free seminar that begins imminently. And I’ve lost out on another (a fact I discovered only by checking the program website and finding the winners’ names posted there). But I’m waiting to hear from the others.

    Part of me thinks that I could have/should have completed even *more* applications. And part of me wonders how I managed to finish the six that have been safely submitted.

    It’s the latter part that inspires this post, because as I prepared each of my recent applications, I realized that I was benefiting from a series of lessons learned: (more…)

    Monday Markets for Writers

    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).

  • Canada-based SubTerrain plans a spring issue on the theme of “Heat”: “political, sexual, economic, environmental — whatever the topic or situation, just make sure it’s HOT!” They’ll consider fiction, commentary, poetry, essay, and memoir. Pays: $25/poem and $25/page of prose. Deadline: February 15, 2013.
  • Fellowship program for emerging NYC poets: “Emerge – Surface – Be is a natural extension of The Poetry Project’s program offerings. It formalizes the distinct yet unspoken pedagogical aspect of The Poetry Project’s programs while providing a unique opportunity to support, develop and present emerging NYC-based poets of promise. Three emerging poets will be selected by and paired with poet mentors Anselm Berrigan, Patricia Spears Jones and Edwin Torres, and over the course of nine months be given the opportunity to develop their craft and complete a project. Ideal Fellows will have a project they are working on or want to embark upon, and feel that they would benefit from guidance. Each Fellow will receive an award of $2,500.” No application fee. Deadline: February 18, 2013.
  • And another opportunity for poets in NYC: “Mid-Manhattan Library is pleased to offer a free ten-week workshop with Hermine Meinhard, The Art of Making Poems: Creation and Craft, on Tuesdays, from 4:00 – 6:30 p.m., beginning February 12th.” This workshop is open to adults 55+. Check the full description and registration instructions. Limited enrollment.
  • The Anglican Theological Review Poetry Prize competition is open to emerging poets: that is, poets who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry or any other genre of literature. Poets whose work has appeared in chapbook form and/or in journals are eligible. Contestants should submit one unpublished poem, in any form, but not to exceed 64 lines. There is no specific theme, although writers who are familiar with the poetry published in the ATR will see a preference for work that reflects an incarnate sense of the sacred.” Deadline is March 1, 2013, and there is no entry fee. “The winner of the ATR Poetry Prize will be announced in the summer 2013 issue of the ATR, where the winning poem will appear. The poem also will be posted in the ATR website. The winning poet will receive $500.” (via Writing-world.com)
  • The next issue of The Practicing Writer will be out later this week. If you’re not already a subscriber and you’d like to receive this free, opportunity-packed resource right in your inbox, it’s never too late to join us.
  • Salem State University (Mass.) seeks a full-time, tenure-track faculty member in creative writing, the English Department of the University of Hawaii plans to fill a full-time, tenure-track position in Fiction Writing, the English and Creative Writing Department at Hamilton College [N.Y.] is looking for a Creative Writer specializing in poetry for a one-year leave replacement position at the level of Assistant Professor, and the English Department at Sweet Briar College [Va.] is advertising for “a full-time sabbatical-replacement position in Creative Writing at the assistant professor level beginning in August 2013. The position includes the possibility of renewal for a second year, also as a sabbatical replacement, and of a subsidized rental residence on campus for the successful candidate.”