Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: A Significant Purchase

by Erika Dreifus on
4

It has been a busy and productive week, writing-wise. I’ve had a poem accepted for 2012 publication. I had a wonderful time chatting on the phone about the stories in Quiet Americans with a group from a Chicagoland congregation. Meanwhile, Quiet Americans received a lovely review on the Books, Personally blog (and I was interviewed, too). A book that I’ve been looking forward to reviewing for JewishJournal.com arrived in the mail. And I’ve been cooking up a project with some of the Fiction Writers Review editors. Best of all, I’ve been managing to get some writing done early every morning.

I’m grateful for all of these developments. But today, I don’t want to dwell on them. Instead, in this post, I want to tell you about a significant purchase I made a few days ago. (more…)

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
4
  • I was honored to be asked to contribute a title to Literary Commentary’s “Not Another Best-of-the-Year List.”
  • Being a writer requires a more varied professional background than you might think. Check out Robert Lee Brewer’s list of “8 Jobs of Modern Writers.”
  • Travel-writing tips from Necee Regis.
  • Some notes from a visit to “The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats.”
  • From Carol Tice: “113 Things You Can Do to Grow Your Freelance Writing Income–Now.”
  • Next month’s Practicing Writer newsletter will feature an interview with my friend, author Natalie Wexler. Meantime, read about some of Natalie’s latest publishing experiences (including some reflections on a certain online bookseller) right here.

    • Quotation of the Week: Moshe Sakal

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “As Picasso said: know how to draw a horse, and only then do Cubism. That means, before you go and break the rules, you’d better know the rules first.”

    –Moshe Sakal

    Source: Moshe Sakal’s Writer Rules. If Sakal’s name is familiar, perhaps that’s because you heard about his expulsion from a literary panel last week. Sakal is an Israeli writer, and a Palestinian poet on the panel requested (demanded, it seems) that the panel proceed without Sakal.

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • From The Glen Workshops: “We’re thankful for another generous grant from the Davis Foundation that will enable us to continue to increase our scholarship opportunities in 2012. Full and partial scholarships are available for both Glen West and Glen East, to be awarded based on both need and quality of work. You may apply to any class, even if it’s closed for registration. However, if you wish to guarantee a spot in a workshop, even if you do not win a scholarship, you must register for an available workshop and pay the $150 deposit. All writers, visual artists, and songwriters are invited to apply! **No scholarships are available for seminar classes.” Deadlines are January 15 for Glen East and March 15 for Glen West.
  • This list of nonfiction competitions is worth a look, especially for UK & Commonwealth writers.
  • “During the month of January, Matter Press will be open for submissions of a prose collection (prose poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction). During the submission period, please use Submishmash to submit your 25–40 page manuscript, each piece under 600 words to us. Individual pieces in your manuscript may have appeared in journals, both in print and online, as long as the entire collection itself is unpublished.” There is no reading fee. “Matter Press will have a one-time only print run of 300 copies of the winning chapbook. The author will receive $500 and 25 copies.” (via CRWROPPS-B)
  • “Grub Street [Boston] seeks a part-time, temporary Communications Assistant to assist in planning our annual literary conference, The Muse and the Marketplace, in May of 2012. The Communication Assistant will work closely with the Muse team, helping to post and organize information on the website, generate email communications, and create and organize conference materials. The ideal candidate will have superb web, office, and design skills, with strong experience with HTML, Microsoft mail merge, and online databases. A passion for creative writing and a sense of humor are also appreciated! The Conference Communications Assistant will work approximately 10 hours/week for 15 weeks total, broken down as follows: December: 1 week January: 4 weeks February: 4 weeks March: 4 weeks April: 4 weeks Start date is flexible, but we’d like the position to start as soon as possible.” Apply by noon on Wednesday, December 14.
  • From Western Washington University: “The Department of English invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Creative Writing position beginning September 2012. M.F.A. or Ph.D. in Creative Writing, Screenwriting, English, Film Studies, or related field required by August 2012.”
  • “The University of South Dakota invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English with specialization in fiction writing. Expertise in a second genre is highly desirable. Expertise in Native American literature is desirable but not required.
  • “The English Department at St. Lawrence University [N.Y.] invites applications for a one-year, full-time position in fiction writing beginning Fall 2012. The successful candidate will teach both levels of our introductory and advanced fiction writing courses, and will also be expected to offer a section of the department’s research methods/theory course.”
  • “Hofstra University [N.Y.] seeks a writer of literary nonfiction for an anticipated tenure-track assistant professor of English. Interest in disability studies, a second genre, or a second area of concentration is desirable. Strong record of publication and teaching required.”
  • From the University of Central Oklahoma: “The Department of English invites applications for a one-year, full-time, non-tenure-track appointment as Writer in Residence for the 2012-13 academic year. We are seeking an individual with a strong publication record in poetry and creative nonfiction who has demonstrated excellence in teaching at the college level.”
  • The University of Iowa seeks a Writer/Editor, Cardinal Stritch University (Milwaukee) is looking for an Interactive Media Writer/Editor, the ASPCA (New York) invites applications for a position as Manager, Media & Communications.