June 7th, 2010

Grub Street News

Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Monday from Grub Street's world headquarters, now in HD! As always, if you are receiving this e-mail in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.

The Hook and the Book, June 12-13th

We're excited to be offering one of our favorite seminars this coming weekend, The Hook and the Book, taught by the glamorous and talented Sorche Fairbank. If there weren't already enough reasons to sign up for this class, which teaches you how to query a literary agent and get your manuscript noticed, we just got this rave review from a former student, Maggie Lyons: "Sorche Fairbank’s 'The Hook and the Book' workshop was an intense and exhausting experience, from which I came away with a query letter and opening five pages that prompted an enormous number of requests for the manuscript, one personal referral, and ultimately, three offers of representation. I really can’t recommend this workshop highly enough. I never altered a word of the query I left Sorche’s workshop with, and I still use it as the hook on my website. I’m now signed with an awesome agent, and my book is on submission." Spaces are still available in the seminar. We hope you'll have the same experience as Maggie! Details below.

Summer workshops, coming soon to a Grub classroom near you

Spaces are filling fast in our summer workshops. We're pleased to be offering all sorts of great new classes, including daytime intensive courses, which are like mini writing boot camps that meet every afternoon for a week. We're also holding classes at The Arlington Center for the Arts, including some sure-to-sell-out seminars with Steve Almond. We've also got a new fiction class called Secrets of Horror and Suspense , a cool poetry class called 10 Weeks, 10 Poems, 10 Questions and a great new humor class, Finding Funny. Of course, we have all your favorites as well, like Novel In Progress, Fiction I, Jumpstart Your Writing, 6 Weeks, 6 Essays, The Non-Fiction Book Proposal, and many more! Check out all the courses at www.grubstreet.org and call us at 617.695.0075 to sign up before they're all full.

Announcing the YAWP Summer Teen Writing Fellowship 2010

Department of Congratulations, Komodo Dragon Edition

Welcome to our regularly scheduled Department of Congrats, now published on the first Monday of every month. This edition features a host of amazingly talented Grubbies (as per usual!) First up, Grubbies are featured prominently on the just-released list of this year's Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Fellowships. In case you don't know, the MCC is one of the few state arts agencies in the county to provide unrestricted funding for artists. In fiction, we are proud that Grub board member Lara JK Wilson, instructor Jamie Cat Callan, friend Pagan Kennedy, and instructor Tova Mirvis all won fellowships; we are equally proud that in the poetry category, instructors Regie Gibson and Anna Ross and friend Kevin Young won fellowships as well. Another Grubbie, Jon Wilkins, wrote to tell us that he took his first poetry workshop through Grub Street a number of years ago, and his poetry manuscript, Transistor Rodeo, recently won the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize and has just been published by University of Utah Press. Beloved Grub instructor Cam Terwilliger has some publication news: his story "Happy Trails" will appear in West Branch, and "The Shut-down Class" will be in Post Road. Let Cam show you how it's done: take his Fiction I class this summer, beginning June 22nd. Next, remember in the last edition, where we listed three Grubbies who are attending the Norman Mailer Writers Colony on scholarship? Well, Grubbie Joan Nichols will be joining them as well, and she also just received a work-in-progress grant from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Grubbie Chelsea Querner will be moving her writing life to North Carolina to attend UNC-Greensboro's MFA program in poetry, with a full ride and stipend. Though we can't take all the credit, Chelsea says that her poetry instructor, Ben Berman, helped her in countless ways with her application, and, she says: "made the application experience both rewarding and sometimes even enjoyable! Ha ha!" Grubbies and friends Kathryn Handley and Louisa Clerici both have short stories published in the new May Edition of The Istanbul Literary Review. Kathryn's "Twelve Miles Out" and Louisa's "The White Trash Slut in 2C" can both be read online at www.ilrmagazine.net. Last but of course not least, Grub instructor Tara Masih, who will be teaching the very cool Rise of Flash Fiction II course on June 12th, just had her anthology, The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, win a bronze medal in the ForeWord Best Book of the Year Award in writing (details about her class are below--it's a don't miss course if you're insterested in short form fiction). Congratulations to all of you!

Do you have writing news and want to be featured in the DoC? The first Monday of every month, we feature Grub Street members who have sent their good news to whitney@grubstreet.org. To be included, please send Whitney an email with information about your publication, award or fellowship. Limit your announcement to 60 words or less. Extra credit if the announcement is written in the third person, which is good practice for your writing anyway.

Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Chris, Chip, Eve and Alexis

The P.S.: Where's the softball update? Check it out on our blog: http://thegrublog.blogspot.com/.

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.

MEMBERS' EVENT: Friday, June 11th, 7:30 p.m. An Evening with Authors: Free for Grub Members
Join us for a private cocktail party and readings by two exciting debut authors, Carey Goldberg and Holly LeCraw Howe. Carey Goldberg will read from her new memoir, Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood, and Holly LeCraw Howe will read from her new novel, The Swimming Pool. Please RSVP to chip@grubstreet.org. Space is limited, and this event is sure to sell out, so sign up soon.
FREE for Grub members only, 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.

Spreading the Love

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 Good Men Project Magazine: Opportunities for readers and writers
Last November, friend-o'-Grub Tom Matlack co-founded the Good Men Project, an effort to build and sustain a national discussion about being a good father, son, husband, partner, and worker in America today. So far, it's been an anthology (The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood), a film of the same title, and a foundation to raise money for at-risk boys. Now, it's also an online magazine, chock full of fascinating essays, photos and blog posts. Definitely check it out if you're a reader. Writers: do you want to write for the magazine? There are three different writing opportunities available:
1) Regular columnists. Not paid. Columnists have a focus, theme, or idea that they explore in their columns. Check site for examples. To be considered, email goodmencolumns@gmail.com.
2) Features. Paid (small amount). Check out the site for examples. The magazine runs a mix of essays and reported pieces. Email pitch or completed piece to goodmenfeatures@gmail.com.
3) Staff writers to work for our newsroom section. This is ideal for a journalism student or someone in an MFA program. 10-15 hours a week commitment. Unpaid. Email thegoodmenproject@gmail.com.

--AUTHOR TALK: Thursday, June 10th, 6pm, A Conversation with John Waters and Scott Heim
Here, from the incomparable John Waters, is a paean to the power of subversive inspiration that will delight, amuse, enrich, and happily horrify readers everywhere. Role Models is a self-portrait told through intimate profiles of favorite personalities - some famous, some unknown, some criminal, some surprisingly middle-of-the-road. From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the American playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis --- these are the extreme figures who helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness. John Waters is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and visual artist best known for his cult films, including Hairspray, Pink Flamingos, and Cecil B. DeMented. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Waters talks with Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear.
FREE, Boston Public Library, Rabb Lecture Hall, 700 Boylston Street, Boston.

--READING: Thursday, June 10th, 7pm, Susan Kushner Resnick
Susan Kushner Resnick discusses Goodbye Wifes and Daughters, an account of the Bearcreek Mining Disaster. FREE, Back Pages Books, 289 Moody Street, Waltham

--READING: Tuesday, June 15, 7PM, Aimee Bender and Belle Boggs
Aimee Bender, uber-talented author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake reads with Belle Boggs, whose story collection Mattaponi Queen just won the 2009 Bakeless Prize.
FREE, Newtonville Books, 296 Walnut St., Newtonville, MA, 02460

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