Some writerly-readerly highlights from the past week:
Not a whole lot of actual writing there, alas. (I could enumerate some of my “day job” activities, including “writing a new blog post,” but I’ve opted not to go into detail re: that work.)
How about you and your week?
Shabbat shalom.
In fact, much of my at-home time is spent decompressing, darting in-and-out (errands, exercise, trips to my sister’s place nearby), housekeeping, laundering, and all those other activities that can keep us busy with everything except writing. Which may explain why my parents chose a special gift for my most recent birthday: a membership to the New York Society Library.
My parents have always been intrigued by the Library, which, like my sister’s apartment, is located within easy walking distance. They’ve encouraged me to think about getting a membership there. I guess I dithered too long, because this spring, they went ahead and treated me to said membership themselves. And after work last Wednesday evening, I made my inaugural visit in conjunction with the organization’s party for new members.
So, what is the New York Society Library? A brief summary: “Founded in 1754, the Library is open to all for reading, reference, and many events. Circulation and other services are available to members. Our landmark building houses over 300,000 volumes, reading rooms, study spaces, a children’s library, and an exhibition gallery.” Notably, in addition to its individual study rooms and impressive periodical collection (which I surveyed on Wednesday evening), the Library offers a variety of “Writer Services” that I’m starting to look into.
Unfortunately for me, I’m coming to all of this at a fairly inauspicious time of year. The Library is closed weekends during the summer, and it’s open past five only two days each week. Hardly ideal for any writer with a day job! Nonetheless, I’m hoping to experiment a bit with this new location for me to write and to read. We’ll see what happens. Meantime, we can all enjoy the Library’s archived event recordings. (I’m likely to begin with Meg Wolitzer in conversation with Delia Ephron re: The Interestings.)
I spent most of last Sunday at the inaugural Seminar on Jewish Story, organized by Barbara Krasner and co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries. It was a speaker- and panel-packed day, closing with a fiction panel that included Nora Gold, Yona Zeldis McDonough, and me. I had the pleasure of re-connecting with some people I hadn’t seen in awhile, meeting “new” acquaintances, and finally talking face-to-face with several individuals I’ve come to know through email and social media. I was asked several times about contests and other resources for “Jewish writing,” so I thought I’d take a moment today to point out the “Jewish Writing Resources” section of this website. Trust me, there’s some good stuff there (some of it created specifically in response to questions that come to me via email all.the.time.). Please do take a look.
Last week I finished the day at my office job and headed south several blocks to the CUNY Graduate Center to sit in on a lively conversation on “Art & Craft: Teaching Writing.”
The event was billed as follows: “Next in the series of Chancellor’s Conversations, highlighting the work of CUNY faculty, Interim Chancellor Bill Kelly speaks with two of contemporary literature’s most distinctive stylists. André Aciman of the Graduate Center is the author of seven books, including the novels Harvard Square and Eight White Nights and the acclaimed memoir Out of Egypt. Colum McCann of Hunter College is the author of eight books, including Transatlantic and Zoli; his novel Let the Great World Spin was awarded the 2009 National Book Award for Fiction.”
It was a vibrant discussion, likely to interest anyone who thinks about creative-writing pedagogy (student, teacher, alum) as well as fans of the speakers. And I’m happy to say that video from the event is already available to share. (Now I just need to add it to the Creative Writing at CUNY website that I help manage at the day job!)
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