Quotation of the Week: Scott Warnock

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“There’s a lot of work out there.”

–Scott Warnock

This encouraging statement came from Scott Warnock, one of the panelists in the “Finding and Creating Online Teaching Opportunities–and Sustaining and Succeeding in Them” panel at the recent conference of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). And Warnock knows what he is talking about: In addition to being the author of Teaching Writing Online and a member of the CCCC Committee for Best Practices in Online Writing Instruction, he is an associate professor of English and Director of the Freshman Writing Program at Drexel University, where he coordinates online and hybrid courses.

All of the panelists were excellent, and I will do my very best to provide a much more comprehensive write-up about that panel later in the week. Please stay tuned!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

by Erika Dreifus on
4

So much to share with you from my recent days in Washington at the annual conference of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. For now, I’ll limit myself to some competitions and jobs I discovered via the conference program, flyers, and Bookfair offerings (and I’ll round out today’s post with a few items I’ve come across outside the conference, too).

  • The Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize is an exciting new award “to support the publication of a second or third full-length collection of poems by a Latino or Latina poet. The winning poet will receive $1000, a contract from Red Hen Press and, upon publication of the winning book, an invitation to give a reading in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.” But wait–there’s more: “The Ragdale Foundation will offer a two-week residency to the poet in the year the winning book appears. Letras Latinas will also set aside a modest fund to help defray travel costs associated with further promotion of the winning book.” This competition will award its prize biennially. The inaugural deadline is January 15, 2012, and there is no entry fee.
  • The Common Review Annual Short Story Prize is now open for submissions (but not for long: deadline on February 15). The competition awards cash prizes (first prize: $400 and publication, second prize: $200, and third prize: $150). No entry fee is indicated. “All prize winners, plus two honorable mentions, will receive a free copy of The Great Books Foundation Short Story Omnibus and a one-year subscription to The Common Review.”
  • “Applications are now being accepted for the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative, a fellowship for young journalists to write in-depth stories about modern manifestations of anti-Semitism and other deeply-ingrained prejudices. A project of the independent Jewish bimonthly Moment Magazine and honoring Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter slain by terrorists in 2002, the fellowship will fund ($5,000), support, edit and publish a worthy project selected by a distinguished panel of journalists. Applicants must be between the ages of 22 and 38; deadline is March 15. Details at http://www.momentmag.com/moment/contests/dpiji.gif.”
  • The Department of Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, invites applications for a Visiting Assistant Professor in Creative Writing for the academic year 2011-2012, with the possibility of a one-year renewal. We are looking for a writer who specializes in poetry and has additional interests in fiction and/or cross-genre work.
  • The William and Mary Alumni Association (Va.) seeks a Director of Alumni Communications, Ithaca College (N.Y.) is looking for a Senior Editor, and Ocean Conservancy (D.C.) invites applications for a Senior Writer.

    • The Wednesday Web Browser: AWP Version

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • I’m hoping that my travel plans—and those of everyone else with an itinerary leading to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Washington—will continue as planned. As I draft this post, the weather is the big unknown. If you’ll be attending, here’s a quick guide to my panels and appearances. It would be great to meet blog readers in person!
  • The AWP conference can evoke all kinds of conflicting feelings. I’ll admit that I’m feeling a mix already. But I wouldn’t be able to articulate them as well as Cathy Day has in her blog post: “Anxiety + Community = AWP.”
  • Can’t make it to the big event? The Education of Oronte Churm will bring you “Radio Free AWP.” Podcasts and freebies galore.
  • And if that’s not enough, check out Meg Pokrass’s Barbaric yAWP, described here by our friends at Fiction Writers Review. Meg’s running a big virtual conference, and among the plums are changes to win signed copies of The Adults, a novel by Alison Espach, and Quiet Americans, short stories by yours truly.
  • But wait! There’s more! I’m honored that Fiction Writers Review (which will host a book-signing for me at the conference) is also currently featuring Quiet Americans as its Book of the Week. Several signed copies will be awarded to fans of the FWR Facebook page. Find all the details here.

    • I’ll miss this blog while I’m away, but I’ll try to check in via Twitter from time to time. See you back here next week

    Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Good news: flashquake is back! The spring issue of this “literary and art journal for the briefest of forms” will launch on March 1. In submissions news, you can send work until February 15 for the current reading period. This remains a paying (albeit low-paying) publication.
  • Want to have your essay on the writing life published in Writer’s Digest magazine? It’s a distinct possibility! (Via e-mail, I’ve been assured that this is a paying freelance opportunity.)
  • As I said on Twitter when I discovered this competition last week, this Short Story Prize is my ideal contest–or it would be, if I were still 16-25…and “resident in the UK.” From the Franco-British Council: “Do you have a passion for France? Are you a Francophile with a story to share? The FBC, in conjunction with Prospect magazine and Eurostar, is inviting those aged between 16 and 25 to submit a short story of no more than 1,500 words. This year we are asking entrants to be inspired by a few choice quotes from French literature in writing a story that touches on some aspect of France or the French. The story does not have to be set in France but should simply possess a French element, however tentative. Particular credit will be given to stories that are well plotted, set in a real rather than abstract world and illuminating unexpected rather than familiar aspects of France or Frenchness.” Cash and travel prizes. No entry fee. Deadline: April 1, 2011. (Bonne chance!)
  • Another opportunity for writers on the younger side: In conjunction with the Lex Allen Literary Festival, Hollis University (Va.) has announced literary festival prizes in poetry and fiction ($100 each). Undergraduate college students are eligible. No entry fee. Submission deadline is Monday, February 7, 2011.
  • LOTS more no-fee competitions (and paying literary markets) are included in the February issue of The Practicing Writer, which went out to subscribers over the weekend. But the current issue is also online.
  • “The English Department at Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, seeks candidates for a full-time, Assistant Professor position in creative writing with a specialization in Fiction. The successful candidate may also be asked to help develop a potential program in Digital Media Arts and Communication. Siena Heights University is a Catholic liberal arts University sponsored by the Adrian Dominican sisters.”
  • “Southern New Hampshire University seeks candidates for the position of Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and English, and Director of the Creative Writing Program. This is a full-time position with excellent benefits, starting September 1, 2011. As the coordinator for the undergraduate creative writing major, the successful candidate will have a passion for creative writing, an excellent record in teaching undergraduates, and experience in administering a writing program.”
  • From the University of Puget Sound (Wash.), where they’re looking for a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing: “We seek a colleague who works in fiction, with secondary areas of teaching ability in one of the following: poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, or creative non-fiction. The course load is three courses per semester and the faculty member in this position will be asked to teach composition courses in addition to creative writing. Depending upon interest and expertise, the possibility for the candidate to teach literature courses also exists.”
  • Harvard University (Medical School, Mass.) is looking for a Writer/Editor, Rice University (Texas) seeks a Communication Writer, and the Writers Guild of Alberta (Canada) invites applications for a Program Coordinator position.