Friday Find: Quotidiana

I have only begun tapping the rich resources of Quotidiana, a Web site "dedicated to the essay." Created by Patrick Madden, an essayist and assistant professor of English at Brigham Young University, Quotidiana provides an online compendium of 269 public domain essays. Beyond that, the site also offers Madden's writing and teaching portfolios (the link to the teaching portfolio was unfortunately not working when I last checked), a section featuring his students' successes, and interviews with essayists. It's an interesting site reflecting the past, present, and future of the form. (via Lisa Romeo's blog)

A Look at Lapham's Quarterly

There's a new journal out, and it has definitely caught my interest. Lapham's Quarterly, which describes itself as "the journal that enlists the counsel of the dead," made its debut earlier this month. I haven't seen a hard copy yet, but I've spent some time at the journal's Web site. And I'm hooked. Almost--but not quite--hooked enough to shell out the $60 subscription cost (for a quarterly!).

How has this journal, the creation of former Harper's editor Lewis Lapham, managed to tempt me so? It's all in the premise. "Four times a year the editors seize upon the most urgent question then current in the headlines - foreign war, financial panic, separation of church and state - and find answers to that question from authors whose writings have passed the test of time." Truly a concept tailored to my pre-MFA academic background.

The current issue's theme is "States of War." Click here to see the amazing range of contents. You'll notice among the writings some "further remarks" apparently penned just for the journal. (Alas, I don't see any freelance guidelines on the site.) And if you happen to have seen the actual journal up close and personal, please share your impressions.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Simsubs at Glimmer Train, Avoiding Burnout, and NYTBR Notable Books

It's about time! According to the NewPages blog, Glimmer Train now accepts simultaneous submissions.
==========
I probably could have used some of these anti-burnout tips from Linda Formichelli when I was freelancing full-time.
==========
'Tis the season for lists. The New York Times Book Review gets us started with 100 Notable Books of 2007.

One More Job

Yesterday (but too late to include it in the job roundup) I ran across the announcement for a new Director/Editor-in-Chief for Ploughshares, the famed literary journal based at Emerson College in Boston. If you're curious, you'll find it here. (And even if you're not interested in applying for this particular job, reading the list of duties associated with the position will give you some idea of the range of tasks associated with running a literary journal.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Looking to expand your book reviewing practice? Check out our newly-updated and expanded directory of publications (print and online) that will pay your for your work--and specify guidelines and pay rates at their Web sites. More than 90 listings in this latest version. Download a free preview with sample listings here, and don't forget about the guide's complement, our directory of paying essay markets, also updated this month.
==========
Cherry Pie Press "produces an independent series of poetry chapbooks, the Midwest Women Poets Series. The press is committed to the women writers who place their geographic or poetic roots in the central heartlands of the Midwest. The series publishes 2 to 3 chapbooks annually" and is open for submissions. Find out more here.
==========
The Tasmanian "Island of Residencies program" welcomes applications from published writers living in Australian states and territories and around the world. Deadline is coming up fast: November 30. Click here for more information. Note: There is NO APPLICATION FEE for writers non-Australian applicants, or for Australian applicants who also applied for 2006 and 2007.
==========
Gulf Coast Writers Association is looking for short fiction for an anthology. Manuscripts must be set in Mississippi. Deadline is January 31, 2008. Pays: $25. See the guidelines here. (via CRWROPPS)
==========
Job listings seemed a bit scarce this week--possibly because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are some gleanings nonetheless:

Senior Editor, Religion Dispatches, Emory University )this job is based in San Francisco, CA);
Writer/Editor, University of Idaho;
University Editor (Marketing and Communications), John Carroll University (Ohio);
Web Editor, College of Mount St. Joseph (part-time job, Ohio); and
Web Writer/Content Editor, Villa Jolie College (Maryland)

==========
Newsletter subscribers, please look for our December issue, jam-packed with additional opportunities to market and publish your work, to land in your inboxes later this week. As always, if you're not yet a subscriber it's never too late to join us. Subscriptions are free and we do NOT share our subscribers' e-mail addresses with ANYONE. Please join us!

Wednesday Web Browser: Guy de Maupasssant, Bylines, and NonFictioNow Report

I don't recall exactly when I first encountered Guy de Maupassant's classic short story, "The Necklace." But I'm grateful to Mirta Ojito for revisiting it on NPR.
==========
Here's a frank success story on landing bylines (in the New York Times and elsewhere) from a third-semester student in NYU's graduate journalism program in cultural reporting and criticism.
==========
Lisa Romeo begins a series of blog posts recounting observations gleaned at the latest NonFictioNow conference in Iowa City.

P.S. This Practicing Writer will be taking a break from posting for the next several days. See you all back here next week, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Rejection Notes

Not having received a response regarding a short story submission I mailed out in April, I finally e-mailed the journal's editor earlier this month (as the guidelines directed me to do) to inquire. And boy, am I glad I did.

No, the acceptance hadn't been lost in the mail. But frankly, this comes close.

The journal's editor responded to my inquiry within the day. She told me she simply couldn't locate the story. And she offered to read the story and respond to it within a week--if I e-mailed another copy.

That impressed me. She was polite, she was gracious, and she wasn't going to make me mail the entire (rather long) piece out again. And she was going to read the story herself! Soon!

Wait--it gets better. Because she actually did read the story. And she actually did respond. Promptly.

Yes, she rejected the story (very politely, though). More important, after starting with some brief praise and encouragement, she gave me some concrete suggestions for improving the story. And in another full paragraph (can you believe it?), she raised a question that I'd never considered, and that, truly, opened possibilities for the story I really had never envisioned, and probably wouldn't have ever envisioned on my own.

And here's the best part. She didn't push the suggestions on me. As in, "I would suggest, if you decide to do another revision...."

I was already impressed with the journal she edits. That's why I submitted the story in the first place. Now I'm even more impressed.

Best of all, I'm motivated to return to that story and push its (and my) limits.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Oh, happy time! This weekend the latest iteration (it's updated every fall and spring) of our ever-popular Directory of Paying Essay Markets went online. Now expanded to include more than 125 print, online, and anthology markets that will pay for your essays--and provide their guidelines and pay rates online. Check it out here, where you can download a preview with free sample listings.
==========
The Massachusetts Review has updated its guidelines. Notable: The journal now accepts submissions electronically; there's a $3 charge per annual reading period to use this system. More information here.
==========
New feature at the Common Ties blog: The "20 Questions" section encourages writers "to share their answers in the form of very short [true] short stories/snippets." Pays: $50 per accepted answer and $50 per accepted recording. Also pays for artwork. Find the questions and guidelines here.
==========
The 2008 sentences have arrived! The first lines chosen to begin the stories that will be featured in The First Line next year have been posted. Click here for more information. Pays: $20/story, $10/essay. And to learn more about The First Line, please consult my "Literary Spotlight" article in the September 2007 issue of The Writer.
==========
This week's non-teaching jobs for writers:

Senior Writer, Princeton University (New Jersey);
Administrative Dean's Fellow, Seton Hall University (New Jersey);
Managing Editor, International Center of Photography (New York);
Director of Publications and Alumni Relations, Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts);
Assistant Director of Communications and Web Editor, Pomona College (California); and
Associate Editor, Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
==========
And once again, a new batch of teaching jobs:

Assistant/Associate Professor of Writing and Literature (fiction-writing emphasis), Chester College of New England (New Hampshire);
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, William Paterson University (New Jersey); and
Emerging Writer Lecturer, Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania).

Friday Find: Poems for Thanksgiving

Next week brings Thanksgiving here in the United States, so it seems appropriate to point you to this piece on "Poems for Thanksgiving" over on the Academy of American Poets Web site. It's true that not everyone finds Thanksgiving a happy occasion, and the piece acknowledges that truth, too. Readable and worth thinking about.

Matthew Lippman's One-to-One Poetry Consultations

This is an atypical post. This blog is ad-free, and I like it that way. But when the poet leading my past and present online poetry workshops approached me for suggestions on publicizing his "virtual" consulting practice, I immediately offered to help him out myself. (Technically, I guess, I haven't violated my no-ad policy, to the extent that I am not being paid to post this!)

And when I read what he sent me to share with you, I was even happier that I'd made that offer. Why? Because learning about his approach to his one-to-one e-consulting will also give you a glimpse into how this very accomplished poet-teacher line-edits and critiques poetry. Valuable insight, freely available on the blog.

So without further ado, I present...Matthew Lippman and his one-to-one poetry consultations.

Matthew Lippman is a poet and a teacher. In 2005 he won the Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Prize for his poetry manuscript, The New Year of Yellow, which was published in January of 2007 by Sarabande Press. He has been a high school English teacher for 11 years. Currently he teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at Chatham High School in upstate New York, and has been a member of the faculty, Writing Division, in Columbia University's Summer Program for High School Students, as well as an instructor at The Gotham Writers' Workshop. In 1990 he received his MFA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and in 1997 he was granted a master's in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. His poetry has been published widely in such journals and anthologies such as The American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn, and The Best American Poetry of 1997. In 1991 he was the recipient of the James Michener/Paul Engle Poetry Fellowship from the University of Iowa; in 2004 he won a New York State Foundation of the Arts grant for his fiction.

Matthew Lippman's One-to-One Poetry Consultations

I offer one-to-one poetry consultations that run eight weeks and consist of a weekly lecture, assignment and line-by-line critique. The lectures are about a specific poet or poetic theme. The critiquing process is very thorough and involved. The assignment is based on the lecture [Editor's Note: lecture is sent via e-mail] and after the critique is given, I ask that you show me a revision which I also comment on.

Cost: $600 for eight weeks

Lectures

The weekly lectures focus on two elements/aspects of poetry. The first is to focus on a particular poet. I will talk about his/her style, voice, presence in the poetry and then give five or six poems by the poet for you to read. I have written about everyone from Jane Miller to Marianne Moore to Juan Felipe Herrera to Billy Collins. The second type of lecture focus on a specific motif, i.e. "time" in poetry or The Poetry of War. In these lectures, I will ruminate on a subject and then have you read a number of poems by different poets that fit under the umbrella of the weekly theme.

Assignments and Critiques

The assignments are based on the lecture. For instance, if the lecture of the week is based on Work Poetry, I will ask you to write a worksong. If the lecture focuses on a specific poet, I will ask you to write a poem in the "spirit" of that poet.

Critiques are intensive and thorough. I do a line by line critique of the poem which addresses all aspects of the poem from voice to diction to the use of imagery, the use of figurative language. I will then ask to see a revision of the poem.

Example of critique (Editor's Note: Poet Lauren Hewitt has granted permission for Matthew to republish her poem and his accompanying critique.)

The Edge of a Sphere

An unborn sees through concave surroundings
Slippery in its bubble (I love this line, so wet and true.)
Adorned in expectations(I don't know if this rings true, "adorned in expectations" only that, how can we know what those unborn creatures know, feel, etc.), and
Dressed in dreams of the living
Haunted by what has gone before
It witnesses from a floating realm: (These three lines are wonderful. I might cut "adorned in expectations" and have the piece read, "Slippery in its bubble/and dressed in dreams…" This feels right to me. It's because the phrase that I keep referring to, feels over-written. A bit Baroque. But the rest of the writing feels much more grounded and organic.)

The Catahoula bayou, thick
Muggy, yeasty (beautiful)
Good for raising dough
Hot as an oven
Lime moss hangin' low
Silhouette draped Myrtles with
Profiles of breast-plated Spaniards
Ladled sockets where eyes supposed (great image)
Weathered stone statuary sinks slowly into dripping emerald, while (the alliteration here works well.)
Green eats its own vomit. (Spectacular stanza. It is everything to me that poetry is--delicious in content and in the execution of expressing/illustrating the content. It's as lush as that lime moss and that green that "eats its own vomit.")

Some things aren't born 'til they're dead
Like pressed flowers or a red-oak rocker (Great stuff here.)
It's like,
My Leopard Hound getting prone in the flats because
She's got that Louisiana heavy
She can't help it; she's just got to get muddy
She's got one cracked-glass, marbled grey eye
And, another one that is yellow-gold, like a cat's. (Lauren, this writing is huge. It's so evocative and pure in the way that you see something out there in the world and you know it is right in its bones. The moment when you write, "She's got that Louisiana heavy…" is so fresh and finely tuned. So far, the poem feels incredibly crafted. You capture too, a bit of that Wright feeling, and I am duly impressed. It feels to me as if you are onto something new here. Something, as I said before, fresh.)

Eyes are around us (Is the "us" the speaker and the Hound? It's a little unclear here.)
Stationed infants under plastic
Pale and feeling for an opening in the ice
Gape mouth and cradled in the bony arms of the dead
Like finding an edge on a sphere
Little chubby finger tips keep slippin'
Scoopin' for eyes, and
Until they find that edge… they ain't goin'nowhere. (The writing here is very evocative but I am not sure, as of yet, what/who these infants are? "Stationed infants under plastic/Pale…" has me wondering? I'm not sure. It's important that the writing be both evocative and accessible. In this stanza, the poetry is fascinating but I find myself groping.)

Everything living has linear propulsion
It has periphery
It has dimension
Everything dead lies still, and
Decomposes
Everything unborn resides in death's crevasses. (Yes…This is an important and powerful stanza. It brings together the satellites of thought that you have set in motion. It's an excellent moment in the poem. It provides perspective and is illuminating. It is the holy trinity of ideas in the poem. I love the last line of the stanza. It's beautifully rendered and I dig the notion--that everything not born is not dead but lives in the crevasses of death. It's Rilkean, a bit of Blake too. Great stuff.)

Like how an ol' salmon fish gets home (And the leap is great. That you move from the heady to the "ol' salmon getting" home. Such a nice shift. Also, the shift in tone works too. You are moving all over the place in the poem. It has texture, layers. Is built upon itself. Damn fine. Damn fine.)
After a long comfy life at sea
It's gotta swim upstream
It's gotta find home so's it can die;
Can't die 'til it's home
She's gotta find some edges (The edge of a sphere. Brilliant and subtle) in the stream
Some tangled rock to receive her eggs
Little globes ogle (I would cut this line. A bit too much.)
Bouncing free, slitherin' through stream
Until the catch of tumbled river rock traps 'em. (Excellent)

I was digging deep today (Another tone shift. Another shift in vision. Yet you stay with the spine, connected to the spine of the poem. These last three stanzas are some of your best writing yet. Impressive.)
At the edge of the foundation of a weeping cottage that was built in 1913
It needed to be repaired for wood rot and water damage
I had to dig down through three or four generations (This moment here is so poignant, "four generations"--of earth, rock, family. It all makes sense here. It's fantastic.)
Where run-off had covered a sand box
Within three shovels of one another
I unearthed two glass marbles,
A grey blue merle-like one, and
A blonde-bullion cat-eye.

Lauren--This is an incredible poem. This poem is unbelievable. It gets stronger as it moves on. The last three stanzas are particularly powerful. I love what you are doing here. How you go about it, how you kick up the dust and heave me into this world of the unborn, and then shot me back into the past, the digging at the end. What impresses me most here is the shift between stanzas--in tone and voice--because it illustrates a kind of poetic maturity and the rise of vision. I knew it all along, back there in the good ol' days of [previous online workshop] , that you had something going on. Well, it has come to fruition here, in this poem. I would look at the first four stanzas closely and make some small revisions. But the fourth stanza is the one that needs the most work. After that, though, the poem is a conflagration of poetic beauty. It's the raw intensity coupled with the magnetic language. I read this and I feel like I am reading some new voice that I have never been privy to. And believe me, I've been reading poetry for a long time. So, have a stiff drink and get down to the business of the next poem.

What I meant about "Southern Writers" or writers from a region is that they share a sensibility of landscape, of voice and tone of voice. There is a shared language. It's like people who grew up in NYC and then, to get more microscopic--Brooklyn is Brooklyn and a whole different world than Queens. And then in Brooklyn, the neighborhood of Park Slope is radically different than that of Canarsie. It's fluid, yes, but there is that voice that permeates. Faulkner, O'Connor, Capote, McCarthy, Welty--brilliant and nuts and whacky and Southern.

I understand what you mean about the self-indulgent, the confessional. It can get boring at times. There is something about writing from a place outside and then letting the inside in, economically though. It's a removed intimacy. A well intentioned and beautifully fabricated lie that speaks volumes of resonant truths about self and the world--this, for me, is the heart of a moving poem.

Okay. Hope this floats your boat. Am sending the third lecture and assignment in a different email.

Great stuff. I am enjoying this immensely. Best, Matthew

To find out more--or to inquire about your own series of consultations with Matthew--please e-mail him here. And, newsletter subscribers--you can look forward to an interview with Matthew on the topic of teaching online in the next issue.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Mourning Mailer, Fiction Tips, and An Award-Winning Memoir

As you probably already know, Norman Mailer passed away on Saturday. Revisit the master and his work at The Elegant Variation.

==========
Also at TEV, you'll find a number of intriguing guest posts penned by our pal, Joshua Henkin. Topics include: questions every writer should ask when writing his/her novel; present-tense stories; and a pet peeve you'll have to discover yourself.

==========
I don't know about you, but I'm always interested to learn about the books that win the prestigious contests. So I was primed to appreciate this story about a memoir/memoirist that recently captured the AWP Award in Creative Nonfiction. Add to that the facts that the story focuses on a family bakery and that I'm a baker's granddaughter and, well, I was captivated.

Low-Residency/Summer Study MFA Program List Updated

One of the most popular pages visited at this blog is the one offering a compilation of links to low-residency/summer study MFA programs in creative writing. Last week I updated/expanded that list, so if you haven't visited for awhile, you might want to mosey on over and take a look.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Crab Orchard Review has extended the deadline for submissions for a special issue on "The In-Between Age: Writers on Adolescence" to November 30. Details here.
==========
Ascent Magazine, a quarterly journal of "yoga and engaged spirituality," has posted its editorial theme calendar into 2009. View it here and be sure to read the full writers' guidelines on the site, too. Paying Canadian publication.
==========
Nuestra Gente Utah, a Hispanic lifestyle magazine, seeks freelance writers. Pays: $75-$240. More information here.
==========
"SmartBrief is seeking a part-time freelance writer (up to 25 hours per week) to help create daily e-mail publications focusing travel. If you love to research and write and thrive in a demanding, fast-paced, deadline-intensive work environment, you'll fit right in." Pays: "Negotiable." See the announcement here.
==========
Cliff Road Books is looking to for contract writers. "Two wonderful book projects on our 2008 list need authors. One is the "Green Guide to Daily Living," a 500- page compendium for the consumer. Short hits on everything green, from solar power to green funerals, from petrol-free vehicles to Earth-friendly gardening. The other is a Civil War reader, a 550-page collection that sparkles with interesting facts and trivia, lists, and info boxes. Neither of the books should have the tone of a textbook. Contents should be in the form of one- or two-page topics." See the full announcement here.
==========
This week's non-teaching jobs for writers:

Development Writer, Rice University (Texas)
Curriculum Writer, Southern Poverty Law Center (Alabama)
Marketing Coordinator, Mills College (California)
Campaign Writer, Rutgers (New Jersey)
Web Content Editor/Writer, Brooklyn College/CUNY (New York)
Advancement Writer, University of Rochester (New York)
Director of Editorial Services, University of Rochester (New York)
Public Relations Writer, St. John's University (New York)
Senior Press Officer, The New School (New York)
Communications Writer/Specialist (School of Graduate Studies), Norwich University (Vermont)
Web Editor (School of Graduate Studies), Norwich University (Vermont)
Marketing and Communications Manager, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions.
==========
And, last but not least, this week's teaching jobs:

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (2 positions, one in fiction, one open genre), Eastern Kentucky University;
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (poetry), Roger Williams University (Rhode Island);
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Framingham State College (Massachusetts);
Assistant Professor (fiction specialist), College of Saint Rose (New York)

Friday Finds: Author Interviews

In part because of some of my current day job responsibilities, author interviews are very much on my mind this week. So I send special thanks to Margaret Foley, who co-edits Thereby Hangs a Tale, for serendipitously writing in with a note about that site's collection of author interviews, and to B.J. Epstein, a Windy City native, for pointing me to Chicago Magazine's series of Q&A features with notable writers (scroll down for archived interviews).

That should give you some reading material for the weekend! See you back here next week.

Job Opportunity with the New Hampshire Writers' Project

Earlier this week I learned (via the Wompo listserv) about a job opening for Executive Director of the New Hampshire Writers' Project.

Here are the details:

The New Hampshire Writers’ Project, a vibrant, independent nonprofit literary arts organization based in Manchester, NH, seeks an executive director to oversee administration, fundraising, programming, publications, membership, and public relations. The Writers’ Project serves all aspects of the writing and publishing field in New Hampshire and offers programs and services to writers, from aspiring to established, and to people who love writing and reading.

The successful candidate will have strong editorial, marketing, print production, and fundraising skills as well as program, people, and project management skills and up-to-date computer skills. While no candidate embodies every desired quality and some skills can be learned on the job, the ideal person for this position will offer many of the skills and experiences listed below. He or she will demonstrate:

* A passion for writers and writing.
* Knowledge of NH’s literary and cultural community.
* Entrepreneurial, nonprofit, or business management experience.
* Program development experience.
* Superior oral and written communication skills.
* Experience developing promotional copy and print publications.
* Experience scheduling projects and managing people.
* Organizational skills.
* Budgeting experience.
* Computer skills. (Our office regularly uses Word, Excel, FilemakerPro,
Dreamweaver, and Photoshop.)
* Ability to handle multiple projects with efficiency and good humor.
* Self-motivation, perseverance, and ability to thrive under deadline pressure.
* Ability to work independently and collaboratively, as part of a team and with
staff, board, and volunteers.

The executive director manages three part-time employees, as well as freelance designers and editors; this position reports to NHWP’s president. It is a 32-hour-a-week position. Salary to mid-thirties, commensurate with experience. Position open until filled.

To apply, send resume, cover letter, and three brief writing samples to Executive Director Search Committee, NHWP, 2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106. NO PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS. For more information about the organization, please take a look at our Web site.

And you'll find that Web site here.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Romain Gary, Ms. Mentor, and My Friend Deb

Check out this fabulous and comprehensive article about Romain Gary, the author of one of my favorite novels.

==========
In her latest column, the ever-sagacious Ms. Mentor addresses the plight of an adjunct instructor of composition who just can't seem to land a full-time, tenure-track job.

==========
Kudos to my dear friend Deb, a rapidly-publishing practicing writer whose latest article--on immunizations--appears here. And today's her birthday, too. Happy Birthday, Deb!

Some Thoughts on Patience and Resilience

(For those of you who missed our most recent newsletter, here's an essay that appeared within.)

THE SKIN THICKENS

by Erika Dreifus

One morning not so very long ago, while I sat at my desk surrounded by manuscripts waiting to be paper-clipped together and slipped into envelopes for mailing to various literary magazines and journals and contests, and by shelves filled with binders bursting with copies of query letters and cover letters and submissions, I realized I couldn't quite deny the sense that in some ways I had fallen into a field for which I'm utterly unsuited. Because, from earliest childhood, I've hated to wait. And I've hated rejection.

We all accept certain basic time gaps involved in the writing process. We know to set a draft aside for awhile before returning to revise it. We learn (if we're lucky, not necessarily by direct experience) that editors don't appreciate being asked the status of a submission a mere day or two after they receive it.

But as writers we also encounter something quite different, connected all too frequently with flat-out rejection. For we may wait (and not impossibly, up to a year, or even longer: just check the response statistics compiled at one Web site, Duotrope's Digest), so that our manuscripts may be rejected by the editors of journals and magazines. By agents. By publishers. By those who judge contests and fellowships.

Further, rejection these days is even less controlled than it used to be. Once upon a time I had to wait for the letter carrier to bring those dismissals to my doorstep. So in the early mornings and late evenings, and on Sundays, and on federal holidays, I was safe.

No longer. Thanks to the Internet, rejections can arrive any day, any time. Now they ping their way into my inbox near midnight midweek, and on Sunday afternoons, and even on holidays.

But here's the amazing part: Even I can find some bright spots. I've learned that a steady diet of waiting and rejection makes one savor all the more not only the acceptances and publications, but also the occasions when timely, polite, and even friendly responses arrive. Often I find myself celebrating, even reveling in those "passes" that include just a few personal words of explanation and encouragement. And over time I've actually received a few compliments from those close enough to me to observe a notable increase in my resilience in the face of rejection, as well as a discernable development in my patience quotient.

Has my skin thickened? I think so. But I knew that morning sitting among my envelopes and binders--as I understood nearing the end of this essay and thinking ahead to mailing it out for consideration, that to be certain, I'll have to wait and see.

(Editor's Note: In this case, my patience and resilience paid off, and a version of this essay appeared in the July 2007 issue of ByLine Magazine.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Oregon Humanities, "a journal of ideas and perspectives published twice a year by the Oregon Council for the Humanities," is now accepting submissions for its Spring 2008 issue, which will focus on the theme of "Strangers." Deadline for feature proposals and essay drafts is November 13, 2007. Pays: $50-$800, depending on the department and the length/complexity of the piece. Check the detailed guidelines here.

==========
The Danforth Review, a Canada-based online journal, is open to short story submissions during the month of November (for its December issue). Pays: $100 (CDN). Guidelines here.

==========
Legacy magazine "offers a thought-provoking look at the field of heritage interpretation through articles about individuals who interpret natural and cultural history, biographies of important figures in or related to the field, discussions of interpretive sites, and trends in interpretation." Its March/April 2008 will be themed "Interpreting Peace." Queries are due by December 10, 2007. Content includes feature articles, commentary, profiles, "visitor's view" pieces describing visits to specific sites, and book reviews. Pays: $75-$300. See guidelines here.

==========
Thanks to Eloise Klein Healy for forwarding information about Arktoi Books, her imprint at Red Hen Press, which publishes "works of high literary quality by lesbian writers." Submissions are now being accepted (through the rest of November) in poetry; in 2008, submissions will be accepted in fiction; in 2009 in poetry; in 2010 in nonfiction). Payment: book publication and a contract from Red Hen Press.

==========
This week's non-teaching jobs for writers go beyond the college/university campus environment:

Managing Editor (Nevada Humanities/Online Nevada Encyclopedia), University of Nevada-Reno;
Creative Copywriter, University of California/Riverside;
Communications Specialist, Carbonfund.org (Maryland);
Communications Specialist, Institute of International Education (Washington, DC);
Part-time Web Editor/Content Manager, Museum of the City of New York;
Part-time Assistant Information Officer, German Academic Exchange Officer (DAAD) (New York); and
Editor-in-Chief, Do Something (New York).

==========
And this week's teaching jobs include:

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (fiction), Hamline University (Minnesota);
Assistant/Associate Professor (American Literature/Fiction Writing), Bethany College (West Virginia);
Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (Poetry), Roger Williams University (Rhode Island);
Scholar-in-Residence, Central State University (Ohio); and
"Creative Writing position to teach poetry, fiction, and non-fiction; modern and contemporary British, European, or American literature; and first-year composition courses," Framingham State College (Massachusetts).

Friday Find: "11 Things You Could Start Doing Today for the Benefit of Your Students' Writing"

My "day job" has reacquainted me with the Tomorrow's Professor blog, and recently I discovered quite a find there. "11 Things You Could Start Doing Today for the Benefit of Your Students' Writing" provides some truly terrific tips, plus a link to an even more expansive resource. Check it out! And have a great weekend.

From My Bookshelf: Triangle, by Katharine Weber

I've recently finished reading Katharine Weber's excellent historical novel, Triangle, and posted about it on my other blog. Please surf on over and read my comments, and add your own!