Friday Find: Diane Lockward's Take on Contributors' Notes

If you've ever been stymied by the happy "assignment" of writing your own contributor's note, you'll appreciate poet Diane Lockward's list of likes and dislikes as one who reads them. I think that the list covers a number of useful points. Not surprisingly, Diane's focus is poetry, but what she has written here applies just as well to notes by writers in other genres.

In the reliable words of a security guard who greets me as I arrive at my office building: "Happy Friday," everyone! See you back here on Monday. (If you miss me over the weekend, you're likely to find at least one or two new tweets over the next couple of days.)

Free NYC Event Next Week: "The Art of the Pitch"

From the Writers' Institute at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York:

THE ART OF THE PITCH

"Come hear Chris Cox from The Paris Review, Priscilla Gilman from Janklow & Nesbit, Hugo Lindgren from New York Magazine, David Propson from The Week Magazine, and Eben Shapiro from The Wall Street Journal discuss how to craft a great (and perfect) pitch. Feel free to bring along anyone interested as well as all the questions you’ve been dying to ask."

DATE: Wednesday, February 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30
PLACE: Segal Theater, at the Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (and 34th)

The Wednesday Web Browser

I knew I was truly starting to recover from my flu bug this weekend when I was able to read a full article in the New York Times Sunday magazine: "James Patterson Inc.", a COVER story on the author and his writing/publishing empire.
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Something that unfortunately got past me in the days before the Tamiflu worked its magic was a new "Indy Press Friday" initiative on Twitter. The point is to promote titles by small/indy presses via tweets with an #ipf hashtag. See Galleycat for more. (This week, I'll be prepared! How about you?)
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On the Poet Hound blog: useful tips on requesting a review of your book. (Many thanks to Diane Lockward for highlighting this in her recent roundup post titled "Some Cool Stuff," in which yours truly is also mentioned!)

Quotation of the Week: Anne Lamott

"Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can't—and, in fact, you're not supposed to—know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing. First you just point at what has your attention and take the picture."

—Anne Lamott

Source: Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (1994)

(For those who are too young to recall the significance of Polaroid photography, please click here.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

New litmag based at Vanderbilt University: "Nashville Review publishes the best in literary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and comics. Both distinguished and emerging writers are encouraged to submit. Nashville Review also publishes lyrics and audio by up-and-coming musicians." Pays: "Contributors are offered a flat fee of $100." (via Duotrope.com)
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"America’s premier amateur philosophy contest, The Great American Think-Off, releases its 2010 essay and debate question: 'Do the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor?' In writing essays on this question, potential debaters may address individuals, groups, or nations as the essayist determines." Deadline for essays: April 1, 2010. There is no entry fee. "A panel of judges will select four finalists to come to New York Mills, Minnesota, for the final debate to be held June 12, 2010. The names of the four finalists, who each receive $500 plus travel, food and lodging expenses, will be announced May 1, 2010. The winner is decided by the audience attending the debate on June 12th and she or he will be named 'America’s Greatest Thinker for 2010.'" (Thanks to B. Susan Bauer for sharing info on this competition.)
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Attention, Ohio poets! You may enter the New Words 2010 Poetry Contest until February 26, 2010. Administered by the Akron Art Museum, this competition offers cash prizes of $150, $125, and $100. There is no entry fee. A competition reading will be held on April 25. Details here. (via Winning Writers)
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The Guide to Literary Agents blog presents an interview with agent Kristin Nelson, who is looking for "literary and commercial fiction for adults; young adult and middle grade books for kids. Concerning nonfiction, she is only interested in memoir."
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The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is looking for an Assistant Professor of English (Poetry Writing) and St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) invites "fiction or creative non-fiction writers with significant publications and teaching experience...to apply for the position of Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing for the academic year 2010-2011."
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Ithaca College (N.Y.) seeks a Writer/Editor, Dallas County Community College (Texas) is looking for a Manager of Student Publications, and the Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.) invites applications for the position of Director of Leadership Communications.
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Subscribers to our free monthly newsletter will receive the February 2010 issue by week's end. Not yet a subscriber? It's never too late to join us!

Friday Find: 10 Questions on Reviewing

Over on Lemon Hound, there an excellent series of posts under way: "10 Questions on Reviewing." In this feature, experienced book reviewers (of poetry, mainly), respond to questions such as: "What do you think the purpose of a review is? If you also write about books on a blog, why? What does blogging let you do differently?" and "Critical work is increasingly unpaid work; will you continue to do this work despite the trend? Do you see this trend reversing, or changing course?". (via Anselm Berrigan/the Harriet blog)

New Criterion for Considering MFA Programs: Smoke- or Tobacco-Free Status

When I think back to my MFA experiences, many of my memories are shrouded in a haze of cigarette smoke.

There are many reasons why, at times, I felt isolated from my MFA community. Some may be my own "fault." But the entirely external factor of smoking--that is, the popularity of smoking among faculty, staff, and other students--was definitely another. Because instead of immersing myself in the clouds of smoke that others created, my ex-asthmatic-lungs-and-dry-and-contact-lensed-eyes-and-I often chose to stay away from the clusters of smokers. (Try as I might, however, I couldn't prevent one classmate from very deliberately approaching me one evening for the seemingly express purpose of blowing smoke in my face. Then he returned to his group of fellow smokers. I am not making this up. I have a witness.)

I don't know if MFA populations truly do reflect higher percentages of smokers than other academic communities, but it has certainly seemed that way to me. Which is why, if I were doing the MFA all over again, one criterion I'd consider, admittedly among many, is whether a given program's campus promulgates a smoke-free policy. (A related consideration would be whether the city/state in which the program is located disallows smoking in bars and restaurants. In my experience, MFA faculty and students sure do spend a lot of time in bars and restaurants.)

I think of this issue from time to time (whenever someone lights up right in front of me on the sidewalk, for example, and I feel compelled to hurry past so that I don't have to inhale all of their trailing exhalations), but it returned to the foreground recently at work when I attended a Webinar for higher education professionals on "Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free." The chief presenter, Ty Patterson, offered an excellent presentation on his home institution and the Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy located there.

Among the points that especially impressed me:

*"There is growing interest in having the campus culture reflect genuine respect for others and the environment, central themes of tobacco-free policy." Similarly, "a campus culture which reflects genuine respect for others improves teaching and learning."

*There are many reasons why a campus should become tobacco-free. A few that I found especially compelling/resonant given my MFA experience: "exposure to Second Hand Smoke (SHS) is a health hazard," "access for people with disabilities is threatened," "[students should be] prepare[d]...for increasingly tobacco-free work places," and, although it's not the main reason to enact such policies (adults should be free to make their own life decisions), it is possible to "encourage tobacco users to quit via social norming." The presenter noted: "While we do not recommend the purpose of tobacco-free campus policy be to get people to quit using tobacco, it is an ADDED benefit when even one person succeeds in ending their dependency on tobacco and thereby exending their life."

As for resources for potential MFAers: The aforementioned center maintains a list of colleges and universities with 100 percent tobacco-free campus policies. And because fully tobacco-free may be too much of a stretch for some, this site, with its list of smoke-free campuses, may also be useful.

As is the case so often, it's best to check directly with any campus whose program you may be considering for the most up-to-date information. (When I last checked, one of the lists did not note, for example, that the University of Michigan, home to one of the country's most respected MFA programs, is going smoke-free as of July 1, 2011. Maybe the University of Michigan is trying to keep up with the University of Iowa. Just kidding--but it's a fun thought.)

Something to think about.

The Wednesday Web Browser

I love this article on running a DIY Writers' Retreat.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education tells us that "Translators Struggle to Prove Their Academic Bona Fides." APOLOGIES: THE ARTICLE APPEARS TO BE LIMITED TO SUBSCRIBERS.
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I finally caved in and opened a Twitter account last week so I could "attend" a Twitter book club. Please feel welcome to "follow" me (there) and suggest your favorite writerly Twitter feeds in comments (here).
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Finally: I didn't know poet Rachel Wetzsteon other than by name, but I was deeply saddened to read about her recent death. And I think that Jennifer Michael Hecht's recent post on the Best American Poetry blog, "On Suicide," is a must-read. I don't want to risk stereotyping/generalizing, but let's face it: "writer" and "depression" are two words that too often appear in combination. Hecht's message needs to get out there, "even" if it reaches a single person who needs it.

Quotation of the Week: Jack London

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
— Jack London

Source: Nebraska Center for Writers

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

"Tin House is seeking to invest in fiction, essays, and poetry that address the often taboo subject of CLASS IN AMERICA. We are looking for all perspectives: from or about the rich to the middle class to the poor and those who have moved up or down. We want to know more about those who identify with a non-traditional class, or consider themselves classless, along with those who have immigrated from class-bound or class-less countries or societies. What are the new class indicators in our increasingly digitized, global, and green world? The issue will be out September 1, on stands through November. To be considered for this theme issue, unsolicited submissions should be in by May 1."
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The Common Review, the magazine of the Great Books Foundation, has launched an annual short story prize. Manuscripts should run 500-5,000 words. Prizes will be $400/$200/$150 for top three winners. "All prize winners, plus two Honorable Mentions, will receive a free copy of The Great Books Foundation Short Story Omnibus and a one-year subscription to The Common Review. The first prize winner will be published in the magazine during 2010." There is no entry fee. Deadline: January 31, 2010. (via the Winning Writers newsletter)
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"The Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program is accepting submissions from emerging Canadian writers for a ten-month residency at the University of Calgary from August 15, 2011 to June 15, 2012. Housed in the Faculty of Humanities, the residency provides a unique opportunity for Canadian writers to devote their time to writing and to advancing their writing careers....Candidates should have between one and four published books, and preferably, but not necessarily, hold a university degree. The residency involves time for writing, manuscript consultations, public presentations, assistance with hosting visiting writers, and related duties. While the Canadian Writer-in-Residence may be invited to visit university classes, this is not a teaching position. The Markin-Flanagan program offers writers one of the highest-paid residencies in North America. Residents are also provided with an office and administrative support." There is no application fee. Deadline: February 1, 2010.
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The Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction by an American Woman is a $5,000 prize "awarded annually to a woman who is a USA citizen, and who has written the best book-length work of prose fiction, whether novel, short stories, or experimental writing. Works written primarily for children and publications from private and vanity presses cannot be considered. We are particularly interested in calling attention to the work of a promising but less established writer." There is no fee. "All entries must be submitted by publishers who wish to have the work of their authors that were published in the year 2009 considered." Deadline: February 1, 2010
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Page Forty-Seven is an online anthology of literary short fiction that invites original work from new and established writers and pays $25-$75 (CAD) per story. Visit the website for guidelines, submission form and sample stories.
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"The Saint Paul Almanac [Minn.] is always looking for unique Saint Paul stories. Whether you're a professional writer or writing for the first time, you've got something to say, and we're interested in reading and publishing it." NB: "Essays aren't the only things we publish—we're happy to look at other formats, including graphic fiction." Deadline for the 2011 Almanac is March 31, 2010. "We pay small stipends on publication."
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Monmouth University (N.J.) seeks an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (fiction) and Literature.
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"The Stanford University School of Medicine's Office of Communication & Public Affairs is seeking an experienced, accomplished science writer to cover the pediatrics beat for a six-month period. We do not expect this fixed-term position will extend beyond six months. The successful applicant will research and write news releases for distribution to local, regional and national media, and will also write news and feature stories for a variety of publications. The writer must be able to translate technical, complex information into interesting and easily read prose, and must recognize the news value of research findings. In addition, the writer will be responsible for generating clinically oriented stories highlighting people, programs and services available at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital."
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Normally, I don't publicize competitions/opportunities that require fees, but routinely I make an exception to let you kow about residencies offered by the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, Neb., where I was a resident in 2003. The KHN Center offers 2- to 8-week residencies year-round for writers, visual artists, and music composers. Housing, studio space, $100/week stipend are provided. Approximately 50 residencies are awarded per year. Two deadlines each year: postmarked March 1 for the following July through December 15; postmarked September 1 for the following January through June 15. $25 application fee. See www.KHNCenterfortheArts.org for complete information, guidelines and application.

Friday Find: A Writing Exercise from Midge Raymond

Each issue of Midge Raymond's e-newsletter for writers includes a writing exercise, and I really love the one she sent out this month. Essentially, she suggests that you write a review of your current project, whatever the genre:

"Take a step back from the work and try to see it objectively. Write the review as if the piece is already published, and be honest in terms of what works and what doesn’t (adopt the style of your favorite book reviewer if this helps you get some distance). Be specific — cite examples, quote from the work itself — and then put it away. Wait a week, then take out the review and look it over. Pay attention to what it tells you about your project: first, where you are, and second, where you’d like to be."

I'm going to give it a try. How about you?

Meantime, enjoy the weekend. See you back here on Monday!

Quotation(s) of the Week: John Ashbery

Thanks to Sage Cohen, I have very recently discovered the Read Write Poem site. And thanks to that site, I have found not one, but SEVEN quotations from poet John Ashbery.

That's because the last time I looked, Read Write Poem was polling visitors to see "Which John Ashbery quote applies to you?" Here are the choices:

"My own autobiography has never interested me that much. Whenever I try to think about it, I seem to draw a complete blank."

"There wasn't enough space to paint but there was room to write, which is one of the advantages of being a writer."

"I mention this because getting published is very much a result of chance and connections and all kinds of factors that, in my case, didn't have anything to do with poetry."

"So I wrote for myself, not in a narcissistic way, but because I felt I was doomed to be my chief reader."

"I didn't think there were going to be any readers therefore I wasn't trying to annoy them."

"I am aware of the pejorative associations of the word 'escapist,' but I insist that we need all the escapism we can get and even that isn't going to be enough."

"In fact, I rarely discuss my poetry. I find it distasteful. I'd rather not know much about it myself."

Think about which quotation you might choose, and then head over to the site to see the poll's results, if you're curious!

The Wednesday Web Browser

A depressing, but true column on the sad state of pay rates for freelancers.
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Happy to read about the spotlight on literary translation at the latest MLA convention.
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Nice interview with Tayari Jones here. At one point, asked "What is the most important idea a writing teacher can teach her students?," she responds with these oh-so-true words: "Revise. Revise. Revise. Also, I try and teach them to bond with their classmates. Everybody needs a community."

J Journal Giveaway

Remember when I told you about J Journal: New Writing on Justice? If you don't remember, click back to that post. I'll wait.

So, the editors of this quality print journal have added me to its editorial advisory board. And they've nominated my story, "For Services Rendered," for a Pushcart Prize. I am honored and grateful.

But enough about me! The purpose of this post is to let you know that J Journal will be giving away three copies of its fall 2009 issue. What do you need to do to become eligible for this giveaway? Simple--become a fan of J Journal on Facebook. The three winners will be selected randomly from the fan base as of February 15, 2010 (which also happens to be the deadline for submissions for the spring 2010 issue).

P.S. Selections from the fall 2009 issue may be read online. Visit J Journal's main site and click "current issue."

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

The Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is taking submissions until January 31, 2010. This biennial competition for short personal essays accepts submissions in two categories: humor and human interest. Entries in English are welcome from authors worldwide. Four first-place winners (one global and one local [from the Dayton, Ohio, area], for each category) will receive $100 prizes, free admission to the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, and publication. There is no entry fee. Visit the site for rules and instructions.
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"In June 2010, the Stadler Center [at Bucknell University, Penn.] will conduct the twenty-sixth annual Seminar for Younger Poets. Held for three weeks in June, the Seminar provides an extended opportunity for undergraduate poets to write and to be guided by established poets. Staff and visiting poets conduct writing workshops and offer lecture/discussions, present readings of their own work, and are available for individual conferences.... Numerous readings provide the participants with the opportunity to hear and be heard by their peers. Applicants compete for ten places in the Seminar, all of which come with fellowships. Fellowships include tuition, housing in campus apartments, and meals. Accepted students are responsible only for their travel to Bucknell and a modest library deposit. A limited number of travel scholarships are available on the basis of need." Deadline: February 1, 2010. There is no application fee.
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Last week's WritersWeekly.com newsletter included this note: "We're out of features! Want to write for WritersWeekly? We pay $60 on acceptance for around 600 words - non-exclusive electronic rights only." Check the guidelines for more info.
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Bay Area freelancers: "The Castro Courier, a neighborhood newspaper that serves San Francisco's Castro and Upper Market neighborhoods, is seeking Bay Area-based freelancers to write news and feature stories on a monthly basis. We are principally looking for writers with news backgrounds to write about issues facing the neighborhood, be it development, public safety, transportation, etc. Writers MUST be based in the Bay Area and be willing to travel out to the neighborhood to write their stories. This is a great way to get good experience writing about important and timely urban issues while learning to write for a hyper-local audience." Pays: $40/story.
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From Emerson College (Mass.): "The Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing seeks a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor, or Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, in the area of Fiction writing. The initial appointment is for the 2010-11 academic year beginning September 1, 2010."
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Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) seeks an Admissions Writer/Administrative Assistant, Elon University (N.C.) is looking for an Assistant Director of University Relations for Alumni Communications, and Boston College (Mass.) invites applications for a Senior Associate Director for Student Affairs Marketing & Communications.

Friday Find: Live Chat on "How to Write a Book" with Roy Peter Clark

"When I was 30 years old," writes Roy Peter Clark, "I wrote a column that revealed my goal in life was to write one good book. The problem: I didn't know how."

Today, he says, "I can stand in front of a stack of 15 books that carry my name as author or editor. I've learned a few tricks along the way, and now I'm eager to share those secret strategies with you in a live chat Friday, January 8 at 1 p.m. ET."

As many of you know, Clark, who is Senior Scholar at The Poynter Institute, "has taught writing at every level--to school children and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors--for more than 30 years, and has spoken about the writer's craft on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR and Today; at conferences from Singapore to Brazil; and at news organizations from The New York Times to the Sowetan in South Africa. He is the author of 'Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer,' the book and the blog."

I'm sorry for the late notice on this, and I should probably add that I suspect this chat is likely to be nonfiction-intensive. (Twitterers, take note: There may still be time for you to submit a question ahead of the chat.)

Have a great weekend--see you back here on Monday.

The Theory of Light and Matter: An Interview with Andrew Porter

A version of this interview also appears in the January 2010 issue of The Practicing Writer.

The Theory of Light and Matter: An Interview with Andrew Porter
by Erika Dreifus

Andrew Porter is the author of the short story collection, The Theory of Light and Matter, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and has just been republished in paperback by Vintage/Knopf. His fiction has appeared in One Story, Epoch, The Pushcart Prize Anthology and on NPR's "Selected Shorts." He currently teaches creative writing at Trinity University in San Antonio. Recently, Andrew responded to a series of questions about his work.

ERIKA DREIFUS (ED): Andrew, the Vintage Contemporaries (Knopf) release of The Theory of Light and Matter signals a reincarnation of sorts, given that the book was originally published by the University of Georgia Press as a winning manuscript within the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction series. Please tell us the story of how the collection has come to be republished and describe any changes that may have been made to the manuscript for the newer version.

ANDREW PORTER (AP): Well, the Vintage/Knopf deal happened fairly quickly, and I was very fortunate it happened at all. At the time, my collection had been out in hardcover for about four months, and because it had done well in terms of sales and reviews, the University of Georgia Press had offered to publish a paperback edition the following fall. Around the same time, I was approached by my current agent, Terra Chalberg, who expressed an interest in trying to sell the paperback rights to a larger house. The University of Georgia Press was open to this idea, but said that they could only give Terra about two weeks to do this, as they were currently making the final decisions for their fall catalogue. I knew that the odds were against us, but I also figured that there was nothing to lose, so I gave Terra the thumbs up and two weeks later she had managed to attract several offers, all of which included the publication of my novel-in-progress as well.

Anyway, I've been around the writing world long enough to know that this type of thing doesn't happen very often, and I still feel extremely grateful to Terra for making it happen. As for changes, I only made a few small ones, and they're probably so minor that I doubt anyone would even notice.

ED: All 10 stories in The Theory of Light and Matter are told by a first-person narrator. You're probably asked about this a lot, but could you address your obvious affinity for the first-person point of view? What do you find so appealing and effective about it?

AP: I like a lot of things about the first person. I like the intimacy of it, for one, and also the idea of assuming a persona, but probably my favorite thing about the first person is the fact that it's an inherently unreliable point of view. This might seem like a disadvantage to some, but I think that the unreliability of it- the fact that every narrator is telling his or her story through a somewhat biased lens-can actually be a great source of complexity and tension.

ED: What do you consider the biggest challenge of the first-person p.o.v., and how do you, as a writer, negotiate it?

AP: For me, the hardest part of working in the first person is dealing with the obvious limitations and constraints of telling a story through just one lens. When I'm working on a short story, this isn't such a problem, but when I'm working on something longer, like a novel, it becomes increasingly difficult to deal with the constraints and limitations of a single perspective. For example, I'm working on a novel right now, and though I'd initially planned to write this novel in the first person, I soon realized that it was simply too large a story to tell through just one character's perspective, and so I switched over to the third-person omniscient and this has really freed me up.

ED: Although I found all the stories distinctive--in U.S. regional setting, in variations between male and female narrators, etc.--there is one story that seems sharply different from the rest. I'm thinking of "Skin," which, at less than two pages, is by far the shortest story in the collection. But it's not simply this story's length that seems atypical. The accompanying compression seems combined with a shift in tone that I can't quite articulate. I'm curious not only about the inclusion of this short-short story, but also about its placement in the sequence as the penultimate piece.

AP: Well, the stories in this collection are largely about memory and the way we reconstruct memory, and so even though "Skin" is by far the shortest story in the collection, I think I liked the fact that it approached this theme of reconstructing memory in a slightly different way. Not only is it much shorter than the others, but it also uses a very different style of narration, beginning as it does in the present tense, then shifting to the future tense, then ending again in the present, all the while reminding the reader that the events of the story have taken place in the past. This isn't something I really do in any other story in the collection, and so I think that's one of the reasons I decided to include it. As for why I decided to make it the penultimate story, that's a good question. I think I was pretty firmly committed to the order of the first eight stories, and since I knew that I didn't want to end with it, well, there was really only one place left for me to put it.

ED: You've mentioned your novel-in-progress. Can you describe that project at all (and tell us when we can expect it to be available)?

AP: I tend to be pretty superstitious when it comes to talking about works-in-progress, but I can tell you that the novel is set in Houston and that it involves a family going through a crisis. I hope to finish the novel at some point in the next year, and so I guess it might be available as soon as 2012.

ED: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

AP: I'll be doing a number of readings in New York, California, and Texas over the next few months. All of the details about these reading can be found at my website: www.andrewporterwriter.com.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me, Erika. This has been a lot of fun!

ED: Thanks so much, Andrew!

The Wednesday Web Browser

The Poets & Writers Contest Blog takes a look back on 2009, the year in prizes.
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Maile Meloy's Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It really impressed me when I read it last August, so I very much appreciated this new interview with the author on the Fiction Writers Review site.
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I'm not sure that I'm ready to go public with my New Year's Writing Resolutions, but I'm glad that poet Diane Lockward is willing to share hers. Her list seems practical and inspiring to me!
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This week sees the release of Jonathan Dee's much-praised fifth novel, The Privileges. Dee, whose teaching gigs include one in my former MFA program (though I never had the chance to workshop/work with him), provides a mini-craft lesson toward the end (just past the 12-minute mark) of this interview with Leonard Lopate: "You want to take what Milan Kundera called the reader's natural inclination to judge, and you want to frustrate that....If you want to tell a compelling story, you have to do what you can to subvert" certain preconceived ideas that readers may bring along for the read about your story's characters (like the two main characters of his new novel, for example). This is a good reminder/lesson for me, since I think some of my fictional characters may have remained a bit too true to "type."
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Finally, just a reminder to those of you with an interest in writing/literature on Jewish themes to check in with my other blog. Lots of good stuff there lately, if I do say so, myself!

Quotation of the Week: James Baldwin

"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world....The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way...people look at reality, then you can change it.

--James Baldwin

Source: Epigraph (quoted at the opening) to Mary Pipher's excellent 2006 book, Writing to Change the World.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

This week, I'd like to present a sampling of the opportunities that were posted within our January issue of The Practicing Writer (which went out to subscribers last week). If you're not yet a subscriber, join us! (The newsletter is free, and your e-mail address is kept confidential.) And if you are a subscriber already, thank you for your support!

January is a month when Graywolf Press accepts unagented submissions (postmark dates; submissions are also welcome in May and September). "Graywolf Press is a literary press that publishes about twenty-seven books annually, mostly collections of poetry, memoir, essays, novels, and short stories. Our editors are looking for high quality literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that combines a distinct voice with a distinct vision."
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January is also a month to submit fiction to Glimmer Train. Submit up to three short stories per submission month. Pays: $700, plus 10 copies.
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The annual Sylvia K. Burack Scholarship from The Writer magazine honors the memory of the magazine's longtime editor-in-chief and publisher. It is open to full-time undergraduate students (18 or older) enrolled at a university or college in the U.S. or Canada at time of entry. This year, the competition seeks "a previously unpublished 600- to 800-word personal essay in English on the following topic: 'Select a work of fiction or poetry that has influenced the way you view the world and the way you view yourself. Discuss the work and explain how it affected you.'" One entry per student. Prize: $500 and a subscription to The Writer. No application fee. Deadline: March 1, 2010.
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"Each year, Fishtrap, Inc. awards up to five Fellowships valued at $1,000 for Summer Fishtrap Workshops and Gathering, held every July at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. Awards are made on the basis of writing submission only, and are not limited to any one genre. Submissions should follow the Fishtrap mission, which is to promote 'good writing in and about the West.' Therefore, applicants should be from the West, or writing about the West. Fellowships cover the cost of a workshop, registration for the Gathering, and food and lodging for a week. A small travel stipend is also included." No application fee. Deadline: February 1, 2010.
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"Writers' & Artists' Yearbook and the Arvon Foundation have both helped numerous successful authors and artists on the way to their big-break. Now it could be your turn. We're offering you the chance to win £500, plus a place on an Arvon writing course worth up to £575 and to have your work published on the web! All you have to do is write a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words, on the theme of 'Unity or Union.'" No entry fee (though entrants must register with the parent Web site). Deadline: February 14, 2010. Check full details, terms, and conditions online.

Friday Find: Experiences with Editors

The "featured resource" in the current issue of The Practicing Writer (which went out to subscribers on Wednesday) is a new series over on the Emerging Writers Network blog. Its title is "Experiences with Editors," and it features authors describing "some of the best (and occasionally, worst) experiences they've had with editors at both literary journals, and publishing houses. A peek inside the process and what it is that has excited (or upset) various authors through their years of publishing." Definitely worth reading.

Enjoy, happy new year, and happy weekend! See you back here on Monday.