The Wednesday Web Browser

by Erika Dreifus on
2

A few morsels to brighten up your middle-of-the-week:

  • Book clubs are one thing. Literary magazine clubs are another.
  • Not sure how I missed the fact that The Christian Science Monitor has a books blog (“Chapter and Verse“), but that lacuna in my knowledge (and our blogroll) has now been remedied.
  • Nice recap of a Literary Translation Roundtable that took place at the recent conference of the American Literary Translators’ Association.
  • Yet another gem from Fiction Writers Review: This time, FWR brings us an exceptional, four-participant reflection on the 2010 Sozopol Fiction Seminar. As always, the layout and images are also superlative.
  • Advice for ghostwriters: Ten Signs to Run Away from a Potential Client.
  • Two poetry-related items: Ron Hogan’s report on an event featuring W.S. Merwin and Mark Edmundson’s take on the contemporary relevance of William Blake’s “London.” (Confession: Blake was one of my favorites way back in that freshman-year British lit survey.)

Quotations of the Week: Philip Roth and Stephen King

by Erika Dreifus on
2

I love these two quotations!

“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
—Philip Roth
“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
—Stephen King

I found them both within this lovely list on the Promptly blog. Don’t be surprised if you discover other “borrowings” from the same list on Tuesdays future. In the meantime, do you have any tweaks on the above? “The road to hell is paved with entry fees”? “The road to hell is paved with (fill-in-the-blank-with-something-writing-related)”? Give it a try, and share your gems with us!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • The October 7 issue of the Writing World newsletter included this announcement from editor Moira Allen: “We’re getting low on articles here at Writing-World.com. We use two feature articles each month, and we need more. We accept original articles AND reprints — including articles that have appeared in other writing publications (preferably print as there’s less overlap in audience) and excerpts from books (including e-books) on writing.” Guidelines and pay rates are available online.
  • Calling all Irish practicing writers (“people born or normally resident in Ireland”): This year, the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition is accepting entries until December 31, 2010. This contest looks for previously unpublished work suitable for radio broadcast. Entries are welcome in English or in Irish. “The author of the overall winning story will receive €3,000 with prizes of €2,000 and €1,000 awarded to the second and third prize winners.” No entry fee indicated.
  • “The Run for Grub Scholarship was founded by Grub Street member Catherine Elcik who ran a marathon in July to raise money to cover the cost of workshops for four students. Each of the four scholarships covers the cost of a 10- or 6-week workshop of your choice, anytime in the 2011 calendar year. To be eligible, you must be taking your first multi-week workshop at Grub Street OR taking your first multi-week workshop in a genre that is new to you (i.e. you are a fiction writer taking screenwriting for the first time, or a poet taking a memoir class, etc).” No fee to apply. Deadline: November 1, 2010 (applications must be received via email by 5 p.m. EST that day).
  • By this time next week, our Practicing Writer newsletter subscribers will have received their November issues via e-mail. Not yet a subscriber? Sign up now! It’s free, and we’ll keep your e-mail address private. This way, you won’t have to wait for the issue to be reprinted online to take advantage of the no-cost competition information, paying calls for submissions, and other newsletter resources.
  • “Colgate University seeks to fill a tenure-track position in fiction writing, rank of assistant professor, beginning fall term 2011.”
  • “The Brief-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Eastern Kentucky University seeks a Visiting Fiction Writer for the Spring 2011 semester. The successful candidate will attend the program’s Winter Writing Residency in Lexington, Kentucky from January 1st – 9th, 2011, where, among other duties, she or he will teach an intensive fiction workshop. After the Winter Residency, the Visiting Writer will teach two online courses for the MFA program, a fiction workshop and a class in contemporary literature. Although the Visiting Writer must attend the Winter Writing Residency as a guest of the MFA program (with travel, lodging, and meal expenses provided by the university), this position does not require that the Visiting Writer relocate to Kentucky.”
  • South Dakota State University is looking for a “tenure-track assistant professor of English to teach courses in Creative Writing, with an emphasis in Fiction.”
  • “The University of Memphis seeks applications for the position of Assistant Professor in Creative Nonfiction. Secondary genre in poetry or fiction desired.”
  • “Drake University seeks an outstanding teacher and active writer to teach courses in fiction writing. A secondary specialization in new media, genre fiction, or literature in translation is desirable.” This is an assistant-professor position.
  • Rowan University (N.J.) is looking for an Assistant Professor, Creative Writing, “with expertise and 3 years college-level teaching experience in one or more of the following areas: fiction, creative nonfiction, children’s stories, or introductory creative writing.”
  • The University of the Pacific (Calif.) seeks a Managing Editor, Connecticut College is looking for an Alumni/Advancement Writer, and Catholic Relief Services (Md.) is advertising for a Copy Editor.

    • Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: First Review Is In!

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I received plenty of emails during my recent 10-day trip to Israel. Including two (one was a Google Alert) that let me know that the first review of my short-story collection, Quiet Americans, had been posted.

    I have to admit that I was a bit frightened before I read the review, and was both relieved and humbled by the reviewer’s take: “an exceptional book of short stories examining morals, memory and remembrance, and personal conflicts and forgiveness.”

    Go ahead–read the review for yourself!