Book Release Giveaways from John Griswold

Strange thing about this Internet. Over time, you can make “virtual” friends you care quite a lot about.

For me, one such friend is John Griswold, the eponymous blogger posting on The Education of Oronte Churm. More significant for this post’s purposes, John is also the author of the new novel, A Democracy of Ghosts. I’ve just ordered the book, and I am really hoping it arrives in time for my holiday weekend reading. (Read John’s description of his book here.)

Meantime (and until July 10), John is offering a slew of giveaways. Check out these goodies (and if you have ties to Southern Illinois, I think you’ll be especially pleased).

And congratulations once again to John on his novel’s publication!

The Wednesday Web Browser: Ask Allison, Tablet Magazine, and Woolf Conference Recap

Author Allison Winn Scotch’s popular “Ask Allison” blog–replete with posts on freelancing and fiction-writing–has a new home online.
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Speaking of changes online: Fans of Nextbook.org (moi included) are settling into a site redesign–and a new name, Tablet Magazine: A New Read on Jewish Life. One of the recently-launched features I’m most happy about: Josh Lambert‘s weekly column on new Jewish books. (Congrats, Josh. I look forward to all your updates!)
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Congrats also to my friend Anne, who recently ran a most successful conference focusing on Virginia Woolf. Do check out Sasha Graybosch’s account of the event on The Rumpus.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Congratulations to Krasikov, Writing to Change/Persuade, and New MFA Resources

Congratulations to Sana Krasikov, winner of the 2009 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature for her debut story collection (let’s hear it for short story collections!), One More Year. (Over on my other blog, you’ll find additional information about Krasikov and her work.)
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One of the most significant pieces of writing I’ve completed so far in 2009, in my view, is a letter I wrote to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. When I wrote it, I thought back to Mary Pipher’s book, Writing to Change the World, which I had the pleasure of reviewing awhile back for The Writer. And I thought again about the importance of writing for change when I read Christina Katz’s recent post on “Writing to Persuade.”
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Over on Tom Kealey’s MFA blog, you’ll find two posts presenting new MFA-related resources: MFA Connect and Grad Insider.

Friday Find: The Best of the AWP Pedagogy Papers 2009

I’m actually not going to attend the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference this year (for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it’s coming up pretty soon in Chicago). But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy perusing a selection of AWP “pedagogy papers” now posted online. The 20 one-pagers compiled for this mini-collection–determined to be “the best” of the many papers submitted this year–span multiple instructional levels and genres, and they’re bound to give you some ideas for your own teaching practice.

I’m especially happy to see some familiar names in this year’s batch of “the best,” and I send warm congratulations to my good friend Rachel Hall and to my former MFA classmate Sylvia Hoffmire for making the cut. I’m also pleased to see a topic that was at the core of an AWP panel presentation I collaborated on many years ago–the role of “work” in fiction–resurfacing in David Lumpkin’s paper (“Make Your Characters Work: Jobs and Three-Dimensional Plots in Short Fiction”).

Have I piqued your interest yet? You can download the full document here. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Congratulations to Sage Cohen

For awhile now I’ve been admiring Sage Cohen’s writing and teaching, and I’ve been following the news of her two “babies”: her book, Writing the Life Poetic, which will soon be released by Writer’s Digest Books, and her little boy, Theo, who arrived in September. Sage has a truly remarkable perspective on life, and a beautiful way of expressing that perspective. You can get a glimpse of her “can-do” attitude in this new column. Congratulations on all your blessings, Sage, and kudos on your dedication to creating your own good news!