Posts Tagged‘Conferences’

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Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: A Brief Look at BIO

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

schedLast weekend, I had the happy opportunity to spend a few hours at the fourth annual “Compleat Biographer Conference” organized by the smart and intrepid folks behind Biographers International Organization (BIO), “the only organization of its kind, completely devoted to all aspects of the art and craft of biography.” The conference migrates. This year, it took place here in New York City; when I was offered the chance to visit, I snapped up the opportunity.

As a child, I was blessed with an early love for reading that was sustained, in part, by feeding a hearty appetite for biographies. I gobbled up the standard early-elementary introductions to Abraham Lincoln and other stalwarts, but I also read (and reread) a collection of profiles of other (albeit less) famous Americans published by Highlights. I was also an avid consumer of the Scholastic Book Club titles, and I remember in particular one book, They Led the Way: 14 American Women, which I encountered just a few years after its 1973 publication.

So maybe it’s not all that surprising that some of my earliest freelancing assignments were biographical profiles for encyclopedias. Or that my first idea for a history dissertation topic was a biography, of a French author and activist named Suzanne Prou (here’s the New York Times obituary that inspired my interest). My dissertation ended up taking a different direction, but I’m still drawn to biographies as a reader. (Most recently, I’ve read Jonathan Kirsch’s new biography of “boy avenger” Herschel Grynszpan, and I’ve just published a Q&A with the author on my other blog.) I continue to look for and file away possible subject ideas for my own writing purposes.

All of which is to explain why I’ve followed the development of BIO (I wrote a brief profile of the organization for The Writer magazine some years ago), and why I was so pleased to visit the conference. If I ever do plunge more bravely into the waters of biography-writing, I’ll definitely depend on BIO for guidance.

Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: The Muse and the Marketplace Conference Recap

by Erika Dreifus on
2

boston_wiki_ahoncSo, as I’ve mentioned, I spent last weekend in Boston at Grub Street’s outstanding annual conference, The Muse & the Marketplace. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record here, but I’m honestly not sure how the team manages to improve this conference each year. Quite simply, they continue to outdo themselves.

I love this conference for lots of reasons: I love seeing so many familiar, friendly faces (and meeting so many new folks, especially those who tell me how much they appreciate this blog and the newsletter); I love being back in Boston; I love the conference’s super-smooth organization (both on site and behind the scenes–it is a delight to be a presenter at this conference); and of course, I love the programming.

On that last point, please consider the following: (more…)

The Grubbie Guide to Writing Contests, Conferences, and Residencies: A Recap

by Erika Dreifus on
2

grubI have so much to do today (the penultimate day of my vacation). But I’m so pumped from Grub Street’s “The Muse and the Marketplace” conference that I have to spend some time sharing the experience with you.

I don’t know how they do it, but Grub somehow makes this conference even better every year. I’ll try to write a more comprehensive (or at least, sweeping) recap for you in time for Wednesday’s “Work-in-Progress” post here on Practicing Writing. For now, I’ll just summarize the panel that I moderated yesterday: “The Grubbie Guide to Writing Contests, Conferences, and Residencies,” which featured my super-accomplished co-panelists Sheri Joseph and Douglas Trevor.

I can do this only because the amazing Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) was live-tweeting from the conference, and our panel was lucky enough to draw him in. I’ll share with you Porter’s tweets, and supply a few annotations. (Look especially for the cited handout, which I’ll embed within this post.)

Our general approach in this session was this: We began with self-introductions, in which we talked described ways in which contests, conferences, and residencies had helped shape our own writing lives. Then we moved into some “Do’s & Don’ts,” in which we shared advice on selecting opportunities, application tips, and suggestions for making the most of opportunities won (especially residencies). And then we turned to Q&A.

Hope that you enjoy!
(more…)

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • Something that still (sometimes) stymies me: the who/whom divide.
  • On the VQR blog: Kathleen Schmidt explains “what to expect when you’re expecting to hire a book publicist.”
  • Jane Roper writes about “the book that didn’t break out, and the disease that did.”
  • Happy Short Story Month! See what Fiction Writers Review has in store.
  • A dispatch from the classroom: Natalie Wexler on why many students in the D.C. public schools can’t write.
  • I’m Boston-bound today for Grub Street’s The Muse & the Marketplace. And one of my conference co-panelists, Douglas Trevor, is featured this week over on the always-excellent Books, Personally blog. Read the Q&A.
  • Finally: some cautionary words about Bancroft Press, a publisher included in the current Practicing Writer. Check writer Betsy Robinson’s comment at the end of the Publishers Weekly article also mentioned in the newsletter.

    • Happy weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: A Working Writer’s Vacation

    by Erika Dreifus on
    3

    Starting today at 5 pm, I’ll be using some of my treasured paid vacation days (one of the best benefits of being a #writerwithadayjob) for a VACATION. Much of the time will be a “staycation” along the lines of last year’s break. And once again, I have a lot of plans. For starters, I’ll be spending several days at two conferences.

    ASJAFirst up: the annual conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), which begins tomorrow here in New York. I’ve only attended this conference once before, about a decade ago. This time, I’m going as a full-fledged ASJA member. I’m hoping to pick up plenty of freelancing tips and inspiration.

    And next week, I head up to Boston for one of the most reliably excellent events on my literary calendar: Grub Street’s The Muse and the Marketplace. For obvious reasons, I’m especially grateful for the opportunity to return to Boston now. And I’m looking forward to the panel that I’ll be moderating, “Grubbie Guide to Writing Contests, Conferences & Residencies,” which will feature Sheri Joseph and Doug Trevor. (We’re Session 8K, and a few seats remain, if you’re still in the process of registering.)grub

    I’ve got some other fun things planned, too. But don’t worry–I plan to keep blogging throughout! And while I have yet to master the art of live-tweeting, I’ll do my best to keep you posted on site from #ASJA13 and #muse2013. (UPDATE: I think I erred! ASJA hashtag seems to be #ASJA2013)