Agent Interviews

Chuck Sambuchino, who edits the Guide to Literary Agents, now maintains a blog to complement that book. And one of the blog features is a series of agent interviews. If you're looking for an agent, or just want to try to understand what agents actually do a little more clearly, this is a good resource to explore.

Monday Morning Market Listings

If you're not already regularly checking Duotrope.com for new poetry and short fiction market listings (true, not all of them pay, but some certainly do), consider yourself reminded. Among my recent discoveries there: Gray's Sporting Journal, which buys poetry and prose ($600-$1,250 for features; $300 for "yarns"; $100 for poetry; $850 for an "expeditions" piece, plus $75 per picture). Check the detailed guidelines here.

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You'll find contests (many without entry fees), fellowships, and grants galore in the latest Theatre Funding News from The Fund for Women Artists (and you don't have to be a woman to appreciate this resource).

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Find out more about Time Out Chicago editor Joel Reese in this interview.

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WomenEntrepreneur.com launched earlier this year and, according to this profile, "is particularly looking for new content for the articles page." Check the site's writers' guidelines here.

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Tea Party Magazine "seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, photography, visual art, comics, interviews, and feature articles for its upcoming issue #18, to be published in Spring 2008. Our theme for Issue #18 is THE FREE ISSUE." Check guidelines for details/definitions. Deadline: October 31, 2007. Pays: $10-$50. "Each contributor receives three copies of the issue, as well as an invitation to the magazine release party. Some contributors from each issue will have the opportunity to read their work at this event."

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Eligible individual artists and organizations based in Kentucky may now apply for Artist Enrichment program grants (ranging from $1,000-$7,500) from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. "The primary goal of the Artist Enrichment program is to provide opportunities for feminist artists and arts organizations to enhance their abilities and skills to create art for positive social change." There's no application fee, and the application deadline is September 7, 2007. More information here.

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True stories of autism sought. Pays: "up to $200."

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"OTTN Publishing, a publisher of quality educational nonfiction, is seeking five experienced writers for a set of books on the Cold War. This will be a work-for-hire, paying a flat fee of $2,800 for a 20,000 word manuscript. Writers who have written book-length works on related subjects preferred, although all are welcome to apply." See the announcement here.

Friday Finds: Writing "Invitations," Prompts, and Similar Suggestions

The August Practicing Writer newsletter is just about ready to go out to subscribers (so keep checking your e-mailboxes, subscribers!). But while you're waiting, I'll give you a sneak peek by letting you in on this month's "featured resource."

It's a page of "Creative Writing Invitations" posted on the University of Iowa Writing Center's Web site. These "invitations" are basically prompts, borrowed from one of my favorite exercise books of all time: Bonni Goldberg's Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer's Life.

And if you're searching for even more inspiration online, check out these two recent discoveries: Michelle Richmond's Daily Writing Exercises and Jeffrey Yamaguchi's "Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Jumpstart Your Writing Efforts."

Any of you have similar resources to recommend?

(And for those of you who aren't yet newsletter subscribers, what are you waiting for? It's free, and we do not share our subscribers' e-mail addresses with ANYONE. So go ahead--take a moment and sign up now.)

From My Bookshelf: Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide

CONVERSATION, NOT PROVOCATION
Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
Jeffrey Goldberg
Alfred A. Knopf, 2006
336 pp., $25.00 (Hardcover)

Review by Erika Dreifus

How did a nice Jewish boy from Long Island, New York—a student at the University of Pennsylvania, no less—end up at Ketziot, an Israeli military prison camp in the Negev? More importantly, what happened once he arrived there? These questions, and their answers, guide award-winning journalist Jeffrey Goldberg's important new book, Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide.

The response to the first question comprises much of the book's autobiographical and "background" material. We learn, for example, that Goldberg acquired a fear of anti-Semitism early on. As a child, he was sensitive to his family history, including "the whirlwind of Russian anti-Semitism" into which his grandfather had been born. Non-Jewish "tormentors" among his middle school classmates "taught [him] how to play 'Bend the Jew'...." With that background, learning "too much truth" about the Holocaust at age 12 proved "emphatically destabilizing": "Such knowledge turned the ground under my feet, already giving way, to quicksand."

Soon thereafter came a Bar Mitzvah trip to Israel, where Goldberg found signs of Israeli strength ("A Jewish tank!") more than merely reassuring. Such signs were "euphoriants":

By the time we came home, I burned with love for Israel. I began this mystic pilgrimage a speck of a Jew, but I emerged utterly different, invested with a mission much larger than myself, larger, certainly, than the quotidian and occasionally terrifying life of a Long Island Jewish boy. Israel was my main chance: For nineteen hundred years, since the final Roman obliteration of Israel (they even changed its name to Palestine, in order to erase from the world's memory its existence), the Jews were chased across the earth. But in 1948, just seventeen years before I was born, the Jews reentered history, building a country out of the cinders of the Holocaust. How could I miss out on this drama?

He couldn't. He devoured the Leon Uris novel, Exodus. He signed up for a Zionist summer camp in the Catskills. As a college student, he volunteered for a 1986 mission to the then-Soviet Union, to provide aid to oppressed Jews living there (refuseniks, as American Jews like me had by then learned to call them in our synagogues and Sunday school classes, Jews refused the right to "make Aliyah," as Jewish immigration to Israel is called).

Goldberg already assumed that after college, he, too, would move to Israel. But he didn't wait that long. He dropped out of Penn and boarded an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. Kibbutz life (Goldberg became fairly expert at work in the chicken coop), a military training course, and a job on The Jersualem Post (currently the Washington correspondent of The New Yorker,* Goldberg has also served as a Middle East correspondent for that magazine) preceded his 1990 army assignment to the military police. And here the book’s second major component, detailing the friendship Goldberg cultivated with one of the Palestinians imprisoned at Ketziot during the first Intifada (uprising against Israel) truly begins.

Ketziot, Goldberg writes, "did not feature in any dream of Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, or in any program of [David] Ben-Gurion, who made concrete Herzl's vision. Ketziot was a city of barbed wire, moldy tents, machine gun towers, armored personnel carriers, black oil smoke, sullen Arabs, and embittered Israeli soldiers." Ketziot clearly hadn't featured in any of Goldberg's visions, either, as the writer explains in this characteristically eloquent passage: "It was outside my frame of reference. Ketziot was a place bleached of color, and bereft of kindness. It was a monument to expediency, poor planning, and the ephemeral nature of cheap building materials. It was a place devoid of culture, an island of small-mindedness and cruelty in a brown sea of sand. And it was swelteringly hot, except at night, when the desert cold seemed capable of cracking bones."

He tells us that the prisoners "were the flower of the Palestinian Intifada. They were its foot soldiers, squad commanders, generals, and, from time to time, its propagandists, even its lawyers." Despite the evident ill will many of them displayed toward Israel, the prisoners fascinated him: “Here they were, en masse, my enemy. Who wouldn't want to know about them? I asked them questions, ceaselessly, about their politics, their beliefs and desires, their families. I poured out questions about child-rearing and bomb-making and the menu for the Ramadan break fast."

Among the prisoners it's Gazan Rafiq Hijazi, the eponymous "Muslim" of the book's title, who most attracts Goldberg's attention: "I wanted to make Rafiq my friend. I felt this keenly, almost from the moment we met. It was something I believed was actually possible. I sensed the presence between us of the enzymes of friendship. I believed that he liked me. He thought I was kind, for a Jew, and I thought he was smart, for an Arab."

But what kind of friendship could this be? "We could not go anywhere or do anything. No double-dating, no football games. We could not, for that matter, shake hands in an even approximately normal way. The openings in the fence were too small. A streamlined hand—four fingers pointing straight out, the thumb held to the side—could work its way through, up to the knuckle. So when we shook, we shook fingers." And, in the winter of 1991, as Saddam Hussein’s Scuds targeted Israel during the Persian Gulf War, they talked. A lot.

Their conversations comfort Goldberg: "I had consoling thoughts about Rafiq—thoughts about the thickening possibilities of peace, a peace that could be made first by two inconsequential soldiers. If Rafiq Hijazi could somehow extend the border of his compassion to take in Jeffrey Goldberg, then why should peace be impossible?" Frequently, however, Goldberg must wonder just how far this border has extended. Is Rafiq really his friend? Goldberg is crushed, for instance, when he offers Rafiq a hypothetical situation in which the Gazan might have the opportunity to kill him; after some hesitation, Rafiq says only, “Look, it wouldn’t be personal.”

But Goldberg can't quite let go of Rafiq, tracking him down even after they've both left Ketziot, even once Goldberg has moved back to the United States, married, and settled in Washington, DC. When he again travels in Israel he goes to Gaza to search for Rafiq. Finding him, he learns that Rafiq, now a professor, is soon to leave for Washington, too—to complete a Ph.D. at the American University.

At this point, Goldberg tells Rafiq that "I wanted to reestablish our friendship for its own sake, and I wanted to see the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict through his eyes, in order to answer a crucial question: Could the Arabs finally accept—accept, not merely tolerate—the presence of Jews in their midst, and not just Jews, but a Jewish state? Or would we forever be viewed as invaders?" For his part, Rafiq responds with another question: "Could the Jews live with the Palestinians without fear, without guns?"

The relationship and discussions thus continue in Washington. Not always easily, given the continued stresses and conflicts in the broader relationship between their peoples. Near the end of the book, Goldberg realizes an "irreducible" truth: "The maximum Israel could give did not match the minimum the Palestinians would accept." Still, Goldberg finds hope. Despite their differences and disagreements something else remains true. Each man cares about the other. When "something terrible" happens in Gaza, Goldberg thinks first of Rafiq and his family. It's "the same thing" for Rafiq: "'When I hear that there is a bombing in Jerusalem and I know you're there, I get worried.'" In the end, Rafiq "'[doesn't] want [Goldberg] to die. I want you to live.'" This, Goldberg concludes, "might be the start of something."

My only difficulty with this book—aside, perhaps, from the discomfort anyone more affectively attuned to Israelis than Palestinians is likely to experience in Goldberg's portrayals of bad will on both sides—concerns its structure. There's a lot of back-and-forth in narrative time, especially in the book's early chapters, and it's not always easy to follow. Some readers may not sense themselves well "situated" in the book for awhile.

On the other hand, the book's Web site** is all about context. Its superb “Resources” section includes a map, a timeline stretching from 1800 B.C.E. to 2006, and a set of links Goldberg recommends for more information on the Middle East. All those items might have been nice additions to the book, too (the evanescence of Web addresses notwithstanding).

In closing it seems not unimportant to note that during the fall of 2006, when Prisoners was published, another new book, by former President Jimmy Carter, received far more media attention. At the height of the controversies Carter's book sparked over everything from its title, to the veracity (or lack thereof) of its content, to its one-sided/pro-Palestinian approach, I was reading Prisoners. And given the evident knowledge, humanity, and, not least of all, sustained and often painful efforts to understand "both sides" that permeate practically every one of Goldberg's pages, I couldn't help wishing, fervently, that the readers who made the Carter book a bestseller might still turn to Prisoners. That, perhaps, might be the start of something.


*As of the summer of 2007,Goldberg is leaving The New Yorker for a position with The Atlantic Monthly.
**http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/goldberg.main.php

(A version of this review was published in the Winter 2007 issue of The Chattahoochee Review.)

The Wednesday Web Browser

Roy Peter Clark teaches us how to make a good paragraph a great one.
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Yes, I agree with Anthony Giardina: You must read Revolutionary Road. (I recently reread it. Again.)
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In case you haven't noticed, I am quite partial to "the dash." For his part, Chip Scanlan is a little less enthusiastic.

Nonfiction Writer-Teachers Sought

This just in from Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY): "Sarah Lawrence College seeks established nonfiction writers to fill two half-time tenure-track positions beginning in the fall of 2008. Teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate nonfiction-writing workshops, regular individual tutorials with students, and supervision of M.F.A. theses. We are looking for candidates with an M.F.A. or equivalent, at least one published book, teaching experience at the undergraduate or graduate level, a demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching, and a willingness to participate actively in the nonfiction-writing program and the academic life of the college." Application deadline: November 15, 2007. See the announcement at HigherEdJobs.com

Monday Morning Market/Job Listings

Check yesterday's post for a detailed call for submissions for upcoming "Cup of Comfort" anthologies.
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Houston's Writers in the Schools (WITS) program "is looking for writers and educators who can teach the joy of creative writing to young people. Employment is part-time, typically a half-day of teaching one day a week from September-May." Must commit for one year. Particular interest in bilingual writers, and writers who'd like to teach grades 2-4. Pays: $50/hr. Accepts applications year-round, but for consideration for the 2007-08 school year, applications must be received by August 10, 2007. More information at idealist.org.
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Very thoughtful post here from Nancy Breen, co-blogger for the Writer's Digest "Poetic Asides" blog. Check the post for Nancy's updates on publications that are now out of business, on hiatus, no longer publishing poetry, etc.
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"The Chronicle's Careers section is looking for graduate students, postdocs, faculty members, and administrators who will be on the job market in the 2007-8 academic year and would be interested in keeping a diary of their job search.

Since 1998, we've featured the job-market stories of academics in a variety of disciplines. They've written regular, first-person accounts throughout the year of their attempts to find a faculty or administrative job in academe, and in a few cases, a nonacademic job. (You can read their columns on the site.)

If you have a flair for writing, here's an opportunity to use it and get paid."

Application deadline: August 14, 2007. Read the full announcement from the Chronicle of Higher Education's site here.
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Attention, Canadian poets (citizens and permanent residents): "Coteau Books invites submission of English-language poems both new and previously published, for its Fall 2008 anthology of hockey poetry for young people, aged 8 – 12. We are looking for poems which capture the nature of our national game, both on and off the ice." Deadline: October 15, 2007. Pays: $50 for original poems, $25 for previously published poems. More information here.
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"The Beacon Newspapers, two monthly newspapers for boomers and seniors in the Washington and Baltimore areas, is looking for an experienced freelance writer for its Baltimore paper. The writer will be responsible for a package of five medium-length (600 to 1,000 words) feature stories for each issue. The writer will also compile and write about 25 to 30 event listings per month." Pays: $1,200/month. See the craigslist announcement.
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Fisher College (Boston) seeks "a qualified instructor to teach sections of Freshman English (ENG I) during the fall, 2007 semester." More info at HigherEdJobs.com.
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The University of Maryland University College is looking for an Assistant Academic Director of Writing, School of Undergraduate Studies. See the announcement here.

Cup of Comfort Anthology Calls

This updated call for anthology submissions arrived via e-mail this weekend. Please be sure to check the Web site indicated for submission instructions.

CALL FOR INSPIRING TRUE STORIES: ALZHEIMER’S, BREAST CANCER, DIVORCE

The bestselling Cup of Comfort book series is seeking submissions for publication consideration in three new books. Stories must be true, uplifting, and 1000 to 2000 words. For writer’s guidelines: www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR CHILDREN AND SPOUSES OF PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER'S

What happens when the person who raised you or the person with whom you raised your children slowly becomes a child who doesn’t know you? What if that loved one changes so drastically that he or she is virtually a stranger to you? What if that person is difficult to deal with and requires substantial assistance? How will the reality of having a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s affect you and your family—emotionally, financially, physically, socially, personally, professionally? The inspiring stories in this collection will answer those questions and more—and will show how love prevails and how lives thrive when a spouse or parent has Alzheimer’s.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book.

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2007

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR DIVORCED WOMEN

Divorce in the 21st century should come with an instruction manual, a release valve, and a support system. This anthology will serve essentially those three purposes, in the form of comforting, insightful, and inspirational stories about surviving and thriving during and after divorce. We seek uplifting, contemporary stories on a wide range of topics of importance to divorced women—including but not limited to: dating, children, relationship with ex, in-laws, finances, friends, solitude, personal transformation, healing, revenge, mending fences, the ex’s new wife or lover, empowerment, rediscovery of self. The majority of stories will be written by women who are or have been divorced. Stories can be poignant, irreverent, humorous, witty, or wise.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book.

Submission Deadline: November 1, 2007

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

It has been said that “stories are medicine” and that “one of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is to share our stories.” This collection will include compelling, inspiring, and uplifting personal essays about the experiences and emotions of living with—and living after—breast cancer. Possible story themes include but are not limited to: diagnosis, treatment, emotional impact, support systems, healthy lifestyle practices, emotional healing, coping mechanisms, impact on loved ones, effect on friendships, effect on career/work, effect on romance/intimacy, life lessons learned, personal transformation, silver linings, gratitude, triumph over trials, body image, and more. All themes and writing styles considered, as long as the story is positive.

Exclusively for the Breast Cancer Survivors volume, Adams Media is working in partnership with Redbook Magazine and will award a $5,000 grand prize, a $5,000 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the grand prize winner’s name, and bonus prizes to three runner-up stories.

Submission Deadline: December 31, 2007