tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154258022009-11-21T02:35:34.063-05:00Welcome to Practicing Writing! Here you'll find updates on writing and publishing opportunities (especially handy between issues of <a href="http://www.practicing-writer.com/content.php?page=newsletter">our popular monthly newsletter</a>). You'll discover ONLY opportunities that charge no fees, and ONLY publications/contests that will pay for your writing. The blog also shares writing-related Web news and resources, book reviews, and occasional news about this practicing writer's own work.Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.comBlogger1146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-71732591574077718242009-11-20T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-20T00:01:00.856-05:00

Thanks to the MFA Chronicles blog for pointing us to Nancy Rawlinson's compilation of MFA links. Plenty to read over the weekend, if you're so inclined. Have a great couple of days. See you back here on Monday!

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-45347214061455369602009-11-19T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-19T00:01:02.624-05:00

"I saw everything, so it is not a question of what I saw, but how I saw."Source: Letter from Anton Chekhov to Alexei Suvorin, September 11, 1890, excerpted in How to Write Like Chekhov: Advice and Inspiration, Straight from His Own Letters and Work, edited and introduced by Piero Brunello and Lena Lencek, and translated by Lena Lencek.

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-82899160157049794292009-11-18T00:01:00.001-05:002009-11-18T00:01:01.660-05:00

Big congrats to Tayari Jones, whose third novel, The Silver Girl, has been accepted for publication by Algonquin Books.==========Diane Lockward reviews The Working Poet: 75 Exercises and a Poetry Anthology.==========Thanks to Anne-Marie Nichols's article on blog analytics, I'm learning more about you, dear readers!==========Please tune in tomorrow over on My Machberet for a guest post from

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-75278244295462793452009-11-17T00:01:00.003-05:002009-11-17T09:27:15.769-05:00

As promised, I present to you guest commentary from Lisa Romeo on the craft decisions that went into "43 Lies About My Child," a recent winner in Masha Hamilton's 31 Hours Parents' Intuition Contest. Thank you so much, Lisa, for sharing this with us.I actually still don't know what to properly call this piece. It's definitely creative nonfiction, and in my mind, a type of personal essay, though

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-4133481124513019812009-11-16T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-16T00:01:02.574-05:00

Arts Residency Cairo (ARC) "is open to visual artists, writers, artists working in mixed media, sculptors, dancers and performance artists. We are an international arts residency where artists may stay from 2 nights to one month (an extension of one month can be possible)." Offers "two full stipends per year. Due to the high number of applicants for these two places the deadline for proposals is

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-7087837480923204482009-11-13T00:01:00.001-05:002009-11-13T00:01:00.715-05:00

Take some time this weekend to enjoy this podcast of a recent Billy Collins reading at the Center for Worker Education at The City University of New York. ("The Lanyard" never fails to get me!) And I appreciate here the many comments Collins offers about the practice of writing poetry.I hope that you all have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-65189103808747520642009-11-12T00:01:00.001-05:002009-11-12T00:01:00.100-05:00

I'm trying to be positive here. Rather than rant away about certain aspects of our writing culture that tick me off all too often (and, ahem, all too recently), I'm going to praise a few aspects of the 21st-century writing life that invariably make me grateful, happy, and otherwise at peace:1) Writing-focused Listservs and writing organization blogs that stay on-topic.2) Writing-focused Listservs

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-50523818906756032332009-11-11T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-11T00:01:02.410-05:00

Our chum Churm presents guest blogger Sandra Beasley, posting on taking the step of leaving her staff job (at The American Scholar) to write full-time.==========Linda Formichelli inspires freelancers to plant seeds.==========The NYT After Deadline blog lists more "words that might deserve a rest."==========Over on the Hayden's Ferry Review blog, the journal's editors preview issue #45. (Having

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-16290706915732805952009-11-10T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-10T00:01:01.279-05:00

The definining characteristic of the literary vocation may be that those who possess it experience the exercise of their craft as its own best reward, much superior to anything they might gain from the fruits of their labors. That is one thing I am sure of amid my many uncertainties regarding the literary vocation: deep inside, a writer feels that writing is the best thing that ever happened to

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-47516499005383988532009-11-09T00:01:00.004-05:002009-11-09T00:01:02.602-05:00

From Amy Paturel, who teaches The Renegade Writer's e-class on "Essay Writing: How to Find the Story in You--And Sell It: "[I]n the spirit of gratitude and creating abundance, I'm calling on YOU...to share what Thanksgiving means to you. The person who tugs at my heart strings the most will get a free essay writing class (Premium version) when the new session starts up on January 11." You must

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-58960374532867976382009-11-06T00:01:00.000-05:002009-11-06T00:01:01.197-05:00

This week, I received an e-mail from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) which read, in part:If you've missed Contracts Watch during its hiatus, good news: it's back!If you're not familiar with Contracts Watch, take a look. The American Society of Journalists and Authors' Contracts Committee reviews writing contracts and answers questions for both ASJA members and non-members,

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-39862309934752351822009-11-05T00:01:00.001-05:002009-11-05T08:17:04.771-05:00

This new blog feature stems from my sense of inadequacy when a friend contacted me last week hoping/expecting that I'd be able to help her out with a writing-related quotation. Despite my great love for bite-sized morsels of writing wit and wisdom, I was unable to do so.So partially as a task of self-education, and partially as an effort to inspire all of you, I'm launching a new "Quotation of

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-47160926325401548412009-11-04T00:01:00.001-05:002009-11-04T00:01:02.652-05:00

An interview with a writer whose fiction has won a number of contests.==========Much more of Kenyon Review editor David Lynn's aforementioned reflections on "Print Vs. Internet."==========If you're interested in news from/about the Jewish literary world, please don't forget to check in with my other blog. Here's one recent, info-packed post.==========Remember our recent discussion on "how old is

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-25578987900402883492009-11-03T00:01:00.002-05:002009-11-03T00:01:01.758-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes memoiristic nonfiction (whether in poetry or prose) relevant to anyone beyond the writer. (Let's just say that last week I was reading a very me, me, me essay--a published one--and subsequently was consumed with the wish to figure out how to avoid afflicting readers with similar unpleasantness in my own work.) Then I recalled Lisa Romeo's sage

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-5769061323071869982009-11-02T00:01:00.004-05:002009-11-02T00:02:32.595-05:00

CV2, "the Canadian journal of poetry and critical writing," plans a winter 2010 issue themed "At the Root of Voice": "Where does today’s poetry come from? What influence do our past expectations continue to have on popular verse? Is rhyme really dead or merely resting? Is the current fascination with traditional forms pushing poetic innovation into new creative territory or are today’s poets

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-5251222681752588162009-10-30T00:01:00.000-04:002009-10-30T00:01:00.903-04:00

I receive LOTS of requests for advice on low-res programs. Sometimes, people ask me to tell them whether program A or B is "better." Which I absolutely, positively, cannot do. A big part of this inability, of course, comes from the truth that what might be "better" to one person would be "worse" to another. (This is why I'm not such a fan of rankings.)What can be helpful, however, is the capacity

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-17399460216808638272009-10-29T00:01:00.001-04:002009-10-29T00:01:05.326-04:00

There's no time to save this announcement for the Monday morning round-up, so I'm posting it today. The Ontario Writers' Conference offers a "Kick-Start Writing Prize" for entrants (ages 18-26) who attend a postsecondary institution in the province of Ontario. "We believe in the importance of encouraging young writers to explore their creativity, strengthen their craft and immerse themselves in

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-19292232389552277932009-10-28T00:01:00.002-04:002009-10-28T00:01:03.598-04:00

Here are the latest notes from the NYT newsroom "on grammar, usage and style."==========InsideHigherEd.com reports on U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan's new initiative, Poetry for the Mind's Joy, "through which she hopes to draw national attention to community colleges, as well as drawing the colleges' attention to poetry. She plans to do so in a variety of ways: for starters, by reading her poetry at

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-61035584215612535672009-10-27T00:01:00.001-04:002009-10-27T10:59:47.371-04:00

Congratulations to practicing writer Suchi Rudra Vasquez, whose new fiction collection, Kitaab, has been published by Six Gallery Press. Suchi writes that the book "was inspired by a year i spent living and volunteering in Bombay" and adds, given our recent blog discussion on prose poetry, that "people have called it poetic prose AND prose poetry, and I am also confused about genre, but very

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-38872492360644620572009-10-26T00:01:00.002-04:002009-10-27T15:40:18.958-04:00

By week's end the November issue of "The Practicing Writer" will go out to subscribers. (The October issue is currently available on freelancewriting.com.) Not yet a subscriber? Click here.==========Just a reminder that you have only a few more days if you want to submit work this season to Ellipsis, a journal based at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The deadline is November 1. Pays: $10/

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-73330253488744287192009-10-23T00:01:00.000-04:002009-10-23T00:01:00.848-04:00

One of the best aspects of my still-nascent poetry practice is my rediscovery and new enjoyment of poetry-only journals. One of these publications, Smartish Pace, runs a wonderful online feature, "Poets Q&A," in which readers can submit questions to prominent practitioners of the craft; the poets respond, and a full set of questions and answers appears online. Until November 6, you can submit a

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-11041947362461484142009-10-22T00:01:00.001-04:002009-10-22T00:01:02.367-04:00

Literally, these five books are stacked on my nightstand. I'd love to say that sometime in the near future I'll have read them all, and will be able to blog about each one, but let's face it: I have no clue when I'll have read them, let alone reflected sufficiently to write about them. So, as dubious a substitute as it may be, here's a photo of the fab five. I don't know what to think of the fact

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-42848449141037280102009-10-21T00:01:00.001-04:002009-10-21T00:01:02.352-04:00

Starting soon: Low-Residency MFA for Asian Writing in English. Location: City University of Hong Kong. Details here.==========Meant to bring this one to you last week, but, as they say, better late than never: Ellis Weiner's "Shouts and Murmurs" piece takes wickedly funny aim at modern book publicity/marketing.==========Back to serious stuff: Liesl Schillinger offers an energetic and thoughtful

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-44065077583531461402009-10-20T00:01:00.003-04:002009-10-20T00:01:02.421-04:00

As a group, you have proven to be such a wonderful source of knowledge (see, for instance, the recents posts on prose poetry and reading Dickens) that I am going to turn to you once again for your wisdom and advice.An anonymous reader recently left this comment:I have a question. What age is too old for a traditional MFA program? Everybody seems to be in their 20s. I'm currently in an excellent

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-86736066386715025322009-10-19T00:01:00.002-04:002009-10-19T07:46:46.860-04:00

Fugue, a literary journal based at the University of Idaho, is assembling a 20th anniversary issue "in the form of a regionally based issue. Bruce Barcott said, 'We created the northwest with words,' but we are adding that it is this region which causes writers to write. This latter thought is what we are developing our anniversary issue around - the writers of the west, but more specifically the

Erika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.com0