Grub Street Rag, 1/7/10

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

— Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Grub Street News

Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Tuesday (except when we confuse Tuesday and Thursday) from the suspiciously tight waistbands on our trousers at Grub Street's world headquarters. As always, if you are receiving this e-mail in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.

January is For Book Parties

This month, Grub has the pleasure of celebrating two of its favorite writers: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein and Randy Susan Meyers. Rebecca's new novel, the tour de force 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, a book that will solidify her position as one of the country's most insightful and compelling writers, has just been released. She will be launching the book at Brookline Booksmith on Thursday, January 14th, at 7pm, and we Grubbies will be out in full force. A week later, January 21st, we will head out to Bella Luna Restaurant in Jamaica Plain to hear long-time Grub student Randy Susan Meyers read from her fabulous debut novel The Murderer's Daughters, which has been a part of Jenna Blum's Master Novel workshops for a few years. We're so proud of you, Randy, and can't wait to celebrate with you! Newtonville Books will be selling copies of The Murderer's Daughters and donations matching all book sales will be made to the Home for Little Wanderers Harrington House. More information on Randy's reading, which starts at 7pm, here. Congratulations to Rebecca and Randy!

Winter is For Poetry

Alternatively, Winter Could Be for Memoir. Or Fiction.

Not a poet? More interested in writing short stories, memoirs or starting a blog? We can help with that too. All of our winter classes begin in the next few weeks, and we've got the right class for you, no matter what genre you prefer. We're happy to have added a second section of Fiction I, on Sundays starting January 24th. We're also offering a six-week version of our popular blogging workshop, Jumpstart Your Blog with Amy Marcott, starting January 25th. Perhaps you prefer your memoirs in paper format? Why not try one of our Memoir In Progress classes--we've got them in beginning and advanced formats, and all information about these classes and others is available on our website.

Grub Events

In addition to our ongoing workshops, Grub Street offers numerous writing-related events around town. See our website for a long-term view of all we do. Ready to sign up? Call us at 617.695.0075 and we'll get you on the list.

SEMINAR: Monday, January 11th, 7-10pm, Pen to Paper to Poem
Instructor: Wendy Mnookin
Chase away the winter doldrums with a chance to do the writing you’ve been meaning to do. Following prompts from the instructor, we will write and share poems—as many as we have time for in our three hours together. Bring a snack, your imagination, and let’s get writing. You will leave this seminar with who knows how many poems and renewed enthusiasm for a winter of writing.
$65/50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

SEMINAR: Monday, January 11th, 7-10pm, The Rules of Writing: How to Use Them & When To Break Them
Instructor: Joan Wickersham
An Expanded version of Joan Wickersham’s 2009 “Muse and the Marketplace” session: “Show, don’t tell.” “Write what you know.” If you’ve ever taken a writing class, you’ve heard about these and other “rules” of good writing. But are these preachy little sayings really true, or are they just truisms? How can writers use them to generate and refine a piece of fiction or non-fiction? And under what circumstances might one choose to disregard them? In this session, Joan Wickersham will talk about many of the so-called rules of writing, and about how wrestling with them – and revising them a little – can help a writer to become both more disciplined and more free.
***This class is SOLD OUT! Please email sonya@grubstreet.org to be put on a waiting list.***
$65/50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

SEMINAR: Monday, January 11th, 7-10pm, The Elusive Art of the Query Letter, Or How to Hook an Agent in 400 Words or Less
Instructor: Sorche Fairbank
Most agencies receive at least a hundred query letters each week, yet respond positively to a very select few. Do you know the secrets to writing a winning query? Do you want to know the most common reasons for rejection? Join agent Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation for a night of intensive query critique, lessons on the basics of a powerful query, a laundry list of Dos and Don’ts, and as time allows, some individual feedback. Please prepare a query letter of no more than 400 words, and submit to sonya@grubstreet.org no later than January 7th for review in class. Limited to 15 students.
***This class is SOLD OUT! Please email sonya@grubstreet.org to be put on a waiting list.***
$65/50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

SEMINAR: Monday, January 11th, 7-10pm, Food Writing
Instructor: Clara Silverstein
Personal essays about food have become an established part of the literary landscape, thanks to writers including Ruth Reichl, Patricia Volk, and Pete Wells. The challenge is to use a favorite recipe or a memorable meal in an essay that also relays a larger truth about the human condition. In this class, we will read published essays, brainstorm about topics, and do in-class writing exercises designed to help you convey your experiences with food in a way that will resonate with readers.
*THREE SPOTS LEFT!* $65/50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

SEMINAR: Tuesday, January 19th, 12:30 PM - 1:15PM, Brown Bag Lunch Series
Do you work downtown and want to fit some writing into your day? Or do you have a schedule that gives you free afternoons instead of evenings? Bring your lunch and come on over to Grub Street for a Brown Bag Writing Workshop – a series recently profiled in the Boston Globe. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Led by the inimitable Tom Meek. Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day and beyond. To reserve a spot, email sonya@grubstreet.org or call 617.695.0075.
FREE, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

TEEN PROGRAM: Saturday, January 23rd, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM, YAWP (Young Adult Writers Program)
Are you – or do you know – a teen who likes to write poems, lyrics, stories, novels or screenplays? Come to YAWP, a free monthly teen writing workshop for Boston-area teens 12-17. YAWP provides writing exercises in small groups, feedback from working writers, pizza and inspiration. You provide the energy to write, share your work, and try new things. Please sign up in advance by emailing info@grubstreet.org or calling 617.695.0075. When you sign up, please let us know your genre preference: Fiction, Poetry or Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
FREE, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

BOOK PRIZE: Friday, January 29th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Rick Barot, 2009 Grub Street Book Prize Winner, Reading and Reception
We are proud to welcome acclaimed poet Rick Barot, visiting from Tacoma, WA, who will read from his most recent collection, Want (Sarabande, 2008) winner of the 2009 Grub Street National Book Prize in Poetry. Barot is the author of one previous book of poetry, The Darker Fall (Sarabande, 2002) Don’t miss this opportunity to see and meet this wonderful poet and teacher. A reception with fine food and drink will begin at 6pm and be followed by the reading and Q&A at 7pm.
FREE, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

POETRY SEMINAR: Saturday, January 30th, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Poetry Craft Class: "Form, Shape and Three Women Poets"
This seminar is FREE but open only to members, and will be led by 2009 Grub Street Poetry Book Prize winner Rick Barot. Please sign up in advance by emailing sonya@grubstreet.org. Description:
The aim of this discussion class will be to show how formal strategies can be employed to generate new poems and to revise already-drafted poems. It should be said that in the term “formal strategies” I don’t necessarily mean only traditional forms—rather, these formal strategies have to do with the shape, whether traditional or open, that gives the best poems their fulfilled inevitability. We will look at the work of three very different women poets to glean lessons on how poems can be brought to powerful shape. In the poems of Virginia Hamilton Adair, we’ll see how the rigor of her poems deeply masks, and controls, highly combustible traumas. In Cate Marvin’s poems, we’ll look at the ways in which the old subjects of love and romance are given transgressively new renditions through canny use of form. And in Susan Stewart’s work, we’ll look at the ways in which the pliancies of memory are honored by her brave new lyric shapes.
FREE FOR GRUB STREET MEMBERS, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

Weekend of Manuscript Consultations: Saturday, February 13th, between 10am-3pm
Looking to polish your work before an agent sees it at The Muse and the Marketplace? Want to get immediate, one-on-one feedback from a Grub instructor? Throughout this Saturday, various members of our creative writing faculty will be meeting individually for thirty minutes with writers who have submitted 25 pages of their work ahead of time. The 25 page writing sample – usually long enough to include a complete short story, a novel chapter, a substantive personal essay, a short play, a series of poems, or a screenplay excerpt – is often needed when applying to MFA programs, teaching positions, fellowships, residencies, etc. The session includes yummy coffee and doughnuts. Deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on January 28th. See all details, including the list of consultants, here. <http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=172> Each consultation costs $140. It's a total steal-- normally it would cost $250! Sign up for as many as you'd like.
$140, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

Be sure to check out our events calendar for a comprehensive view of upcoming events.

New Grub Member Benefit

Free Legal Advice for Grub Street Members

This January only, Grub Street is offering a free legal clinic to answer your writing-related legal questions. Adrienne Baker, a third-year student at Harvard Law School, will be at Grub HQ to answer your questions related to copyright, trademark, contracts, cyberlaw, and other legal issues. Adrienne will be working under the supervision of Zick Rubin, one of Boston's foremost copyright and trademark lawyers, whose clients include Newbury Comics, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Young Authors Foundation, and Harvard University.

Adrienne will be at Grub Street on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays starting today, January 5th, 2010. She will meet with you in private, half-hour sessions by appointment only, 11AM - 6:30. (Other times available by request). All discussions are confidential. This service is provided for free to our members. No writing-related question is too small or too big.

This coming Wednesday, January 13th, from 2:30-4:30pm, Adrienne will hold a small-group seminar on the topic of Author Liabilities, which will be co-presented by attorney Brenda Ulrich.

We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn about your rights as a writer. To sign up, you must be a current member, and you must email Adrienne directly at: adbaker@jd10.law.harvard.edu. All appointments are first-come, first-served. You do not need to reserve a spot for the small-group meetings, but a note saying you're planning to attend will help us gauge how many people to expect.

Adrienne Baker is third-year Harvard Law School student and graduated from Harvard College (cum laude) with a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology. After college, she worked in marketing and advertising for several years in New York City. While in law school, Adrienne has taken many copyright courses, including Copyright Law, Copyright and Trademark Ligation, and Advanced Intellectual Property Law. She plans to pursue a career in intellectual property law at a major New York law firm after graduation, and looks forward to meeting and helping the Grub Street community with their writing-related legal questions.

Spreading the Love

--READING AND BOOK LAUNCH PARTY: Thursday, January 14th, 7pm, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein reading from 36 Arguments for the Existence of God
Join fellow Grubbies as we celebrate the publication of Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's new novel! MacArthur Fellow Goldstein (The Mind-Body Problem, Betraying Spinoza) returns with a novel that follows the riotous saga of a newly famous atheist academic. Jonathan Safran Foer calls the book “A hilarious novel about people’s existential agonies… deeply moving and a joy to read.”
FREE, Brookline Booksmith, Coolidge Corner, Brookline.

--LITERARY THEATER: January 7th - February 7th, times vary, The American Repertory Theater's Gatz
An audacious theatrical tour de force, Gatz is not a stage adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel, but a reading of the entire book – brilliantly brought to life by one of New York’s most exciting and acclaimed theater companies, Elevator Repair Service.A fully staged theatrical production in which every word of the novel is spoken, verbatim, by the cast of 13 actors, who speak the dialogue of the characters. The actor who plays Nick Carraway speaks all of the narration. Gatz is best experienced in a single day and the A.R.T. strongly encourages you to see it that way. Part One is Chapters 1-5. Part Two is chapters 6-9. There is a one-hour meal break between Parts One and Two.
Prices vary, American Repertory Theater, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge.

--READING: Tuesday, January 12th, 7pm, Jayne Anne Phillips reads from Lark and Termite
Harvard Book Store is delighted to welcome back acclaimed novelist JAYNE ANNE PHILLIPS for a reading from her most recent, and newly in paperback, novel, Lark and Termite. At the novel's center are two children: Lark, on the verge of adulthood, and her brother, Termite, a child unable to walk and talk but filled with radiance. Around them, their mother, Lola, a haunting but absent presence; their aunt Nonie, a matronly, vibrant woman in her fifties, who raises them; and Termite’s father, Corporal Robert Leavitt, who finds himself caught up in the chaotic early months of the Korean War.
FREE, Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.

Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where, like the thirstiest camel, we offer you the chance to win a prize. Tell us your New Year's resolution--most creative resolution wins free ice cream from J.P. Licks.

Last week's quiz answer: Truman Capote once said, "Well, I'm about as tall as a shotgun, and just as noisy." Last week's winner: Melanie DeCarolis.

In this issue