Thanks to the MFA Chronicles blog for pointing us to Nancy Rawlinson's compilation of MFA links. Plenty to read over the weekend, if you're so inclined.
Have a great couple of days. See you back here on Monday!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Quotation of the Week: Anton Chekhov
"I saw everything, so it is not a question of what I saw, but how I saw."Source: Letter from Anton Chekhov to Alexei Suvorin, September 11, 1890, excerpted in How to Write Like Chekhov: Advice and Inspiration, Straight from His Own Letters and Work, edited and introduced by Piero Brunello and Lena Lencek, and translated by Lena Lencek.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Wednesday Web Browser
Big congrats to Tayari Jones, whose third novel, The Silver Girl, has been accepted for publication by Algonquin Books.
==========
Diane Lockward reviews The Working Poet: 75 Exercises and a Poetry Anthology.
==========
Thanks to Anne-Marie Nichols's article on blog analytics, I'm learning more about you, dear readers!
==========
Please tune in tomorrow over on My Machberet for a guest post from memoirist Jessica Handler on her recent visit to a Jewish book festival.
==========
Diane Lockward reviews The Working Poet: 75 Exercises and a Poetry Anthology.
==========
Thanks to Anne-Marie Nichols's article on blog analytics, I'm learning more about you, dear readers!
==========
Please tune in tomorrow over on My Machberet for a guest post from memoirist Jessica Handler on her recent visit to a Jewish book festival.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Guest Post: Lisa Romeo on Crafting A Contest Winner
As promised, I present to you guest commentary from Lisa Romeo on the craft decisions that went into "43 Lies About My Child," a recent winner in Masha Hamilton's 31 Hours Parents' Intuition Contest. Thank you so much, Lisa, for sharing this with us.
I actually still don't know what to properly call this piece. It's definitely creative nonfiction, and in my mind, a type of personal essay, though the form is unusual. It requires some visual assistance via the regular and italics fonts to distinguish the two voices on the page. Some have called it "fragmented memoir," others a prose poem, and that's fine with me.
About three years ago, an essay I wrote about having a child who clearly had developmental difficulties but for which there was no specific diagnosis, was included in an essay collection and, in an adapted shorter form, in The New York Times.
I had a lot of left over material, including a list of things people had said to me over the years, beginning when my son was a baby and continuing until he was an adolescent. It was, I suppose, "advice" offered in a well-meaning way, but which struck me as judgmental, and infuriated me because I couldn't at the time summon the confidence to reply.
I knew I wanted to write something that addressed these voices that were still in my head, but it didn't seem to fit in to the form of a traditional personal essay. I didn't want to be whiny on the page either. So I played with it as a prose poem for a while, and then as a humor piece; neither really worked, so I put it aside.
Meanwhile, Ann Hood referred me to a nonfiction piece she'd written for Tin House's special issue about lies and is now part of her memoir, Comfort. In the essay, she addressed all the trite and generic things people said to her about grief, in the period after she had lost her young daughter.
I realized something similar could work for me, with some changes. In Ann's piece, she lays out the standard lines, such as, "time heals," and then through short narratives, shows them to all be lies -- how passing time has not eased her pain when she sees spring dresses in Target even a year after the girl's death. She doesn't really talk back to the crowd so much as takes the reader inside the narrator's experience with each "lie."
I wanted to do something less narrative, more satirically "prescriptive" and I began to play with the idea of a parody of the type of articles in parenting magazines – 12 ways to help your shy child. I knew whatever I did had to be voice-driven, really all about three distinct voices: The annoying voice of the nosy outsider; the narrator's I'm-the-Mama-Bear-Don't-Cross-Me voice I knew was inside me somewhere, but had never been in evidence when I needed it; and a third voice which lurks behind – that voice inside every mother's head telling her she knows what's true about her child. Eventually, I put the first two voices directly on the page in opposition to one another, and the third exists more or less in the background.
Originally, there were 81 "lies," then 76, but one of my writing friends pointed out that the piece loses its urgency over the long stretch in such a contrived format. So I trimmed down to 50, but I was still trying to cover every base, every facet of his and my journey over about 12 years.
I submitted it for an essay collection, and the editor rejected it, but gave me excellent advice about improving the pacing, and cutting to the bone so that the piece would really bleed on the page, instead of just hinting at distress. I stopped trying to cover it all, and got more selective about which "lies" to include.
That took me to 43 lies and by then the "advice" proffered, and the narrator's responses – were all shorter and more sharply focused, and much less tactful. I had been trying to protect even the people who had said awful things to me, and was still trying to make the narrator seem nice! Another writer friend who I asked to read it noticed that the best lines were the ones where I was allowing the mother's voice to really lash out.
Finally I gave myself permission to "answer" in the way I never would have in my own skin back then. That's when the piece began to have an edge; it was no longer tentative. I allowed my narrator to be someone who doesn't give a fig what anyone else thinks, which is not necessarily how I am in life. In that sense, maybe there's a bit of fiction at play – the narrator as she wishes she could have been; then again, I suppose that's the creative part of the nonfiction.
I actually still don't know what to properly call this piece. It's definitely creative nonfiction, and in my mind, a type of personal essay, though the form is unusual. It requires some visual assistance via the regular and italics fonts to distinguish the two voices on the page. Some have called it "fragmented memoir," others a prose poem, and that's fine with me.
About three years ago, an essay I wrote about having a child who clearly had developmental difficulties but for which there was no specific diagnosis, was included in an essay collection and, in an adapted shorter form, in The New York Times.
I had a lot of left over material, including a list of things people had said to me over the years, beginning when my son was a baby and continuing until he was an adolescent. It was, I suppose, "advice" offered in a well-meaning way, but which struck me as judgmental, and infuriated me because I couldn't at the time summon the confidence to reply.
I knew I wanted to write something that addressed these voices that were still in my head, but it didn't seem to fit in to the form of a traditional personal essay. I didn't want to be whiny on the page either. So I played with it as a prose poem for a while, and then as a humor piece; neither really worked, so I put it aside.
Meanwhile, Ann Hood referred me to a nonfiction piece she'd written for Tin House's special issue about lies and is now part of her memoir, Comfort. In the essay, she addressed all the trite and generic things people said to her about grief, in the period after she had lost her young daughter.
I realized something similar could work for me, with some changes. In Ann's piece, she lays out the standard lines, such as, "time heals," and then through short narratives, shows them to all be lies -- how passing time has not eased her pain when she sees spring dresses in Target even a year after the girl's death. She doesn't really talk back to the crowd so much as takes the reader inside the narrator's experience with each "lie."
I wanted to do something less narrative, more satirically "prescriptive" and I began to play with the idea of a parody of the type of articles in parenting magazines – 12 ways to help your shy child. I knew whatever I did had to be voice-driven, really all about three distinct voices: The annoying voice of the nosy outsider; the narrator's I'm-the-Mama-Bear-Don't-Cross-Me voice I knew was inside me somewhere, but had never been in evidence when I needed it; and a third voice which lurks behind – that voice inside every mother's head telling her she knows what's true about her child. Eventually, I put the first two voices directly on the page in opposition to one another, and the third exists more or less in the background.
Originally, there were 81 "lies," then 76, but one of my writing friends pointed out that the piece loses its urgency over the long stretch in such a contrived format. So I trimmed down to 50, but I was still trying to cover every base, every facet of his and my journey over about 12 years.
I submitted it for an essay collection, and the editor rejected it, but gave me excellent advice about improving the pacing, and cutting to the bone so that the piece would really bleed on the page, instead of just hinting at distress. I stopped trying to cover it all, and got more selective about which "lies" to include.
That took me to 43 lies and by then the "advice" proffered, and the narrator's responses – were all shorter and more sharply focused, and much less tactful. I had been trying to protect even the people who had said awful things to me, and was still trying to make the narrator seem nice! Another writer friend who I asked to read it noticed that the best lines were the ones where I was allowing the mother's voice to really lash out.
Finally I gave myself permission to "answer" in the way I never would have in my own skin back then. That's when the piece began to have an edge; it was no longer tentative. I allowed my narrator to be someone who doesn't give a fig what anyone else thinks, which is not necessarily how I am in life. In that sense, maybe there's a bit of fiction at play – the narrator as she wishes she could have been; then again, I suppose that's the creative part of the nonfiction.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities
Arts Residency Cairo (ARC) "is open to visual artists, writers, artists working in mixed media, sculptors, dancers and performance artists. We are an international arts residency where artists may stay from 2 nights to one month (an extension of one month can be possible)." Offers "two full stipends per year. Due to the high number of applicants for these two places the deadline for proposals is brought forward to December 1st. These two artists will receive free accommodation & food for the duration of their stay (up to one month). Travel and other expenses are not covered." No application fee indicated.
==========
Attention, Maine fiction writers: This is your year to apply for the Dibner Fellowship (poets, you'll have your chance next year). "The Martin Dibner Fellowship is given to promising Maine writers who have not published a full-length book. Fellowships are meant to help further writing skills and experience. Attendance at writing workshops is the primary purpose for support; assistance with living expenses while finishing a writing project will also be considered." Grant size ranges from $500 to $1,000. No application fee. Deadline: January 15, 2010.
==========
"The PEN Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an egregiously flawed translation. There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English." Past grants have run $2,000-$3,000, and there is no application fee. Deadline: January 14, 2010. NB: "The PEN Translation Fund is very pleased to announce that candidates who submit eligible poetry translation projects to the PEN Translation Fund may now also be considered for the National Poetry Series' new Robert Fagles Translation Prize for the translator of a book of contemporary poetry written by a living poet. The Fagles Prize is awarded every other year, and will next be awarded in 2010. The winner of the Fagles Prize receives a $2,000 cash award and publication of the project by an esteemed literary publisher. The translated poet receives a $500 honorarium."
==========
"Phillips Academy [Mass.] seeks a writer-in-residence to fill the Roger F. Murray Chair in Creative Writing beginning in the academic year 2010-11. The term of appointment is two years with a possible renewal. The writer-in-residence is expected to teach two seminar classes (maximum 15 students per class) in creative writing per term. Minimum requirements include at least one published book and experience in the teaching of creative writing at the university or secondary level."
==========
"The Department of English at the University of Massachusetts Lowell seeks an energetic and collaborative colleague for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professorship in Creative Writing-Poetry."
==========
"The University of Michigan-Flint invites applications for a tenure-track position in Creative Writing at the Assistant Professor level beginning in Fall 2010. The appointment carries a 3-3 teaching load divided between undergraduate and M.A. courses in Creative Writing and introductory and/or advanced courses in a second field. Expertise in fiction or narrative forms preferred. Desirable secondary areas include a literary area (including American literature before 1900, British before 1800, Queer Theory, Feminist Theory, or Genre Studies, esp. in drama), pedagogy in English Studies, Digital Humanities (esp. in conjunction with a literary or writing area), or Composition/Rhetoric (esp. in postcolonial rhetoric or the rhetoric of gender, race, and class)."
==========
Eastern Kentucky University's graduate programs have announced part-time faculty positions in poetry writing and literature and fiction writing and literature.
==========
Temple University (Penn.) is looking for a Public Affairs Communications Manager, Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) seeks a Writer/Editor, and San Jacinto College (Texas) is looking for a Social Media Coordinator/Web Writer.
==========
Attention, Maine fiction writers: This is your year to apply for the Dibner Fellowship (poets, you'll have your chance next year). "The Martin Dibner Fellowship is given to promising Maine writers who have not published a full-length book. Fellowships are meant to help further writing skills and experience. Attendance at writing workshops is the primary purpose for support; assistance with living expenses while finishing a writing project will also be considered." Grant size ranges from $500 to $1,000. No application fee. Deadline: January 15, 2010.
==========
"The PEN Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an egregiously flawed translation. There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English." Past grants have run $2,000-$3,000, and there is no application fee. Deadline: January 14, 2010. NB: "The PEN Translation Fund is very pleased to announce that candidates who submit eligible poetry translation projects to the PEN Translation Fund may now also be considered for the National Poetry Series' new Robert Fagles Translation Prize for the translator of a book of contemporary poetry written by a living poet. The Fagles Prize is awarded every other year, and will next be awarded in 2010. The winner of the Fagles Prize receives a $2,000 cash award and publication of the project by an esteemed literary publisher. The translated poet receives a $500 honorarium."
==========
"Phillips Academy [Mass.] seeks a writer-in-residence to fill the Roger F. Murray Chair in Creative Writing beginning in the academic year 2010-11. The term of appointment is two years with a possible renewal. The writer-in-residence is expected to teach two seminar classes (maximum 15 students per class) in creative writing per term. Minimum requirements include at least one published book and experience in the teaching of creative writing at the university or secondary level."
==========
"The Department of English at the University of Massachusetts Lowell seeks an energetic and collaborative colleague for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professorship in Creative Writing-Poetry."
==========
"The University of Michigan-Flint invites applications for a tenure-track position in Creative Writing at the Assistant Professor level beginning in Fall 2010. The appointment carries a 3-3 teaching load divided between undergraduate and M.A. courses in Creative Writing and introductory and/or advanced courses in a second field. Expertise in fiction or narrative forms preferred. Desirable secondary areas include a literary area (including American literature before 1900, British before 1800, Queer Theory, Feminist Theory, or Genre Studies, esp. in drama), pedagogy in English Studies, Digital Humanities (esp. in conjunction with a literary or writing area), or Composition/Rhetoric (esp. in postcolonial rhetoric or the rhetoric of gender, race, and class)."
==========
Eastern Kentucky University's graduate programs have announced part-time faculty positions in poetry writing and literature and fiction writing and literature.
==========
Temple University (Penn.) is looking for a Public Affairs Communications Manager, Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) seeks a Writer/Editor, and San Jacinto College (Texas) is looking for a Social Media Coordinator/Web Writer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
