March 28th, 2011

Grub Street News

Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Monday by the loneliest prom queen 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.

Last Call for Spring Courses!

Grub Street's Spring schedule begins next week, so this is your last call to sign up for a great multi-week workshop. We're offering more classes than ever this spring in great genres like short fiction, the novel, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, and much more. New classes this term include Writing for TV with Aviv Rubinstien, and Middle Grade and Young Adult Novel-in-Progress with Elaine Dimopoulos. Plenty of seats are still available, but don't wait!

Your Tweet's Worth $100!

Like Grub? Like saving a cool hundred bucks? We're running a contest this week in which your tweet could win you a $100 voucher to use towards a Grub Street spring multi-week workshop. From 5pm today through 5pm on Friday, just complete the following sentence on Twitter: “I write because ______." Include @GrubWriters and the hashtag "#100off" in your tweet. Read full guidelines on our website.

Sometimes They Sang With Us Book Launch

Sometimes They Sang With Us is the Memoir Project's third anthology, and is packed full of beautiful stories that capture the history of Boston's neighborhoods. Come celebrate our senior writers from Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, and Hyde Park this Tuesday in the Abbey Room of the Boston Public Library at 5pm. The seniors will sign copies of the book for friends and fans. The Memoir Project is a FREE program that teaches senior citizens the craft of memoir writing, and has so far visited ten Boston neighborhoods. More details below.

Strut Your Stuff At The Winter Season Showcase

If you took a class this winter term, we have a hunch you wrote some great stuff that your fellow students want to hear. Come to our Season Showcase on Wednesday, March 30th, and share it with them for five minutes, and then hear great work from other students and two of our fabulous instructors, Becky Tuch and Sue Wiliams. Sign-up for reading slots begin around 8pm--check out full details below. See you there!

One Day At A Time: The Grub Street Daily

On the Grub Street Daily this week:
~ This writer took ten years to write one story, and it was totally worth it
~ The power of a writing deadline
~ Writing about real people, living or dead
~ Jenna Blum hits the road, literally
~ Your writing exercise of the week
. . . and much more!

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

The P.S. Be sure to check out "Spreading the Love" for info on the New Center event with Howard Jacobson that Grub Street is co-sponsoring, and then enter our trivia contest for a chance to win two free tickets ($28 each!)

Muse Spotlight

For the next six weeks, The Rag will be spotlighting a “Muse” (craft) session and a “Marketplace” (publishing) session that will be offered at our annual conference, The Muse and the Marketplace. We hope you’ll be able to enjoy these sessions in person the weekend of April 30-May 1st and the Park Plaza Hotel. For all details, including registration info, go to www.museandthemarketplace.com.

Muse Spotlight: Danielle Evans' "Covering all the Angles: Perspective and Physical Description" (Saturday Session 3G)
In this session, Danielle Evans will discuss the challenges of conveying emotion and personality through physical description, and the challenges of describing setting without breaking the narrative. And Danielle knows her stuff: she was named a finalist in the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Awards that were presented this past weekend, for her short story collection Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self. Her work has appeared in magazines including The Paris Review, A Public Space, Callaloo, and Phoebe, and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories 2008 and 2010, and in New Stories from the South. At the Muse, she'll also be appearing in the "Behind the Scenes of The Best American Short Stories" panel on Sunday afternoon.

Marketplace Spotlight: "Social Media for Beginners and Best Practices for Writers Already Online” Even this newsletter insinuates that you should be Tweeting (see awesome contest above!) but either you don’t have a Twitter account or you have one but no clue how to use it. Maybe you’re on Facebook, or you have your own personal blog space reserved and ready to go, but it’s unclear how either can be used to your advantage, if at all. Most newbies in your shoes don’t want to use these tools wrongly, so they don’t use them at all. In the first of our two social media sessions, Crystal King will give you a primer on the absolute basics of these websites – in fact, if you don’t have a Twitter account, you will sign up for one on the spot and Tweet once or twice before the end of the session – and talk in general terms about how both aspiring and established authors can use them to build an audience. In the second session, held on Sunday afternoon, a panel of experts will give those of us who are already well-versed in social media some guidelines for how to network, market and express ourselves (and our work) more effectively.

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.

BOOK LAUNCH: Tuesday, March 29th, 5pm, Memoir Project Volume III: Book Signing and Launch
Please join the contributing writers of Volume III of the Memoir Project, Sometimes They Sang With Us, for the book's official launch and signing. Senior writers from Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and Hyde Park will be on hand to sign copies.
FREE, Abbey Room of the Main Boston Public Library.

OPEN MIC: Wednesday, March 30th, 8:00-10:00pm, Winter Season Showcase
Join Grub students from the Winter 2011 term, plus two of our award-winning instructors, Becky Tuch and Sue Williams, as they read from recent work. You'll hear great fiction, non-fiction, poetry and maybe even a screenplay. Open mic open only to students who've taken courses, seminars or weekend workshops in Winter 2011. 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.

TEEN WORKSHOP: 6 Fridays starting April 1st, 4:00pm-6:00pm, Fiction and Poetry for Teen Writers
Are you a teen interested in writing poems and stories? Maybe you’re just beginning and want to try your hand at creative writing in a supportive but rigorous atmosphere, or maybe you’ve been filling notebooks with plays and rhymes for years. Either way, this is the class for you! Each week we will read and discuss published short stories and poems, do writing exercises, talk about craft (the tools and techniques in poetry and fiction), and the writing process. During this course, you will have the opportunity to “workshop” your poems and stories in class. We will discuss the strengths in your work as well as opportunities for revision. An inspiring and generative experience for young writers who are eager to develop their voice while helping others do the same. For writers age 13-18 ONLY.
$180/$165, Grub Street HQ.

READING AND RECEPTION: Friday, April 8th, 6:30-8:30pm, Debra Allbery, Grub Street National Book Prize Winner
We are proud to welcome acclaimed poet Debra Allbery, visiting from Asheville, NC, who will read from her most recent collection, Fimbul-Winter (Four Way Books, 2010) winner of the 2010 Grub Street National Book Prize in Poetry. Allbery is the author of one previous book of poems, Walking Distance (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991) and the director of the MFA program at Warren Wilson College. The reading and Q&A will begin at 6:30PM and be followed by dinner.
FREE, Grub Street HQ.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, April 9th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Memoir and Metaphor
With metaphor we bring our stories into clearer focus and discover deeper levels of meaning. In this workshop you will look at how metaphor has been used throughout the centuries, from Plato's Dialogues to CG Jung's Red Book. Then we will look at the specific genre of memoire, reading excerpts from contemporary authors including Annie Dillard, Orhan Pamuk, and Terry Tempest Williams, to see how they used metaphors to illuminate their work. There will be guided writing exercise, including a short piece of memoir.
Instructor: Susan Tiberghien
$115/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ.

SEMINAR: Saturday, April 9th, 10:00am-12:00pmMembers-Only Seminar: Casting a Line: Homage, Answer, and Imitation in Poetry
A rare and exciting opportunity to work in a small group with Debra Allbery, who will lead this FREE craft class for Grub Street members. Sign up in advance to reserve your place. Limited to 15 members.
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, April 9th, 10:00am-1:00pm, 3 Hours, 3 Stories: A Flash Fiction Workshop
Tracing its origins back to early fables and parables, flash fiction is emerging as one of the most desirable and influential writing forms in the new publishing marketplace. Join authors Stace Budzko and Sue Williams for three hours of inspiring discussion and imaginative exercises designed to take you from original story ideas through the revision process.
Instructor: Stace Budzko and Sue Williams
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, April 9th from 10:00am-5:00pm, Skill of the Interview
The return of this sold-out seminar from 2010! 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. We will also do exercises to practice the skills we learn. A useful seminar for any writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry or screenwriting who needs to conduct this type of research.
Instructor: Elaine McArdle
$115/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Sunday, April 10th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Perfecting Your Memoir Proposal
The great thing about nonfiction is that it typically sells on proposal. The challenge is writing a proposal that will keep agents and editors turning the pages, excited to discover what happens next. In this class, we'll go through each element of a selling proposal, including overview, market analysis, and the annotated table of contents. We'll consider questions of tone and narrative arc, choices about character development, and positioning your work within the marketplace. Participants will leave with a structured plan to complete, polish, and submit their nonfiction book proposals.
Instructor: Trish Ryan
$115/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ.

Be sure to check out our website 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. 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.

--READING: Tuesday, March 29th, 7pm, Rooms Down the Hallway series kickoff, the hallway gallery, Jamaica Plain
Be there to launch Boston's newest literary series, Rooms Down the Hallway, an evening of art and local fiction at JP's hallway gallery.  Hosted by Grubbie Dawn Dorland Perry and sponsored by gallerist Brent Refsland.  Featuring short fiction by Grub Street instructors Adam Stumacher, Jenn De Leon, and Jeff Talarigo.  Currently on view at the hallway: The Polaroid Show.  Please contact Dawn (dawndorland@gmail.com) with questions, or to have your work considered for this new monthly series.   thehallwayjp.com
FREE, the hallway gallery, 66a South Street, Jamaica Plain.

--READING: Tuesday, March 29th, 7pm Daphne Kalotay and Brad Watson
Brad Watson, author of Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives and friend of Grub Daphne Kalotay, author of Russian Winter, read together at Newtonville.
FREE, Newtonville Books, 296 Walnut Street, Newton

--READING: Thursday, March 31st, 6-7pm, The Boston Athenaeum Presents a Poetry Reading By Kevin Young
The Boston Athenæum presents poet Kevin Young, who will read from his most recent work, Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels. Born in 1970, Kevin Young is widely regarded as one of the leading poets of his generation. But it is with this latest work, Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels, that he outshines his considerable accomplishments. Written over the course of 20 years, this poetic epic is a tapestry of interwoven narratives, voices and lamentations—all of which add up to tell the story of the Africans who mutinied on board the slave ship Amistad, and form a beautiful and terrible exploration of the rebellion’s aftermath.
$15 ($10 for Athenaeum members), The Boston Athenæum, 10 1/2 Beacon St., Boston. Visit www.bostonathenaeum.org or call 617-227-0270.

--READING: Thursday, March 31st, 7pm, A Reading in Honor of Opening Day at Fenway
This reading will feature selections from the eagerly anticipated third volume in the Fenway Fiction series.
FREE, Jam'n Java Coffee House, 594 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington Center.

--READING: Monday, April 4th, 7:30pm, Howard Jacobson at the New Center
British novelist Howard Jacobson visits the United States for the first time since receiving the prestigious Man Booker Prize for The Finkler Question, the story of waspy Julian Treslove and his quest to become a Jew after being the victim of what he believes to be an anti-Semitic attack. Hilarious and heartbreaking, the novel explores how “the Jewish Question” can cloud the boundaries between pride and prejudice and unsettle even the oldest relationships. Jacobson’s other novels include The Mighty Walzer and Kalooki Nights.
In conversation with Ben Birnbaum, an award-winning writer whose essays and reviews have appeared in The Atlantic, the online magazine Tablet, and The Jewish Review of Books, among other publications. Co-sponsored by Grub Street.
$28, New Center For Arts and Culture, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown.