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 The entry must be original and unpublished.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.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Munich, Sound & Silence

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Last Friday on this blog, and on My Machberet, I linked to a new piece of mine that had just appeared on The Forward‘s Arty Semite blog. Titled “Remembering Munich, in Fact and Fiction,” the brief essay references ongoing calls for a moment of silence to take place at the impending ceremony that will open the 2012 Olympics, a moment in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes who were murdered at the Munich Summer Games 40 years ago. It also presents some of the “backstory” surrounding “Homecomings,” one of the stories in my short-story collection, Quiet Americans.

    What happened in Munich 40 years ago is part of that story. The central characters, Nelly and Josef Freiburg, German Jews who immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, return to Europe for the first time in 1972–and their trip overlaps with the Summer Games. I began writing “Homecomings” when I was an MFA student, and in the “Arty Semite” post I recall some distressing comments that emerged when the story was workshopped.

    “Homecomings” isn’t available online, but I’ve recently recorded two brief excerpts (in a single audio file) that you can hear by clicking here. (FYI: “Simone” is a French relative with whom Nelly and Josef are staying. Everything else should be easy enough to follow. And by the way, my recording skills are quite new–you’ll hear more about that sometime soon.)

    I’ve been thinking about this sad anniversary all summer, and thinking about the victims and their families. You can be sure that Munich will be on my mind on Friday, when the opening ceremony takes place. I’m immensely grateful to Bob Costas, who has promised that even if the International Olympic Committee refuses to give 60 seconds of silence to the murdered athletes then, he will do so.

    May these London Games open, take place, and close in peace.

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    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).

  • First up: Robert Lee Brewer is seeking and will pay for contributions to the 2014 editions of Writer’s Market, with a pitch deadline of August 8; Poet’s Market, with a pitch deadline of August 8; and Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, with a deadline of August 15.
  • From Poets & Writers, Inc.: “Each year, P&W invites fiction writers and poets from a selected state to apply for the [Maureen Egen Writers Exchange] award. This year, eligible writers are residents of Alaska who have never published a book, or have published only one full-length book, of fiction or poetry….The winner in each category will each receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to meet with top literary professionals, including editors, agents, publishers, and prominent writers. While in New York, winners will also give a public reading hosted by Poets & Writers. In addition, each winner is invited to spend a month at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner, Wyoming.” There’s no application fee. Deadline is December 1, 2012.
  • The Costa Short Story Award is “a brand new Award for a single short story that will run in association with the Costa Book Awards but be judged independently of the main five-category system. The new Award is for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words by an author aged 18 years or over and written in English. The author’s primary residence must have been the UK or Ireland for the past three years…. Entrants need not have been previously published but publishers and agents may submit entries on behalf of authors….A panel of five judges will select a shortlist of six entries which will be revealed in November. The public will then be invited to vote online for their favourite story from the six finalists. The winner will be announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony on 29th January 2013 and will receive £3,500; two runners-up will each receive £750.” Deadline: September 7, 2012. No entry fee indicated. (via Writing-world.com)
  • Coming soon: The August Practicing Writer. Don’t miss it!
  • From Carol Tice, who with Linda Formichelli runs the Freelance Writers Den: “We’re having a contest that…ends July 31st. Grand prize — Linda and I are each going to give out one free year’s stay in Freelance Writer’s Den, along with a whole mentoring package designed to kick your career into high gear. We know that times are tough out there still for many writers, and want to offer an opportunity for those who haven’t been able to afford the Den to get in there.” No entry fee.
  • For those in the Houston area: “Writers in the Schools (WITS) is looking for 10-12 writers who can teach the joy of creative writing to young people. Employment is part-time, typically 2-6 hours of teaching one day a week from September – May. A yearlong commitment is required; however, writers who are selected to be on the WITS roster are not guaranteed immediate teaching opportunities. The pay is $55 per teaching hour. In addition to teaching, the job duties include preparing lessons, responding to student work, and compiling anthologies of student writing at the end of the school year.”
  • “The English Department at Smith College [Mass.] seeks a fiction writer with a distinguished record of publication and commitment to teaching to serve as the Elizabeth Drew Professor of English for a 2-3 year term, to begin in the fall of 2013. Previous recipients include Anita Desai, Elinor Lipman, Sue Miller, and Kurt Vonnegut. This half-time position offers an annual salary of $52,000 and a housing allowance; college-owned housing may be available. One writing workshop (course limited to 12 students) to be offered each semester.”
  • ODC Dance (San Francisco) is looking for a Writer-in-Residence, Yaddo seeks a Development Manager to work in its New York City office, and Richard Hugo House (Seattle) is advertising for a Marketing Coordinator.