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Friday Find: Prompts for (and from) Poets & Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

One of the weekly e-newsletters I most enjoy receiving comes from Poets & Writers. It’s titled “The Time Is Now,” and it features three writing prompts, one each designed for poets, fictionists, and writers of creative nonfiction. Sadly, too often I can do little more than move the email containing the newsletter to a “prompts & exercises” folder for later review–I have to get to that day job, after all!–but sometimes, even the sheer act of reading the prompts makes me feel inspired. That happened yesterday–the cnf prompt (“Five Things I Know”) really clicked for me and I’m determined to follow through on it SOON!

You can see past and present prompts on this webpage (and if you look carefully between the boxes for Poetry and CNF prompts you’ll see a link that will help you subscribe to the newsletter, too).

Enjoy, and have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday!

Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: Preparing for Literary Travel

by Erika Dreifus on
4

Four weeks from today, I’ll be heading to Charlottesville, Va., for an event-packed few days. Everything is being organized around the Virginia Festival of the Book, an annual shindig I’ve known about for years, but will be attending for the first time.

I’m looking forward to this trip with great anticipation. I have three “official” events on my schedule: a seminar on freelancing that I’ll be teaching at WriterHouse, the local literary center; a festival panel on “the art of short fiction”; and an event at the local synagogue. While I await instructions from the panel moderator, I’m working hard to prepare the seminar materials and to polish the remarks that I’ll be offering at the synagogue.

Everyone in Charlottesville–the festival staff, my WriterHouse contact, and the congregation’s rabbi–has been amazingly receptive, generous, and helpful. And then there’s all of the “extra” stuff: the events where I won’t necessarily have to be “on,” but rather where I will be able to sit back, listen, and learn (I really can’t wait for a panel featuring Thomas Mallon on Saturday afternoon).

I can already tell this is going to be a great trip. Any chance that I may meet some of you in Charlottesville?

Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: Introducing My New Column

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Last week’s posts–about my day job and about how and where to locate forthcoming books for review–proved very popular. Thank you all for the comments, shares, RTs, and other indications of your interest! I hope that you’ll be pleased to know that today’s “work-in-progress” post takes up some of the threads from last week’s items. And that’s because I’m about to introduce a new “extra-curricular” writing activity grounded in my reviewing practice: a “First Looks” blog series/column for Fiction Writers Review, where I’m honored to be a contributing editor.

As the first post–which went live yesterday–explains: “This series, which I’ll be writing each month, will introduce you to soon-to-be released novels and short-story collections that have piqued my interest as a reader-who-writes. Consider it a public “to be read” announcement of sorts, a way for me to point out a new title (or two) every month and explain what about it has caught my eye. For the most part, we’ll be concentrating on books that fall within FWR’s chief interest: fiction by emerging authors.”

So go ahead. Take a peek and see which soon-to-released titles made it into the inaugural post (and why). Hope you enjoy!

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
4
  • If you’re an MFA student (past or present), or you teach in a graduate program in creative writing, please consider participating in Cathy Day’s quick survey on novels in MFA programs.
  • And on a somewhat related note: Since I seem to be having trouble enough writing anything long-form these days, my attention was caught by John Vanderslice’s post about his new workshop, which will focus on long poems.
  • The latest brouhaha in the creative-nonfiction world (check follow-up posts, too).
  • I was over on Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing blog, and I just kept bookmarking posts to share with you. To save some time, I’ll simply send you to the homepage. Just keep scrolling down!
  • Another freelance tip: Consider the lesser-known holidays.

    • Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • “Editor Sandra McIntyre with Roseway Publishing (Nova Scotia & Manitoba) is seeking short story submissions for an upcoming anthology of political fiction. ‘Political’ is open to interpretation—stories can be about politics, whether overtly or obliquely, or political by virtue of their stance, voice, point of view, or underpinnings. Stories should be 4000 words maximum. Short graphic fiction is welcome. Payment: $100. The deadline for submissions is: June 1, 2012.” NB: Payment is presumably in Canadian dollars. (via placesforwriters.com)
  • Speaking of anthologies: Every so often I try to check in with the Chicken Soup website to find out about new titles under development. My most recent visit prompted me to submit something (again) for one of the titles under development. Maybe this time will be the charm for me. And maybe for you?
  • “Creative Nonfiction is seeking narrative blog posts to reprint in our upcoming True Crime issue.We’re looking for: true stories of petty theft, identity theft, embezzlement or first-degree murder; of jaywalking, selling (or maybe buying) drugs or assault; of crimes and punishments and unsolved mysteries. We are drawn to writing with a strong and compelling narrative; stories that reach for some universal or deeper meaning in personal experiences; and posts that can stand alone. Nominations should be 2000 words max and posted during 2011. Nominate something from your own blog, from a friend’s blog, from a stranger’s blog, and/or from a national magazine/newspaper’s blog. Nominate as many posts as you like, though we ask that you not nominate the same post multiple times. To nominate, you’ll need to know the specific URL of the post.” Pays (I obtained the following info via email): “Creative Nonfiction will pay the authors of the winning posts a modest honorarium. This usually amounts to a $50 flat fee, with an additional $10 per published page. We also do our best to promote the winning authors and drive new readers to their blogs.”
  • “The Creative Writing Program in the Department of English at the University of Arizona invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in fiction, beginning August 2012. We seek an outstanding writer with significant publications (at least one book from a reputable press) and demonstrated excellence as a teacher to work with students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.”
  • “Westfield State University’s English Department [Mass.] invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in creative non-fiction and speech. The successful candidate will contribute to our growing writing concentration and will be responsible for teaching Introduction to Speech and Creative Non-Fiction writing courses, and possibly developing upper-level offerings in speech. Ability to teach composition and core literature classes strongly preferred.”
  • Brandeis University (Mass.) is looking for an Articles Editor for Brandeis magazine, the Women’s Media Center (Washington) seeks an Online Manager, and Rivier College (N.H.) has a position available for a Writer.