Quotation of the Week: Lesley Weiss

by Erika Dreifus on
4

“I did a low-residency program because I didn’t want to give up my job, and I chose a school that was far away so I would be exposed to different perspectives (I live in the Midwest, and I chose a program in the Pacific Northwest). Two things I wish I would have known before making that choice: Many of the students were from the region, so in many ways I was the one with a different perspective, and I was a bit of a minority (although this was also a benefit as a learning experience). Also, because of this strong regional contingent, a lot of local opportunities were generated during the time that I was in the program, including teaching assistantships and mid-term get-togethers that I just couldn’t participate in. I felt like I missed out on the full experience of the program due to geography, especially in regard to teaching and forming connections that would help in that area.”

Source: Lesley Weiss, quoted in “Should You Go Back to School? Four Writers Share Their Graduate-School Experiences and Help You Decide Whether or Not to Pursue an Advanced Writing Degree,” Writermag.com (free, but site registration is required to access the full article).

Brava, Lesley Weiss.

I can’t tell you how tired I am of people claiming that location should not be among the considerations when prospective students are applying to and choosing among or between low-residency MFA programs. I tried to counter that faulty notion myself when I devoted several paragraphs to “Geography” as a factor for prospective low-res students to consider when I was asked to contribute to The Creative Writing MFA Handbook.

Like Ms. Weiss, I opted for low-res in part because I did not want to move away from my job/life/connections where I was living (in my case, the Northeast) and I chose a program that was “far away” (in my case, in Charlotte, N.C.) because I thought it would be interesting to gain perspectives on a part of the country that was new to me.

And in some ways, that strategy worked. (more…)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • “Inspired by the July publication of Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little, Gotham is pleased to present a Microstyle Writing Contest.” The book’s author, Chris Johnson, will serve as finalist judge. Prize package includes a 10-week Gotham Writing Workshop, a $50 Barnes & Noble Gift Card, a one-year subscription to The Writer (the September issue of which includes my review of Microstyle), and a copy of the book. Deadline: September 15, 2011. No entry fee.
  • “The theme of the next issue of Vestal Review is a twist on classic fairy tales. Please submit a flash fiction story (500 words or less) about the yet unheard adventures of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White or any other well-known fairy tale character. Interpret the theme broadly and imaginatively, but incline toward a literary story. Please state the source tale’s name before the title. No more than two submissions per author, as usual. Submit between August 1 and November 30, 2011.” Pays (rates vary depending on story length; “stories of great merit receive up to $25 flat fee; 3 cents a word is a minimum pay in any case”). (via Pam Casto’s Flash Fiction Flash Newsletter)
  • “Cintas Fellowships acknowledge creative accomplishments and encourage excellence in architecture, literature, music composition and the visual arts. Eligibility is limited to artists of Cuban citizenship or direct descent (having a Cuban parent or grandparent)….Fellowships are awarded annually in the amount of $10,000 each and are paid in quarterly stipends, beginning in September, for twelve consecutive months.” Applications from creative writers are welcome in 2011. Deadline: August 29, 2011 (received). No application fee indicated.
  • “The International Day of the Disappeared (30 August) commemorates people who have gone missing throughout the world in situations of violence and armed conflict. It is a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of families who are unaware of the fate of their loved ones, and organisations like the Red Cross who work to restore family contact between separated family members.Give your voice to the thousands of missing people throughout the world by entering our creative writing competition….Your writing should be based on the theme of ‘the disappeared’. It should fit onto one side of A4 paper. So this could be poetry, prose, a comic strip, a short story, an excerpt from your diary, a song… anything at all that you can write on the chosen theme.” Prizes: “The winning entry will receive a £50 cash prize and a £50 national book voucher. A compendium of the top entries will be compiled and published for International Day of the Disappeared 2012. All authors of published entries will receive a free copy.” No entry fee. Deadline: August 30, 2011.
  • Visiting position: “The English Department at Ohio University seeks an assistant professor of Creative Writing-Fiction for a one-year term. Faculty will be expected to teach 7 courses per year on a quarter system. No expectations for service. Position begins September 6, 2011.”
  • US Lacrosse (Baltimore) is looking for an Editor for Lacrosse Magazine Online, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (New York) seeks a Digital Content Editor, and Harvard University Press (Mass.) is advertising for a Senior Publicist.

    • Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: Another Item Crossed Off My To-Do List

    by Erika Dreifus on
    6

    Remember that to-do list from the beginning of the summer? I am delighted to report that I can now cross off that list the very first item under the category of “quality of writing life.”

    That’s right. Last Friday, armed with research and primed with questions, I set out for my local Apple store. (I’ve never purchased a non-Mac computer, and I’m not about to change that habit now.)

    So I’m typing this blog post from my lovely, light new laptop: a MacBook Air. Even better, I’m no longer chained to my home desk, because I also purchased, at long last, an AirPort Express router. And, with a little help from some kindly tech folks on the phone, I managed to create a working wireless network of my own!

    There’s a learning curve, of course. I’m still getting used to the “Pages” word processing program that the salesman encouraged me to try–for a mere $20–instead of plunking down several multiples of that some for an updated Microsoft Office. But these are productive lessons. And I love my new Mac!

    How are your lists doing? Please feel free to share your updates and progress!

    The Wednesday Web Browser

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • On The Quivering Pen, David Abrams presents Katharine Weber’s account of her first “rejection of rejection,” which also happened to lead to her first fiction in print—in The New Yorker.
  • The Writer magazine knows that you may have depended on Borders to buy your copies of the magazine. And the editors don’t want to lose you.
  • You don’t need to be a print subscriber, but you do need to register with the Writermag.com website to read what four current/recent writing students–two in traditional MFA programs, one in a low-res program, and one in PhD program–have to say about their experiences (and what they wished they’d known ahead of time).
  • Over on The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s site, Alan Jacobs argues: “We Can’t Teach Students to Love Reading.”
  • But here’s one way that we may be able to kindle a love for reading in the next generation. (Kindle. Get it?)
  • If your writing practice includes the teaching of college writing, you may want to check out this Q&A with the authors of The College Writing Toolkit: Tried and Tested Ideas for Teaching College Writing.
  • The 2011 Atlantic Fiction Issue is on newsstands now. And it’s online. There are several wonderful stories in this issue, including Ariel Dorfman’s “The Last Copy,” Sarah Turcotte’s “Scars,” Jerome Charyn’s “Little Sister,” and Elizabeth McKenzie’s “Someone I’d Like You to Meet.” (I admire Austin Bunn’s “How to Win an Unwinnable War,” especially for its glance back at the last years of the Cold War, too. But having grown up in New Jersey with plenty of friends attending the Governor’s School as rising high school seniors, I was perhaps unreasonably distracted by the idea of seventh-grade Governor’s School students.)