July 19th, 2010
"All the scheming and plotting in the world won't result in something lasting, transcendent. Anything that's authentic, that's real, comes in the form of a gift. Even if by accident."
— José Saramago
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Monday from the Bathroom at the Bottom of the Sea 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.
Here's what we've learned over the past few days: 1) Our volunteers are awesome. Huge thanks to Ann King, Sheila Beckman, Andrew Goldstein, Jeff Schwefel, Sue Cutillo, and Patrick Sullivan, who completed a superhuman amount of stuffing and sealing on Thursday and Friday. 2) We are sending out a LOT of letters, and wow, do they take a long time to stuff and seal! We are looking for help for the next four days to get all these letters out the door, so there's still plenty of work for all if you'd like to volunteer. The fun happens Monday - Thursday of this week, between the hours of 10 - 5pm. If you're free and would like to help out, please email whitney@grubstreet.org to let her know you're coming. As always, we'll get you Starbucks treats for your generous assistance, and you'll have a great time chatting with fellow writers as you compete to see who can put stamps on the fastest. Thanks so much for your help!
Each week for the next seven weeks, we're going to be featuring a video from our Muse and the Marketplace conference. This week, fab literary agent Julie Barer talks about generous writers, what makes agenting fun, and the future of the book.
Julie Barer from Grub Street on Vimeo.
We were shocked and saddened to hear about the death, in a traffic accident on July 8th, of Marci Kearney, who joined Grub Street as a member earlier this year. She was only 54 years old. Marci took her first class at Grub this spring, “10 Weeks, 10 Stories,” where she proved herself to be a gifted writer and lively, supportive student who was much loved by her classmates and instructor. Outside of Grub, Marci taught seventh-grade English at Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Newton. She was also an expert horse rider, skier, and motorcyclist who, with her husband, Bill Hunt, took motorcycling trips through the Rockies, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. She attended high school in Switzerland and in Troy, New York, and received a law degree from the University of Denver. She gave up her career as an attorney to become a teacher at Boston College High School. In honor of her devotion to her students, Marci’s “10 Weeks” classmates are making a donation in her name to Grub Street’s Young Adult Writers Program. Donations may also be made, at the family’s request, to the Newton Country Day School, or to The Trustees of Reservations. All of us here at Grub Street will miss her.
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Chris, Chip, Eve 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.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, July 2oth, 6:30-9:30pm, Why Your Manuscript Was Rejected
Instructor: Steve Almond
If you're like most writers, you've gotten lots of rejections. Like, maybe even one earlier today. The big question in the mind of all of us is: WHY? Why didn't you take my brilliant prose? Is something WRONG with you? In fact, there is a reason your piece was rejected, and probably several. In this intensive and often incoherent seminar, Steve Almond (man of a million rejections) will provide a cogent summary of mistakes writers make, both in fiction and non-fiction prose. Among the topics we'll cover: disorienting the reader, wandering plots, canned dialogue, and the ever-popular flowery prose. Taking this course virtually guarantees that you will NEVER BE REJECTED AGAIN. At least until such a time as you send out more work.
$65.00/$50.00 members, at the Arlington Center for the Arts.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, July 27th, 6:30-9:30pm, Funny Is the New Deep
Instructor: Steve Almond
Contrary to popular belief, writing funny doesn't mean sacrificing depth. On the contrary, for most literary writers the comic impulse is inextricably linked to tragedy. In this informal class, we'll look at the work of Lorrie Moore, George Saunders, and others, in an effort to learn how you can be funny and break hearts while doing it.
$65.00/$50.00 members, at the Arlington Center for the Arts.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, August 7th, 9:00am-4:00pm, The Next JK Rowling: Unleashing the Power of Fairy Tale and Myth
Instructor: KL Pereira
Readers can’t get enough of the fantastical. J.K. Rowling, and most recently Stephanie Meyer, have millions of devoted readers worldwide. So too does Philip Pullman, Margaret Atwood, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and hundreds of others who employ such worlds and characters. Over the course of this one fantastic day, we will delve into the glittering Aladdin’s Cave of myths and fairy tales and help you to find and develop your own fantastical kingdom. Revisiting a varied host of familiar tales from Little Red Riding Hood to The Odyssey, we will look at modern interpretations of these fairy tales and myths and see how you too can carve out your own magical world. We will do a few inspiring creative exercises and prompts designed to inspire you to start “opening the wardrobe door” and creating your own Narnia.
$115.00/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, August 7th, 9:00am-4:00pm, Flash Fiction Marathon
Instructor: Cam Terwilliger
The market for flash fiction is booming, and this seminar is perfect for writers ready to crank out some new short-short stories. At the end of the day, you’ll walk away with a brand new assortment of stories, each created through writing exercises designed to unleash your flash fiction genius. The seminar will also feature discussion of published flash fiction—which we’ll draw inspiration from—as well as feedback on your own work.
$115.00/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, August 7th, 9:00am-4:00pm, Workshop Your Website or Blog
Instructor: Amy Marcott
Do you have a website and/or blog but want to learn ways to enhance the design and content? Looking to broaden your reach or boost your professional appeal? This class will offer a venue for receiving feedback on your online presence. Along the way, you’ll learn strategies for more effective design, navigation, usability, search engine optimization, and content. We’ll also do some writing exercises to help your work stand out. Note: this seminar is only for those who already have a designed website or active blog. Submit the URL(s) of your website and/or blog to chip@grubstreet.org by August 1st. If you have a blog, also submit two of your best posts that could be discussed in class. The instructor will prepare thorough critiques of each site before class so submitting URLs as early as possible is appreciated. Amy Marcott is a web writer and editor at MIT who blogs frequently and assists with web redesigns and incorporating new technologies into online strategies.
$115.00/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ, 160 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.
Be sure to check out our website for a comprehensive view of upcoming events.
Grub Street wants to promote YOU! Please send events for consideration to whitney@grubstreet.org. Bonus points and undying gratitude for submitting your event info in the same format as the events below. 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 cannot 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.
--LITERARY PARTY: Thursday, July 22nd, 6pm, Stories Uncorked
Throughout history, wine has been a key ingredient in lively parties, philosophical debates, and great storytelling. Join Prism for a festive evening of wine tasting on a rooftop garden in Kendall Square, with readings by Grub authors Steve Almond, Jon Papernick, Alison Lobron, and others. Delight your taste buds with boutique kosher wines from around the world, and your ears with humorous stories spun by some of Boston's finest. We think the medieval lords had it right -- what could be better than adjourning to the palace garden for a night of wine, stories, and good cheer? To buy tickets, go to http://www.newcenterboston.org/index.php/ticketing. Grub Street is proud to be a community partner on this event.
$25 in Advance, Marriott Rooftop Garden, 2 Cambridge Center, 50 Broadway, Kendall Square.
--PERFORMANCE: Friday and Saturday, July 23rd and 24th, SMART-ernative
Once and future Grubbie Steve Macone headlines an unusual assortment of standup comedy, featuring a less vulgar, more cerebral brand of performing from Boston’s fastest rising comics. This is not your grandmother’s standup. Topics to be discussed include those run-of-the-mill comedy club hits like: The personification of time, ducks, the metaphysics of feeling numb, Borders Rewards Cards, Magic: The Gathering, Ben Franklin, the bloody meat guy at the grocery store, religion as jellybeans, and this really great old lady face that hurts to look at. There might even be a reading.
Tickets ($20) available at www.mottleyscomedy.com, Mottley’s Comedy Club 11 Chatam Street, Boston MA. 8pm show.
--READING: Wednesday, July 28, 7PM, Maile Meloy at Harvard Book Store
Maile Meloy (Half in Love, Liars and Saints, and A Family Daughter) will be reading from her latest collection, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It, which was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2009 by the New York Times Book Review. Meloy’s stories have been published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Zoetrope: All-Story, Granta, and other publications, and she has received The Paris Review’s Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
FREE, Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.
--Call For Submissions: The Drum Literary Magazine
The Drum Literary Magazine is looking for short fiction and essays for its September issue. Be a part of the new medium-bending litmag that's all about Literature Out Loud. Previous contributors include Maud Casey, Vestal McIntyre, Jenna Blum, Tara Masih, and many others. Check us out at http://www.drumlitmag.com.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where, like buying the world a grande iced vanilla latte, we offer you the chance to win a prize. In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Oscar is dressing up as this TV character when he gets his titular nickname. Email your answer to whitney@grubstreet.org. This week, the lucky winner will receive TWO tickets to Thursday's "Stories Uncorked" event (details above in 'Spreading the Love")
Last week's answer: The town of Lolita, Texas almost changed its name after the publication of Nabokov's famous novel. Winner: No one, but there were some good guesses.
