January 12th, 2010
“The novel is a prose narrative of some length that has
something wrong with
it."
— Randall Jarrell
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag , a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Tuesday (the flu is no match for us!) from beneath the tundra of 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.
Welcome back, writers, and thank you for making the 2010 winter term the biggest in Grub Street history. Most of our classes are currently sold out, but there is still room in a few of them. For poets (and prose writers who want to develop their language skills), 10 Weeks, 10 Revisions with Scott Challener (Sundays, starting Jan 24) & 6 Weeks, 6 Poems with Ben Berman (in Newtonville on Wednesdays starting Feb 3) are still available. For readers of all stripes, check out Reading Like A Writer, which we've just made into a 6-week course on Monday nights starting January 25th; for non-fiction writers (that includes you, memoirists,) Ethan Gilsdorf's Memoir In Progress II has just been made into an 8-week course starting Tuesday, January 26th; for those interested in genre fiction, check out a cool new Directed Study taught by Michael Marano. If you're ready to start that blog you know you should at least attempt, try Jumpstart Your Blog with Amy Marcott on Monday nights, starting January 25th. And finally, if you've got some free time during the day and want to spend it on your fiction, try Jumpstart Your Writing-Fiction with Becky Tuch on Wednesday mornings, 10:30-12:30, starting tomorrow!
This Thursday night, January 14th, at 7pm, Grub Street will be co-sponsoring the book launch of Macarthur Award winner and Friend of Grub Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's first novel in ten years: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. Grubbies will be out in full force at Brookline Booksmith to hear Rebecca read from this critically acclaimed book, then head to a casual reception afterward. Buy 36 Arguments , get a free drink! If you can't make this reading, be sure to catch Rebecca at Newtonville Books on Sunday, January 17th at 2pm.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 13th, Grub Street will offer a free legal
seminar for members on "Author Liabilities." This topic includes an
overview of copyright infringement, determining what is fair use and what is in
the public domain, and an overview of libel law. The seminar will be led by
Adrienne Baker and Brenda Ulrich from 2:30 - 4:30 and will leave plenty of time
for your individual writing-related questions.
If you can't make the
seminar and are an active member, remember that Adrienne is at Grub Street on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays until the end of January 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. To sign up for the seminar or the individual
sessions, you must email Adrienne directly at: adbaker@jd10.law.harvard.edu.
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Chris,
and Alexis
P.S. Our first "Department of
Congratulations" of 2010 will appear in next week's newsletter. Wait till you
hear all the great literary news from Grubbies just like you! If you've had a
recent success you'd like to mention, be sure to email whitney@grubstreet.org so she
can list it. Don't be shy.
Seriously.
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: 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.
UPCOMING WEEKEND WORKSHOPS ON FEB. 5th/6th, 2010:
Screenwriting Made Simple
The Next J.K. Rowling: Unlocking the Power of Fairy Tale and Myth
Developing Your Personal Brand: New Media Marketing For Writers
Jumpstart Your Writing (one-day course on Sunday only)
Click links to access descriptions to these workshops.
Be sure to check out our events calendar for a comprehensive view of upcoming events.
--READING AND BOOK LAUNCH PARTY: Thursday, January 21st, 7pm, Randy Susan Meyers reading from The Murderer's Daughters at Bella
Luna Restaurant, 284 Amory Street, Jamaica Plain
Join fellow Grubbies as we celebrate the
publication of longtime student Randy Meyers' thrilling debut novel, which has
been a part of Jenna Blum's Master Novel workshops for a number of 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. For information and directions, check out Randy's website.
--THEME NIGHT OF STORIES: Stripped Stories,
at Mottley's Comedy Club, 61 Chattam Street, Boston, near Faneuil
Hall
Stripped Stories is the hit sex-themed storytelling show brought to you by Giulia Rozzi ( MTV, Vh1.com) and
Margot Leitman (Conan O'Brien, Spike TV). Following a successful sold-out
six-city spring tour, Stripped Stories is back on the road and is returning to
Boston! Each show features comedians, musicians and guests revealing
hysterically honest stories about their sex lives. Giulia and Margot will also
each reveal their own juicy stories amidst some games, audience interviews and
hookups ...hopefully. Tickets are $15. To purchase, see the Mottley website.
--WRITERS' RETREAT IN BRAZIL:
Special Rate for Grubbies!
Star Mountain Farm (aka Sitio Serra da Estrela), a retreat for
writers and artists high in the coastal mountains between Rio and Sao Paulo
which hosted several Grub Street staff a few years ago, has just reopened after
a complete renovation and is offering Grub Street members 25% off its normal
rates until the end of May. Charles Barclay, a veteran print journalist who runs
the retreat, says: "Your winter weather happens to coincide with some of our
loveliest conditions so we thought some Grub Streeters might want a break.
Perhaps I am a little biased but I think Star Mountain Farm is the perfect place
to unblock writing. It is only a night flight away from Boston and yet it is
truly another world — beautiful, tranquil and utterly private." For lots more
information on this wonderful retreat, please email Charles at cnbarclay@mac.com.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where we don't offer anything, not even a silly quiz question, because it's a time of austerity and restraint, which will end by next week.