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49 Articles

Revising the rules

THE MOST CURIOUS THING ABOUT writing is how many different ways there are to go about it. Everyone writing in English works by arranging the same 26 letters of the alphabet on the page, but we all arrive at the same destination in such varied ways. For every nine writers who will tell you to never-ever-ever revise as you go, there will be one who must thoroughly polish each sentence before moving on to the next. For every staunch plotter, there will be a pantser, a plantser, or a platter. Some write short and add in revision, some go long and trim later, while others still aim for a perfect draft length right out of the gate. It’s a mad, mad writing world out there, and there are no right…

Revising the rules

THE MOST CURIOUS THING ABOUT writing is how many different ways there are to go about it. Everyone writing in English works by arranging the same 26 letters of the alphabet on the page, but we all arrive at the same destination in such varied ways. For every nine writers who will tell you to never-ever-ever revise as you go, there will be one who must thoroughly polish each sentence before moving on to the next. For every staunch plotter, there will be a pantser, a plantser, or a platter. Some write short and add in revision, some go long and trim later, while others still aim for a perfect draft length right out of the gate. It’s a mad, mad writing world out there, and there are no right…

Upcoming calls for submissions

Superpresent: Food-themed submissions The winter 2023 issue of Superpresent will have a theme of food: “Food not only in the literal sense but also in the metaphorical sense. What feeds us? What feeds our mind? What do we feed others? What do we hunger for?” Open to a wide range of forms, including poetry, fiction, essays, art, video, asemic writing, and recipes. Submit by Nov. 15. superpresent.org Pensive: Spiritual writing Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts, an online publication from Northeastern University, is open for submissions of poetry, prose, translations, and visual art for its spring issue. Although there is no theme, the issue will contain a “special section on spiritual responses to current events & voices from ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ (e.g. incarcerated, homeless, refugee communities, and…

Upcoming calls for submissions

Superpresent: Food-themed submissions The winter 2023 issue of Superpresent will have a theme of food: “Food not only in the literal sense but also in the metaphorical sense. What feeds us? What feeds our mind? What do we feed others? What do we hunger for?” Open to a wide range of forms, including poetry, fiction, essays, art, video, asemic writing, and recipes. Submit by Nov. 15. superpresent.org Pensive: Spiritual writing Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts, an online publication from Northeastern University, is open for submissions of poetry, prose, translations, and visual art for its spring issue. Although there is no theme, the issue will contain a “special section on spiritual responses to current events & voices from ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ (e.g. incarcerated, homeless, refugee communities, and their allies).” Submit by…

International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association

THE YEAR OREGON TRAVEL WRITER Nancy Zaffaro attended the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) conference on Washington state’s Whidbey Island, she found herself on a barge with several other members learning about the life stages of mussels. “We got to watch where they grow and how they’re harvested,” she explains. “The public doesn’t often get this opportunity, but it’s important for writers to see things like this so they can go off and describe them for others.” Zaffaro is a longtime member of IFWTWA. It’s an international network of storytellers, offering professional development and networking for creators who represent food, wine, travel, and hospitality industries. Members include journalists, bloggers, and podcasters, videographers, and others. Online year-round as well as during in-person events, foodies network with adventure travelers, and…

International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association

International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association

THE YEAR OREGON TRAVEL WRITER Nancy Zaffaro attended the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) conference on Washington state’s Whidbey Island, she found herself on a barge with several other members learning about the life stages of mussels. “We got to watch where they grow and how they’re harvested,” she explains. “The public doesn’t often get this opportunity, but it’s important for writers to see things like this so they can go off and describe them for others.” Zaffaro is a longtime member of IFWTWA. It’s an international network of storytellers, offering professional development and networking for creators who represent food, wine, travel, and hospitality industries. Members include journalists, bloggers, and podcasters, videographers, and others. Online year-round as well as during in-person events, foodies network with adventure travelers,…

International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association

Get away to write

Jump-Start Your Memoir: Write it from the Heart. Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2023. Nancy Slonim Aronie, NPR commentator and author of Writing from the Heart, teaches a five-day workshop designed to help writers launch the project they’ve been dreaming about, whether it’s a memoir, a collection of poetry, a screenplay, or stories for one’s family members. Using prompts and candid discussions in a safe space, Slonim teaches participants how to silence their inner critic and write with authenticity. Held at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, this workshop includes daily yoga classes and fresh organic meals, as well as access to the 100-acre grounds featuring walking paths and hiking trails and lakefront property conducive to quiet reflection and writing time. Participants return home with a solid sense…

Get away to write

Get away to write

Jump-Start Your Memoir: Write it from the Heart. Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2023. Nancy Slonim Aronie, NPR commentator and author of Writing from the Heart, teaches a five-day workshop designed to help writers launch the project they’ve been dreaming about, whether it’s a memoir, a collection of poetry, a screenplay, or stories for one’s family members. Using prompts and candid discussions in a safe space, Slonim teaches participants how to silence their inner critic and write with authenticity. Held at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, this workshop includes daily yoga classes and fresh organic meals, as well as access to the 100-acre grounds featuring walking paths and hiking trails and lakefront property conducive to quiet reflection and writing time. Participants return home with a solid sense of how…

Get away to write

APRIL BRADLEY WAS LOOKING through her grandmother’s recipes at Thanksgiving during the pandemic when she decided to launch a literary food magazine. “I was thinking about what it would be like to have a community cookbook from the flash fiction and nonfiction community,” she says, “and how I’d love to see what writers could do with the recipe form.” She spent some time researching scholarship on recipe interpretations as narratives and got on Twitter to test the public’s reaction to such a magazine. “I got so many responses from people who said they’d love to contribute,” she explains. And so, in June 2022, she launched Ruby – a biannual literary magazine that specializes in short-form stories about food. Tone, editorial content Bradley gravitates toward narratives that offer a memorable voice and characters, along…

APRIL BRADLEY WAS LOOKING through her grandmother’s recipes at Thanksgiving during the pandemic when she decided to launch a literary food magazine. “I was thinking about what it would be like to have a community cookbook from the flash fiction and nonfiction community,” she says, “and how I’d love to see what writers could do with the recipe form.” She spent some time researching scholarship on recipe interpretations as narratives and got on Twitter to test the public’s reaction to such a magazine. “I got so many responses from people who said they’d love to contribute,” she explains. And so, in June 2022, she launched Ruby – a biannual literary magazine that specializes in short-form stories about food. Tone, editorial content Bradley gravitates toward narratives that offer a memorable voice…

Emerge Literary Journal

IN 2011, POET AND AUTHOR ARIANA D. Den Bleyker saw a need for publications catering to people without numerous bylines and launched Emerge Literary Journal to showcase their work. Over the past year, staff at the magazine expanded her vision to include established writers who want to attempt a new genre or form. “So, let’s say you’re a poet, and you want to try fiction, or you’re a fiction writer, and you want to throw in some magical realism and haven’t done that before. We welcome that,” says Diane Gottlieb, prose editor at Emerge, noting that the magazine’s tagline is “a journal of growth, change & experimentation.” “If you feel strongly that this is a piece that needs to be out in the world, send it to us,” she says. “If it’s…

Emerge Literary Journal

IN 2011, POET AND AUTHOR ARIANA D. Den Bleyker saw a need for publications catering to people without numerous bylines and launched Emerge Literary Journal to showcase their work. Over the past year, staff at the magazine expanded her vision to include established writers who want to attempt a new genre or form. “So, let’s say you’re a poet, and you want to try fiction, or you’re a fiction writer, and you want to throw in some magical realism and haven’t done that before. We welcome that,” says Diane Gottlieb, prose editor at Emerge, noting that the magazine’s tagline is “a journal of growth, change & experimentation.” “If you feel strongly that this is a piece that needs to be out in the world, send it to us,” she says.…

READERS CAN FEEL WHEN THEY’RE being manipulated, and they don’t like it. Make a character too pure, and watch readers revolt. An example of this is the death of Little Nell in Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop. As Oscar Wilde supposedly said, “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing” – not what Dickens was going for, I suspect. Sophisticated readers know when an author is trying to force them to like or dislike a character, and they tend to push back. Dickens made Little Nell so utterly pure that her death became a symbol, not of innocence and childhood sacrifice in an uncaring industrial age (as I assume he intended) but of overly sentimental writing. Characters who are all good…

READERS CAN FEEL WHEN THEY’RE being manipulated, and they don’t like it. Make a character too pure, and watch readers revolt. An example of this is the death of Little Nell in Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop. As Oscar Wilde supposedly said, “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing” – not what Dickens was going for, I suspect. Sophisticated readers know when an author is trying to force them to like or dislike a character, and they tend to push back. Dickens made Little Nell so utterly pure that her death became a symbol, not of innocence and childhood sacrifice in an uncaring industrial age (as I assume he intended) but of overly sentimental writing. Characters who are all good or all…

A new approach to outlining

WHEN I WAS ABOUT 12, I PLAYED baseball in the street with a group of neighborhood kids. None of us knew how to play; the point was to have fun. One day while we were playing, a girl who lived in a big house on the corner – Jenny, I distinctly remember – arrived carrying a clipboard. She’d prepared rules and schedules to bring order and direction to our spontaneous play and started to boss us around. I didn’t pull any punches. I told Jenny outright that she’d ruined everything, and I wasn’t going to play anymore. Everyone else agreed, and our clumsy baseball games came to an end. Jenny is the outline: the uptight, high-maintenance spoilsport who tries to control something that should be free and fun and spontaneous.…

A new approach to outlining

WHEN I WAS ABOUT 12, I PLAYED baseball in the street with a group of neighborhood kids. None of us knew how to play; the point was to have fun. One day while we were playing, a girl who lived in a big house on the corner – Jenny, I distinctly remember – arrived carrying a clipboard. She’d prepared rules and schedules to bring order and direction to our spontaneous play and started to boss us around. I didn’t pull any punches. I told Jenny outright that she’d ruined everything, and I wasn’t going to play anymore. Everyone else agreed, and our clumsy baseball games came to an end. Jenny is the outline: the uptight, high-maintenance spoilsport who tries to control something that should be free and fun and spontaneous. Or so people who…

Writers vs. Writers Insults Chart This poster chart features acidic jabs from the likes of Oscar Wilde (“He leads his readers to the latrine and locks them in,” about George Moore) and Dorothy Parker (“Crude is the name of Robert Hyde’s first novel. It is also a criticism of it.”) $25, uncommongoods.com Gingko Smart Book Light At first glance, this award-winning gift looks like an ordinary notebook – but open its cover and watch its pages illuminate your desk with a soft, glowing light. The 400-lumen light is portable and rechargeable via a USB port with a battery life of six to eight hours while in constant use. $49, gingkodesign.com The Shakespeare Game Compete with other playwrights to produce as many Elizabethan plays as you can before your rival players…

Writers vs. Writers Insults Chart This poster chart features acidic jabs from the likes of Oscar Wilde (“He leads his readers to the latrine and locks them in,” about George Moore) and Dorothy Parker (“Crude is the name of Robert Hyde’s first novel. It is also a criticism of it.”) $25, uncommongoods.com Gingko Smart Book Light At first glance, this award-winning gift looks like an ordinary notebook – but open its cover and watch its pages illuminate your desk with a soft, glowing light. The 400-lumen light is portable and rechargeable via a USB port with a battery life of six to eight hours while in constant use. $49, gingkodesign.com The Shakespeare Game Compete with other playwrights to produce as many Elizabethan plays as you can before your rival players “steal your ideas, burn down your theatres,…

Books to stuff their stockings

Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write by Alex Johnson Author Alex Johnson showcases 50 writing rooms from authors around the world, from James Baldwin’s Paris apartment to the Brontë sisters’ home. $26, bookshop.org A Loom of One’s Own: Crafts for Booklovers by Virginia Wool If your writer is more inspired by looms than rooms, consider this crafty collection of bookish projects, from “The Grapes of Wreath” to “Lady Chatterly’s Kindle Cover.” $16.99, barnesandnoble.com The Literary Almanac: A Year of Seasonal Reading by Francesca Beauman Looking to pair reading recommendations with the weather outside? In this illustrated almanac, author and bookseller Francesca Beauman offers more than 300 seasonal suggestions to help readers stock their bookshelves all year long. $17.16, theliterarygiftcompany.com Literary Cats by Judith Robinson and Scott Pack Cat-loving…

Books to stuff their stockings

Books to stuff their stockings

Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write by Alex Johnson Author Alex Johnson showcases 50 writing rooms from authors around the world, from James Baldwin’s Paris apartment to the Brontë sisters’ home. $26, bookshop.org A Loom of One’s Own: Crafts for Booklovers by Virginia Wool If your writer is more inspired by looms than rooms, consider this crafty collection of bookish projects, from “The Grapes of Wreath” to “Lady Chatterly’s Kindle Cover.” $16.99, barnesandnoble.com The Literary Almanac: A Year of Seasonal Reading by Francesca Beauman Looking to pair reading recommendations with the weather outside? In this illustrated almanac, author and bookseller Francesca Beauman offers more than 300 seasonal suggestions to help readers stock their bookshelves all year long. $17.16, theliterarygiftcompany.com Literary Cats by Judith Robinson and Scott Pack Cat-loving bibliophiles will adore this “light-hearted journey through the history of…

Books to stuff their stockings

Broadening the Bookshelves

This month’s The Nightstand picks from Steffan Triplett Getting to know queer literature At the time of this printing, Ellen DeGeneres will have been out for 25 years. Is that an awfully flippant way to begin what is usually a serious literary column? Regretfully, it is what I, a cisgendered straight woman in her mid-40s, can offer in terms of my education about queerness and its place in the creative world. It also provides the backdrop for the interview I have with literary agent Sara Megibow of KT Literary, who has been a champion of queer literature nearly since DeGeneres’ famous on-screen moment with actor Laura Dern, in which DeGeneres’ sitcom character inadvertently uses the airport PA system to tell Dern’s character that she’s romantically interested. Megibow’s client list includes writers Casey McQuiston,…

Broadening the Bookshelves

Talk to the Practitioner: Putsata Reang

The Writer: It wasn’t until I got to the end of Ma and Me that I realized the events you’re talking about are very recent – your denouement occurs but a few years ago, and the book was published in 2022. One thing I always tell my students is that readers can tell when writers are trying to write their way through something and it’s just not ready. It’s half-baked; they’re rolling around in their own pain. That’s not the case with your work. How did you do it? Putsata Reang: I think that the interesting thing about working on memoir is that your life is still happening. And, of course, you do have to have an endpoint because books cannot go on forever. [Ed. note: Reang’s father-in-law’s death, which provides…

Talk to the Practitioner: Putsata Reang

Broadening the Bookshelves

This month’s The Nightstand picks from Steffan Triplett Getting to know queer literature At the time of this printing, Ellen DeGeneres will have been out for 25 years. Is that an awfully flippant way to begin what is usually a serious literary column? Regretfully, it is what I, a cisgendered straight woman in her mid-40s, can offer in terms of my education about queerness and its place in the creative world. It also provides the backdrop for the interview I have with literary agent Sara Megibow of KT Literary, who has been a champion of queer literature nearly since DeGeneres’ famous on-screen moment with actor Laura Dern, in which DeGeneres’ sitcom character inadvertently uses the airport PA system to tell Dern’s character that she’s romantically interested. Megibow’s client list includes…

Broadening the Bookshelves

Talk to the Practitioner: Putsata Reang

The Writer: It wasn’t until I got to the end of Ma and Me that I realized the events you’re talking about are very recent – your denouement occurs but a few years ago, and the book was published in 2022. One thing I always tell my students is that readers can tell when writers are trying to write their way through something and it’s just not ready. It’s half-baked; they’re rolling around in their own pain. That’s not the case with your work. How did you do it? Putsata Reang: I think that the interesting thing about working on memoir is that your life is still happening. And, of course, you do have to have an endpoint because books cannot go on forever. [Ed. note: Reang’s father-in-law’s death, which…

Talk to the Practitioner: Putsata Reang

The Animal Indoors, Carly Inghram. Inghram’s second book of poetry won the CAAPP Book Prize, selected by National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes. “This book moves in a way that feels so fresh to me: I begin a poem, and I have sort of no idea where it’s going to end. And the logic of the poems feels so unpredictable. But there’s something really special in that unpredictability that it feels so contemporary. It feels like a young person moving to the world,” says Triplett. He also comments on the book’s capacity to upend what we may have come to expect from Black poetry: “There are moments that might make us think of capital-P politics. But she’ll really swerve the direction of a poem in a way that just it doesn’t…

The Animal Indoors, Carly Inghram. Inghram’s second book of poetry won the CAAPP Book Prize, selected by National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes. “This book moves in a way that feels so fresh to me: I begin a poem, and I have sort of no idea where it’s going to end. And the logic of the poems feels so unpredictable. But there’s something really special in that unpredictability that it feels so contemporary. It feels like a young person moving to the world,” says Triplett. He also comments on the book’s capacity to upend what we may have come to expect from Black poetry: “There are moments that might make us think of capital-P politics. But she’ll really swerve the direction of a poem in a way that just it…

NAVIGATING THE WIDE WORLD OF self-publishing

You have dreamed of being a self-published author. Hooray! But finding the way forward in the massive world of self-publishing can be daunting, to say the least. There are so many resources, platforms, opinions, and options, it can make you feel like you have just landed on this massive island, maps in hand, with no idea which direction to go first. You’ve heard you should start building an author platform, and you should have a website and be on social media, and you have no idea about formatting a book and what print on demand is…and the list goes on. Relax. Believe it or not, there is a way to traverse this self-publishing world without getting lost or too distracted along the way. Consider me your tour guide, and follow as…

NAVIGATING THE WIDE WORLD OF self-publishing

Audiobooks continue to rise in popularity. They are a bigger investment, but for established indie authors who have a solid readership, there are definite benefits to releasing an audiobook simultaneously with your eBook. If you want to pursue this, great options are available. Findaway Voices, a platform for worldwide retail, library, subscription, and direct sales distribution, recently launched its Marketplace, which connects authors with narrators, and it guides you through the process of creating your audiobook. ACX (a branch of Audible) is another option. Its distribution is limited to Audible, Amazon, and Apple. Record your own For authors who want more control over the production of their audiobooks, there is the DIY option. Studios like Ngano Press Studios or Literati Audio are available to help you through the process. You can hire…

NAVIGATING THE WIDE WORLD OF self-publishing

You have dreamed of being a self-published author. Hooray! But finding the way forward in the massive world of self-publishing can be daunting, to say the least. There are so many resources, platforms, opinions, and options, it can make you feel like you have just landed on this massive island, maps in hand, with no idea which direction to go first. You’ve heard you should start building an author platform, and you should have a website and be on social media, and you have no idea about formatting a book and what print on demand is…and the list goes on. Relax. Believe it or not, there is a way to traverse this self-publishing world without getting lost or too distracted along the way. Consider me your tour guide, and follow…

NAVIGATING THE WIDE WORLD OF self-publishing

A writer’s guide to the SECOND DRAFT

“All good writers write terrible first drafts. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.”– ANNE LAMOTT IF seasoned writers know one thing, they know this: you don’t get it right the first time. Now and then, you might find your voice or get your story down – and even, on occasion, with some flair – but most likely, you’ll have to do several drafts. A novel, for the most part, is a work in progress. But let’s think about that second draft because that’s where revision begins. What’s revision about? How much can you, or should you, accomplish in a second draft? Should you wait a while between the first and second drafts? Are you liable to mess up that first draft with your cuts and additions?…

A writer’s guide to the SECOND DRAFT

Audiobooks continue to rise in popularity. They are a bigger investment, but for established indie authors who have a solid readership, there are definite benefits to releasing an audiobook simultaneously with your eBook. If you want to pursue this, great options are available. Findaway Voices, a platform for worldwide retail, library, subscription, and direct sales distribution, recently launched its Marketplace, which connects authors with narrators, and it guides you through the process of creating your audiobook. ACX (a branch of Audible) is another option. Its distribution is limited to Audible, Amazon, and Apple. Record your own For authors who want more control over the production of their audiobooks, there is the DIY option. Studios like Ngano Press Studios or Literati Audio are available to help you through the process. You…

A writer’s guide to the SECOND DRAFT

“All good writers write terrible first drafts. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.”– ANNE LAMOTT IF seasoned writers know one thing, they know this: you don’t get it right the first time. Now and then, you might find your voice or get your story down – and even, on occasion, with some flair – but most likely, you’ll have to do several drafts. A novel, for the most part, is a work in progress. But let’s think about that second draft because that’s where revision begins. What’s revision about? How much can you, or should you, accomplish in a second draft? Should you wait a while between the first and second drafts? Are you liable to mess up that first draft with…

A writer’s guide to the SECOND DRAFT

TIPS FROM THE PROS

VICTORIA GILBERT: “The second draft is a great opportunity to look at the ‘big-picture’ aspects of the novel and make major revisions that can be fine-tuned in further drafts.” EVIE HAWTREY: “Before you begin working on second-draft edits, create an ‘outtakes and ideas’ document. Put anything you cut from your first draft into this file. In addition, keep a running list of questions raised by any changes you make (or decide not to make) during your second draft. Having a workspace like this will free you to be bold because, technically, nothing is lost even if you make dramatic changes. If a deletion proves to be an error, you can easily restore some or all of what you changed while second-drafting.” MARJAN KAMALI: “Think of the second draft not as a minor renovation of your…

TIPS FROM THE PROS

TIPS FROM THE PROS

VICTORIA GILBERT: “The second draft is a great opportunity to look at the ‘big-picture’ aspects of the novel and make major revisions that can be fine-tuned in further drafts.” EVIE HAWTREY: “Before you begin working on second-draft edits, create an ‘outtakes and ideas’ document. Put anything you cut from your first draft into this file. In addition, keep a running list of questions raised by any changes you make (or decide not to make) during your second draft. Having a workspace like this will free you to be bold because, technically, nothing is lost even if you make dramatic changes. If a deletion proves to be an error, you can easily restore some or all of what you changed while second-drafting.” MARJAN KAMALI: “Think of the second draft not as…

TIPS FROM THE PROS

WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT (AND WHAT THEY GET WRONG)

“Write what you know,” goes the old saying. Perhaps it’s surprising, then, that there aren’t more books about publishing. Because there’s nothing authors know better than the often-fickle world of publishing – the rewrites, the pressure to sell, the ying-yang of the artistic vs. the commercial experience. But when writers do write about publishing, how much do they get right? Where’s the line between information and entertainment? Can a writer without publishing experience trust what they read in a novel about the industry? We spoke with four authors who’ve written recent books set in publishing to get their answers. WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT 1 Publishing remains very white Newsflash: The publishing houses’ supportive Juneteenth tweets do not change the makeup of the industry. It is still not diverse. The most recent Lee…

WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT (AND WHAT THEY GET WRONG)

WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT (AND WHAT THEY GET WRONG)

“Write what you know,” goes the old saying. Perhaps it’s surprising, then, that there aren’t more books about publishing. Because there’s nothing authors know better than the often-fickle world of publishing – the rewrites, the pressure to sell, the ying-yang of the artistic vs. the commercial experience. But when writers do write about publishing, how much do they get right? Where’s the line between information and entertainment? Can a writer without publishing experience trust what they read in a novel about the industry? We spoke with four authors who’ve written recent books set in publishing to get their answers. WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT 1 Publishing remains very white Newsflash: The publishing houses’ supportive Juneteenth tweets do not change the makeup of the industry. It is still not diverse.…

WHAT BOOKS ABOUT PUBLISHING GET RIGHT (AND WHAT THEY GET WRONG)

Getting on the GUEST LIST

I have hosted The Drunken Odyssey: A Podcast About the Writing Life for over 10 years. This tenure does not make me a dinosaur of the medium, but I am a woolly mammoth, I suppose. I began the show two years after completing my MFA in fiction writing from New York University. That was the length of time I needed to miss the conversations about writing that helped define my MFA experience. In those two years, I finished my novel and yearned again for literary community – so I made my own with the podcast. In the first year, I invited my local writer friends to join me on the mics. I also persuaded writers I didn’t know to speak to me at the annual Association of Writers & Writing Programs…

Getting on the GUEST LIST

Zakiya Dalila Harris recommends: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams Luster by Raven Leilani Chris Pavone recommends: Brightness Falls by Jay McInerney Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews Jean Hanff Korelitz recommends: The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk Laura Lam recommends: Book Lovers by Emily Henry The Hating Game by Sally Thorne…

In 2018, poet and writer Priscilla Long gave a talk at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Co. celebrating the second edition of The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life (University of New Mexico Press, 2018). She used her platform to discuss creativity and aging. “I think it’s time to talk about this, partly because I turned 75 this year,” she said at the lectern, and the audience erupted into cheers and applause. Now, Long has written Dancing with the Muse in Old Age (Coffeetown Press, 2022) – an anti-ageist manifesto that debunks the myth of peak creativity from ages 39-42 with inspirational anecdotes about writers, artists, scholars, and athletes who work long into their 90s…and beyond. “I’m going to be 80 next year, and that’s pretty shocking,…

Getting on the GUEST LIST

I have hosted The Drunken Odyssey: A Podcast About the Writing Life for over 10 years. This tenure does not make me a dinosaur of the medium, but I am a woolly mammoth, I suppose. I began the show two years after completing my MFA in fiction writing from New York University. That was the length of time I needed to miss the conversations about writing that helped define my MFA experience. In those two years, I finished my novel and yearned again for literary community – so I made my own with the podcast. In the first year, I invited my local writer friends to join me on the mics. I also persuaded writers I didn’t know to speak to me at the annual Association of Writers & Writing…

Getting on the GUEST LIST

BEST OF THE BEST

100-WORD CONTEST First Place Benediction By Kathleen Levitt MY SISTERS AND I PUSHED A TAPE into the tape drive and music came on and the car started driving, we were in it. The park appeared though darkness was predominant. There were terrible things, but not here. There were people who knew, but not here. There were people who’d love us, not here, and those that would couldn’t. The trunk was filled with summer’s fireworks. We kept the battery on, the music shook the pavement. My sister danced like her soul had come back. My sister threw pops until color lit her feet. My sister, my sister, my sister. Kathleen Levitt is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has previously appeared in Fiction Southeast, Entropy, and 34th Parallel. FALL SHORT STORY CONTEST First…

BEST OF THE BEST

In 2018, poet and writer Priscilla Long gave a talk at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Co. celebrating the second edition of The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life (University of New Mexico Press, 2018). She used her platform to discuss creativity and aging. “I think it’s time to talk about this, partly because I turned 75 this year,” she said at the lectern, and the audience erupted into cheers and applause. Now, Long has written Dancing with the Muse in Old Age (Coffeetown Press, 2022) – an anti-ageist manifesto that debunks the myth of peak creativity from ages 39-42 with inspirational anecdotes about writers, artists, scholars, and athletes who work long into their 90s…and beyond. “I’m going to be 80 next year, and that’s…

BEST OF THE BEST

100-WORD CONTEST First Place Benediction By Kathleen Levitt MY SISTERS AND I PUSHED A TAPE into the tape drive and music came on and the car started driving, we were in it. The park appeared though darkness was predominant. There were terrible things, but not here. There were people who knew, but not here. There were people who’d love us, not here, and those that would couldn’t. The trunk was filled with summer’s fireworks. We kept the battery on, the music shook the pavement. My sister danced like her soul had come back. My sister threw pops until color lit her feet. My sister, my sister, my sister. Kathleen Levitt is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has previously appeared in Fiction Southeast, Entropy, and 34th Parallel.…

BEST OF THE BEST

THE MONTHS AHEAD

Nov. 1 November is Family Stories Month. What oft-told story from your own family history would you like to record for future generations? Write it down and consider sharing it with family members at an upcoming holiday gathering. Nov. 11 Happy 100th birthday to late Slaughterhouse-Five author and satirist Kurt Vonnegut. Nov. 16 The National Book Award winners will be announced at 8 p.m. Watch the ceremony live at nationalbook.org/awards2022. Nov. 24 Write a short story about a grand holiday feast gone wrong – or, alternatively, write an essay about your own most memorable holiday disaster. Dec. 19 It’s your last chance to enter our 100-Word Contest! Submit your best work in 100 words by midnight EST at writermag.submittable.com. Dec. 21 On the darkest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere, write a poem in the form of a letter…

THE MONTHS AHEAD

2023 Education Guide NEW ENGLAND Bay Path University Degree type: Online MFA in creative nonfiction. Concentrations: Publishing track, narrative medicine track, and teaching track. Contact: Bay Path University, 588 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow, MA 01106. 413-788-1233. Shawn Bernier, assistant director of graduate admissions, sbernier@baypath.edu baypath.edu/mfa Bennington College Degree type: Low-residency MFA in writing. Concentrations: Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Contact: Bennington College, One College Dr., Bennington, VT 05201. 802-440-4452. writing@bennington.edu bennington.edu/MFAWriting Boston University Degree type: MFA in creative writing. MFA in playwriting also available. Concentrations: Fiction and poetry. Contact: Creative Writing Program, 236 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215. 617-353-2510. crwr@bu.edu bu.edu/creativewriting Brown University Degree type: MFA in literary arts. Concentrations: Fiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting and nonfiction, or digital/cross-disciplinary writing. Contact: Literary Arts, Box 1923, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. 401-863-3260. writing@brown.edu…

2023 Education Guide NEW ENGLAND Bay Path University Degree type: Online MFA in creative nonfiction. Concentrations: Publishing track, narrative medicine track, and teaching track. Contact: Bay Path University, 588 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow, MA 01106. 413-788-1233. Shawn Bernier, assistant director of graduate admissions, sbernier@baypath.edu baypath.edu/mfa Bennington College Degree type: Low-residency MFA in writing. Concentrations: Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Contact: Bennington College, One College Dr., Bennington, VT 05201. 802-440-4452. writing@bennington.edu bennington.edu/MFAWriting Boston University Degree type: MFA in creative writing. MFA in playwriting also available. Concentrations: Fiction and poetry. Contact: Creative Writing Program, 236 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215. 617-353-2510. crwr@bu.edu bu.edu/creativewriting Brown University Degree type: MFA in literary arts. Concentrations: Fiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting and nonfiction, or digital/cross-disciplinary writing. Contact: Literary Arts, Box 1923, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. 401-863-3260. writing@brown.edu brown.edu/academics/literary-arts Emerson College Degree type: MFA in creative writing; MA in publishing and writing. Concentrations: Literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Contact: Department of Writing, Literature…

THE MONTHS AHEAD

Nov. 1 November is Family Stories Month. What oft-told story from your own family history would you like to record for future generations? Write it down and consider sharing it with family members at an upcoming holiday gathering. Nov. 11 Happy 100th birthday to late Slaughterhouse-Five author and satirist Kurt Vonnegut. Nov. 16 The National Book Award winners will be announced at 8 p.m. Watch the ceremony live at nationalbook.org/awards2022. Nov. 24 Write a short story about a grand holiday feast gone wrong – or, alternatively, write an essay about your own most memorable holiday disaster. Dec. 19 It’s your last chance to enter our 100-Word Contest! Submit your best work in 100 words by midnight EST at writermag.submittable.com. Dec. 21 On the darkest day of the year for the…

THE MONTHS AHEAD

You should tell the truth insofar as you remember it and insofar as that person’s story affects the story you are trying to tell. Dear Gigi, What is your advice on rules, experiences, and court cases concerning how far a memoir writer can go writing about other real people who are a part of the story? Thanks a lot, —SWIMMING IN MEMORIES Dear Swimming, I’m not a lawyer, so I’m going to stay away from the “court cases” part of your query and address the “rules and experiences” part of this. Reading between the lines, I’m going to assume that you are wanting to write a memoir, but you’re worried about getting the pants sued off of you. This is completely understandable, but since you’ve gone there pretty much right away in your query to me,…

You should tell the truth insofar as you remember it and insofar as that person’s story affects the story you are trying to tell. Dear Gigi, What is your advice on rules, experiences, and court cases concerning how far a memoir writer can go writing about other real people who are a part of the story? Thanks a lot, —SWIMMING IN MEMORIES Dear Swimming, I’m not a lawyer, so I’m going to stay away from the “court cases” part of your query and address the “rules and experiences” part of this. Reading between the lines, I’m going to assume that you are wanting to write a memoir, but you’re worried about getting the pants sued off of you. This is completely understandable, but since you’ve gone there pretty much right…

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