The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
4
  • I’m so grateful to those writers who are sharing their AWP wisdom with those of us who couldn’t make it to Chicago for the conference. For instance, throughout this week, Chloe Yelena Miller is posting presentations from a panel titled “Will Write for Food: Writers Working Outside Academia.”
  • Continuing with that theme: Fiction Writers Review shares Sarah Van Arsdale’s awesome AWP-based success story.
  • And over on her blog, Cathy Day continues to post items relating to the panel on “A Novel Problem: Moving from Story to Book in the MFA Program.”
  • In other news: What sort of music helps you write? Here’s my take on Chopin.
  • Attention, biographers: The Leon Levy Center for Biography is planning what looks to be a phenomenal (and free!) conference in New York for Thursday, March 29. I’ll keep an eye out for any videos that become available for those of us who can’t attend (even if we live in New York).
  • On the #writerwithadayjob theme: Check out “A Day in the Life,” a post by Eric Weinstein on the Ploughshares blog.

    • Quotation of the Week: Julia Alvarez

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    “For me, the writing life doesn’t just happen when I sit at the writing desk. It is a life lived with a centering principle, and mine is this: that I will pay close attention to this world I find myself in. ‘My heart keeps open house,’ was the way the poet Theodore Roethke put it in a poem. And rendering in language what one sees through the opened windows and doors of that house is a way of bearing witness to the mystery of what it is to be alive in this world.”

    –Julia Alvarez, quoted in 1998 in The Writer magazine, with the quotation republished in “Great Writing Tips from 125 Years of The Writer,” in the magazine’s April 2012 issue.

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Birds & Blooms magazine is running a “Backyard Blunder Contest”: “Do you have a funny birding or gardening story to share from your backyard? We want to hear it! Send us your best “backyard blunder,” and the winning story will receive $500.” Deadline is coming up on March 15, 2012. No entry fee. (via @femministas)
  • Great news from Slice: “We are pleased to announce that for the first time we will be offering a small monetary award for all contributors. Over the course of five years, Slice Literary has evolved from a struggling magazine to a celebrated publication. We have always been committed to bridging the gap between emerging writers and the professional publishing world. In fact, many agents and editors have connected with writers after reading their work in our semi-annual magazine. From the outset, we have also worked toward the goal of paying writers. We feel that an award, even if it is small, demonstrates an appreciation for the art of writing. We are thrilled to announce that all contributors of Slice will be paid ($100 for stories and essays and $50 for poems) beginning with issue 12, which will launch spring 2013. The issue 12 reading period will run from July 1 – August 31. The theme for that issue is ‘Obsession.'”
  • From the Online News Association (ONA): “Students, are you looking for a great opportunity to cover digital media and learn from top leaders in the industry? Apply to be a part of the all-expenses-paid ONA12 Student Newsroom at the Online News Association’s annual conference, Sept. 20-22, in San Francisco.” Open to college students and graduate students. No application fee indicated. (via @NiemanLab)
  • Assistant Professor of Creative Writing sought: “The Humanities Division of Lesley College [Mass.] is seeking a full-time, 9-month faculty member to teach courses in creative writing (poetry or fiction), literature and Humanities Internship Seminars.”
  • “The Department of English at Franklin & Marshall College (Penn.) invites applications for a one-year position at the Visiting Assistant Professor level, beginning Fall 2012. We are looking for a creative writer specializing in nonfiction. A commitment to undergraduate teaching, significant publications, including preferably at least one book, and a terminal degree in creative writing required. The 3/2 teaching load will include creative writing and literature offerings but no composition.
  • From Whitman College (Wash.): “Visiting position in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the rank of Assistant Professor; effective August 2012. MFA or PhD in Creative Writing and substantial poetry publications required. The successful candidate will offer Introduction to Creative Writing (a multi-genre course), Intermediate Creative Writing-Poetry, and Advanced Creative Writing-Poetry, and may also be asked to teach a section of first year composition or a 100-level Introductory to Poetry. Ability to teach an upper-division literature course on Victorian Poetry desirable.”
  • Poetryfoundation.org (Chicago) is looking for a part-time Assistant Features Editor: “The goal of poetryfoundation.org is twofold: To use the Internet to reach and engage a broad audience for poetry, and to support the Foundation’s other initiatives and programs. The Assistant Features Editor helps achieve these goals by providing the editorial expertise necessary to publish smart, lively and relevant journalism about poetry, and the publishing expertise necessary to ensure a smooth web publishing process. The Assistant Features Editor must be a talented editor with an extensive background in journalism and literature, including English language poetry and poetry in translation. Successful candidates will also be knowledgeable about popular and web culture.”
  • PEN American Center (New York) seeks an Associate Editor for the PEN website.

    • Friday Find: The Art of Long-Form Journalism

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I’m so glad that The Writers’ Institute at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York records its events. That’s how I got to catch one of the events I wasn’t able to get to in person: a panel on “The Art of Long-Form Journalism,” introduced and moderated by Christopher Cox, senior editor at Harper’s and former fiction editor at The Paris Review. The featured guests include: Joan Acocella, Rivka Galchen, Alex Ross and David Samuels. Watching it is a pretty nice way to spend about 77 minutes. Maybe you’ll do so this weekend.

    Enjoy. See you back here on Monday!

    Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: The Grumpy Writer, Or Where to Publish Your Rants & Complaints

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    What’s the saying? Don’t get mad–get even.

    For me, the adage might be adjusted: Don’t get mad–get writing. (And maybe even get paid.)

    Over time, I seem to have found a particular way to cope with things that annoy and irritate me: I write about them. Most of the time, I’ve gained a check along with the byline.

    This week, a short piece (dare I call it flash nonfiction?) was posted on The New York Times‘s City Room blog, in a recurring feature called “Complaint Box.” A few months ago, I sold a short article-essay to The Writer in which I vented certain Twitter-focused frustrations. And let’s not forget some earlier examples, such as my rejoinder to a workshop leader who mocked the use of “foreign words” in fiction, or my argument against the equally misguided classmate who told me that I shouldn’t be incorporating “current events” into my short stories, either.

    Of course, as my own examples show, it’s not impossible to place this writing–essentially a kind of essay–in a variety of publications, including literary and niche magazines. But I do try to take note of specific calls and opportunities to publish rants, peeves, and other opinion-driven pieces. Here’s a short list of a few such venues (I’ve limited the list to publications that specify that they pay their writers). (more…)