May 24th, 2010
"I only write when I feel the inspiration. Fortunately, inspiration strikes at ten o’clock every day."
— William Faulkner
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Monday by the sangria intern 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.
Nathan Poole, Grace Talusan, Mameve Medwed, Bret Anthony Johnston, Deborah Blicher, Ellen Meeropol, and more. What do these authors have in common? They all recorded stories for one of the coolest literary magazines we've seen in a while: The Drum. Lots of the stories were actually recorded at the Muse on May 1st and 2nd, and The Drum editors add new stories all the time! Check them out online, and if you're interested, submit one of your own: www.drumlitmag.com/
Starting in June, we're going to have a more regular schedule for the Congrats Department. We'll post all your wonderful news on the first Monday of each month, so you'll know when to look for it! We're sneaking in an extra May edition because, as always, there's lots of great news to report. First, we feel like proud Mama Bears about Grub instructor Jane Roper, who got a book deal with St. Martin's for a memoir (er, "mom"-oir) based on her fantastic Baby Squared blog, to be published in 2012. Blogging your way to a book deal also worked for Grubbie Amy McCoy, who was inspired by a Grub food writing course to start her blog, Poor Girl Gourmet. After a mention of the blog in this here newsletter, literary agent Eve Bridburg contacted Amy, Amy got a book deal, and now the Poor Girl Gourmet cookbook is on the shelves! The Providence Journal recently ran a story on the cookbook, and there's a nice mention of Grub Street in there as well. This Department of Congrats wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to Jenna Blum, whose long-anticipated second novel, The Stormchasers, debuts on Thursday! Details about her first reading are below. One of Jenna's longtime students, Iris Gomez, whose new novel we mentioned in the Dept's last edition, was just selected by the Association of American Publishers for its 2010 List of Recommened Latino Books, and Iris has a nice summary of her publication journey (featuring the Muse and the Marketplace!) at this site. For those of you lucky enough to have taken a Grub class with Stace Budzko, you know he's a great teacher and a great writer. Now, his work is hitting the silver screen. The film adaptation of his story, "How to Set a House on Fire" (Factory: Bay Area Video Coalition) just won Best Overall at the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival (CineYouth) as well as took home Best of Show at the Spotlight Film Festival. Grubbie Cheryl Suchors wrote to tell us that she just won a Writer's Grant from the Vermont Studio Center where she'll be able to spend a month in early 2011 finishing her book, and Grubbie Mary Collins, like another Grubbie we featured last time, was awarded a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Colony in Provincetown. Grubbie Janet Cromer's memoir Professor Cromer Learns to Read: A Couple's New Life after Brain Injury has won a Solimene Award for Excellence in Medical Communication from the American Medical Writer's Association/NE Chapter. Grubbie Shirley Jones-Luke will be taking a break from Grub classes, since she's been accepted to Emerson College's MFA program. Juliette Fay, who has taken Grub classes with Jacqueline Sheehan and Yael Goldstein Love, just had her novel, Shelter Me, named one of the top ten works of fiction by a Massachusetts writer by the Mass Book Awards. James Holland's 12th published book, Adventure Photographer, received two new awards: a Finalist Award in the 2010 Eric Hoffer Book Awards and another Finalist Award in the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. And last but not least, Aimee Loiselle made good use of her time in Tara Masih's "Rise of Flash Fiction" workshop last year. She wrote & workshopped her story "He Used to Say Te Quiero Everyday" in the course, and now Steam Ticket: A Third Coast Review has accepted it for Volume XIII 2010, which just came out. A big round of applause to all of you!
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Chris, Chip and Alexis
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.
LUNCHTIME WRITING WORKSHOP: Wednesday, June 9th, 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM, 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. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day, and beyond. No need to reserve a spot; just come to 160 Boylston Street, 4th Floor.
FREE, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: June 12th & 13th, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Out of the Slush Pile and Into Print
Instructor: James Scott
Publication in literary magazines is one of the best ways for emerging writers to achieve credibility, recognition, and a larger readership. Yet, the quantity and diversity of literary magazines can be daunting for submitters. Do you have stories that are polished and ready to be seen by a literary magazine editor, but are unsure of how to prepare a cover letter or pick the magazines best suited for your work? Or have you been submitting for a while, but worry you might be doing something wrong? In this weekend seminar, students will learn to navigate the literary magazine landscape. We will discuss how you can position your story for the best possible read and common mistakes made by submitters, study examples of “good” and “bad” cover letters, workshop first pages of student manuscripts, discussing what’s likely to engage a reader or dismay them from continuing with the story, and learn how to determine which magazines are appropriate for your work. In addition, students will draft their own cover letters and leave the class with a specific and personalized submission plan. We will also discuss the role of networking in the submission process and how to successfully pursue contacts made at conferences and other literary venues.
$220/$195 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: June 12th & 13th, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, The Freelancing Payoff
Freelance isn’t just a way to make extra income—it could one day be your income. Join Eric Butterman, who has written for Glamour, ESPN.com, and numerous other publications, as he shows you how to turn one assignment into many and how to expand your horizons from field to field. “There’s many misconception in this business—like that you can’t follow up with phone calls after you send out a magazine pitch,” Butterman says. “Half my business is directly attributed to the phone and we’ll drill through phone calls together so I can show you how to do them correctly.” But before you ever pick up the phone, you need to pick your brain for the right magazine idea. “From sources to use, to a snappy headline, to making your pitch into the voice of the magazine, the pitch needs to be done just right or you just won’t get assignments. We’ll come up with them together on the spot so you can see how the mindset works.” Students in Butterman's 5-week courses have landed $1,000-and-up articles--while the class was still going on. The same timeframe resulted in assignments for New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer, USA Today and more.
$220/$195 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 12th, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, The Rise of Flash II
Instructor: Tara Masih
This is a seminar for writers who took the first Rise of Flash weekend workshop AND for others who have experimented with the flash form prior to this class. We’ll look at new examples of contemporary flash stories (by writers such as Randall Brown, Kim Chinquee, Bruce Holland Rogers, and more), then concentrate on exercises that experiment with different forms and lengths. The goal of this class is to spend more time on workshopping and editing, as condensation and pacing are crucial tasks to master in this genre. Participants may also bring unpublished flash stories written outside of class for feedback (max. 1,000 words).
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: June 12th & 13th, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, The Hook and the Book
Instructor: Sorche Fairbank
Most literary agents receive at least one hundred query letters each week, yet respond positively to a very select few - generally less than two percent, and decisions on writing samples are often made within the first five pages. Would yours make the cut? Do you know the secrets to writing a winning query? Join agent Sorche Elizabeth Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation for a weekend of intensive query and writing critique, lessons on the basics of a powerful synopsis, help on the first five pages, review of a laundry list of Dos and Don’ts, and group and one-on-one analysis of your submission package. Please prepare and email to chip@grubstreet.org no later than 5pm Tuesday, June 8th, a query letter of no more than 400 words, and the first five pages of your manuscript (double spaced, single sided, 12pt font, pages numbered) for the instructor, and bring four copies of the query and the first five pages to the first class for group review. Limited to 12 students.
Important: On Day One, bring four copies of your query letter of no more than 400 words. Also bring four copies of the first five pages of your manuscript (double spaced, single sided, 12pt font, pages numbered). Note: you will be reworking your query and first five pages between classes.
For Day Two: Please bring thirteen copies of your reworked query and first five pages. If the class size is smaller than 12, you will be notified on the correct number of copies.
$220/$195 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
READING AND OPEN MIC: Monday, June 14th, 8PM - 10PM, Spring Season Showcase
Join Grub students from the Spring 2010 term, plus two of our award-winning instructors, as they read (for 5 minutes each) from recent work. You'll hear great fiction, non-fiction, poetry and maybe even a screenplay. Open only to students who've taken courses, seminars or weekend workshops this spring. Everyone gets free snacks and drinks. Sign-ups begin around 8pm. A great event for current Grubbies and those who want to check us out. Bring friends!
FREE, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
SEMINAR: Thursday, June 17th, 7-10pm, Ask the Agent
Instructor: Irene Goodman
Legendary literary agent Irene Goodman, visiting for one night only from New York, will offer an insider’s view into the life of a literary agency. You’ll learn how to pitch agents and how not to pitch them, how agents make decisions, how the business works, what happens once you have an agent, how fiction and nonfiction projects get developed and more. Come with questions. Irene Goodman’s agency has been in business for over 30 years, and represent a wide range of commercial fiction, literary fiction, and non-fiction. Their authors have over 120 appearances on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Walden, and Bookscan bestseller lists. For more information about Irene and her agency, see www.irenegoodman.com.
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
SEMINAR: Thursday, June 17th, 7-10pm, Troubleshoot Me
Instructor: James Scott
Asking the proper questions about your writing can lead to the greatest improvements. A great editor, of course, can provide such a sounding board. Weak writing, however, often doesn't find its way to an editor's desk. Trying to figure out how to make that next leap alone can often be frustrating. In this class, using one to two pages of students' own writing that has proved troublesome, exemplifies a recurring problem, or just isn't quite working, we'll concentrate on finding our weaknesses and developing exercises and strategies to turn them into strengths. The instructor will also offer each a student a manual with strategies to address each common issue.
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
SEMINAR: Thursday, June 17th, 7-10pm, The Skill of the Interview: Getting People To Talk
Instructor: Elaine McArdle
The return of this sold-out seminar from 2008! In non-fiction writing, including memoir, the richest material often comes from the people who lived the event. But how do you get them to open up to you? Whether you're trying to get your mom to recall her childhood or to get a complete stranger to describe a crime they witnessed, the key is building a relationship of trust -- and honoring that. We'll learn practical tips for finding sources, getting them to agree to talk, establishing the rules of the interview (on the record? background only?), and helping them tell their stories in their own voices. We will also touch on how to place interviews and profiles in journals and magazines. A useful seminar for any writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry or screenwriting who needs to conduct this type of research.
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
SEMINAR: Thursday, June 17th, 7-10pm, The Poem and the Idea
Instructor: Elisa Gabbert
Poems that describe a heron or the moon can be nice, but what sets the one you remember apart from all the rest? Chances are it’s an interesting idea. This seminar will explore poetry as a manifestation of thought, examining the ways in which poems communicate complex ideas (be they overt ideas, diffuse ideas, or meta ideas through conceptualism), the overlapping territory of poetry and philosophy, and the difference between the poetic idea and other modes or tropes, such as imagery, description, narrative, and abstraction. Class time will be divided between lecture, discussion, and in-class reading, with an emphasis on discussion. A reading packet will be distributed, including poems by Rae Armantrout, Anne Carson, Maggie Nelson, Wallace Stevens, and Jon Woodward. Students are encouraged to bring a poem of their own for discussion (and, if desired, revision) from the perspective of the poetic idea.
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
Be sure to check out our events calendar for a comprehensive view of upcoming events.
Grub Street wants to promote YOU! Please send events for consideration to whitney@grubstreet.org. Our apologies in advance if we cannot fit you in. Please note that we do the best we can to evaluate requests, and do privilege requests from members, but can not be held responsible for the quality of these events and programs or the legitimacy of contests. We expect that readers will do their own due diligence before sending their work or their money to any individual or organization.
--THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST: Tuesday, May 25th, 7:30 am, SALANDER, BLOMKVIST & BLUEBERRY BREAD
The Globe Corner Bookstore will open early - at 7:30 a.m. - to celebrate the publication of the anxiously awaited The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, a Staff Pick at 20% off. A mini 'smorgasbord" of juice, blueberry bread, crisps and cheese will be served through mid-morning. A temporary dragon tattoo and store tote bag are free with the purchase of any Stieg Larsson book. In a rush? The new book, tattoo and a slice of blueberry bread will be ready to go at the counter. - all in a tote. Orders can be placed ahead of time to zip in and out for for a quick getaway. Call 617-497-6277 to order or reserve a book. More info at www.globecorner.com.
The Globe Corner Bookstore, 90 Mt. Auburn Street, Harvard Square.
--WRITING WORKSHOP in the White Mountains, July 4-9th
Join Grubbies Lesléa Newman (poetry) and Ellen Meeropol (fiction) for a five-day workshop at the World Fellowship Center, where “global justice meets nature.” Workshops meet daily and are designed for writers at all levels of experience. Enjoy pristine Whitton pond, biking and hiking, evening readings and discussions, and children's programming. More information and application form at www.worldfellowship.org/writingworkshop.
--BOOK LAUNCH: Thursday, May 27th, 6pm, Jenna Blum reads from The Stormchasers
Jenna Blum's first novel, Those Who Save Us, wowed readers with its tale of love and sacrifice. Join the Grub Street teacher for an evening celebrating the release of her brilliant second novel. The Stormchasers -- a book about twins forced to confront a violent secret in their past -- shows just how far one sibling will go to protect the other. Purchase tickets by calling the Brookline Booksmith at 617-566-6660.
$5, Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline.
--GRANTS FOR ARTISTS: Brookline Commission for the Arts
Looking for money for an arts project? The Brookline Commission for the Arts funds a variety of cultural programs, including Town Hall Walls, a series of exhibitions by local artists at the Brookline Town Hall. Go to the website, www.brooklinearts.org and click on “Grants” for detailed information. Applications for projects in 2011 are due on October 15, 2010. First time applicant? Curious about the process? Looking to improve your application? Come to our meeting on June 8, 7:30 PM, 40 Webster Place, Brookline Village, to learn about the grant-writing process and meet the members of the Commission. RSVP Melyssa Gleason, BCA Administrator, at 617.730.2135. We look forward to seeing you. (Please note: You don't need to be a Brookline resident to be eligible for a grant).
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where, like the most indignant underling, we offer you the chance to win a prize. Grub instructor and author of the upcoming The Stormchasers Jenna Blum was on Fox News recently. In her interview, what did she say she got the privilege of doing after witnessing two tornados in Kansas? Winner receives ice cream from J.P. Licks.
Last week's answer: In Sarah Waters' novel, The Little Stranger, many strange things keep happening around Hundreds Hall. Child's writing appears on the walls, and the phone keeps ringing in the middle of the night with no one at the other end of the line. Winner: Melissa Moriarty.