The Wednesday Web Browser

Two posts I read a day apart but which seem to me an interesting pair: Sage Cohen on "The Life Poetic: Shifting Our Lens from Poverty to Prosperity" and Allison Winn Scotch's response to a reader's question on "Saying Sayonara to Your Day Job."
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On InsiderHigherEd.com, Serena Golden interviews Robert Burns Stepto on his forthcoming book, A Home Elsewhere: Reading African American Classics in the Age of Obama.
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Especially for my fellow Francophiles/Francophones: "De 1980 à 2009, les livres qui ont marqué la vie littéraire française." (via The Literary Saloon, which offers the astute observation that "in quite a few cases...there's a case to be made for other titles by the selected authors.")
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Links to some of Jewish Woman magazine's recent content on Jewish women's writing.
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Follow me on Twitter!

Quotation of the Week: Ben Fountain

The new issue of Ecotone celebrates the journal's fifth anniversary, and it includes a wonderful interview conducted by editor Ben George with Ben Fountain. At one point, having earlier alluded to the global vision of Fountain's short-story collection, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, and discussed several of the stories within it, George comments:

"[Malcolm] Gladwell writes that the stories about Haiti are the strongest in your collection, that they feel as though they were 'written from the inside looking out.' But I think the lead story, for instance, which we mentioned earlier, feels every bit as much inside Colombia as the Haitian stories feel inside Haiti. Whereas you've been to Haiti about thirty times, you've never been to Colombia (or Sierra Leone or Myanmar). What is the difference for the fiction writer between having been there and not having been there?"

To which Fountain responds:

"It's better to go. It would have been better if I had gone to Colombia, it would have been better if I had gone to Sierra Leone. You never know what you're missing. You never know what you don't know until you go. But you can't always go. You don't have unlimited time and unlimited money. And so you do the next best thing—you try to imagine yourself into these places. The way I did it was to read everything I could get my hands on and to talk to other people who might have information. If there were helpful movies or documentaries, I sought those out. I was just trying to soak it all up and imagine my way into it using that basic research and my own experience in similar places or similar situations. People write historical novels all the time, and in those the writer has to imagine himself or herself into a different era. I think it's just as valid an exercise to try to do that with space, with the caveat that it's always better to go if you can. But if you can't, I think with diligence and a lot of work we can get close to it."

Source: Ecotone 5.2 (spring 2010). Happily, Ecotone has posted the full interview online. Read and enjoy!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

New agent alert: Marissa Walsh of Shelf Life Literary is looking for "pop culture, humor, narrative nonfiction, memoir, or children's books. Concerning picture books, she is looking for younger books with very little text (800 words or fewer). Include the manuscript in the body of your query e-mail. Concerning middle grade and YA, no paranormal please. She prefers contemporary stories."
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Attention, undergraduate writers! You may want to check out The Blue Route, an online magazine from Widener University (Pa.). They're welcoming prose and poetry submissions until April 5. See the guidelines. Pays: $20. (via Duotrope.com)
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"Seeking authors for The U.S. Government and the Environment: A Reference Encyclopedia, published by ABC-CLIO. Entries vary in length from 250 to 2000 words, and all accepted entries are paid. Available entries include many excellent options."
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"The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is offering 20 fellowships for an all-expenses-paid seminar on “Covering the Green Economy” June 28-30 in Phoenix. This three-day specialized reporting institute, combined with two follow-up Webinars, will arm attendees with information to help them recognize “greenwashing,” track federal stimulus dollars designed to create green jobs and answer consumers’ most frequently asked questions about leading environmentally sustainable lives. Through the generous support of the McCormick Foundation, fellowships cover the full cost of training, lodging, materials and most meals. In addition, fellows receive a $450 stipend to help offset travel and other costs. The full schedule for the seminar, including speakers, will be available soon." This opportunity appears to be open to freelancers. There is no application fee. Deadline: April 26.
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Coming soon! Our ever-popular newsletter will go out to subscribers midweek. The April issue contains the usual no-fee competitions listings, submission alerts, etc. Plus, there's an interview with Kim Wright, whose debut novel is earning rave reviews. Don't miss the chance to get your copy! Join our subscriber list (information is kept confidential).
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"Lincoln Memorial University (Tenn.) invites applications for the position of Writer-In-Residence. The Writer-In-Residence will teach a nine hour instructional load in creative writing, three hours of which may be negotiated for another assignment and will co-direct LMU's annual Appalachian Literary Festival."
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"The English Department of the State University of New York, College at Plattsburgh invites applications for a full-time tenure track Assistant Professor position in Creative Writing to begin Fall 2010." Responsibilities include: "teaching core courses for writing majors; general education courses; lower and upper division creative writing and literature courses. Active involvement in developing the Writing Arts Major, mentoring student writers, working with the Z-Platt student publication, and sharing editorial responsibilities for Saranac Review, the Department's literary journal, are also required. The successful candidate will be expected to engage in campus and departmental service, as well as continued publication and scholarship."
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Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) is looking for a University Magazine Editor, Prince George's Community College (Md.) seeks a Writer/Editor, and Langston University (Okla.) is looking for a Media Specialist in its Office of Public Relations.

Friday Find: Writermag.com's Open House

I know I mentioned this on Monday, but today (the 26th) is the very last day of The Writer magazine's online open house. If you haven't stopped by yet, do so today! This is the last day that everything on the Web site will be open for anyone to view, including market listings and subscriber-only articles. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.

Thursday's Pre-Publication Post

So, now that I'm in an official "pre-publication phase," I thought I'd keep you all posted (and keep myself on track with everything on my to-do list) by providing a weekly post about Quiet Americans. Some weeks I'll be seeking help, but I'll try not to deluge you with infinite requests.

This week, I'll start things off simply by saying a bit more about the book's general theme. All of the stories in this collection are in some way influenced by the experiences of my paternal grandparents, German Jews who immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s, and/or by my own identity and preoccupations as a member of the "Third Generation." (In fact, some years ago I presented a conference paper titled "Ever After? History, Healing, and 'Holocaust Fiction' in the Third Generation," which is quite relevant in this context; the paper was subsequently published as part of the conference proceedings, and you can download it here.)

Given this background, I decided a long time ago that if this book ever saw publication, I would give over some of the profits to The Blue Card, an organization my family has supported for years. The Blue Card's purpose is to assist survivors of Nazi persecution in the United States. Our family has been blessed in this country in so many ways, and one of the greatest blessings is that my grandparents were able to live their final years with comfort and dignity. Sadly, not everyone who survived Nazi persecution is so fortunate. That is why The Blue Card is so important.

On Monday afternoon, I met with The Blue Card's executive director to discuss the book. He was extremely supportive and helpful, providing some excellent suggestions for me to pursue to help get the book to a wider audience. It was a wonderful beginning to this pre-publication period.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Robert Lee Brewer shares eight ways he finds inspiration to write poetry.
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Not that I've had the chance to read it yet, but there's a new Joyce Carol Oates story in the current New Yorker. Plus, an e-mail Q&A between New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman and Oates.
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Congratulations to Tayari Jones, whose first novel, Leaving Atlanta (2002), is edging ever closer to a movie theater near you!
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In response to David Shields' controversial new book, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, the Brevity blog is running a "Mini-Reality-Hunger-Festival" this week. According to Brevity editor Dinty W. Moore, the mini-blog-festival will include "a round-up of the good, bad, and confusing reviews of the book, stolen text, obituaries for the novel, a look at the art of writing the literary manifesto, our own literary manifesto, and thoughtful consideration of Shields' contentious view of literature's future." Join in!

Quotation of the Day: Rebecca McClanahan

Because it can't be said too often or too strongly:

"When we write nonfiction we relinquish our right to change what happened to suit our imagined version. The creative part of nonfiction lies elsewhere, in the way our imaginative eye views the world--selecting details, combining and recombining information, and reshaping experience....Artful arrangement of information was one of the cornerstones of the 'new journalism' of Wolfe and Capote, and remains an important component of creative nonfiction. Facts, information and real-life events do not have to be presented dryly, like encyclopedia entries. They can emerge wrapped in the skin of story, or shaped like prayers, lists, recipes, letters, confessionals, dialogues or diaries. When the eye of imagination is engaged, it illuminates the artful possibilities hidden within actual events. From the hard rock of fact, stone by stone the writer builds a castle."

Source: Rebecca McClanahan, Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively (Writer's Digest Books, 1999)

Breaking (Big) News About My Story Collection

The news appeared in this week's Grub Street Rag, so I guess that makes it official!

My story collection, Quiet Americans, will be published by Last Light Studio Books in January 2011.

I'll have a lot more to say about this in the coming months. And I know that I'll be counting on all of you for advice along the way as I prepare for this manuscript to meet the world. Meantime, I just wanted to share the news!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

"We're having an open house on WriterMag.com from March 19-26, and we hope you'll stop by to take a look around! Everything on the Web site will be open for anyone to view. During our open house, you can:

• Search through the market listings
• Read subscriber-only articles
• Review our regular Web columns: Web Savvy, Writing Q&A, Watch Your Language, Writing for Children
• Look through the forums and read the what our members are talking about
• Investigate any other feature on the site"

Check it out, folks! (Full disclosure: As it says right on over there on the sidebar, I am a contributing editor at The Writer.)
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There's still time to enter the Commonwealth Foundation's 2010 Short Story Competition. First prize of £2,000 and regional prizes of £500, "plus special prizes for the best children's story and the best story concerning 'Science, Technology and Society,' the Commonwealth Day theme for 2010." Open to anyone 19 years of age or over who is a citizen of a Commonwealth country. Previously unpublished stories should be no more than 600 words long; winning stories will be recorded and broadcast on radio. Deadline: March 31, 2010 (received). No entry fee.
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And speaking of the Commonwealth...here's an amazing opportunity for published writers based in Scotland: the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. This fellowship provides, for up to three writers per year, "accommodation for a maximum of six weeks in 2010 in a self-catering studio apartment at the Hotel Chevillon International Arts Centre at Grez-sur-Loing, on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau in France, where Robert Louis Stevenson met his future wife, Fanny Osbourne, in 1876. Travel and accommodation is paid for and there is a grant of £300 per week to cover living expenses." No application fee. Deadline: April 9, 2010.
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Applications for the Writers' Dojo Writer-in-Residency program at Sitka Center (Ore.) are similarly due by April 9, 2010. There is no application fee. Three residency slots are available from October 2010-January 2011. For details about the residency and its community service component, plus the online application, click here.
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Researching "small" presses to find homes for your work? You may appreciate this Poets & Writers database.
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New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies is accepting applications for part-time writing faculty (for openings in spring and summer 2011).
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The Princeton University Art Museum (N.J.) seeks an Associate Editor/Interpretive Manager, the University of Houston-Clear Lake is looking for a Senior Coordinator for Publications, and the Harvard School of Public Health (Mass.) seeks a Part-Time Development Writer.

Friday Find: More Translation Resources

The Elegant Variation alerted me to a major expansion in PEN's online resources for literary translators. Whether you're an aspiring translator or an established one (or simply someone interested in reading books in translation), you're bound to find something useful over there. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday!

Book Promotion Offers To "Tear Down The Walls" of the Publishing Industry

A few days ago, I turned in my latest review assignment for The Writer: a piece on Stephen Markley's Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book (Sourcebooks, 2010). You'll have to wait a bit for the review to appear in the magazine, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you an interesting promotion I discovered on the Sourcebooks site when I was double-checking some information:

So you work on your manuscript for months, carefully craft a proposal and pitch letter, and send out your heart and soul to agents and publishers. And what do you get in return? A form letter saying “Thank you for your submission, but it does not meet our needs at this time.” Really?

We at Sourcebooks and Julie A. Hill and Associates know how you feel. Well, now we know, thanks to Stephen Markley and his hilarious, innovative, and amazing new memoir Publish This Book. You see, sick of getting rejections that say nothing, Stephen decided to cut to the chase and write a memoir about how hard it is to get a book published. And then try to get that book published—a book about its own creation.

Crazy, right? Well, he convinced us, getting agent representation from Julie Hill of Julie A. Hill and Associates and finally publication by Sourcebooks. And after reading his whole manuscript, we see how hard it is for you out there. So in honor of Stephen’s achievement, and all aspiring writers, we’ve decided to tear down the walls that keep writers from honest and helpful feedback about their work from the publishing industry. That means: no more form letters, but an actual critique of your submission from an agent or publishing company

How Does It Work?

1. Purchase a copy of Publish This Book.
2. Between March 9, 2010 and May 9, 2010 submit your proposal along with a proof of purchase (receipt, order confirmation, etc.) via the form below or by email.
3. Wait 2-6 months (While you’re waiting, why not read your new copy of Publish This Book? It’s amazing.)
4. Receive a 2-4 paragraph critique of your submission.

I know--you still have to buy the book, which contradicts the no-fee opportunity policy I normally follow here and in the newsletter. And in an ideal world, you'd get to read my review before deciding to buy the book. But it's something to look into. And it's a clever promotional idea that might inspire some others.

The Wednesday Web Browser

John Warner's recent interview with author and professor Philip Graham is one of the best interviews I've read in awhile. The kind of piece that makes you wish you'd had the chance to study writing with the interviewee yourself.
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Need a bit of humor to get you through the week? Check out this Rumpus piece on lit journal publishing, featuring a particularly amusing set of "submission guidelines" from Jane Roper.
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Tayari Jones reminds us that it's almost high season for retreats and colonies. She recommends Nova Ren Suma's collection of writers' quotations on colony experiences, too.
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On the Poetry Foundation's Harriet blog, Sina Queyras reflects--and shares others' views--"on the matter of career."
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On the Hugo House blog, Karen Finneyfrock describes the path to publication for her latest book of poetry.
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Last, but definitely not least, Lisa Romeo offers some terrific suggestions on ways to support the authors in your writing community.

Quotation of the Week: Thomas E. Kennedy

The thing is, anything can happen or not happen in this game. The lesson I learned somewhere along the way is that if you just keep doing what you do, at some point somebody will notice and say, Hey look at that guy, he just keeps doing that thing he does, let's go see what it is he's doing. And then maybe something happens. But whether it does or doesn't, a writer finds the true joy of his art in the creation of it. That is important to be aware of. If a writer is not conscious of that fact, he or she would do well to expand their consciousness, because as much as one might hope for great rewards, in truth it is the moment of creation that is the greatest of all. No monetary award or laurel can equal that, really, which is sometimes hard to remember.

Source: Thomas E. Kennedy, interviewed by Joyce J. Townsend in The Writer's Chronicle 42.5 (March-April 2010).

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Attention, New Hampshire writers! You have until April 9 to apply for a Literary Arts Fellowship from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Up to two awards of $5,000 each will be conferred. There's no entry fee. Details here.
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I recently revisited the Jerseyworks site to discover an update. While the Jerseyworks contest seems to be no more, the editors are now paying on acceptance for content: "$10 minimum for short verse such as haiku, 20c/wd after 50 wds, $50 max per poem." The editors "are open to poetry or other forms that express/investigate the unique nature of New Jersey and that create a picture of our state for those not lucky enough to pay taxes here. We also want to filter a vision of the world through the consciousness of Jerseyworks. We seek poets everywhere. We will publish in translation and sometimes in original languages. We're looking for great poetry, and in that process we hope to be part of bringing people together."
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New literary agent David Patterson (Foundry Literary + Media) "is looking especially for the most prominent and talented journalists, scholars, and personalities in a wide variety of fields, with either outstanding narratives and/or idea-driven works of nonfiction, which can be deeply serious or terrifically entertaining, and often combine those two qualities. David will also represent fiction when he feels strongly that the author has a distinctive voice that can break out of the pack."
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Blogger needed to cover national community college beat.
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"The Scripps College (Calif.) Writing Program seeks two distinguished visiting writers for the Mary Routt Endowed Chair of Writing, one during the spring semester of 2011 and the other during the spring semester of 2012."
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From Bowling Green State University (Ohio): "The English Department seeks applicants for the College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Visiting Writer. The successful candidate will be in residence spring 2011; teach one fiction writing workshop in our BFA program and one workshop in our MFA program; give a reading and a lecture; and advise theses. Qualifications: 1) MA, MFA or Ph.D. by time of employment; 2) at least one book of fiction and critical recognition consistent with a writer of national reputation; and 3) evidence of outstanding teaching."
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Stanford University Press (Calif.) seeks a Publicity Manager, Monmouth University (N.J.) is looking for a Web Writer, and Ithaca College (N.Y.) seeks a Web Marketing Content Editor.

Friday Find: Promptly's Promptfest

Think you might be able to benefit from some writing prompts this weekend? Do I have a find for you! The Writer's Digest "Promptly" blog is in the midst of a celebratory "Promptfest," and you can glean the benefits. This link will take you to lots and lots of prompts. Hope they help! Have a great weekend, and see you back here on Monday.

News About Some Published Practicing Writers

I love drafting posts with the express purpose of congratulating practicing writers on their publication successes. Today, we're celebrating Lori Ann Bloomfield and Alison Ashley Formento.

Lori's novel, The Last River Child, was recently published by Second Story Press. Lori was kind enough to send me an e-mail with this note: "Way back in July 2008 you posted that Second Story...was looking for fiction manuscripts. I had just finished writing my first novel, so sent it off to them. Well, they bought the manuscript! It came out in Canada last fall and is being released in the US this month. I've been wanting to share my happy story with you for a while and to thank you for your part in my success story. Please encourage your readers to keep writing and to keep submitting!" Lori, I think you've just encouraged them! (By the way, Lori is also the power behind a "First Line" blog, which provides fiction writers with some inspiration. And for those of you on Goodreads, Lori is hosting a book giveaway there this month. Now I may have to join yet another social networking site!)

Alison Formento's children's picture book, This Tree Counts!, was published earlier this month by Albert Whitman & Company. Alison and illustrator Sarah Snow have done an outstanding job with this book. How do I know this? Alison apparently reads Practicing Writing attentively enough to know that I have a young niece and nephew, and she very graciously offered to send a copy to share with them. Some of you may know that my niece is developing into a very picky reader (you can't begin to know how much this bothers me), but both she and her little brother were fully caught up in Alison's story when Grandma read it to them for the first time the other day. I can't come up with a better "review" than that.

I thank both Alison and Lori for sharing the news of their successes so generously with me. Let's give them a big round of virtual applause, shall we?

The Wednesday Web Browser

Allison Amend provides "Instructions for a Do-It-Yourself Book Tour."
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Robert Lee Brewer describes "How to Handle Line and Stanza Breaks in Poems."
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Adam Kirsch and Ilya Kaminsky engage in a dialogue on poetry translations.
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The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas-Austin has purchased the papers of David Foster Wallace.

Quotation(s) of the Week: Roddy Doyle

I've always advised my writing friends and students to title their works-in-progress. So I was happy to see this advice for fiction-writing:

4. Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

8. Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. I was working on a novel about a band called the Partitions. Then I decided to call them the Commitments.

Source: Roddy Doyle, quoted in Ten Rules for Writing Fiction (which you've probably seen mentioned elsewhere online since posting last month).

Frankly, I also find this advice extremely reassuring because I have just retitled my story collection.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Eurowriter is a new online resource for those seeking English-language freelance assignments in Europe-based publications. Check out the competitions link, too!
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Juicy job announcement from More magazine (full-time, New York City): "The Senior Editor/Books assigns and edits essays and memoirs by first-rate writers, while serving and overseeing books coverage in the magazine and on More.com. Also conceives, assigns and edits general features for the well."
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You'll need to act fast for this one! The Waterman Fund's Alpine Essay Contest has shifted its deadline from May to March. March 15, to be precise. The competition seeks essays "about life in the mountains of the northeastern U.S." that celebrate "the spirit of wildness." Prize for the winning essay includes $1500 and publication in Appalachia Journal; honorable mention includes a $500 prize. No entry fee. Be sure to read the detailed competition conditions.
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The theme for this year's Ray Bradbury Creative Writing Contest has been announced: the relationship between life and death. "Categories for the Ray Bradbury Contest include creative writin (poems, essays, short stories), visual arts and multimedia. Winners in each category will receive $200 for Waukegan (Ill.) residents and $100 for non-residents." No entry fee. Deadline: March 19, 2010.
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Red Berry Review, based in British Columbia, is taking submissions for its summer 2010 issue and is looking for writing "that speaks to the people, the places and the landscapes of the West." Considers fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Pays: $10/printed page, $25 minimum/title, $50 maximum/author, plus two copies. Deadline: March 31, 2010. (via placesforwriters.com)
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Fairleigh Dickinson University (N.J.) is looking for an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (fiction).
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The College of the Holy Cross (Mass.) has announced a visiting faculty position in creative writing, with a specialty in prose (fiction and non-fiction).
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The University of Michigan-Dearborn seeks a Public Relations and Communications Specialist, Clark University (Mass.) is looking for a Director of Online Community, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale seeks a Research Publications Coordinator.

Friday Find: Twitter Chats for Writers

Remember when I told you that I was finally lured into opening a Twitter account because I wanted to participate in the Jewish Book Council's Twitter book club? It turns out that there are SO MANY similar Twitter chats occurring on a regular basis. It's a veritable virtual smorgasbord!

Thanks to There Are No Rules, I've recently discovered "Inkygirl"'s excellent list of "Twitter Chats for Writers," and someday--perhaps even this weekend--I'll actually be able to visit a handful of them! Check them out, and please tell us if any of your favorites are listed there (or if there are others we should know about).

Have a wonderful weekend. See you back here on Monday!

An Interview with Memoirist Melissa Hart

Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood: An Interview with Melissa Hart

Interview by Erika Dreifus

Melissa Hart is the author, most recently, of the memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood (Seal, 2009). She teaches journalism at the University of Oregon and memoir writing for U.C. Berkeley's online extension program. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Advocate, High Country News, Orion, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Writer's Digest. She lives in Oregon with her husband, their young daughter, and too many cats and dogs.

Melissa is ALSO, like yours truly, a contributing editor for The Writer magazine. (I always enjoy her "Literary Spotlight" columns profiling individual literary journals.) I am thrilled to present this Q&A with Melissa here.

Please welcome Melissa Hart.

Erika Dreifus (ED): Melissa, Gringa is your second memoir. Can you please describe the connections between the two books, as well as what motivated you to write Gringa specifically?

Melissa Hart (MH): I wrote my first memoir, The Assault of Laughter (Windstorm, 2005) as my Master of Fine Arts thesis at Goddard College. Inspired by teachers Jacqueline Woodson and Mariana Romo-Carmona, I wanted to tell the story of the first year in my life after my mother came out as a lesbian and lost custody of me and my two younger siblings. This was 1979; throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, women who came out routinely lost custody of their children to homophobic court systems. I thought it was critical that my story, as representative of many, come to light.

But . . . I was a young writer, and I felt that I could tell the story more skillfully a decade later. I wanted to explore the idea of growing up Anglo, heterosexual, and seemingly devoid of identity in multicultural Los Angeles with a lesbian mom, a brother with Down syndrome, and a deep desire to be a Latina. I expanded the year in Assault to include all the years of my adolescence, from the day my mother left my father to my post-college graduation trip with her to Spain. I'm indebted to Seal's senior editor Brooke Warner for helping me to shape the memoir as a coming-of-age story and a history of my mother's and my relationship, which prevailed in spite of homophobia on the part of both the legal system and my father.

ED: Both of your memoirs reveal a great deal about your family members. How have they reacted to your writing about and publishing your collective stories? How have their reactions affected your writing processes?

MH: My father and I have been estranged for almost two decades. My stepmother and I e-mail occasionally, and she felt that Assault, in particular, gave her insight into our troubled relationship. My mother is a writer, as well, and she's incredibly supportive of my work. She accompanied me on part of the book tour for Gringa. It's worth noting that she asked me not to write about a few elements of our story, and I honored that. My sister is also deeply supportive; she's told all her friends about the book and helped to organize a reading/signing event in her hometown. My brother has Down syndrome, and he doesn't read, but he does enjoy telling and retelling stories about how my sister and I used to dress him up like a girl.

ED: Food plays an important part in Gringa, and each chapter ends with an unconventionally-presented "recipe." How did the idea to include these recipes develop?

MH: I fell in love with recipes in the context of prose stories when I discovered Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate. I loved how her recipes reflected the characters' motivations and relationships. Then I came across Ruth Reichl's books, and then Diana Abu-Jaber's marvelous The Language of Baklava. Both authors incorporate recipes into their memoir, and I had these wonderful goofy recipes such as Frito Boats and my mother's Tortilla Flats which were so important to me as a child. I took so much comfort in food as an adolescent--still do, in fact--and I wanted to offer up some of these recipes to readers as one more way to illustrate key themes and plot points in the book. Food also became a symbol of culture, or lack thereof, when I was an adolescent. I adored my boyfriend's mother's authentic Mexican dishes, for example, and being able to make a savory salsa or a dozen tamales became my benchmark of acceptance into his culture.

ED: What was the biggest challenge you faced in writing Gringa?

MH: The biggest challenge I faced in writing Gringa was not knowing quite what the book wanted to be. Initially, it looked like a series of linked essays that were all over the place in content and theme. My agent at the time, Michelle Andelman, reined me in and noted with great insight that the memoir format might work better as a method of telling the story. In Gringa's next incarnation, I included several chapters between "O Christmas Tree" and "Citizens of the World"--chapters which explored further my problematic relationship with my boyfriend--but my editor felt that they disrupted the coming-of-age trajectory of the story. I cut five chapters and wrote five new ones in a two-month period. I'm a really slow writer, so getting these out and polished on a tight deadline was challenging.

Creating the book trailer for Gringa was also extremely challenging. Last summer, a colleague at the journalism school taught me FinalCut Pro and I became writer, director, food stylist, chef, actress and cat wrangler for this rather goofy trailer.

ED: How did Gringa find its home with Seal Press?

MH: Michelle Andelman shopped the book around to a few publishers, and we felt a particular affinity for Seal and for Brooke, in particular. Seal Press publishes exciting books on unexpected topics related to women, and Brooke enjoyed the humorous social commentary that informs so much of the book. I'm so happy to have worked with Seal; this is a dynamic publishing house with a professional and devoted staff.

ED: What else would you like to tell us?

MH: I teach a memoir writing course for U.C. Berkeley's online extension program which is open to all. I post my upcoming workshops pretty regularly on both my website and my Facebook fan page. I love teaching and working with other writers; I come away inspired and excited to sit down at my computer.

Thank you so much, Melissa!

A version of this interview appeared in the March 2010 issue of The Practicing Writer.

The Wednesday Web Browser

We've seen a lot online about Lucille Clifton since the poet's recent passing, but these reflections from Honorée Fanonne Jeffers stand out.
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The 2010 Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference hasn't yet taken place, but guidelines have been posted for 2011 event proposals (submission deadline is May 15, 2010).
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"Learning to Write the MFA Poem," by Nin Andrews (via the MFA Weblog).
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Dan Wickett declares March to be Chapbook Month over on the Emerging Writers Network.

Quotation of the Week: Marilynne Robinson

"Home borrows characters from Gilead but centers on Ames's friend Reverend Robert Boughton and his troubled son Jack. Robinson returned to the same territory as Gilead because, she said, 'after I write a novel or a story, I miss the characters--I feel sort of bereaved.'" (emphasis added)

Source: Marilynne Robinson, interviewed by Sarah Fay, The Paris Review, fall 2008.

I don't have multiple novels to my credit, but I have to admit that I, too, have enjoyed reviving characters from one story to appear in another.

What about you?

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Kentucky writers, it's your year to apply for an Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship. These are "$7,500 awards given to Kentucky artists who have achieved a high level of excellence and creativity in their work. Applications are accepted annually on a rotating basis by discipline. In even-numbered years, applications are accepted from writers (fiction, nonfiction, play/screenwriting and poetry), choreographers and music composers." In addition, "Emerging Artist Awards are $1,000 awards given to emerging artists who demonstrate a high level of excellence and creativity in their work. For the purposes of this grant, the term 'emerging artist' is defined as a professional artist who is in the early stages of his/her career. Emerging artists possess some professional experience (e.g., exhibitions, sales, contracted/paid performances,'publications/readings, etc.) though they may be graduating seniors in bachelor’s programs, graduate students or non-matriculating, early-stage, professional artists." No application fee indicated. Deadline: March 15, 2010. (via KFW Hot Flash)
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Our Practicing Writer newsletter went out to subscribers Saturday morning, and as usual, it was packed with details about paying publications and upcoming no-fee contests, fellowships, and scholarships that you haven't seen posted here. A few examples: The Pedestrian (a new quarterly journal), an anthology of true Christmas stories, Wesleyan Writers Conference scholarships and fellowships, and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Wish you'd had the weekend to enjoy and benefit from the newsletter but haven't yet subscribed? Join us now--it's free, and we'll keep your e-mail address private.
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Ball State University (Ind.) is looking for an Assistant Professor (fiction writing): "Tenure-track position available August 20, 2010. Responsibilities: teach and develop a wide range of undergraduate and graduate creative writing courses, particularly in fiction; publish fiction."
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Lehigh University (Pa.) seeks a Presidential Writer and YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities (N.Y.) is looking for a Writer.