Quotation of the Week: Anais Nin

I can't recall when/where I discovered this quotation, but it is one that has stayed with me.

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."

--Anaïs Nin

(Of course, in an ideal world, a translator would be credited.)

The Wednesday Web Browser: NYT Edition

As usual, the NYT After Deadline blog provides useful reminders on grammar, usage, and style.
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How wonderful it was to open the paper a few days ago and see a big, fat article about Open Letter Books, "a small, year-old press here affiliated with the University of Rochester that publishes nothing but literature in translation."
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Like many of you, I suspect, I was caught up for several days this summer following the coverage of Senator Edward M. Kennedy's passing. I've been meaning to read his memoir, True Compass (and I'll do so in 2010). All of which made this piece by Jonathan Karp, the memoir's editor/publisher, compelling reading.
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Adam Begley's travel article on Stendhal's Parma was also quite relevant to me!
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Finally: The NYT asked six prominent authors to name (and read from) books they could never discard.

New Publication: "Solar Damage," in the Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine

Just about a year ago, I alluded to a challenging experience I was dealing with. A single comment from one medical professional whom I met through that experience sparked a new poem. (You all know how that works.)

I am proud to say that that poem has just been published by the Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine (YJHM). The poem's title, drawn from the comment in question, is "Solar Damage."

(By the way, for those of who may recall and/or share my dilemma over how to determine whether a given piece should be written as prose or as poetry, you may find this comment from the YJHM poetry editor interesting [he's referring to both poems I submitted, although he accepted only one]: "Your poetry has a strong flavor of prose and I considered whether these poems should actually be prose poems. However, I don't think so. The enjambment and slant rhymes make them work as verse.")

I invite you to read my poem and, more important, to get to know the broader offerings of the YJHM.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

The University of Mississippi Summer Poetry Residency "supports a poet who desires a quiet, beautiful location in which to further his or her work, and it lasts four weeks, from June 15 to July 15." It "is designed for poets who have at least one book (either published or under contract) and no more than two books" and includes some special lodging (read announcement for details), a travel reimbursement, and a $1,500 honorarium. There is no application fee. Deadline: January 15, 2010.
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"World Hum updates daily and is dedicated to publishing travel stories, videos and slideshows of the highest quality. Since World Hum's inception in 2001, stories from the site have appeared in "The Best American Travel Writing" anthologies and Travelers' Tales anthologies, and they have won Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers." Posts "several types of features," including travel stories, "speaker's corner" essays, book reviews "and other travel book-related pieces," and more. "Payment varies."
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From JournalismJobs.com: "The Forward, a prestigious national Jewish newspaper founded in 1897, is developing a network of freelance reporters available to cover stories in major urban centers, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Boston for our English language edition. We are also interested in writers based abroad. We are looking for journalists able to pitch ideas and accept short-notice assignments on issues of interest to our readers who can tell the story in generally 800-1,200 words. These include stories dealing with Judaism, religion and spirituality, labor, civil rights, interethnic and interfaith relations, U.S.-Israel relations and Middle East-related activism, Jewish culture and arts, and personality profiles. A willingness to work with editors to hone stories to a fine point of clarity is a must."
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Posted on Chronicle.com: "The Department of English and the BFA program at Stephen F. Austin State University [Texas] seeks applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, with a specialization in fiction and a strong secondary strength in creative nonfiction or poetry."
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Georgia College & State University is looking for a Writer/Editor, Clark University (Mass.) seeks an Online Community Director, and Emporia State University (Kan.) invites applications for a Director of Advancement Communications.

Back on Monday

Today marks the beginning of my own brief vacation. Please indulge me in an even shorter hiatus from the blog. I'll be back on Monday morning with the usual round-up. And midweek, subscribers can expect the jam-packed January 2010 issue of The Practicing Writer to arrive in their e-mailboxes. (Never too late to subscribe, you know!) Meantime, I wish a very merry Christmas to those practicing writers who celebrate it. See you back here on Monday.

The Wednesday Web Browser

John Griswold ("Oronte Churm") offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of a day at Dalkey Archive Press, the well-known publisher of translated literature in the United States.
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According to Meghan Daum, "Kirkus Reviews may have been annoying, but its successors are inane."
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The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, responds to questions about editing David Foster Wallace's work, past and posthumous present. (via The Book Bench)
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The new (January/February 2010) issue of Poets & Writers is out. Check out some of the online content here.

Quotation of the Week: Willa Cather

Once again, I bring you a quotation that came to me via The Southeast Review's writing regimen (although I do think I've heard it bandied about in the past).

"Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen." --Willa Cather

What do you think, practicing writers? Agree? Disagree? How is this quotation relevant (or not) to your own writing practice?

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

First things first: Find out who won our market e-book giveaways here!
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Sage Cohen has announced a scholarship (worth $250) for one of her Poetry for the People online classes. The courses (Level 1 and Level 2) begin in mid-January, and scholarship applications will be welcomed through Monday, December 28. There's no application fee. (By the way, Sage has recently signed her second book deal with Writer's Digest Books: We can look forward to The Productive Writer: Success Strategies for Writing More and Selling More, to be released in 2010. Congratulations, Sage! I, for one, am already looking forward to that book!)
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Attention, Canadian poets! The Arc Poetry Magazine Poet in Residence opportunity is open to Canadian citizens "with a strong background in the practice of contemporary poetry." This "virtual residency" will run from October 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The Poet in Residence provides mentoring and feedback to "poets whose work shows promise." The selected poet will also produce a commissioned work for publication in Arc and will travel to help promote the launch of the issue containing his/her work. Pays: "The contract fee for the poet in residence will be $9,000 [Canadian dollars], which will be paid on a monthly basis. Standard writer's fee rates will apply" for the work that appears in the magazine. Deadline: January 31, 2010 (received). There is no application fee.
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From the Poets & Writers contest blog: "The M Restaurant Group, China-based sponsor of the Shanghai International Literary Festival, is offering two three-month residencies in China and India to writers of any nationality working in English. One residency, in the bustling city of Shanghai, will take place before March 2011, and the India residency—located, by contrast, in a somewhat isolated area near the southern town of Pondicherry—will occur between November 2010 and February 2011. Each residents will receive one thousand dollars in addition to airfare, lodging, and meals (or, in the case of the Shanghai resident, a stipend to cover meals). Poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers are all eligible." Deadline: January 15, 2010 (received). No application fee indicated.
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For those practicing writers residing in my former state of Massachusetts: 2010 Artist Fellowships in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction will be awarded in sums of $7,500/fellowship and $500/finalist. Applications will be accepted through January 25, 2010. There is no application fee indicated.
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From MomBloggersClub.com: "If you would like to share blogging tips or your perspective on mom blogging, here's your chance to do it. We're looking for blogging how-to articles, opinion pieces, and essays about mom blogging to be featured in the weekly member newsletter and published here on the Mom Bloggers Club. Word count: 400-800 words." Pays: "$25 per article that will be paid via PayPal one month after publication." Will consider "exceptional" reprints.
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From the University of Central Oklahoma: Seeking "Writer in residence, novelist and/or short story writer; play/screenwriting experience desirable. Teach two classes per semester, including advanced novel or short story writing and introductory creative writing classes; serve on M.F.A. and M.A. thesis committees in creative writing; participate in co-curricular activities in support of the creative writing program."
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Bowling Green State University (Ohio) seeks a Writer/Communication Specialist, the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) seeks a Senior Staff Assistant with significant writing responsibilities, and Hendrix College (Ark.) is looking for an Associate Director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language.

Friday Find: Free Market Guides!

[UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you all for the comments. I'm always interested in what you've been up to and what your future goals may be. I really appreciate the participation here.

Our two winners (per the random number generator) are #2 (Rob) and #9 (Joan Bailey). Rob and Joan, please e-mail me to claim your prize. Please indicate which e-book you would like to receive, and the e-mail address where you'd prefer to receive it. Congratulations!]

So, in case you missed Monday's announcement, I've just completed the latest updates for both of our market directories. One provides information on publications that pay essayists, and the other concentrates on paying venues for book reviewers.

I update these guides twice each year (admittedly, not the most exciting work in the world) to check links, make sure each publication is still in business AND is indicating its guidelines AND pay rates online, and, when we're lucky, add new finds. You can see what each guide is all about, and peruse sample listings, by clicking here.

Now, here's the fun part. Since this evening marks the conclusion of Chanukah, I'm going to offer a giveaway. Actually, I'll offer two giveaways. I'm feeling generous.


Our two lucky winners will each be able to select a free copy of the e-book of his/her choice. To enter, please leave a comment on this post telling us about a) the publication you're proudest to have added to your credits in 2009 OR b) a publication you're hoping to crack in 2010. Please be sure to leave your name AND check back at the blog on Monday morning (12/22) when the winners--who will be selected randomly--will be revealed. Please note that any winner who does not contact me by Tuesday midnight (U.S. Eastern time) will forfeit the prize.

Sound clear? Oh, and one more thing--this blog's comments are moderated, so don't worry if your comment doesn't appear right away.

Thanks for playing, and good luck!

A Poem About a Poet by Anne Whitehouse

I have a superb offering for you today: a poem by Anne Whitehouse. This poem is included in Anne's new poetry collection, Blessings and Curses (Poetic Matrix Press). And, appropriately for this blog's purposes, it's a poem inspired by a writing workshop. My deep thanks to Anne for the gift of permission to republish this piece.


CURSE IX

He was not good or kind,
but he was memorable.
He was the Poet,
and we the disciples
each week seeking
the benefit of his insight
as we sat around the table
listening politely
while he free-associated,
his random thoughts
drifting into aperçus
delivered in a high-pitched
nasal voice, the ash
hanging off his cigarette
until it dropped by itself.

At the interview
for admission to the class
I was in awe of him.
“These are yours?” he asked,
indicating my Fogg Poems.
In suspense I assented.
“Not bad,” he continued,
and paused. “But there are
so many of them.”
He sighed, leafing
through the seven pages
as if they constituted a burden.
“You’re in the class,” he said,
handing them back to me.

Believing he must be right,
I let him influence me.
From that day on
I dared not add another poem,
though possibilities still
occurred to me,
I ignored my ideas
until they went away.
At the time I didn’t know
he was writing his own series
of loosely-titled sonnets
hundreds of them
he would publish
in multiple versions
under two titles.

**

As winter melted into spring,
his mind grew unhinged.
One afternoon in class,
hearing workmen
making a racket
in the room below us,
he flew into a rage
and shouted at them
through the ceiling,
banging his chair
on the floor in retaliation.

Another time I saw him
shuffling across Mass. Ave.
in bedroom slippers
looking lost and dazed.

At his poetry reading at The Advocate,
he could barely speak.
The week before his collapse
he put aside student work
and, ignoring us,
closed his eyes and intoned,
“A bracelet of hair about the bone.”

“A bracelet of hair about the bone,”
he uttered the line again
and again, in a trance,
his voice growing fainter
until at last he grew silent.

We fled, leaving him
clutching his dead cigarette,
the ash scattered on the table,
staring into nothing.

(Bonus: Check out practicing writer John Vanderslice (Creating Van Gogh)'s review of Blessings and Curses for the Santa Fe Writers Project.)

The Wednesday Web Browser

Dorothy Stephens shares her experience in self-publishing. (Check out the addendum on marketing tips linked at the bottom of the page.)
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Michael Idov describes the challenge of translating his own novel.
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Much as we might want to deny this truth, every author needs professional headshots (at least, that's what Jane Friedman says).
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Last week, while waiting for an out-of-office meeting to begin, I snuck in a read of the latest One Story offering, "The Restoration of the Villa Where Tibor Kálmán Once Lived," by Tamas Dobozy. It's a gripping, painful, extraordinary work of historical/war fiction. Check out the interview with the author here.

Quotation of the Week: Anne Rice

I've subscribed to The Southeast Review's Writing Regimen for the month of December, and one benefit that I'm really appreciating is the receipt of a literary quotation each morning. Here's one--sad but true--that I received over the weekend.

"Writers write about what obsesses them. You draw those cards. I lost my mother when I was 14. My daughter died at the age of 6. I lost my faith as a Catholic. When I'm writing, the darkness is always there. I go where the pain is."
--Anne Rice

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Interesting changes in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition: "Amazon.com, along with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. For the first time, the competition will award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. The 2010 competition will also now be open to novels that have previously been self-published. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance." Note: "Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 25, 2010 through February 7, 2010." No entry fee.
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From the WritersMarket.com newsletter: "There is still time to enter the 5th annual Freelance Success Stories contest. This free contest is looking for real stories of freelance success. These should be personal stories (first person) and true. First place will receive $750 and publication in the 2011 Writer's Market. Submission rules: Stories should be 800-1,500 words. Submit as .doc (not .docx) or .txt attachment, or in the body of the e-mail message. Subject line should read Freelance Success Stories (or there's a chance it could be deleted without being read). E-mail submissions only to writersmarket[at]fwmedia[dot]com."
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WOW! (Women on Writing) plans a March issue on Young Adult (YA) lit. Guest editor Margo Dill is looking for a variety of interviews and articles. Check the detailed call for submissions here. Pays: $50-$150/article.
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Memoir (and) is currently reading contest submissions for prizes in memoir in prose or poetry and in graphic memoir. Cash awards ($500/$250/$100 for prose or poetry and $100 for graphic memoir), plus publication and copies of the journal. No entry fee. Deadline: February 15, 2010. (via Kathleen A. Ryan/Women of Mystery)
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It wasn't easy, but I managed to finish the semiannual updates to both our guide to paying markets for essayists and the one for book reviewers. (Clicking on the links will allow you to check out the free previews for each guide, complete with complimentary sample listings.) Give yourself a holiday gift (or two!).
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Recent posts on the Guide to Literary Agents blog will help you meet agent Adriann Ranta, who is looking for "fiction and limited nonfiction, with an emphasis on children’s, middle grade, and young adult books. She is most interested in realistic, true-to-life stories with conflicts based in the real world. She likes edgy, dark, challenging voices, unique settings, and everyman stories told with a new spin." You can also get to know agent Josh Getzler, who seeks "mysteries, thrillers, literary and commercial fiction, young adult and middle grade (particularly adventures and mysteries for boys)." Plus, there's a "new agent alert" spotlighting Natalie Fischer, who is looking for "historical and narrative nonfiction (including memoir, biography, and popular science/culture) and literary and creative fiction in these areas: historical, young adult/teen, women’s, romance (contemporary and historical), cross-cultural, and select paranormal."
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Norwich University (Vt.) has advertised a "One-year Appointment as Visiting Instructor/Assistant Professor of English - Creative nonfiction or advanced writing. There is a possibility of extending this position to a second year."
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Kent State University (Ohio) seeks a Writer, the University of Chicago (Ill.) is looking for a Senior Marketing Writer and Strategist, and Boston University seeks a Writer/Editor.

Friday Find: Poems for Chanukah

As the lighting of the first Chanukah candle approaches, the Academy of American Poets provides Poems for Chanukah. For those who celebrate it, Happy Chanukah. For everyone, have a great weekend and see you back here on Monday.

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Readings and Lectures on iTunes U

If you're one of those writers who yearns to attend the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference but who, for whatever reason, has never quite made it to Vermont, you may be especially glad to know that you can download readings and lectures presented at the Conference. Free! Without traveling! (Hat tip to Celeste Ng/the FWR blog for reminding me that this resource is available.)

The Wednesday Web Browser: Tech Edition

Jane Friedman has compiled a list of "Twitter Tips for Writers." Which will come in handy, no doubt, once I cave in and launch a Twitter account/feed of my own. (See also Robert Lee Brewer's Twitter Cheat Sheet for Writers.)
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I may be behind the times insofar as Twitter is concerned, but after witnessing David Pogue present at a conference last week, I definitely know where to go to learn more about technology more broadly. For example, this video has taught me something about e-readers--while making me smile.
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And speaking of e-readers, did you hear the news that The Atlantic has begun publishing stories exclusively on the Kindle? (For some good commentary on this, see Midge Raymond's post here.)

Quotation of the Week: Joshua Henkin

"Every writer is faced with the same question: do you write about what you know or what you don't know? Some of my writing students, particularly my undergraduates, err to one extreme or the other. They write simply what they know, which is a transcript of Friday night's keg party, or simply what they don't know, which is Martians. What they need to do—and here I'm quoting a former writing teacher of mine—is write what they know about what they don't know or what they don't know about what they know."

Source: Joshua Henkin, "Risk," Glimmer Train Bulletin #35

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Interesting "Share the Love Recipe Story Contest" for U.S. residents. "All you need to enter is your story about how this recipe became your favorite, the person(s) with whom you would most like to share your recipe and, if possible, a picture to accompany your story." Your submission (200 words or less) is welcome in one of four categories: Cookie, Cake, Pastry, and Drink. "One winning story will be selected in each category.""The First Prize winner in each category will receive a year's supply of Divine Chocolate, $250.00 in cash, Divine Share The Love Recipe Contest trophe, recipe featured on Divine and partner websites, and a goodie bag featuring gifts from Divine marketing partners. Winners will also have their chocolate food favorite interpreted by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito." No entry fee. Deadline: January 5, 2010.
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Contest based at Agnes Scott College for students (graduate or undergraduate) currently enrolled in a college or university in the U.S. state of Georgia. "Each year students in the state of Georgia have an opportunity to submit their written works for recognition at the Writers' Festival. Agness Scott awards a $500 first place prize for each of these categories: Creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting, and poetry." There is no entry fee. Deadline is coming up fast: midnight on December 10, 2009.
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"Spirit First announces its first annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulnes, stillness, or silence. Poems may reflect any discipline or faith or none. Poems must be previously unpublished." Prizes: $150 (first prize), $75 (second prize), and $50 (third prize). "Winning poems will be published on the Spirit Frist website and in the Spirit First newsletter." No entry fee. Deadline: January 31, 2010 (received). (via crwropps-b)
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"Seton Hill University [Penn.] seeks published genre novelist (priority for popular mystery/crime/suspense writer; will also consider fantasy or romance author) for tenure-track position in our low-residency MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction, starting June 2010. Commitment to genre fiction essential. Composition, online and graduate teaching experience highly desirable. MFA required (Ph.D. preferred). 4/4 teaching responsibilities; half of course load will serve undergraduate English and Composition instruction."
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From Kent State University (Ohio): "Tenure-track Assistant Professor position in poetry writing. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate poetry-writing courses and portfolio direction for students in our writing minor, as well as graduate courses in poetry writing and thesis direction in the NEOMFA program."
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From Minnesota State University Mankato, an announcement seeking an Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing (fiction).
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From Emerson College (Mass.): "The Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing seeks a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Creative Nonfiction writing."
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The San Francisco Art Institute seeks a Director of Marketing and Communications, Creighton University (Neb.) is looking for a Writer, and the University of California-Santa Cruz seeks an Associate Editor.

Friday Find: T.S. Eliot Reads "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

One of my very favorite poems, recited by the poet himself.

I speak, of course, of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," presented by T.S. Eliot.

What a find. (via The Book Bench)

Have a great weekend, everyone.

End-of-Year Reading Recommendations from and for Practicing Writers

End-of-Year Reading Recommendations from and for Practicing Writers

Compiled by Erika Dreifus

Remember last year's December feature? I introduced it by explaining that throughout 2008, my writing life had intersected with the work of other practicing writers in many ways. I'd profiled writers, reviewed their books, and/or simply mentioned their efforts in this newsletter or on my blog(s). The same is happily true for 2009, so I thought I'd approach members of my own "class of 2009" with a similar request.

I invited these writers to participate in an end-of-year roundup article in which they might cite ONE book they'd read this year that they'd recommend to other writers and explain why they thought writers, especially, would enjoy it. I told the participants that they could spotlight any type of book - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing reference, etc. Anything. My only condition was this: They could not recommend their own books. I'm gratified and inspired by the responses my invitations yielded, and I thank these authors once again for sharing their time and thoughts with us.


The most valuable writing book I've read this year is Christina Katz's Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform. It explains what a platform is, why you (yes, YOU) need one, and offers a friendly and comprehensive guide to creating and growing a platform over time. I have Katz to thank for inspiring my own platform, and for the two book deals that it has yielded so far.

--Sage Cohen

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I read with great interest Bob Shacochis's The Immaculate Invasion (originally Viking, now Diane Pub. Co.) when I was sick in bed with the flu. Shacochis has written here what I admiringly call a big crazy book: in this case, a closely detailed and sometimes shambling, but always riveting, account of the "soft" invasion of Haiti by the US in 1994. What becomes clear, through the lens of Shacochis's experience while imbedded with the US Special Forces, is how the US government's desire to do "good" often backfires, sometimes for cynical reasons, but perhaps just as often because there's no good or even sane way out of a situation. Highly applicable to our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

--John Griswold

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My offering is Marianne Wiggins's The Shadow Catcher (Simon & Schuster, 2007). I read it for the first time early this year, and can't stop recommending this stunning novel about the life of photographer Edward Curtis, in which Wiggins juxtaposes a character named Marianne Wiggins with the somewhat-imagined life of Curtis, placing her characters and their trajectories in the present day and in the past, using a dazzling craft mix of fiction, nonfiction, and screenplay structures.

--Jessica Handler

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It's a bit funny, I guess, that of everything I've read this year, the book that comes to mind to recommend is John Updike's Rabbit Is Rich(Knopf, 1981). Since I specialize in American Jewish literature, Updike generally isn't too high on my priority list, but I'm so glad every time I get a chance to read one of his better novels. He's a master of realism, of its techniques and possibilities, and somehow he makes his subjects matter to me in a way I wish more contemporary writers could emulate.

--Joshua Lambert

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One of my favorite reads this year was Natalie Goldberg's new book, An Old Friend from Far Away (Free Press, 2009). Though I'm primarily a fiction writer myself, I loved Goldberg's writing prompts, as well as her constant reminders that we all have more to say than we'll ever know. Some chapters are a sentence long (but you won't turn the page without writing), and other, longer ones examine an aspect of writing or an author's style, from Zora Neale Hurston to Chang-Rae Lee. From such weighty topics as love and fear to the more ordinary, such as peaches and dishes, Goldberg's exhortations ("Ten minutes. Go.") will inspire -- and best of all, they'll get you writing.

--Midge Raymond

(c) 2009 Erika Dreifus. This article originally appeared in the December 2009 issue of The Practicing Writer.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Ha Jin visits the site that inspired his latest collectiom: Flushing, Queens.
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Anyone heading to Jerusalem next week?
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Here's a holiday gift for writers (and readers) from The New York Times.
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Congratulations to the team at The Writer for the magazine's latest Eddie Award for editorial excellence (that makes seven since 2001) from Folio magazine. It's wonderful working with you!

Quotation of the Week: Richard Marius

Here's a favorite from one of my own teachers, Richard Marius:

"All writers create. I am always annoyed to hear fiction and poetry called 'creative' writing as if writing that explains, describes, and narrates - nonfiction - should somehow be relegated to the basement of the writing enterprise to dwell with the pails and the pipes. To assume that only fiction and poetry are 'creative' is to imagine that fiction writers and poets are somehow superior to scholars, journalists, and others who report, explain, and describe. A good case may be made for the proposition that the most truly original and creative writers in our society today work in nonfiction - Tom Wolfe, Gloria Emerson, Roger Rosenblatt, Carl Schorske, Joan Didion, Joe McGinniss, John McPhee, Garry Wills, Robert Caro, David McCullough, Roger Angell, Barbara Tuchman, and a host of others."

Source: Marius, A Writer's Companion, first edition (New York: Knopf, 1985), 15.