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The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • As if we needed more reason to love Ann Patchett.
  • Among the gems in the latest Poets & Writers magazine is a profile of novelist Julie Otsuka. Unfortunately, that article is not online, but I think that Alida Becker’s review of Otsuka’s new book in The New York Times Book Review makes an equally compelling case for adding Otsuka’s work to one’s TBR list.
  • The ever brilliant Nina Badzin, on the art & science of Twitter.
  • New to submitting your work to literary magazines? Check out these tips on drafting cover letters.
  • This wonderful interview (within Shenandoah‘s first online issue) covers so much literary territory, including Rebecca Makkai’s journey from undergraduate assistant at the journal to acclaimed fiction writer. (See also our own interview with this author!)
  • My latest book review is of Sam Savage’s novel, Glass (Coffee House Press). I’m a writer who enjoys reading books about writers and writing, so this one appealed to me as soon as I read its description. Check out my review on The Writer‘s website (full text available to all registered site users, and site registration is free!).

    • Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: More About Book Clubs

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    As if the promise of a video visit with yours truly were not enough to entice book clubs around the world to order truckloads of copies of Quiet Americans, here’s another incentive: author Robin Black’s magnificent and generous manifesto (as I am terming it): “A Book Club Guide to Discussing Short Story Collections.”

    Black, author of the acclaimed If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This, explains:

    I’m writing this because in the year and a half since my short story collection came out, I have had some amazing experiences discussing it with book clubs but I have also been told by many other groups that they find it hard to “tackle” story collections. First they run into a too-common reluctance to read those books at all, but then, for reasons inherent to the form, it’s also difficult to structure a conversation. There isn’t one set of characters to discuss. There isn’t one plot. There may even be stories that feel as though different authors wrote them. These things may seem obvious, but how to craft a cohesive discussion in spite of them, isn’t so clear.

    And so I have been thinking about advice to give, strategies to suggest, mostly because I really do believe that although the approach may have to be be a little different, the experience of talking about stories is truly one of the great joys to be found among exchanges about literature.

    Please go read Black’s suggested strategies. And then, please suggest that your club take up the cause of the short-story collection. You certainly don’t have to choose Quiet Americans. (But of course, I’ll be grateful if you do!)

    Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
  • “Shelf Unbound literary magazine, a digital-only bi-monthly, seeks a paid intern to strategize and execute a social media campaign to increase circulation (distribution of Shelf Unbound is free). The latest issue of Shelf Unbound can be found here: http://www.pagegangster.com//p/Mzc1n/. Salary commensurate with experience.” (Editorial note: I enjoy reading Shelf Unbound!)
  • Annual literary and art journal Ellipsis is now open for submissions (closes November 1). “We pay our contributors $10 for each poetry or art piece and $50 for each prose piece, plus two free copies of the issue.”
  • From The George Washington University (D.C.): “For appointment beginning in the fall of 2012, we seek a poet to teach two semesters at The George Washington University as the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Washington. The successful candidate will teach a small poetry workshop each semester for members of the metropolitan Washington community. No tuition is charged for these workshops, which are not open to University students. The successful candidate will also teach two classes, one each semester, for students at The George Washington University….The position is intended to serve as a fellowship for the visiting writer, since it involves only a moderate teaching load, and the program’s location at a university in the center of Washington should offer additional attractions for the writer.”
  • Maryland poets and fiction writers, it’s your time to shine! “Poets & Writers has selected Maryland for the 2012 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. Each year since 1984, Poets & Writers has invited writers from a selected state to apply for the award.” Application deadline is December 1, 2011. There’s no entry fee, and each prize package includes $500, a networking trip to New York, and a one-month residency at Jentel.
  • “The MFA in Writing program at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a tenure-track position in poetry at the Assistant Professor level to begin fall 2012. Job responsibilities include teaching graduate workshops and craft-based literature seminars and possibly an occasional undergraduate cw course. Administrative responsibilities include serving as coordinator for poetry curriculum and performing duties related to admissions and thesis approval. Expertise in a secondary genre (fiction or creative nonfiction) is desirable, but not required. The teaching requirement is two courses per semester….The candidate must have a strong publication record, with at least two books of poetry in print or under contract.”
  • “Dalkey Archive Press in the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, invites applications for a full-time Senior Editor, with target start date of September 16, 2011. The salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The position is reviewable each year and is contingent on funding and periodic strong performance reviews. The position has a wide range of responsibilities, including but not limited to acquiring, copyediting, and proofreading manuscripts for publication; assisting in fundraising activities; managing the Press’s editorial staff; and managing and serving as an instructor in the Press’s educational programs related to translation and literary publishing.”
  • Harvard Medical School (Mass.) seeks a Publications Coordinator (Staff Writer), Nicholls State University (La.) is looking for a Publications Coordinator, and Manhattanville College (N.Y.) is advertising for an Assistant Director, Graduate Program in Creative Writing.

    • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Loved Bill Keller’s piece in The New York Times Magazine on why it may be “time to add some poetry readings” to the congressional agenda.
  • Interesting ideas from Carol Tice on “ways to turn your old, dusty blog archive into cold, hard cash.”
  • Midge Raymond shares lessons learned about the art of reading aloud.
  • “Do you know what it’s like, someone giving you money to think about something for a month? I’ll tell you what it’s like: it’s pretty freaking awesome.” So says Cathy Day, in summarizing the fruits of one month’s labor, made possible by grants (and by the help of others). Terrific post (even if the photo of the John Harvard statue made me a little homesick).
  • The editorial team at Hayden’s Ferry Review shares a list of plots and plot devices that “make us yawn, wince, and occasionally scream in anger.”

    • Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
  • “ArtFunkl is pleased to offer artists a special residency opportunity for a 1-month stay [October 2011] in the beautiful western Mediterranean city of Valencia, Spain.” There is a residency charge (£730 for the month), but there is no application fee. “Accommodation is in a comfortable apartment on the edge of the city centre. The apartment has a double bedroom, and a single bedroom/study room which can be set up as a studio space. The residency is most suitable for writers, or artists who work with digital media, since there is no separate studio space included.” Deadline: September 23, 2011 (received by 6 p.m., U.K. time). (via Trans Artists)
  • The Helen Schaible International Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest welcomes submissions until September 1. No fee. Cash prizes ($50/$35/$15).
  • “We are pleased to invite you to submit nominees for The New York Public Library’s Twelfth Annual Young Lions Fiction Award, to be given in the spring of 2012. This award was created expressly to promote the work of young writers, to celebrate their accomplishments publicly, and to make a difference in the lives of these artists as they continue to build their careers. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, is given annually to an American writer age 35 or younger for either a novel or collection of short stories.” No entry fee. Nominations must come from publishers. Deadline: September 2, 2011.
  • From Library Journal’s Barbara Hoffert email to publicists: “In the October 1, 2011, issue, Library Journal will list the first novels premiering during the fall-winter season. Books published between September 1, 2011, and January 31, 2012, are eligible. To be featured in the issue, please send me a list of your fiction debuts and include the following information: author, title, publication date, and state or country of residence. In addition, we have begun presenting first novels by genre (e.g., mystery, thriller, pop fiction, literary fiction); please specify genre. Please remember that this list covers only novels, not short fiction, and that a foreign author’s novel must be his or her first publication, not simply the first publication here. We accept both hardcover and original trade paperback. In the past, we have offered a retrospective of the previous season’s most successful debuts. I’m still working on reintroducing that feature! Stay tuned. We are on a tight deadline. Please email materials by August 25, 2011, to me at bhoffert(at)mediasourceinc(dot)com.”
  • St. Ambrose University (Ia.) seeks a Director of Publications and Editorial Projects, Ohio University is looking for an Editor for Ohio Today, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of the President is advertising for a Speechwriter.