Agent Interviews

Chuck Sambuchino, who edits the Guide to Literary Agents, now maintains a blog to complement that book. And one of the blog features is a series of agent interviews. If you're looking for an agent, or just want to try to understand what agents actually do a little more clearly, this is a good resource to explore.

Monday Morning Market Listings

If you're not already regularly checking Duotrope.com for new poetry and short fiction market listings (true, not all of them pay, but some certainly do), consider yourself reminded. Among my recent discoveries there: Gray's Sporting Journal, which buys poetry and prose ($600-$1,250 for features; $300 for "yarns"; $100 for poetry; $850 for an "expeditions" piece, plus $75 per picture). Check the detailed guidelines here.

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You'll find contests (many without entry fees), fellowships, and grants galore in the latest Theatre Funding News from The Fund for Women Artists (and you don't have to be a woman to appreciate this resource).

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Find out more about Time Out Chicago editor Joel Reese in this interview.

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WomenEntrepreneur.com launched earlier this year and, according to this profile, "is particularly looking for new content for the articles page." Check the site's writers' guidelines here.

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Tea Party Magazine "seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, photography, visual art, comics, interviews, and feature articles for its upcoming issue #18, to be published in Spring 2008. Our theme for Issue #18 is THE FREE ISSUE." Check guidelines for details/definitions. Deadline: October 31, 2007. Pays: $10-$50. "Each contributor receives three copies of the issue, as well as an invitation to the magazine release party. Some contributors from each issue will have the opportunity to read their work at this event."

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Eligible individual artists and organizations based in Kentucky may now apply for Artist Enrichment program grants (ranging from $1,000-$7,500) from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. "The primary goal of the Artist Enrichment program is to provide opportunities for feminist artists and arts organizations to enhance their abilities and skills to create art for positive social change." There's no application fee, and the application deadline is September 7, 2007. More information here.

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True stories of autism sought. Pays: "up to $200."

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"OTTN Publishing, a publisher of quality educational nonfiction, is seeking five experienced writers for a set of books on the Cold War. This will be a work-for-hire, paying a flat fee of $2,800 for a 20,000 word manuscript. Writers who have written book-length works on related subjects preferred, although all are welcome to apply." See the announcement here.

Friday Finds: Writing "Invitations," Prompts, and Similar Suggestions

The August Practicing Writer newsletter is just about ready to go out to subscribers (so keep checking your e-mailboxes, subscribers!). But while you're waiting, I'll give you a sneak peek by letting you in on this month's "featured resource."

It's a page of "Creative Writing Invitations" posted on the University of Iowa Writing Center's Web site. These "invitations" are basically prompts, borrowed from one of my favorite exercise books of all time: Bonni Goldberg's Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer's Life.

And if you're searching for even more inspiration online, check out these two recent discoveries: Michelle Richmond's Daily Writing Exercises and Jeffrey Yamaguchi's "Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Jumpstart Your Writing Efforts."

Any of you have similar resources to recommend?

(And for those of you who aren't yet newsletter subscribers, what are you waiting for? It's free, and we do not share our subscribers' e-mail addresses with ANYONE. So go ahead--take a moment and sign up now.)

From My Bookshelf: Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide

CONVERSATION, NOT PROVOCATION
Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
Jeffrey Goldberg
Alfred A. Knopf, 2006
336 pp., $25.00 (Hardcover)

Review by Erika Dreifus

How did a nice Jewish boy from Long Island, New York—a student at the University of Pennsylvania, no less—end up at Ketziot, an Israeli military prison camp in the Negev? More importantly, what happened once he arrived there? These questions, and their answers, guide award-winning journalist Jeffrey Goldberg's important new book, Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide.

The response to the first question comprises much of the book's autobiographical and "background" material. We learn, for example, that Goldberg acquired a fear of anti-Semitism early on. As a child, he was sensitive to his family history, including "the whirlwind of Russian anti-Semitism" into which his grandfather had been born. Non-Jewish "tormentors" among his middle school classmates "taught [him] how to play 'Bend the Jew'...." With that background, learning "too much truth" about the Holocaust at age 12 proved "emphatically destabilizing": "Such knowledge turned the ground under my feet, already giving way, to quicksand."

Soon thereafter came a Bar Mitzvah trip to Israel, where Goldberg found signs of Israeli strength ("A Jewish tank!") more than merely reassuring. Such signs were "euphoriants":

By the time we came home, I burned with love for Israel. I began this mystic pilgrimage a speck of a Jew, but I emerged utterly different, invested with a mission much larger than myself, larger, certainly, than the quotidian and occasionally terrifying life of a Long Island Jewish boy. Israel was my main chance: For nineteen hundred years, since the final Roman obliteration of Israel (they even changed its name to Palestine, in order to erase from the world's memory its existence), the Jews were chased across the earth. But in 1948, just seventeen years before I was born, the Jews reentered history, building a country out of the cinders of the Holocaust. How could I miss out on this drama?

He couldn't. He devoured the Leon Uris novel, Exodus. He signed up for a Zionist summer camp in the Catskills. As a college student, he volunteered for a 1986 mission to the then-Soviet Union, to provide aid to oppressed Jews living there (refuseniks, as American Jews like me had by then learned to call them in our synagogues and Sunday school classes, Jews refused the right to "make Aliyah," as Jewish immigration to Israel is called).

Goldberg already assumed that after college, he, too, would move to Israel. But he didn't wait that long. He dropped out of Penn and boarded an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. Kibbutz life (Goldberg became fairly expert at work in the chicken coop), a military training course, and a job on The Jersualem Post (currently the Washington correspondent of The New Yorker,* Goldberg has also served as a Middle East correspondent for that magazine) preceded his 1990 army assignment to the military police. And here the book’s second major component, detailing the friendship Goldberg cultivated with one of the Palestinians imprisoned at Ketziot during the first Intifada (uprising against Israel) truly begins.

Ketziot, Goldberg writes, "did not feature in any dream of Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, or in any program of [David] Ben-Gurion, who made concrete Herzl's vision. Ketziot was a city of barbed wire, moldy tents, machine gun towers, armored personnel carriers, black oil smoke, sullen Arabs, and embittered Israeli soldiers." Ketziot clearly hadn't featured in any of Goldberg's visions, either, as the writer explains in this characteristically eloquent passage: "It was outside my frame of reference. Ketziot was a place bleached of color, and bereft of kindness. It was a monument to expediency, poor planning, and the ephemeral nature of cheap building materials. It was a place devoid of culture, an island of small-mindedness and cruelty in a brown sea of sand. And it was swelteringly hot, except at night, when the desert cold seemed capable of cracking bones."

He tells us that the prisoners "were the flower of the Palestinian Intifada. They were its foot soldiers, squad commanders, generals, and, from time to time, its propagandists, even its lawyers." Despite the evident ill will many of them displayed toward Israel, the prisoners fascinated him: “Here they were, en masse, my enemy. Who wouldn't want to know about them? I asked them questions, ceaselessly, about their politics, their beliefs and desires, their families. I poured out questions about child-rearing and bomb-making and the menu for the Ramadan break fast."

Among the prisoners it's Gazan Rafiq Hijazi, the eponymous "Muslim" of the book's title, who most attracts Goldberg's attention: "I wanted to make Rafiq my friend. I felt this keenly, almost from the moment we met. It was something I believed was actually possible. I sensed the presence between us of the enzymes of friendship. I believed that he liked me. He thought I was kind, for a Jew, and I thought he was smart, for an Arab."

But what kind of friendship could this be? "We could not go anywhere or do anything. No double-dating, no football games. We could not, for that matter, shake hands in an even approximately normal way. The openings in the fence were too small. A streamlined hand—four fingers pointing straight out, the thumb held to the side—could work its way through, up to the knuckle. So when we shook, we shook fingers." And, in the winter of 1991, as Saddam Hussein’s Scuds targeted Israel during the Persian Gulf War, they talked. A lot.

Their conversations comfort Goldberg: "I had consoling thoughts about Rafiq—thoughts about the thickening possibilities of peace, a peace that could be made first by two inconsequential soldiers. If Rafiq Hijazi could somehow extend the border of his compassion to take in Jeffrey Goldberg, then why should peace be impossible?" Frequently, however, Goldberg must wonder just how far this border has extended. Is Rafiq really his friend? Goldberg is crushed, for instance, when he offers Rafiq a hypothetical situation in which the Gazan might have the opportunity to kill him; after some hesitation, Rafiq says only, “Look, it wouldn’t be personal.”

But Goldberg can't quite let go of Rafiq, tracking him down even after they've both left Ketziot, even once Goldberg has moved back to the United States, married, and settled in Washington, DC. When he again travels in Israel he goes to Gaza to search for Rafiq. Finding him, he learns that Rafiq, now a professor, is soon to leave for Washington, too—to complete a Ph.D. at the American University.

At this point, Goldberg tells Rafiq that "I wanted to reestablish our friendship for its own sake, and I wanted to see the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict through his eyes, in order to answer a crucial question: Could the Arabs finally accept—accept, not merely tolerate—the presence of Jews in their midst, and not just Jews, but a Jewish state? Or would we forever be viewed as invaders?" For his part, Rafiq responds with another question: "Could the Jews live with the Palestinians without fear, without guns?"

The relationship and discussions thus continue in Washington. Not always easily, given the continued stresses and conflicts in the broader relationship between their peoples. Near the end of the book, Goldberg realizes an "irreducible" truth: "The maximum Israel could give did not match the minimum the Palestinians would accept." Still, Goldberg finds hope. Despite their differences and disagreements something else remains true. Each man cares about the other. When "something terrible" happens in Gaza, Goldberg thinks first of Rafiq and his family. It's "the same thing" for Rafiq: "'When I hear that there is a bombing in Jerusalem and I know you're there, I get worried.'" In the end, Rafiq "'[doesn't] want [Goldberg] to die. I want you to live.'" This, Goldberg concludes, "might be the start of something."

My only difficulty with this book—aside, perhaps, from the discomfort anyone more affectively attuned to Israelis than Palestinians is likely to experience in Goldberg's portrayals of bad will on both sides—concerns its structure. There's a lot of back-and-forth in narrative time, especially in the book's early chapters, and it's not always easy to follow. Some readers may not sense themselves well "situated" in the book for awhile.

On the other hand, the book's Web site** is all about context. Its superb “Resources” section includes a map, a timeline stretching from 1800 B.C.E. to 2006, and a set of links Goldberg recommends for more information on the Middle East. All those items might have been nice additions to the book, too (the evanescence of Web addresses notwithstanding).

In closing it seems not unimportant to note that during the fall of 2006, when Prisoners was published, another new book, by former President Jimmy Carter, received far more media attention. At the height of the controversies Carter's book sparked over everything from its title, to the veracity (or lack thereof) of its content, to its one-sided/pro-Palestinian approach, I was reading Prisoners. And given the evident knowledge, humanity, and, not least of all, sustained and often painful efforts to understand "both sides" that permeate practically every one of Goldberg's pages, I couldn't help wishing, fervently, that the readers who made the Carter book a bestseller might still turn to Prisoners. That, perhaps, might be the start of something.


*As of the summer of 2007,Goldberg is leaving The New Yorker for a position with The Atlantic Monthly.
**http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/goldberg.main.php

(A version of this review was published in the Winter 2007 issue of The Chattahoochee Review.)

The Wednesday Web Browser

Roy Peter Clark teaches us how to make a good paragraph a great one.
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Yes, I agree with Anthony Giardina: You must read Revolutionary Road. (I recently reread it. Again.)
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In case you haven't noticed, I am quite partial to "the dash." For his part, Chip Scanlan is a little less enthusiastic.

Nonfiction Writer-Teachers Sought

This just in from Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY): "Sarah Lawrence College seeks established nonfiction writers to fill two half-time tenure-track positions beginning in the fall of 2008. Teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate nonfiction-writing workshops, regular individual tutorials with students, and supervision of M.F.A. theses. We are looking for candidates with an M.F.A. or equivalent, at least one published book, teaching experience at the undergraduate or graduate level, a demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching, and a willingness to participate actively in the nonfiction-writing program and the academic life of the college." Application deadline: November 15, 2007. See the announcement at HigherEdJobs.com

Monday Morning Market/Job Listings

Check yesterday's post for a detailed call for submissions for upcoming "Cup of Comfort" anthologies.
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Houston's Writers in the Schools (WITS) program "is looking for writers and educators who can teach the joy of creative writing to young people. Employment is part-time, typically a half-day of teaching one day a week from September-May." Must commit for one year. Particular interest in bilingual writers, and writers who'd like to teach grades 2-4. Pays: $50/hr. Accepts applications year-round, but for consideration for the 2007-08 school year, applications must be received by August 10, 2007. More information at idealist.org.
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Very thoughtful post here from Nancy Breen, co-blogger for the Writer's Digest "Poetic Asides" blog. Check the post for Nancy's updates on publications that are now out of business, on hiatus, no longer publishing poetry, etc.
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"The Chronicle's Careers section is looking for graduate students, postdocs, faculty members, and administrators who will be on the job market in the 2007-8 academic year and would be interested in keeping a diary of their job search.

Since 1998, we've featured the job-market stories of academics in a variety of disciplines. They've written regular, first-person accounts throughout the year of their attempts to find a faculty or administrative job in academe, and in a few cases, a nonacademic job. (You can read their columns on the site.)

If you have a flair for writing, here's an opportunity to use it and get paid."

Application deadline: August 14, 2007. Read the full announcement from the Chronicle of Higher Education's site here.
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Attention, Canadian poets (citizens and permanent residents): "Coteau Books invites submission of English-language poems both new and previously published, for its Fall 2008 anthology of hockey poetry for young people, aged 8 – 12. We are looking for poems which capture the nature of our national game, both on and off the ice." Deadline: October 15, 2007. Pays: $50 for original poems, $25 for previously published poems. More information here.
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"The Beacon Newspapers, two monthly newspapers for boomers and seniors in the Washington and Baltimore areas, is looking for an experienced freelance writer for its Baltimore paper. The writer will be responsible for a package of five medium-length (600 to 1,000 words) feature stories for each issue. The writer will also compile and write about 25 to 30 event listings per month." Pays: $1,200/month. See the craigslist announcement.
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Fisher College (Boston) seeks "a qualified instructor to teach sections of Freshman English (ENG I) during the fall, 2007 semester." More info at HigherEdJobs.com.
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The University of Maryland University College is looking for an Assistant Academic Director of Writing, School of Undergraduate Studies. See the announcement here.

Cup of Comfort Anthology Calls

This updated call for anthology submissions arrived via e-mail this weekend. Please be sure to check the Web site indicated for submission instructions.

CALL FOR INSPIRING TRUE STORIES: ALZHEIMER’S, BREAST CANCER, DIVORCE

The bestselling Cup of Comfort book series is seeking submissions for publication consideration in three new books. Stories must be true, uplifting, and 1000 to 2000 words. For writer’s guidelines: www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR CHILDREN AND SPOUSES OF PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER'S

What happens when the person who raised you or the person with whom you raised your children slowly becomes a child who doesn’t know you? What if that loved one changes so drastically that he or she is virtually a stranger to you? What if that person is difficult to deal with and requires substantial assistance? How will the reality of having a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s affect you and your family—emotionally, financially, physically, socially, personally, professionally? The inspiring stories in this collection will answer those questions and more—and will show how love prevails and how lives thrive when a spouse or parent has Alzheimer’s.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book.

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2007

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR DIVORCED WOMEN

Divorce in the 21st century should come with an instruction manual, a release valve, and a support system. This anthology will serve essentially those three purposes, in the form of comforting, insightful, and inspirational stories about surviving and thriving during and after divorce. We seek uplifting, contemporary stories on a wide range of topics of importance to divorced women—including but not limited to: dating, children, relationship with ex, in-laws, finances, friends, solitude, personal transformation, healing, revenge, mending fences, the ex’s new wife or lover, empowerment, rediscovery of self. The majority of stories will be written by women who are or have been divorced. Stories can be poignant, irreverent, humorous, witty, or wise.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book.

Submission Deadline: November 1, 2007

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

It has been said that “stories are medicine” and that “one of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is to share our stories.” This collection will include compelling, inspiring, and uplifting personal essays about the experiences and emotions of living with—and living after—breast cancer. Possible story themes include but are not limited to: diagnosis, treatment, emotional impact, support systems, healthy lifestyle practices, emotional healing, coping mechanisms, impact on loved ones, effect on friendships, effect on career/work, effect on romance/intimacy, life lessons learned, personal transformation, silver linings, gratitude, triumph over trials, body image, and more. All themes and writing styles considered, as long as the story is positive.

Exclusively for the Breast Cancer Survivors volume, Adams Media is working in partnership with Redbook Magazine and will award a $5,000 grand prize, a $5,000 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the grand prize winner’s name, and bonus prizes to three runner-up stories.

Submission Deadline: December 31, 2007

Friday Find: "Getting Published in Literary Magazines: Tips for Short Story Writers"

You can find yours truly's article, with tried-and-true advice for publishing short fiction in literary magazines, right here. Have a great weekend, all!

"Rappelle"-ing Prévert's "Barbara"

Despite what some people out there may believe, it really doesn't take much to make me happy!

Take, for example, how delighted I've been all this week by the discovery of a single Guardian Unlimited Books Blog "Poem of the Week" post.

I've written here before about my (limited) experience with memorized poems. Maybe one reason I didn't include Jacques Prévert's "Barbara" in that post is that, like someone referenced in the Guardian's post, I first encountered "Barbara" as a song, chanted, unforgettably, by Yves Montand.

That introduction took place when I was enrolled in a phonetics class in Paris during my junior spring abroad. My teacher (who, by the way, identified herself as the real-life mother of the [then] young French boy who played Julien in one of my favorite movies, Louis Malle's 1987 Au revoir, les enfants) played a Montand recording before requiring us to memorize the poem for the next class.

Well, as you'll see from the Guardian blog post, "Barbara" is one long poem! Even more challenging, from my perspective, is its reliance on the letter "r." Let's just say that despite all my practice with this poem, not to mention all the language lab time I was assigned in college to ameliorate my terrible accent by reading "r" words aloud from the French dictionary in the company of a native speaker, I still preface every first conversation with a French speaker, as apologetically and yet as reassuringly as I can, with this line: "Je comprends mieux que je parle" ("I understand better than I speak").

Rereading the poem this week I am amazed that I ever knew it par coeur. But I did! I can still recite/hum chunks of it (believe me, though, I'm no Yves Montand).

(The Guardian post also provoked quite a thread of commentary about the poem, including much translation-related discussion.)

(Re)discovering "Barbara" reminded me that for that phonetics class we had to memorize another poem, too. (Click here to hear a remarkable recording--from 1913!--of its creator, Guillaume Apollinaire, reading it aloud!)

And rediscovering "Barbara" just put me in a mellow, nostalgic mood. And it helped inspire me as my new poetry class continues. (That's going well, so far. I'll probably post more about that sometime soon.)

The Web Browser

Just a reminder: Poets, beware!
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Dr. Scanlan, I presume?
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You mean a newspaper changed its book coverage and the world didn't end?
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This piece on Henry James in Paris brings back fond memories of a related one (sorry, only a glimpse available online, unless you're a Project Muse subscriber!).
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I will have to pick up a copy of The Atlantic's annual newsstand fiction issue. Fast!

Encouraging Words On Short Story Collections

What was my favorite part of Curtis Sittenfeld's review of Rebecca Curtis's Twenty Grand: And Other Tales of Love and Money in Sunday's New York Times Book Review? Well, as someone who still has some hope of seeing her own short story collection published someday--and has been cautioned against certain aspects of "sameness" that may characterize it--I nearly cheered aloud when I reached this part of the review:

I have heard some collections criticized for featuring stories that are too similar to one another in terms of setting, character or tone, and while I can imagine this criticism being leveled at 'Twenty Grand,' it’s not one with which I’d agree. In fact, I’m suspicious when stories in a collection aren’t particularly similar because it makes them seem like soulless pastiche; if you want stories with entirely different sensibilities, why not just read books by different authors? With Curtis, there’s no doubt you’re entering the world of a particular writer’s preoccupations.

Yay! Rah!

I've seen some other coverage of Twenty Grand, too, but Sittenfeld's review finally moved me to put it on my TBR list, partially inspired by the aforementioned snippet, but also encouraged by Sittenfeld's discussion of both the realist and not-so-realist elements of the collection. Elsewhere I've seen much more emphasis on the "surreal" qualities of Curtis's writing, and while I certainly have something to learn from that as far as my own fiction writing is concerned, it's not typically the kind of writing I enjoy reading.

But it's going to be quite awhile before I get to any of the new additions to my pleasure reading list. I have piles of books here (and more on the way as the NYPL meets my many requests) for a very fun magazine assignment. I'll tell you more about that when I can!

Monday Morning Market/Job Listings

Notorious Press is now accepting submissions of short fiction for an upcoming mystery/crime anthology, tentatively titled How'd They Do That. "General theme is that all stories will center on quirky methods of committing or solving a crime. That's right, the 'quirky' part can be acts by either the criminals or the investigators, or both." Pays: $50 "for new stories in the 2,000 to 8,000 word range. Very limited number of reprints may be taken." Deadline: October 21, 2007. (And there's an interesting twist here: "Let's face it, the current temporary title for this anthology is a little soft....So if you submit a story with a title we adopt (with your permission) for the overall book we'll gladly pay you double. Even if you don't submit a story, send us the winning title idea and get $25, credit in the book and 2 free copies if we choose and use your suggestion)." Full guidelines here.

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Locus Novus is an online publication that accepts unpublished experimental fiction, up to 1000 words in length. "We also consider imaginatively written short essays on typography, graphic design in relation to literary works, systems of representation and presentation, and integrated forms of expression." Pays: $25. (via Duotrope.com)

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The CommonTies personal story blog is introducing audio, and will be paying an additional $150 for pieces it purchases for recording as well as posting. (Payment for posted stories is typically $100-$200). See the guidelines for more about this new development, as well as for news about upcoming themes.

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"The Northwest Current newspaper prints articles every week by residents about their favorite places in D.C. These are first-person essays that run 600 to 900 words. We edit them for style, content and space, and authors must be willing to pose for a photo. Printed stories pay $50, and each writer may write only one piece." (via craigslist)

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"Want to get publish [sic] for something you've already written? How about $50 worth of books, magazines, CDs, and the essential accessory for any writer: coffee? Well, SparkNotes is publishing a new guide for successful college and graduate school entrance essays and we would love to include yours." (via craigslist)

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"InterfaithFamily.com, a non-profit that provides services and resources to interfaith couples with a Jewish partner, is looking for freelance reporters and reviewers." (via craigslist)

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New York Family magazine has announced a post for a magazine writer/editorial intern (paid) at mediabistro. (free registration required to view listing)

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Harvard University is looking for a Curator for the Woodberry Poetry Room (which was always one of my favorite corners of that entire campus, and a real haven for practicing writers).

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The University of Toledo is advertising for a visiting instructorship in composition, beginning in Fall 2007.

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New England College of Art (Brookline, MA) is looking for adjunct English composition instructors.

Friday Find: Free Time!

You know what? Today I am going to share the best find of all: free time. My "day job" office has a special schedule for six summer weeks: We work longer days (with shorter lunches) Monday-Thursday, and in return we get Fridays OFF. Hence my later-than-usual post this morning, because I did not set my alarm. Hence the sense that I am on a beautiful, brief vacation. Hence the freedom to go easy, enjoy the day (I am so looking forward to meeting an old friend, in town from many miles away this week, for lunch in a few hours), and not attack everything on my to-do list/routine right away (though I should try to go out for a jog along the East River before the heat really kicks in for the day). So there's no "practical" find listed this morning. Just a glorious sense of rest and refreshment. It's a precious discovery, and one I hope you can share sometime soon.

My Poetic Past (and Present)

Something not too many people know about me is that my publication history began with poetry. As a teenager, I saw my poems published not only in my high school's literary magazine, but also in journals I found--yes, that's right--in Writer's Market. (Clearly my odd passion for literary market research started early!)

But I didn't sense that poetry was where my future rested. I loved prose. I wanted to write prose. I was writing prose. Poetry receded, except in the college classes where I read (and wrote academic essays [prose!] about) Blake and Baudelaire.

As an MFA student I read a lot more poetry (and met a few very talented practicing poets). I still didn't think poetry was my "thing," but after awhile I started to wonder. A bit.

And now, occupied all day with my full-time university office job, maintaining a semblance of a freelance life with a few article and review assignments and waiting for a couple of accepted stories to appear in print (or online), I am turning to poetry. I am trying to shake things up, especially where my fiction writing is concerned (to say that new work has plateaued is to be too kind to myself). I am trying to learn some new skills that I may apply elsewhere.

I am taking a poetry class. Online. My first homework assignment is due by July 17.

So I am trying to benefit from the structure and inspiration of a class and from the skills and expertise of the instructor who is leading us. I am trying, still, to grow as a writer.

Even if, in a way, I'm going back twenty-something years, all the way to my bylines' beginnings.

Wish me luck.

The Web Browser

For the self-employed freelancers among you: Find tips about health insurance for writers in Linda Formichelli's Writer's Digest article here.

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If you're a blogger (or considering becoming one) and want to find out how to increase the chances that your blogging can lead to other writing work, you should definitely read Natalie Bovis-Nelsen's MediaBistro piece for ideas and inspiration.

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And I think it's high time for a formal introduction to "Oronte Churm" and his blog, which is hosted over at InsideHigherEd.com and has been linked here at Practicing Writing for awhile. This blog is one I routinely look forward to checking. The mysterious Oronte is a writer who teaches, and I've come to count on his sagacious and sensitive posts.

From My Bookshelf: Four Seasons in Rome

To be perfectly frank, every day it's seeming less and less likely that I'll ever reach the level of literary success of, say, Anthony Doerr. Which means it's looking less and less likely that I'll ever win a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. But this weekend I at least had the privilege of glimpsing that experience through Doerr's eyes when I read his new (and delightful) book, Four Seasons in Rome. Subtitled "On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World," the book chronicles Doerr's Roman holiday (sorry--couldn't resist that) from his arrival (accompanied by his wife and their six-month-old twin boys) to their departure the summer after Pope John Paul II's passing. It's a highly engaging read on many levels, including, for this practicing writer, Doerr's account of the project he brought with him to Rome (a new novel set in German-occupied France during World War II), and the genesis of a new short story. Magnifico!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs

PRACTICE: New Writing and Art seeks submissions for its third issue. "We are looking for poetry, prose (fiction + non-fiction), visual art, and whatever blurs the lines among these genres." Also accepts interview queries, and appears interested in translations. Submission deadline: August 30, 2007. "We pay a flat fee of $200, five copies of the issue in which your work appears, and fine loose-leaf tea." Guidelines here.

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If you're a Pennsylvania resident take note that this year's Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) Individual Artists Fellowships are open for applications from poets, playwrights/screenwriters, and media artists working in "narrative and documentary." Visit the site for details. Deadline: August 1. Awards are made in the amounts of $5,000 and $10,000.

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It's not every day that one finds an essay contest announced in the pages of the New York Times Magazine, but this weekend that's exactly what I discovered. The magazine is running an essay contest for college students (18 years old or older, enrolled in an American college or university, including students who graduated in 2007). Essays should respond to Rick Perlstein's article, "What's the Matter with College," which is linked at the contest site. The winning essay will be published in The New York Times Magazine and online at NYTimes.com (and will be featured on mtvU and mtvU.com; five semifinalist essays will be published on NYTimes.com. I can't seem to locate monetary prize amounts, but given the references to "freelance writer's agreement" and "taxes" in the rules, I'm assuming winning writers will be paid. There's no entry fee; submit your essay via e-mail per the guidelines by August 6, 2007. Check the above-mentioned site for more information.

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The Brooklyn Public Library seeks a part-time, freelance (in-office) copywriter. Pays: $25/hour, four days/week, approximately 30 hrs/week. See the posting here.

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Lots of interesting possibilities, as usual, over on the MediaBistro Job Board. (Remember, to view listings you'll need to register [free]). Recent postings include one for a full-time Features Editor at Nextbook.org; another for a part-time (telecommuting) Senior Editor for Yoga and Joyful Living magazine, and one for a blogger for MediaBistro's own FishBowlLA blog.

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Milwaukee Area Technical College (Oak Creek Campus) is looking for an English instructor "to teach both associate degree and college-level transfer courses in English composition and literature and also use online technology." See the announcement here.

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Wilberforce University (Ohio) seeks an Adjunct Professor for Composition and Literature. See the announcement here.

Free Resources on Low-Residency MFA Programs

I've been waiting to see what the changes at Tom Kealey's MFA Weblog would bring, and boy, are they bringing a lot.

Tom will be incorporating other bloggers' contributions to the MFA Weblog in the near future. That includes posts from Anna Mendoza, whose introduction mentions a recent project of hers: an online compilation of low-residency MFA programs. Available free of charge.

I've taken a quick look at that collection, and it's pretty good. Currently, it's missing several programs (I'm going to let Anna know about that via Tom very shortly). But it has already convinced me that I do not need to continue to update our own primer on low-residency MFA programs. Which, I have to confess (after 10 editions in less than three years), is a little bit of a relief.

So here's the news: I am making the primer available for free downloading until the end of August. (You can find it here.)

After that, I'll retire it from circulation altogether. If I see a need to round out Anna's list, I'll do so online. And I may well republish some of the advice offered in the primer, too--that's something for me to think about.

But for now, if you're looking for low-res creative writing programs to explore, you can do so for free with two helpful resources. Please spread the word!

Book Reviewing Kudos

I have permission to offer these public congratulations to Laura Polley, one of the writers in the Lesley University MFA program who took my online book reviewing course this past semester. Laura has recently seen several reviews published, including this one in Buffalo's alternative newsweekly, Artvoice, and two litmag reviews over at NewPages.com. Nice work, Laura!

Friday Find: Critical Compendium

For your daily dose of book reviews, you probably don't need to look any further than Critical Compendium.

The Web Browser

Meant to bring you these tax tips for writers sooner.

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Chip Scanlan writes about summer rereading. (I don't remember the last time I saw anyone mention Sinclair Lewis, the focus of my sophomore year American Literature research paper back in high school. But why didn't Main Street make Scanlan's list?)

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And I'm keeping my eye on a new blog from the Writer's Digest folks--this time focused on the practice of poetry--at Poetic Asides.

The Tasks of Todd Hasak-Lowy: An Interview with the Author of The Task of This Translator

This interview originally appeared in The Practicing Writer, August 2005.

The Tasks of Todd Hasak-Lowy: An Interview with the Author of The Task of This Translator

Todd Hasak-Lowy was born in Detroit and raised in its suburbs. He received his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, where he wrote on modern Hebrew fiction. Todd also started writing fiction in Berkeley. He is presently an assistant professor of Hebrew Language and Literature at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. His debut story collection, The Task of This Translator, was published by Harcourt in June 2005. Here Todd graciously answers questions posed by your editor, Erika Dreifus.

Erika Dreifus: Todd, thanks so much for taking the time to "talk" with us. I know you've been busy! Your debut story collection, The Task of This Translator, was published in June [2005], and you've been giving readings in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Ann Arbor. Congratulations on the book's publication. Please tell us a bit about your development as a fiction writer?

Todd Hasak-Lowy: I started writing as an unintended side effect of my graduate study. I was struggling with academic writing while simultaneously coming to deeply appreciate (and for the first time understand the workings of) narrative fiction. One day, quite spontaneously, I tried writing a short piece of fiction myself as a way to make sense of a piece of theory I was reading, something by Dorrit Cohn called Transparent Minds. Her book is about various ways of representing consciousness in fiction. Rather than just underline the text, I started describing someone's thoughts, using a few modes Cohn treated in her book that struck me as particularly compelling.

Also, around the same time, I stumbled on a couple writers--the Israeli Yaakov Shabtai and the American Nicholson Baker--both of whom had a somewhat unconventional (i.e.highly analytical, exacting, and plain wordy) approach to narrative that really spoke to me. Within a few weeks I had found my voice, as corny as that may sound.

There are definitely times I wish that I had more training in how to write fiction, but ultimately I have learned to trust myself. In graduate school I learned above all how to read fiction closely and systematically, and that's the main tool I rely on in my own writing.

ED: For those who haven't yet read it, the collection includes seven stories, only one of which, if I understand correctly, was previously published ("On the Grounds of the Complex Commemorating the Nazis' Treatment of the Jews," which appeared in the Iowa Review in September 2001). Many short story writers (and poets and essayists, for that matter) are advised to publish their work widely in literary journals before trying to publish a collection. What's your response to such conventional wisdom?

THL: I don't know much beyond my own experience in this case, but my hunch is that outside of a few widely circulated magazines (The New Yorker, Harper's, etc.) getting published elsewhere is only marginally helpful. Again, I could be totally wrong.

ED: Please tell us about the process you went through structuring the collection, choosing and sequencing the stories, and so on.

THL: I had an agent, Simon Lipskar from Writer's House, before I had a full manuscript. He explained to me how the whole process works, and over the course of about a year I was able to complete a manuscript. Once I had enough stories--in terms of overall word count--he and I worked together on coming up with a sequence. The editor who eventually bought it, Tina Pohlman, actually bought it under the condition that three out of the eight stories (thankfully the shortest ones) not be included, since she wasn't as enthusiastic about those three. My contract with the publisher stated that I had to provide two new stories (again, for word count purposes) by a certain date. A fair amount of time (almost a year) had passed since the time Simon and I first started sending out the manuscript, so I was already nearing completion on a couple new pieces. It was fun to finish those two stories knowing they'd get published. Tina and I settled on the final sequence during the editing process.

ED: "The Task of this Translator" is really a standout piece in this collection. There's a lot of mystery in this story, from the translator's own inability to comprehend what's being said to him (conveyed in such lines as "Ben listened intently and heard: My name is Goran Vansalivich and I blah you blah. Blah years ago my brothers (passive marker?) blah by blah.") to the fact that the language (and even the genocide) at the root of the story remains unnamed. To what extent are you aware of what's "not told" in your stories as you write them?

THL: Completing gaps in a text--that is filling in what is "not told"--is a central part of the reading process. When I'm writing and thinking of some abstract ideal reader, I'm always trying to leave gaps or other features in the text that require the reader to take a stand or be more active. I had some vague ideas of why I included so many "blahs" in that story when I was writing it, but I think the thing that made it most attractive to me was the feeling that the reader would have no choice but to try and fill in each specific blank and at the same time think about what it meant that there were many "blahs" in the first place.

I think a similar impulse fueled my decision to write a story that takes place at Yad Vashem--Israel's Holocaust memorial museum--only to call it "the complex commemorating the Nazis' treatment of the Jews" and then repeat this name about twenty times in as many pages. A lot of people have asked me why I did that, and I have some answers as to what I think it means, but I'm more interested in knowing that the reader is impelled to come up with an interpretation him or herself.

As for not naming the genocide in the title story, I didn't, in that particular case, want to get bogged down with a specific historical event. Here I was trying to invoke ethnic violence as a type (or even a genre) of historical event (Incidentally, I don't think of what happened to Goran's family as genocide, but leaving it vague obviously allows the reader to call it just that). If I had referred to a specific historical incident, then readers would have, quite naturally and correctly, concluded that the story was saying something about that event. But what I wanted to do here was narrate the meeting of an unqualified translator with a certain kind of horrific, but ultimately remote and regional, violence that marked the twentieth (and, I suppose, early twenty-first) century.

ED: Short story writers often hear that agents are more interested in reading emerging writers' novels than their short story collections. Tell us how you came to work with your agent.

THL: Agents, including mine, are indeed more optimistic (or less pessimistic) about selling novels. Short story collections are simply very hard to sell. I sent one story blind to Simon and about five other agents--the one that takes places at Yad Vashem--and Simon responded. While he was very enthusiastic about my writing from the start, he was also very honest with me about how difficult it would be to sell a
short story collection. And, to be sure, this manuscript was rejected by at least thirty publishers. But I know Simon believes that if he is really enthusiastic about something, then he's likely not alone.

ED: In reviewing The Task of this Translator, Publisher's Weekly called yours "a cogent new Jewish-American voice," which is certainly a wonderful compliment. But not every story in the collection deals with explicitly Jewish-American characters, subjects, or themes. To what extent do you see the voice of this book as a particularly "Jewish-American" one?

THL: The Jewish or Jewish-American question is central for me, both as a writer and in terms of my identity in general. I'm an assistant professor of Hebrew literature, and as such I think a great deal about Jewish literature (and not just Hebrew literature) as well as Jewish history. But when I started writing I was trying to write away from the topics I was dealing with in graduate school, in part because being a specialist is suffocating after a while. I also didn't want to write on themes about which I had clear, pre-existing views. I felt that it would be hard to say anything compelling if I knew exactly what I was trying to say from the beginning. As such, I exactly did not want to write about Israel or Holocaust survivors or intermarriage or any other obviously Jewish topic. I just wanted to write. I wanted to work out and sharpen my voice. I know, however, that my writing is deeply informed by Jewish life and Jewish literature, especially Hebrew fiction, which comprises my literary frame of reference. I think of the world of my stories as mostly Jewish, but probably not in easily or traditionally identifiable ways.

ED: What has surprised you most about the publishing process?

THL: One specific thing: outside of nixing three whole stories, my editor requested of me virtually no major changes to any of the stories. That was surprising and extremely gratifying. On a more general level, I've been amazed at how much luck (both good and bad) is involved. No manuscript or book, no matter how great, is for everyone. But you only get one shot (if that) at each publisher and with each place that reviews books. So you hope your writing winds up with the right person at each step of the way. This isn't to say that all books are equal. The consensus that eventually forms around a book is typically, I'd guess, not arbitrary. But when you're just trying to get something published, there's no consensus to rely on. In short, there's a lot that the writer doesn't control.

ED: What advice do you have for short story writers who have yet to place their first collections?

THL: Be patient and keep writing, since that's the main thing you have control over. Find a comfortable strategy regarding the unpleasant but unavoidable matter of self-promotion. Developing and taking advantage of connections can prove crucial, especially since getting a complete stranger's attention is so difficult. But these connections are often friends or relatives or friends of friends, which means it's never just about you and your book.

ED: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us? (About your next project, other reading dates/venues, etc.)

THL: Nothing really. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my writing.

ED: Thank you, Todd!

The Task of this Translator: Stories
by Todd Hasak-Lowy
Harcourt, 2005
272 pages, Paper, $13


(C) Copyright 2005 Erika Dreifus

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs

Newbury College (Brookline, Mass.) is looking for part-time composition faculty. See the announcement at HigherEdJobs.com.

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"Yoga Journal.com is seeking a locally-connected yogi/yogini-writer to cover the local yoga scene in the form of a weekly blog. Candidates must be Chicago residents, experienced yoga practitioners, and professional writers. Yoga junkies and yoga teachers are encouraged to apply." See the craigslist announcement here.

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If you're considering pitching Merge magazine you'll doubtless find this profile of the publication helpful.

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INTHEFRAY magazine is planning an issue that will "explore religion in contemporary society" and is open to relevant submissions. See the announcement here. (Note that this magazine pays only for selected sections.)

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InTheKnowTraveler.com pays $10 for stories 450-600 words long. "First and foremost we aim to celebrate world travel by promoting its many fantastic destinations and to appreciate and accept all of its unique cultures. We present positive stories about our real travel experience. The stuff we loved and the things we want you to know before hitting the road. Please note, we are not investigative journalists. If a destination is not to our liking then we simply will not write about it." More information here.

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"The publishers of Providence Monthly [Rhode Island] are starting a new monthly lifestyle magazine in South County this fall. We are looking for freelance writers to cover all subjects. Please email a writing sample and area of interest by July 15." See the craigslist announcement here.

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Attention, Virginia poets! The application deadline for fellowships from the Virginia Commission of the Arts is August 1. You'll find the application here.