Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

From Robert Lee Brewer: "The 2011 Writer's Market is now in bookstores, which means it is time for me to focus on the 2012 Writer's Market. We're always updating and adding new listings, but I need pitches for articles on the business of writing. If you have access to a truly great writer interview, then yes, pitch me on that, but mostly I'm looking for articles on the nuts and bolts of freelancing. For instance, I'm interested in negotiating contracts, handling taxes, and making pitches that never (or almost never) fail." Pitch by August 31, 2010.

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"New Writing Scotland publishes works by writers resident in Scotland or Scots by birth, upbringing or inclination. All forms of writing are invited: autobiography and memoirs; creative responses to events and experiences; drama; graphic artwork (monochrome only); poetry; political and cultural commentary and satire; short fiction; travel writing or any other creative prose may be submitted, but not full-length plays or novels, though self-contained extracts are acceptable. The work must be neither previously published nor accepted for publication and may be in any of the languages of Scotland." Pays: £20/published page. Deadline: September 30, 2010.

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Here's something I mentioned on my other blog at the end of last week: Samuel G. Freedman will once again lead a "Writers' Seminar on the Jewish People" for "writers between the ages of 22-35 interested in developing their skills in writing about the Jewish people in the United States and abroad." This year-long seminar meets multiple times in New York City. The seminar is free, and there is no application fee. Submit your application by September 5. (I wish I were still young enough to apply! Thanks again to the Jewish Book Council for this update.)

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Poets & Writers, Inc., is looking for a Development and Marketing Associate.

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Prince George's Community College (Md.) seeks a Writer/Editor, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP; based at George Mason University in Va.) is looking for a Publications Assistant, and Penn State seeks a Health Sciences and Medicine Writer.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Back when I was helping newbie book reviewers build up a reviewing practice, we'd spend a chunk of time discussing how to obtain review copies. A recent "tweet" from Algonquin Books makes the process simple: "Book bloggers: If you ever want to request an Algonquin review copy, email me: michael(at)algonquin(dot)com. Easy peasy." Meantime, Harper Perennial is inviting book bloggers to join its email list for reviewers.
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This week on the Dollars and Deadlines blog: veteran freelancer Kelly James-Enger critiques queries. Really interesting and useful.
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It hasn't been a terribly uplifting time in the litmag world lately: Mississippi Review's future is unclear. Brevity considers charging a submission fee. And The Paris Review has begun "unaccepting" some poems.
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My friend Deonne Kahler (a.k.a. "DK") just spent a week at the Taos Summer Writers Conference (an event I've also been lucky enough to attend). DK got to work with Sarah Manguso in a memoir master class. And she was generous enough to tell the rest of us about it here and here.
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I love this guest post by Diane Lockward (on Meg Waite Clayton's 1st Books blog) about her (Diane's) evolution toward published-poethood.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

The Writer's Center of Bethesda, Md., has announced its Undiscovered Voices Fellowship: "The Writer’s Center seeks promising writers earning less than $25,000 annually to apply for our Undiscovered Voices Fellowship. This fellowship program will provide complimentary writing workshops to the selected applicant for a period of one year, but not to exceed 8 workshops in that year. We expect the selected fellow will use the year to make progress toward a completed manuscript of publishable work....In addition, the fellow will give a reading from his or her work at the close of the fellowship period (June 2011) and will be invited to speak with local high school students on the craft of writing." There is no application fee. Deadline: July 1, 2010.
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Writers in Washington State, take note: "The Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) Program provides support for artist-generated projects, which can include (but are not limited to) the development, completion or presentation of new work. GAPs are open to artists of all disciplines and offer a maximum of $1,500 for projects." No application fee. Deadline: June 25, 2010.
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"Oklahoma City University seeks applications for part-time faculty to teach in a new low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program, scheduled to begin in Summer 2011. We seek faculty committed to creative and professional writing, writing pedagogy, and teaching online as well as in workshop formats during twice-a-year residencies. Genres of interest include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and screenwriting, although writers who cross genres, or write in a secondary, specialized genre, are also welcome to apply."
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The University of Michigan is looking for a Senior Writer, Harvard University (Mass.) seeks a Senior Writer/Project Manager, and Temple University (Penn.) is looking for a Director of Communications and Marketing.
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Finally, all of our newsletter subscribers had time this weekend to peruse and get a head start on taking advantage of the (no-fee) opportunities presented within. Examples: the Bard Fiction Prize, the Poole Literary Festival New Media Prize, and the Quiddity Book Trailer Contest for Writers and Small Presses. Plus: calls for submissions/notice of submission deadlines from paying publications including The Pedestal Magazine, Orion, and West Coast Line. Sorry you missed out? Subscribe! It's free, and we do not sell/rent/share subscriber e-mail addresses.

The Wednesday Web Browser

HTMLGIANT brings us an interview with poet/translator/publisher Lawrence Schimel, whose Fairy Tales for Writers we mentioned here way back in 2007.
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Next, the Huffington Post presents the provocatively-titled "Iowa Writers' Workshop Graduate Spills It All: Interview with John McNally, Author of 'After the Workshop.'" (via the Poetry Foundation)
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Then, The Days of Yore website, which "interviews artists about the years before they had money, fame, or road maps to success, and inspires you to find your own," turns its attention to author Gary Shteyngart. (via the Jewish Book Council).
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In other-than-interview news, big congrats to Jane Roper, who has just signed a book deal with St. Martin's Press for a memoir loosely based on her Babble.com blog about mothering young twins. This will be Jane's second book--her first, a novel titled Eden Lake, will be published by Last Light Studio next spring (shortly after the release of Quiet Americans, by yours truly!). I'm so happy for Jane, and I know that both of her books will be well worth your attention.

Persistence and Purpose: An Interview with Charles Conley

PERSISTENCE AND PURPOSE: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES CONLEY

By Erika Dreifus

One July day back in 2004, I arrived at the Prague Airport to begin two weeks participating in Western Michigan University's Prague Summer Program (PSP). Among the first people I met as the PSP contingent gathered to board a bus to the city was Charles ("Charlie") Conley. It turned out that Charlie and I had been assigned to the same fiction workshop. Back then, Charlie was an MFA student in the program at the University of Minnesota. I've followed his progress post-Prague, and since there has been so much to follow - including multiple fellowship and residency awards - I asked Charlie if he'd be willing to be interviewed for the newsletter.

Charles Conley, born and raised on Long Island, is currently a fellow with Teachers & Writers Collaborative in New York and was a 2008-2009 fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. His stories have appeared or are forthcoming in The Southern Review, The Harvard Review, and Canadian Notes and Queries. He is the recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant in 2010 and a SASE/Jerome Grant for Emerging Writers in 2007. In May, he will be attending the Sozopol Fiction Seminars in Bulgaria.

Please welcome Charlie Conley.

ERIKA DREIFUS (ED): Charlie, please tell us what a typical day is like for you as a Teachers & Writers Collaborative Fellow.

CHARLIE CONLEY (CC): I do most of my best work when I have a well-established routine, and I've been lucky recently to have fellowships that allow me to do that. The day I'm going to describe to you is representative of probably 80 to 90 percent of my days at Teachers & Writers. I get into the office between 7:30 and 8:30 (how close that is to 7:30 is almost a direct correlation to how my writing is going-the better, the earlier) and drink tea or coffee while I go through my emails and read the Times online. Once my brain is awake, I start writing-for almost all of this fellowship period I've been revising short stories, though I participated with a couple of friends in National Novel-Writing Month in November (I was getting to the office really early that month). I write until about 11:00 and switch over to my fellowship responsibilities.

Teachers & Writers Collaborative is a teaching-artist organization that's been around since 1967. We also publish Teachers & Writers magazine and books about teaching creative writing and literature. My work here has involved researching and writing grant proposals to fund next year's fellowship; working on the "resources" section of our website, primarily the lesson plans; writing for the magazine; observing teaching artists in the classroom; and co-curating (with Carla Ching, this year's other fellow) the 2020 Visions Reading Series. Additionally, I just started co-teaching with David Stoler, an experienced teaching artist, which is just a great experience (as well as being great experience for future work in the schools I might do), and I've had the opportunity to sit in on the planning meetings T&W has been conducting this year in response to the changing Department of Education and funding environments.

ED: For contrast (I suspect!), please tell us about a typical workday at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass., where you were a fellow in 2008-09.

CC: Actually, the contrast is not as stark as you'd expect. At Provincetown, I was waking up probably between 8:30 and 9:30, drinking coffee while I read emails and the Times. I'd start and finish my writing later, and the writing day was probably longer in Provincetown (though I suspect I'm just as productive now, despite-or maybe even because of-my fellowship responsibilities). By lunch on most days I'm done with my writing, and if I haven't started by about noon I'm not going to write that day. I've tried, but something essential about the way my mind works just seems to change in the afternoon and anything but the most basic editing makes me feel like I'm working in an unfamiliar language (and not in a good way).

I've never been the kind of writer who can work for eight hours in a row. I try to make up for that with diligence, which is pretty unromantic, and I don't think what anyone pictures when they imagine "the writing life." It certainly wasn't what I imagined.

ED: What changes have you noticed in your writing (and/or writing habits) since you began your journey through residencies and fellowships?

CC: That journey began shortly after I got my MFA from the University of Minnesota in 2006. If I remember correctly, I taught that first semester after graduate school. In what would have been the spring semester, I had two residencies-two months at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska (which I believe you've also been to) and a month at Can Serrat, near Barcelona, Spain-and I've been alternating semesters of teaching, periods of travel and residencies, and fellowships ever since (which I see as three distinct phases).

Even when I'm teaching, it's not a full course-load, so whatever phase I'm in, I tend to have long days with a lot of space in them. In this situation, writing is what grounds me. Getting that day's writing done earns me the rest of the day for myself (teaching a class only earns me money). In grad school-and before grad school, when I had a career-writing was something I squeezed into the free time I found. Now, the day is built around it.

ED: What advice do you have for writers who may just be starting to approach fellowships and residencies?

CC: To find out about these things, Poets & Writers is a great resource, as is The Practicing Writer e-newsletter, where I found out about a couple of things I eventually got. Being friends with other writers and sharing information with them is also helpful (a recent grant and my current fellowship were both word-of-mouth discoveries). Deadlines come year-round, so it's important to keep track of everything in one place-I have a single spreadsheet where I keep track of everything, especially when I've applied in the past and what stories I've sent (so I don't resend work they didn't respond to the first time).

I rarely get something the first time I try, so in my case diligence has paid off. The Fine Arts Work Center fellowship came on the third try. The first year I was a finalist, but the second year I wasn't even a finalist, which was disheartening. Actually, I half-jokingly consider all the applications and story submissions I do as opportunities to practice being rejected. It's one of the essential facts of the writing life-at least mine-and I'm getting better at accepting it.

When I get to a new residency, the first thing I do is figure out what my writing routine will look like in this new place. Where will I actually write? What desk or table is the most comfortable, has the best lighting, has the fewest distractions? How will I get breakfast? Is it provided? If so, at what times? Is Internet available? If not, how will I replace that waking-up part of the routine? (Usually by reading a book about writing before I start writing.) The answering of these basic questions tells me how my routine will go.

Then I try to be friendly. Residencies are a great opportunity to meet artists working in different disciplines from all over the country and the world. There's a real chance to meet people I'd never get to meet otherwise, and I try not to waste it.

ED: Besides your upcoming reading in New York City (on Monday, May 10), is there any other news you'd like to share?

CC: Thanks for mentioning the reading, which is something I'm really looking forward to. [Co-reader] Steven Polansky was a professor of mine at the University of Minnesota, and he taught a class called "English Prose Style" that profoundly affected the way I think about my writing. The reading is a celebration of his newest book, a novel called The Bradbury Report. I just found out I will be one of ten fiction writers attending the Sozopol Fiction Seminar in Bulgaria at the end of May. I've been applying since the first time the seminar was offered, three years ago, and was a semi-finalist both times. So once again, persistence proves my greatest virtue.

At the end of June, I have a two-week residency up in Pocantico [site of the Rockefeller family estate] as a part of my T&W Fellowship. The Rockefeller Brothers funded this year's fellowship, and this is an additional benefit they've generously offered. Then in early August I'll be heading to South America to (re-)learn Spanish, travel, write, and research, particularly a story set in La Paz, Bolivia. The Elizabeth George Foundation was kind enough to provide the funds for me to stay through the end of the year.

In all this, it's sometimes easy to mix up the ends with the means. I pursue these opportunities because they fuel my writing (with time and ideas and interactions with new people), not the other way around. I just finished a story I'm very excited about and feel pretty near the finish line on another. Making each story as good as I can and then doing my best to find readers for it is why I do all the rest.

ED: Wise words to end with, Charlie. Thank you so much, and safe travels to you!

A version of this interview was published in The Practicing Writer.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Zachary Watterson's excellent interview with Charles Johnson focuses on literary mentors and friends. (And don't miss the link to Johnson's take on writing workshops at the end.)
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Want some tips on how to write a good profile? Check out this advice from Linda Formichelli.
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I was happy to see that Creating Van Gogh (a.k.a. John Vanderslice) took me up on the recommendation to read Kathryn Stockett's The Help, and even more pleased to read his own thoughtful response to the book. Another recent post reminded and convinced me to get my hands on William Styron's posthumously-published The Suicide Run.
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Gina Barreca and Steve Almond may have written two entirely different pieces about the recent Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Denver, but I found one interesting convergence in their posts. (Do you see what I see?)
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I really liked Robert Lee Brewer's Monday poetry prompt: "Pick a city, make that the title of your poem, and write a poem." And then I realized/remembered why I might appreciate this particular prompt.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

"To mark European Week Against Racism the Social Inclusion Unit, South Dublin County Council, will hold a competition which aims to combat racism and to celebrate culture diversity of people living in Ireland today. Everybody can participate...by conveying your personal message against racism through a submission of writing (poetry/prose) maximum 500 words." Cash prizes for three winners and six runners-up. No entry fee. Deadline: March 19, 2010.
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The OpEd Project runs a "Write to Change the World" seminar (the focus of which is on women). "We are committed to making The OpEd Project programs affordable for any woman who is committed to changing the world with her voice. To that end, we provide full and partial scholarships for up to 40% of participants in any seminar." Does not appear to require an application fee. Seminars are currently scheduled for Boston, Los Angeles, San Fancisco, and New York City.
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And still more scholarship news, from The Glen Workshop (affiliated with Image, a journal focused on "art-faith-mystery"): "a limited number of partial scholarships will be available, to be awarded based on both need and quality of work. You may apply to any class, even if it's closed for registration (see the course descriptions page). However, if you wish to guarantee a spot in a workshop, even if you do not win a scholarship, you must register for an available workshop and pay the $100 deposit." Application deadline is March 15, 2010.
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"The Consortium for Science Policy & Outcomes (CSPO) at Arizona State University is presenting an intensive two-day workshop, followed by participation in CSPO's conference 'The Rightful Place of Science?', for the 'next genreation' of writers with an interest in science and technology. Selected participants will learn creative nonfiction techniques, consult with editors of major magazines and pair with a 'next generation' science and technology policy scholar. The goal of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for the scholars and writers to work together to publish their work in a mainstream magazine or to develop a book or film proposal." The workshop and conference are scheduled for May 2010. "Those selected will receive an honorarium and travel expenses to attend the two-day workshop and three-day conference...." There is no application fee indicated. Deadline: March 15, 2010. (via the Creative Nonfiction newsletter)
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The Wordsworth Trust (U.K.) "is seeking a new Poet in Residence, to run for 9 months from July 2010 to end March 2011....This Residency offers an invaluable opportunity for a published poet, from any cultural background and writing within any literary tradition, to spend time in Grasmere, Cumbria, in the heart of the Lake District, an area of outstanding natural beauty that so much inspired William Wordsworth. The poet will be given space to develop their own work and will also take part in the Wordsworth Trust Literature Programme and the wider cultural life of Cumbria. The Poet in Residence will be paid a monthly stipend of £1000.00 and provided with a cottage for which they will be charged a subsidised rent." Application deadline is March 5. No application fee is mentioned.
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The University of Delaware seeks a Senior News Editor, the University of Texas-Arlington is looking for a Media Relations Officer, and the University of Chicago welcomes applications for a Writer/Project Manager.
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Our March Practicing Writer newsletter will go out to subscribers next weekend. Don't miss it!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

"Established in 1999 and supported through a generous grant from the Samuel Goldberg & Sons Foundation, the Goldberg Prize for Jewish Fiction by Emerging Writers is among the very first of its kind to highlight new works by contemporary writers exploring Jewish themes. The prize spotlights promising new talent, and is awarded to an American fiction writer for a first or second full-length work that was published in the previous calendar year. Submissions must be made by the publisher. The award includes a prize of $2,500, as well as a one-week residency at Ledig House International Writers Colony in New York’s Hudson Valley." There is no entry fee. Deadline: March 1, 2010.
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"Oysters & Chocolate is now seeking submissions for our upcoming erotica anthology, to be published by Seal Press (2011)." Work must be previously unpublished. Pays: $100 plus two copies of the book. Deadline: March 15, 2010.
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The Guide to Literary Agents blog interviews agent B.J. Robbins, who seeks "quality fiction—both literary and commercial—and general nonfiction, with a particular interest in memoir, biography, narrative history, pop culture, sports, travel/adventure, medicine and health."
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As mentioned in the latest issue of The Practicing Writer, 'tis the season to apply for admission to the Sozopol Fiction Seminars in Sozopol, Bulgaria. "An advanced discussion among writers of fiction in Bulgarian and English, this gathering hosts fiction writers from Bulgaria and from English-speaking countries, including but not limited to the U.S. and the U.K. All participants are selected on a competitive basis. For three intense days, the participating writers are given the opportunity to explore their craft through mutual exchange under the guidance of one English-speaking and one Bulgarian fiction writer. In addition to the morning workshops, the programme includes special guest lectures and informal roundtables on various issues from the lifecycle of the book, including how to work with agents, editors, translators, and publishers." English-language workshops are led by Elizabeth Kostova. The 2010 seminars will take place May 27-June 1. Participants receive scholarships covering tuition, room and board, in-country transportation, and 75% of international travel." There is no application fee. Deadline: March 15, 2010.
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Wayne State College (Neb.) is looking for an Instructor/Assistant Professor of Creative Writing. "Completed MFA or PhD required for appointment at rank of Assistant Professor; completed Masters degree required for appointment at rank of Instructor. Successful teaching experience and substantial publication record required. Four courses per semester divided among fiction and poetry workshops, literature, and composition. Advising and committee work as assigned. Responsibility for WSC Press, Plains Writers Series, poetry and fiction slams and undergraduate literary magazine. A strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and to developing collegial relationships with colleagues is expected."
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Lafayette College (Penn.) seeks an Alumni Communications Editor, East Carolina University (N.C.) is looking for a Public Communication Specialist, and the New York University School of Law seeks a Writer.

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.

A Poem About a Poet by Anne Whitehouse

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


CURSE IX

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

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

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

**

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Anthology call: "First published in 1895, The Time Machine by Herbert George (H.G.) Wells is a blueprint for science fiction and horror that persists to this day: underneath the science and the theories that attract a reader's mind, there is an underlying story of a person who struggles with the question that burns in the heart of every man: what does it all mean? Well, now we have a chance to find out. Northern Frights Publishing is looking for stories inspired by The Time Machine. Stories that delicately reach into our past. Stories that boldly stride into the future. And everything in between. Send us your stories of paradoxes and contradictions, show us what happens when we mess with our timelines or create new ones. Take us to the edge of the dying earth millions of years in the future. Show us its birth. Most importantly, though, show us the people affected when we rip through the walls of the fourth dimension." Deadline: December 31, 2009. Prefers unpublished work. Pays: "$0.01US (One Cent) per word up to $50.00, and one contributor copy, paid on publication through Paypal." Update: Thanks to practicing writer Lawrence Schimel for pointing out to me that the publisher's guidelines show a call for a second Wells-related anthology, too.
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Richmond Family Magazine, a monthly magazine "for expectant, new, and veteran parents in Greater Richmond" (Va.), will consider essays and opinion. "We are interested in humorous, touching, or serious pieces that help Richmond parents build healthy families. Topics might include a child's first haircut, sending your oldest off to college, or wrestling with the decision to go back to work." Previously unpublished work only. "We buy exclusive periodical rights and electronic rights." Pays: on acceptance, "based on experience and quality of work." (via Wooden Horse Magazine News)
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From the Kentucky Literary Newsletter: "Lexington's Carnegie Center is currently seeking applicants from all over Kentucky for the Young Women Writers Project, an empowering program with intensive workshops focused on self-expression through writing. Thanks to support from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, this program is free to participants. E-mail jmattox(at)carnegieliteracy(dot)org."
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From Gettysburg College (Penn.): (Emerging Writer Lecturership) "One-year appointment, beginning August 2010, for a creative writer who plans a career that involves college-level teaching, to teach three courses per semester, including Introduction to Creative Writing and an advanced course in the writer's genre, as well as to assist with departmental writing activities. Mentorship for teaching and assistance in professional development provided. M.A., with a concentration in creative writing, M.F.A., or Ph.D. with creative dissertation, required. Teaching experience and literary magazine publications are essential. Competitive salary."
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From City College of New York-CUNY: "The Department of English seeks a senior faculty member who is a dually accomplished Creative Writer and an Americanist."
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From Columbia University (New York): "The Writing Program seeks to fill a position either as Assistant or Associate Professor (tenure-track research faculty) or as Assistant or Associate Professor of Professional Practice (practice faculty) specializing in fiction to teach graduate and undergraduate writing workshops and seminars, and to advise on graduate theses, effective July 1, 2010."
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California State Univesity-Fresno seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor (fiction writing).
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From the University of Tampa (Fla.): "The Department of English and Writing in the College of Arts and Letters seeks a candidate for an Assistant Professor of English, tenure track, in creative writing (poetry) to begin August 2010."
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From Rosemont College (Penn.): "The Undergraduate College of Rosemont College invites applications for an adjunct instructor to teach Creative Writing Poetry in the spring 2010 semester. Qualified applicants will possess at least an M.F.A. in Creative Writing; additionally, applicants must have prior experience teaching this or a similar course. Course times are set at Tuesday/Thursday, 3:10 to 4:40."
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From Bennington College (Vt.): "Bennington College seeks two published writers of distinguished literary accomplishment to teach literature and writing to highly motivated undergraduates. In keeping with our commitment to the teacher-practitioner model, we seek writers of poetry, fiction, drama or nonfiction whose own interests and abilities as teachers will shape our future curriculum. We are committed to teaching major works in the history of literature, and likely candidates will demonstrate the ability to teach a broad spectrum of essential works."
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Bemidji State University (Minn.) seeks an Assistant Professor of English (creative nonfiction).
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Seton Hall University (N.J.) is looking for a Legal Media Officer, the University of South Flordia seeks a Communications and Media Officer; and Stanford University (Calif.) invites applications for a Director of Stewardship/Associate Director of Communications.
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And last, but definitely not least: December's Practicing Writer newsletter will go out to subscribers next weekend. Not yet a subscriber? Please join us! There's no cost to subscribe, we post only paying opportunities (and those that DO NOT charge fees), and we'll keep your e-mail address confidential.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Writers who have received their terminal degree in creative writing within the last five years have until November 1 to apply for an Axton Fellowship at the University of Louisville (Ky.). "The purpose of these fellowships is to provide recent graduates with time to further their own work, to associate them with a distinguished faculty, and to allow them to contribute to a vibrant creative writing community. This year one fellow in fiction will be appointed for the academic years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, and will be awarded a stipend and benefits."
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Another opportunity for fiction writers, also with a November 1 deadline, and also without an application fee: the Dzanc Prize. This award "provides monetary aid in the sum of $5,000, to a writer of literary fiction. All writers applying for the Dzanc Prize must have a work-in-progress they can submit for review, and present the judges with a Community Service Program they can facilitate somewhere in the United States. Such programs may include anything deemed "educational" in relation to writing. Examples would include: working with HIV patients to help them write their stories; doing a series of workshops at a drop-in youth homeless center; running writing programs in inner-city schools; or working with older citizens looking to write their memoirs. All community programs under the Dzanc Prize must run for a full year."
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And still more from the fiction world: The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award is a new prize administered by Booktrust (U.K.) Open to authors published in the U.K. or Ireland, it seeks an unpublished (or published after January 1, 2009) story and confers a first prize of £25,000 (£500 for each of the five runners-up). Deadline: November 30, 2009.
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Check this post from the Hayden's Ferry Review blog for details on an upcoming free poetry workshop at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Museum of Contemporary Art.
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Assistant Professor position open: "The English Department at Hollins University [Va.] seeks to fill a tenure-track position in creative writing at the undergraduate and M.F.A. levels. The six-course load includes teaching responsibilities in multi-genre creative writing courses, graduate tutorials in fiction, appropriate courses in literature, as well as thesis advising. Hollins University expects its faculty to participate actively in program and departmental administration, university-level governance, and co-curricular programming."
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"Nebraska Wesleyan University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Creative Writing: Poetry. This faculty member will teach other writing courses (e.g., fiction, non-fiction, scriptwriting, publishing, journalism, or grantwriting), and may also teach in other departmental areas. All English Department faculty teach General Education classes in composition, literature, or interdisciplinary studies. This faculty member will share responsibility for a visiting writers series and for the campus creative writing magazine.
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"The Department of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas" is searching for a Fiction Writer, RANK OPEN. This is a full-time, 9-month, tenure-track position available fall 2010. Duties include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses and participating in screening applications for distinguished MFA program. Significant publication is expected.
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"The English Department at St. Lawrence University [N.Y.] invites applications for a one-year, visiting position in poetry. The successful candidate will teach both levels of our coursework in introductory and advanced poetry writing. Ability to offer coursework in early British literature is also desirable."
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East Carolina University (N.C.) seeks a Writer/Editor, Temple University (Penn.) is looking for a Law School Publications Editor, and Harvard University (Mass.) seeks a Stewardship Writer for a time-limited position.

The Wednesday Web Browser

TriQuarterly, the literary journal of Northwestern University Press, will transition to an online-only format and will be integrated into the Creative Writing program of Northwestern's School of Continuing Studies.
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Publishers Weekly reports the launch of Madras Press, which focuses on short fiction - and will donate proceeds from each book to a charity of the author's choice.
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As you've likely heard by now, Oprah's latest book club pick is a short story collection: Uwem Akpan's Say You're One of Them.
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For those in the Denver area: Lighthouse Writers Workshop will be hosting an "Operation Homecoming Writers Workshop" this weekend (September 26 and 27). "The workshops are open to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, as well as veterans of earlier conflicts., and are part of the NEA's Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, a groundbreaking program that documents and preserves the wartime experiences of men and women in uniform and their families." There's no charge for these workshops. Details here.
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Adam Kirsch reviews Michael Greenberg's Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer's Life, and declares that Greenberg "belongs in a book by Saul Bellow."

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Think you can write a 700-word children's story about "a personified Onion"? If so, you could win £700 (and see your work published as a children's book) through The Secret Seed Society Competition. No entry fee. Deadline: October 5, 2009. NB: You'll be expected to hand over copyright, so proceed only if that's acceptable to you.
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The annual "Happy Tales" literary contest, run by Humanities Montana and asking writers to "take any literary work with a sad, disturbing, or negative ending and supply a happy, affirmative, uplifting, humorous ending," offers a prize of $200. No entry fee. Deadline: September 30, 2009.
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Looking for a literary agent? These agents are looking for writers.
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Shepherd University (W. Va) is looking for a Web Content Provider/Writer, Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.) seeks a Senior Writer, and Washington National Opera would like to hire a half-time Communications Coordinator.
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Several free classes/workshops to share with you: Freelancer Linda Formichelli is offering free teleclasses "on topics ranging from how to write a killer query to how to organize your assignment workflow"; Aracelis Girmay will be leading a "Black Artist as Activist" poetry workshop in Brooklyn for writers ages 16-25; and starting in October, the Audre Lorde Project (also in Brooklyn) will be hosting "Tongues Afire: A Free Creative Writing Workshop for Queer Women, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color."
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Did you miss our last opportunity-laden newsletter? You can catch a reprint for the next couple of weeks here. But to make sure you receive the October newsletter right when subscribers do, subscribe! It's free, and your e-mail address won't be shared with anyone.

Friday Find: An Essay from 1989

This evening marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur is not very far away. These are the Jewish High Holy Days, the Days of Awe, a time for reflection and repentance.

They were also the catalyst for an essay I wrote 20 years ago, when I was a college junior. That fall semester, I was lucky enough to be admitted into a creative nonfiction workshop taught by Verlyn Klinkenborg. It's safe to say that Verlyn and I agreed that "Reflections During the Days of Awe, 1989-5750" was the best piece I wrote that term.

The essay is written in segments divided by portions of the Unetenah Tokef liturgy, which is an essential aspect of Holy Day worship (and I'm far from the only one to have found creative inspiration in it: Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire" provides an extraordinary musical perspective). In honor of the Holy Days, and with the benefit of a creation that was inconceivable when I first wrote the piece - namely, hyperlinks - I would like to share it here.

Thank you for indulging my return to what remains for me a deeply meaningful piece of writing. And for all of my fellow practicing writers who are also celebrating the new year 5770, shanah tovah!

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REFLECTIONS DURING THE DAYS OF AWE, 1989-5750
by Erika Dreifus

ON ROSH HASHANAH IT IS WRITTEN,
ON YOM KIPPUR IT IS SEALED:
HOW MANY SHALL PASS ON, HOW MANY SHALL COME TO BE:
WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE;

I don't remember feeling any special ties to my religion as a young child. "Chanukah" was simply a time to receive a new Barbie doll or board game or book. "Passover" meant that one April night each year we'd have a big meal at Aunt Mimi's Westchester house with all of Mommy's family, and the next night we'd eat with Daddy's parents, and then for a few days there would be cracker-like food called "matzah" in our apartment. Nearly everyone in our Brooklyn neighborhood was Jewish. All my friends and I looked forward to those days we could claim as school "holidays," spending the insignificant Sukkots and Shavuots playing in the autumn and spring sunshine. I cannot remember even being inside a synagogue before my eighth birthday. I did know that my grandparents went to "shul" on days that were called "Rosh Hashanah" and "Yom Kippur." Those were days when people tried to dress especially nicely; everyone greeted each other with the words "Happy New Year" in the middle of September; and for one day, my grandfather refused to eat.

When I was eight, my mother decided that it was important for me to have some sort of Jewish education - she and my father had both been raised in fairly Conservative Jewish households - so she enrolled me in a Conservative Hebrew school that expected attendance four afternoons each week from 3:30 to 5:30 and Saturday morning "Junior Congregation" worship as well. For the first time, I was called not "Erika," but rather the Hebrew name, "Yocheved," that I shared with my mother's grandmother. At that congregation's school, I first became acquainted with the Hebrew language and prayers and Bible stories, and when our family moved to a New Jersey suburb at the end of that school year, I had become more conscious of a Jewish identity.

WHO SHALL SEE RIPE AGE AND WHO SHALL NOT:
WHO SHALL PERISH BY FIRE AND WHO BY WATER;
WHO BY SWORD AND WHO BY BEAST;
WHO BY HUNGER AND WHO BY THIRST;

Our new home was the only Jewish one on the block, and perhaps that is why my parents began to search for a congregation affiliation almost as soon as the cartons were unpacked (and they were unpacked fast) that summer of 1978. I remember the Saturday morning the four of us visited the township's Conservative synagogue. The Sanctuary was small and dark, and all I could see was a cluster of old men chanting Hebrew. "Let's leave," my father said. We drove ten minutes to another temple, a more modern construction crowning acres of beautifully landscaped property. The parking lot seemed a maze to my sister and me, winding around to assure enough spaces for the cars of the thousand member families. The short summer service, held in an airy chapel, was conducted mostly in English. The Rabbi offered my sister and me flowers from the large arrangement at the front of the room after the Benediction. We became members of the Reform "TBJ" the following week.

WHO BY EARTHQUAKE AND WHO BY PLAGUE;
WHO BY STRANGLING AND WHO BY STONING;
WHO SHALL BE SECURE AND WHO SHALL BE DRIVEN;

TBJ required only one afternoon and one weekend morning of religious instruction each week. My Hebrew did not improve much over the years I studied there, but as a TBJ member I have learned to consider myself a Jew in a way I never did before.

Last weekend, I flew home to New Jersey and celebrated the new year 5750 with my family. Again I listened to Cantor Summers chant the Avinu Malkeinu, his voice and those of the choir mingling in the vast Sanctuary, pleading in ancient Hebrew, "Our Father, our King, hear our voice. Our Father, our King, we have sinned against You. Our Father, our King, have compassion on us and on our children." Again I watched Rabbi Greene, robed in Holy Day white, look out into the faces of the congregants. Again I basked in the love and friendship shown to my family, warmth that has increased every year as we have become "regulars" at Friday night Sabbath worship, as my mother involves herself caring for so many Temple members, as my father has assumed the congregation's Presidency, as my sister and I have become B'not Mitzvah, "Daughters of the Commandment," on our thirteenth birthdays, and Confirmands at the end of tenth grade, and Temple Youth Group leaders during our high school years.

WHO SHALL BE TRANQUIL AND WHO SHALL BE TROUBLED;
WHO SHALL BE POOR AND WHO SHALL BE RICH;
WHO SHALL BE HUMBLED AND WHO EXALTED.

My Grandma Rose died five years ago, during the ten "Days of Awe" between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Her favorite worship service took place the night before Yom Kippur, when the Kol Nidre prayer is chanted openly in synagogues throughout the world, chanted as it has been for so many generations, chanted now as it was even behind closed doors in Inquisition Spain when those Jews who pretended to convert to Catholicism - the Marranos - gathered in secret to make sacred Kol Nidre, "All Vows," to God.

Grandma's younger sister Esther stayed at our house last weekend. She came to services with us and blinked back tears as Grandma's name was read aloud from the Yarzheit list, the roll call of people who died, as Rabbi Greene always intones, "at this season in years past."

Esther's twin, Syl, lives in a nearby nursing home, and Saturday morning, before going to Temple, I drove my sister and some of her Youth Groupers over to the Theresa Grotta Center to lead the Jewish residents in prayer. Syl did not recognize me at first, and since she is almost completely deaf I had to repeat loudly, "I'm Erika, I'm MADELINE's daughter," for her to place me as her favorite niece's child - but I sat with her throughout the brief service and turned her prayerbook's pages. At the end of the service, Syl, who has been the despair of many a mental health professional, reached for my arm and said, "I wanted my sister Rose here with me - I wanted her picture with me and I forgot - but she was here, all the same."

This year, I won't be with my family for Kol Nidre. I will go to dinner with friends, and then walk to Memorial Church, where Harvard Hillel runs its Reform services ("Yom Kippur in a church?" my grandfather asked increduously during my freshman year). The next morning I will stand at the pulpit and lead part of the day's worship. I will break the day-long fast later that evening at my roommate's home in Lexington, with a family as loving and as imbued with tradition as my own.

BUT REPENTANCE, PRAYER, AND CHARITY
TEMPER JUDGMENT'S SEVERE DECREE

According to the Holy Day prayerbook, according to the pages that I will read with the Harvard community on the Day of Atonement, the decision whether I shall live or die this year has been made and will be sealed as the sun sets Monday night and I resume eating. That is a profound thought. I don't know how strongly I believe it. Often, I think that I don't know what or who God is. I do know that my Judaism means more to me than words. It is a mosaic. Judaism signifies family. It means thinking about others and giving special consideration to the weak and the old. It means celebrating in times of joy and consoling in times of sadness or trouble. It signifies holiday traditions and food and melodies and culture. It means that there are some things about me that some of my non-Jewish friends have never understood and may never understand, and that there exists a special bond between me and many of my Jewish friends. Judaism commands responsibility and bequeaths a heritage. And Judaism means that Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Days of Awe will always be my time for contemplation. Life and death take on richer meanings in the days of enhanced "repentance, prayer, and charity."

(Way back when, I dedicated this essay to my mother, and to all of her mother's family. I still do.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Sage Cohen is offering a scholarship for her online class, Poetry for the People. Applications are due by Friday, September 18, and there's no fee to apply. This scholarship is valued at $250, and is open only to U.S. residents at this time. (And Sage is a great poet and teacher! Revisit our interview with her to become acquainted with her thoughts on the life poetic.)
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"The Southern Review is thrilled to celebrate the literary side of our national pastime. We're currently accepting submissions for a special feature about baseball to be published in the Spring 2010 issue. Please send your previously unpublished poems, stories, and essays by November 1. Play ball!"
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Especially for Oregon writers: Oregon Humanities has announced the theme for its spring 2010 issue. Focused on "look," the issue "will explore various topics, including aesthetics, design, visual literacy, appearance, and images as communication tools." For the full call and detailed guidelines/pay rates, click here.
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Attention, Canadian writers: Recliner Books, based in Calgary, Alberta, is a new independent press "currently looking for literary fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction targeted at an adult audience....We hope to publish four titles this year which will be made available in stores and online." (via placesforwriters.com)
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Several teaching opportunities for fictionists: Cleveland State University is looking for an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (fiction), the University of San Diego invites applications from fiction specialists for an Assistant Professor position, and Centenary College (N.J.) seeks an Adjunct Instructor for a fiction workshop. There's also a tenure-track position in poetry available at the University of Nevada-Reno.
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Clark University (Mass.) is looking for a Director of Communications, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Mass.) seeks a Writer/Project Manager, and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics (Md.) is looking for a Science Writer.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Ever wondered what you might glean from a workshop at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference? Over on the Hayden's Ferry Review blog, Eugene Cross shares what he learned last month from Charles Baxter.
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And for another perspective on the same conference, check out Celeste Ng's dispatch on Fiction Writers Review (sequel to follow).
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Many thanks to Lisa Romeo for letting us know that the very learned editor/agent/writer Betsy Lerner is keeping a blog (where I have discovered the exciting news that an updated edition of the excellent Forest for the Trees is in the works).

After the Retreat: A Guest Post by Chloé Yelena Miller

AROHO Retreat: Digestion
Second of two guest posts by Chloé Yelena Miller

AROHO, pronounced as one word, is the acronym for A Room of Her Own.

Oneness was the unofficial theme of this year’s retreat. A group of 80 or so women gathered in the red desert to share ideas, challenge each other, and form one community.

I wanted to write this blog post at the weeklong retreat. In my creaky bed, I tried to summarize what was happening. But even at the airport returning home, I was overwhelmed.

So I asked AROHO friends on Facebook what their favorite moments were:

Barb Johnson, Gift of Freedom Award Winner and author of More of This World or Maybe Another, wrote, “Rita Dove. Transcendent readings. Wonderful conversations. Dancing. Discovering that hummingbirds chitter.”

Jennifer Mattson, NPR contributor and instructor, added, “Rita Dove, twice. Conversations with Barb Johson, hiking and the Georgia O'Keeffe tours.... and of course late nights with the roomie.”

“Two moments: The first evening, one of the women explained the perseids (she goes somewhere each year to see them), which was a first clue this would be an interesting, informed group. Also, Meredith [Hall]'s exercises for memoir writing” were oral historian Abbie Reese’s favorite memories.

Summer Wood, Gift of Freedom Award Winner and author of Arroyo, shared: “Ellen [McLaughlin]'s phenomenal monologue following Rita [Dove]'s lovely, generous reading. I thought I was going to explode out of my skin.”

I filled up a notebook. I wanted to remember Mary Rose Betton teaching us about reading our work aloud, starting with our natural voice (which can be found by simply saying, “uh huh”). I wanted to remember Rita Dove saying: “After a project, I promise myself to do something completely different. Something that scares me.” On writing for public radio said, Jennifer Mattson said: “Always mumble when you write. Read and write at the same time.” I keep thumbing through the notebook.

Many women arrived planning to write throughout the days. Since I work alone from home, I wanted to meet people and attend classes. I tried not to sit in my room, but rather talk with other writers who were up for conversation.

I mentioned in the previous post that I attended Smith College, an all-women’s school. Perhaps because I'd already experienced being part of a supportive, all-women’s network, I was particularly interested in finding honest critiques of my writing.

Luckily, author Laura Fraser’s workshop on creative nonfiction did just that. She was firm and clear. I’d read her book An Italian Affair before leaving. I knew she was successful in her freelance career. She was candid in class, shared tips with us and encouraged us to be precise. She noted the “one rule.” Every piece, paragraph, and even sentence should have one point. She recommended On Writing Well by William Zinsser, and as I reread the book on the plane, it reverberated with Laura's points and her writing. She helped the students in the class trust each other, ourselves and our writing enough to want it to be as good as possible.

There were moments the setting distracted me from the writing. It turns out that I am as afraid of coyotes’ howling as I am of sleeping in a room with an unlocked door that opens up to the outside. This retreat caught me a little off guard with how rural it was. This Jersey girl needs a tougher skin.

That said, I’ve never been anywhere where the stars shone as brightly as they did at night. I’d also never felt as safe and as challenged as I did there.

As soon as I got back home, I took a long, hot shower and then logged into Facebook to find my new friends. I trust that some of us will be sharing writing for years to come and prompting each other not only to write, but to write well.

Thank you to everyone who worked to organize this wonderful retreat.

Guest Post: Chloé Yelena Miller on Preparing for a Writing Retreat

Please extend a warm welcome to our guest blogger, Chloé Yelena Miller, whom you may remember from a previous post. Today, Chloé shares some thoughts as she approaches a writing retreat. She'll be back with another post once she has returned home. Chloé has poems published or forthcoming in Alimentum Journal, Lumina, Privatephotoreview.com, South Mountain Poets Chapbook, Sink Review and The Cortland Review. Her manuscript, Permission to Stay, was a finalist for the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry. She teaches writing online for Fairleigh Dickinson University and edits Portal Del Sol. She received an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a B.A. from Smith College.

A Women’s Writing Retreat: One Woman’s Treat and Necessity
Chloé Yelena Miller

I have never seen a desert, and I am obsessed with Georgia O’Keeffe. The Writers’ Retreat, hosted by A Room of her Own, adds writing to the mix of a desert landscape and O’Keeffe’s home. What could be better?

I have been in love with O’Keeffe’s work since I first saw an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as a child. The landscape that helped to form her art was so different from my own setting: urban New Jersey. I remember sitting cross-legged on the carpet in my parents’ living room looking through her oversized book One Hundred Flowers. This upcoming retreat feels like a homecoming as visual art brings me to a writing space.

A black and white portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe has been pinned over my desk since high school. It has traveled with me from New Jersey to Massachusetts to Italy to New York and finally to Michigan. This year’s retreat’s theme is “My Country is the Whole World” (Virginia Woolf.) Perfect.

We all need more time and space to write. While I am working part time and have been dedicating much of my time to my writing this last year, being surrounded by other writers and attending classes (far from laundry, bills to pay, and other time-
consuming tasks) can only spur my writing, editing of past work, and contemplation of ideas. I truly can’t wait. (On the other hand, there is a pile of procrastination that must get done before I can leave.)

I enjoy the company of forward-thinking, creative women. There are always potential risks to gathering folks around one aspect of themselves, but since we will have two - writing and our gender - in common, we shouldn’t have any problems. I imagine this will be similar to my experience at Smith College. I chose Smith College not because it was an all-women’s school, but because of the type of motivated students it attracted. There is indeed something special about being surrounded by women.

I look forward to attending classes, writing and hopefully talking at length to the other writers. I will be in a workshop led by Laura Fraser, whose book An Italian Affair I recently gobbled up in three evenings. From the memoir, I think she is a woman after my own heart. I have been doing some freelance writing and hope to improve my hand at not only being honest, but including facts in my writing (a puddle-jump from my poetry.) I promise you the same in a blog post when I return.

I hope to return rejuvenated and with a long list of books to read, craft challenges, ideas for future pieces and if I’m lucky, the start to a few new pieces.

Aside from small festivals and short workshops, I haven’t returned to the humble state of student for some time. As a writing teacher, I know how important this is. I was a poetry writing graduate student at Sarah Lawrence College and attended the Western Michigan State University’s program in Prague (where I met our lovely, creative and energized Erika) and was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center. I learned something new in each program.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, as perhaps it might keep me honest), I will be finishing teaching an online course during the retreat. I hope I will have some time every day to log into the class and grade papers as they come in. I’m a wee bit nervous about combining the two activities and doing both well simultaneously. I will also admit that while I can’t wait to see the desert, I am not someone who loves the heat. I will report back about how hot “dry heat” really is.

Writing students must expect as much from the program itself as from the other students. We all have a lot to do to prepare. I’ve been reading works by the authors who will be there, listening to interviews online, and tweaking my own writing for workshops. I’m ready.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Descant (Canada) reminds us of Ten Submission Missteps to Avoid.
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I am spending a chunk of time on the Web this week proofing the links for the August issue of The Practicing Writer, our free monthly newsletter. Not yet a subscriber? It's never too late to join us!
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Tayari Jones shares her process for processing feedback on her writing.