May 2nd, 2011

Grub Street News

Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday from the last man standing at Grub Street World Headquarters. As always, if you are receiving this e-mail in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.

What Makes the Muse Go? You, you, you.

What an incredible weekend! We are still buzzing with all the great energy from the 700+ attendees, authors, editors, agents and volunteers who attended the Muse this past weekend. All of us at Grub Street are so thankful to you for making it such a fantastic event. We want to say a special thanks to Ron Carlson for his inspiring and provocative speech. None of us will ever forget his mantra that "the writer is the one who stays in the room" (unless, of course, the writer is the one who leaves the room to come to a Grub Street class).

We're wowed by the 1,000+ tweets from attendees, and are enjoying reading your feedback forms, emails, and blog postings. We especially like Diana Renn's post on inspiration, Jael McHenry's useful post about being a "conference extrovert," and Ariel Swan's Six Reasons I Love the Muse. If you're on Twitter, keep the Muse love alive by searching for #Muse2011, and if you come across any other blog postings, tweets or articles you'd like us to link to in the Rag, send them to whitney@grubstreet.org (or @GrubWriters)! Thanks again for making the Muse weekend a pure joy from beginning to end. Stay tuned next week and on our blog for more post-Muse news!

Thank you to our amazing volunteers

There's no way the Muse could have happened without the help from the following fantastic volunteers: Amy Collier, Kim Freeman, Michelle Seaton, Katie Willis Morton, Lara JK Wilson, Aaron Devine, Allison Grinberg-Funes, Austen Roe, Cailin Barrett-Bressac, Cat Bryant, Cheryl Donovan, Christen Enos, Christen Enos, Denny Kinlaw, Donna MacLearn, Erica Ferdinandi, James Charlesworth, Jameson Viens, Jeff Schwefel, Jeremy Lakaszcyck, Jessica Moreland, Jessica Keener, Karen Locascio, Katie Hunt, Kerri Donnelly, Kiba Lou, Kim Freeman, Lauren Rheaume, Lauren Terry, Lisa Korzeniowski, Mark O'Sullivan, Matt Biewener, Meg Cook, Mo Hanley, Molly Mandeltort, Nadine Johnstone, Nancy Barron, Nica Mayer, Patty Ryburn, Raquel Pidal, Rebecca Caine, Rebecca Leeb, Sally Bunch, Sarah Leech-Black, Shubha Sunder, Shyela Malani, Stephanie Zahareas, Stuart Horwitz, Sunny Davidson, Val Maloof, and Zeynep Lokmanoglu. You guys are our Muses!

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

The P.S.: You may be saying, "Where is the Department of Congratulations?" Our response is: "Down the hall, take a left, and look for it next Monday."

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.

MEMBERS-ONLY LEGAL ADVICE: Wednesday, May 4th, 10th & 26th, 2:30-5:30pm, Members-Only Offering: Free Legal Consultations for Writers
Now that you've attended the 2011 Muse and the Marketplace, there are probably a million questions running through your head on the next steps to getting published and/or protecting your work. Maybe you want clarification on confusing clauses in publishing contracts, advice on whether to register the copyright in your latest piece, or a few basic tips on what legal issues exist for budding writers. While he may not be able to answer every question you have, Attorney Mitchell Bragg of Ascentage Law, PLLC will be offering free 30-minute consultations to help explain the law as it applies to aspiring, emerging, and established writers. This is meant to provide writers at all stages in their career with basic answers to legal questions and issues they may be facing. All sessions are by appointment only; to reserve a slot please email mab@ascentagelaw.com. Be sure to arrive early to your appointment and be prepared with specific questions. Only active Grub Street members may participate.
Instructor: Mitchell Bragg
FREE (but $3-$5 donation appreciated), Grub Street HQ. Register now.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday-Sunday, May 14-15th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Encountering the Past: How to Research and Write Your Historical Novel
Writing a novel is difficult enough to begin with, but the historical novel faces a slew of unique challenges on top of it. How do you conduct research successfully? How much is historical accuracy to be protected at the expense of the story? How do you transform the glut of historical detail into a compelling plot? This seminar provides an overview of effective strategies for investigating the past, organizing information into a storyline, then bringing it to life with your prose.
Instructor: Cam Terwilliger
$220/$195.00 members, Grub Street HQ. Register now.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, May 14th from 10:00am-5:00pm, Epiphany and a Side Order of Meaning (or, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”)
If only it were as simple as ordering off a menu. Elevating our work from the personal to the universal—to some larger meaning that has your readers shaking their head in recognition and in amazement at your grand wisdom—can feel daunting. In this seminar geared toward writers of personal essay and memoir, we’ll examine the work of authors who do it well, such as Bernard Cooper, Joan Didion, Abigail Thomas and others. We’ll discuss ways of working and revising that can help you unlock your own personal truths, and we'll try our hand at different writing exercises designed to get you working in that direction.
Instructor: Amy Yelin
$115/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ. Register now.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday-Sunday, May 14-15th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Writing From Real Life
Writers are observers, continually examining our lives and the lives of others. For memoir writers, and for those who write in other genres, our life experiences become the raw material of our creative work. In this two-day workshop, we will focus on the key challenges in our lives today, and other hurdles we’ve overcome – in other words, difficult circumstances that might become the rich “raw material” for new work. We will discuss strategies for developing this material in a way that avoids the sentimental and general, and look at a number of short examples of how other writers (i.e. Didion, Ehrenreich, Sedaris) use essays as a way of making meaning of difficult circumstances. By the end of the course, you will have worked through a topic and be well on your way to writing about it (and potentially others) in a thoughtful and critical way.
Instructor: Judah Leblang
$220/$195.00 members, Grub Street HQ. Register now.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, May 14th from 10:00am-5:00pm, Jumpstart Your Blog
A blog can be a great way to market yourself, build an audience, and exercise those creative impulses. Whether you're looking to breathe life back into an already established blog or have been wanting to start one and need a push, this class will offer guidance for writing posts others will want to read. You'll learn what makes a successful blog, read examples from the blogosphere, and begin crafting a plan that will include ways to build your audience. You'll also practice different types of posts with in-class writing exercises that will be workshopped in large and small groups. The goal is to leave with some solid beginnings (possibly finished posts), inspiration, and a strategy for success.
Instructor: Amy Marcott
$115/$95.00 members, Grub Street HQ. Register now.

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, May 3rd, 7pm, Write on the DOT
Locals, get to know your writers. Writers, get to know your locals. Join your fellow literary aficionados on Tuesday, May 3rd at the first "Write on the DOT" reading of poetry and fiction by UMass Boston Creative Writing MFA students and local Dorchester writers. The reading kicks off at 7 p.m. at The Blarney Stone Bar/Restaurant in Fields Corner (1505 Dorchester Ave., 1 block from the Fields Corner T Stop on the Ashmont Red Line). Come raise a glass and join your neighbors as our readers unfurl beauty and darkness, ideas and inspiration. Tuesday's readers are: Rad Thie, Kurt Klopmeier, Andra Hibbert, Betsy Gomez, Zachary Bos, and Mark Rotondi. If you're a writer living/working in Dorchester and would like to read at an upcoming Write on the DOT, please send an email to dotreadingseries@gmail.com.
FREE, Blarney Stone Bar, Dorchester (one block from Fields Corner T-stop)

--READING: Tuesday May 3rd, 7pm, Daphne Kalotay
The talented Muse presenter Daphne Kalotay discusses reads and discusses her novel, Russian Winter.
FREE, Duxbury Free Library, 77 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA 02332

--VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: The Massachusetts Poetry Festival
The Massachusetts Poetry Festival is looking for volunteers, May 13th and 14th. The 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival will feature dozens of readings, workshops, open mics, book signings, and musical acts, brought to you by artists from in and around the state. The festival will also include a small press and literary journal fair, bookshop, crafts, food vendors, and poetry trolley. Whether you’re a poet, a reader, or someone just looking to spend a fun day with friends or family, this event has something to offer. For the past 10 months, an enormous amount of work has been put into the festival by volunteers who are dedicated to building a Massachusetts literary community. For the festival to be a success, we need people who are willing to donate a few hours of their time on Friday or Saturday to helping us run the events. Volunteer perks include free admission, free MassPoetry T-shirt, and a chance to meet some of the great poets who will be participating. To sign up, please visit our website at www.masspoetry.org and click on “Volunteers Needed” at the top of the page. You will receive an email with more information. If you have questions, email joyce@masspoetry.org.

--JOB OPPORTUNITY: 826 BOSTON PROGRAM DIRECTOR
826 Boston, a nonprofit youth writing center located in Roxbury, Massachusetts, seeks a dynamic educator and leader to serve as its Program Director beginning in June 2011. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Read full details at http://826boston.org/blog/853/826-boston-is-hiring.