September 19th, 2011
"Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all."
—Franklin Adams
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday from the pitch-black bathroom at Grub Street's world headquarters. As always, if you are receiving this email in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.
Let the champagne corks fly! Our annual fall gala, An Evening With Grub Street, is coming up on October 25th at 7pm, and features readings from three amazing authors: Gregory Maguire, Anita Shreve and Tayari Jones. The event takes place at Mohr & McPherson gallery, and all proceeds benefit Grub Street's programming and outreach. Tickets are complimentary for members of the Directors' Circle, and can also be purchased online. Hope to see you there!
Click on any of the class titles to register online today.
Grub's growing up, and we need a new tag line. Our old one ("Where Boston Gets Writing") just doesn't capture all that we do these days. We're bigger than Boston now, and we're in the process of expanding our offerings to address the changing needs of writers, including guidance on new publishing options, finding readers, and other professional development. So here's the deal: Take a look at the description of Grub Street below, and then send in your ideas for a new tag line in 9 words or less.
Grub's elevator pitch: We're a Boston-based writing community dedicated to helping writers at every stage from idea to audience.
Grub's mission: To be an innovative, rigorous, and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find audience, and elevate the literary arts for all.
We accomplish this by offering the highest quality classes and services for writers at all stages of development, by educating writers through the entire writing process from inspiration to publication and promotion, by putting a premium on teaching excellence, by opening our arms to as many writers as possible through generous scholarships and free outreach programming, by creating fulfilling work for writers, by connecting people and ideas through writing, and by empowering writers to fully embrace the new opportunities ushered in by the digital age.
Send your tag lines to whitney@grubstreet.org by the end of the day today (September 19th) for a chance to win a $50 gift card to Harvard Book Store (or an independent bookstore near you, if you live out of state). Thanks!
The 142 writers below have joined our renewed their Grub Street memberships in the past month, and we are so glad to have them. A huge thank you to everyone for supporting our programming and outreach efforts--we couldn't do it without your support. Want to make the list and help us get to 1,000 members by the fall? Learn about the benefits of membership or sign up today.
| Sustaining Members Sharon Bially Joseph Biancalana Madeleine Biondolillo Jenny Brown Christine Cleary Atinuke Diver Stephen Dorneman Julie Harris Vibeke Lou Sanjoy Mahajan Julie Mairano Jean Manasian Randy Susan Meyers Eileen Mills Meg Mitchell Moore Robert Oakes Sejal Patel Alexis Popik Kelly Robertson Rebecca Tapley David Todaro Family Members Kathryn Burak Elizabeth Cameron Barbara Clemmer-Dunn Shirley Jones-Luke Loren Schechter General Members Walter Altherr Michael Appell Nancer Ballard Andrew Barlow Anne Batterson Kitty Beer Gustaf Berger Amy Bernstein Ellen Berrigan Connie Biewald Lisa Birk Gina Bolvin Bernarduci Anna Marie Bracco Andrea Bredbeck Sally Bunch Zachary Burlingame John Carr Christine Carron Louisa Clerici Craig Cook |
Cathy Corcoran Janelle Corsaro Jeanne Cronin Cate Cross William Donovan Kathleen Emmet Mary Ellen Foti Neville Frankel H. Susan Freireich Ronnie Friedland Martha Gangemi Jewel Gilbert Ralph Gilbert Thomas Gilchrist Gail Gilmore Michelle Graham Dianne Grattan Maria Green Suzanne Greenwald Sylvia Gutmann Tracy Hahn-Burkett Mary Ann Hales Alma Hart Mary Jo Hetzel Julie Humphreys Diane Jaquith Yana Karezin Maryam Keramaty Sarah Kim David Kingsbury Amitha Knight Alexandra Kontes Susan Leahy Stephanie Levine Elinor Lipman Stephen Macone Emily Marano Chloe Marsala Danielle Martin Erin Mcnally-diaz Jason Metz Susan Mills Stephanie Moore Deborah Murphy Norma Muurahainen Margaret Newhouse Michael Nolan Carrie Normand Clare O'Brien Martha Oakley Lisa Prior |
Arjun Rao Emily Ray Cathy Reed Alexandra Reisman Lauren Rheaume Jennifer Roberts Monica Rodriguez-Whitney Jason Ruback Kerry Rumore Carroll Sandel Anna Schembri PJ Schott Kevin Schwartz Medb Sichko Annie Silverman Gretchen Sisson Sarah Smurr Peter Spiegler Evelyn Starr Robin Stein Bart Stewart Kathleen Stone Alison Streit Baron Marcia Szymanski Samantha Taymore Amy Tighe Patrice Todisco April Towner Susan Trausch Lisa Trudeau Anna Umbreit Nancy Upper Maricia Verma Yun Soo Vermeule Wendy Wakeman Caitlin Walsh Mary Wasmuth Paula Webster Nancy Weiss Lynne Weiss Julie Williams Gwendolyne Willis Hyemin Yang Richard Zabot Kathy Zimmerman |
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Eve, Chris, Rowan and Sean
The P.S. We're psyched to be hosting an Open Mike at the fabulous Salem Litfest this year--see Spreading the Love for all the details.
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.
TEEN PROGAM: Saturday, April 16th, 10am-12pm OR 1pm - 3pm, Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP)
Do you like to write poems, lyrics, stories, novels or screenplays? Join Grub Street’s Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP), a FREE creative writing workshop for Boston-area high schoolers. Our students, age 13-18, come from a wide variety of schools in the Boston area, and enjoy cool writing exercises, mingling with fellow young writers, snacks, and an optional open mic. After four great years YAWP has already been recognized by the Boston Globe as Boston's hub for writing teenagers.
This week, there are three sections during both the morning and afternoon sessions: Short Short Fiction, Poetry, or Fiction. Come ready to write new stories, poems or scenes! YOU MUST BE AGE 13-18 TO REGISTER-- NO EXCEPTIONS. Visit our website to sign up.
FREE, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Thursday, September 29th, 6:30-9:30pm, Radical Disclosure (or Can I Really Write That About My Mother-in-Law?)
Every writer faces a basis decision at the keyboard: how much of my own life, and which parts, can I disclose. Will my friends and family recognize themselves. Will they disapprove. How do we, as writers, find the balance between their right to privacy and our right to make art? This discussion, which applies both to fiction and non-fiction, would use examples from folks such as Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Shalom Auslander as a point of departure.
Instructor: Steve Almond
$65/ $50 members, Grub Street HQ. Register Now. Not a member? Become a Grubbie today!
SEMINAR: Thursday, September 29th, 6:30-9:30pm, Poetry Jam
Do you want to experiment with writing poetry? Are you looking to get back to those poems you wrote a while ago? Are you in a rut with your writing and in need of a jumpstart to find a fresh approach? Or are you a prose writer who needs to cross train by flexing some poetry muscles? Poets of all levels are welcome in this one-night workshop in which we'll experiment with various poetry games, collaborations, and exercises. You'll leave with some drafts of poems and with a toolbox of writing exercises to help you keep writing on your own. Be prepared to write, collaborate, and have fun.
Instructor: Rebecca Morgan Frank
$65/ $50 members, Grub Street HQ. Register Now. Not a member? Become a Grubbie today!
SEMINAR: Thursday, September 29th, 6:30-9:30pm, Subtext: From Facts to Truth
We're all familiar with the situational truth of stories -- who, what, where, when. But how do you get to the real truth? How do you render scenes and events to make emotion felt, transcending the basics of plot? How do you make the unspoken, and the unspeakable, course and glimmer through? In readings, exercises, and conversation, this workshop will help you -- as both writer and reader -- understand how the most resonant stories weave in emotion with subtext and undertones, creating works that haunt and shimmer and hum with something more than plot alone.
Instructor: Christina McCarroll
$65/ $50 members, Grub Street HQ. Register Now. Not a member? Become a Grubbie today!
SEMINAR: Thursday, September 29th, 6:30-9:30pm, Give That Character a Past! Using Anecdotes to Develop Characters
A well-deployed anecdote, even if incidental to the overall plot of your story or memoir, can help define your characters in action and give them a reality and history that extends beyond the page. We’ll look closely at examples of character definition through anecdote in both memoir and fiction, and will practice brainstorming and writing anecdotes that will help define our own characters in vivid detail.
Instructor: Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
$65/ $50 members, Grub Street HQ. Register Now. Not a member? Become a Grubbie today!
SEMINAR: Thursday, September 29th, 6:30-9:30pm, The Messy Essay
Don't have time to take six weeks, six essays? Come to this evening workshop where we'll tackle the joys and pitfalls of essay writing. The first half of the course will be spent looking at the essay form and dissecting a few essays to see what makes them tick. Next, we'll take a look at our own essay attempts, talk about the challenges that come up when trying to structure the essay, and discuss tools and ideas to help take your work-in-progress or ideas to the next level. Bring an essay you are working on, or just your ideas.
Instructor: Amy Yelin
$65/ $50 members, Grub Street HQ. Register Now. Not a member? Become a Grubbie today!
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.
--READING: Tuesday, Sept 20th, 7PM, Sven Birkerts and Lev Grossman
Sven Birkerts, AGNI editor, critic and author of The Other Walk, reads with Time magazine critic Lev Grossman, author of The Magician King.
FREE, Newtonville Books.
--READING: Tuesday, September 20th, 6pm, Stacy Schiff
In Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the queen from her own hazy legend. Schiff shows how Cleopatra engaged in a lethal power struggle with her brother; entered into a relationship with Caesar, with whom she had a child and whom she followed to Rome; and took up after Caesar’s murder with Mark Antony, with whom she had three more children. In a glittering narrative, Schiff explores both the epic struggles for power in the ancient world and the implications for one very clever, determined woman. Stacy Schiff is the author of A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, which won a George Washington Book Prize, the Ambassador Award in American Studies, and the Institut Français’s Gilbert Chinard Prize.
FREE, Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, Copley Square.
--RETREAT: November 3rd - 6th, Writeaway Writing Retreat in Ogunquit
Have a novel you want to finish? A great idea for a book you want to start? Stuck in the middle of your memoir? Does an endless daily to-do list keep you from doing what you love most – writing? Come join a community of writers in a supportive setting where you will find the time to write, away from the distractions of home. www.writeawayretreats.com.
--FESTIVAL: September 23-25, Salem Literary Festival
Salem Literary Festival brings together authors, readers and writers for a weekend of literary fun in beautiful and historic Salem MA. Registration for the two main events, Friday's Opening Night Celebration featuring Erin Morgenstern and The Night Circus and Saturday's Dinner with the Author, ends Monday 9/19, so go to www.salemlitfest.eventbrite.com to purchase tickets now. The rest of the events can be accessed with the purchase of a $5 admission button, and while pre-registration isn't required, it's recommended. Also, don't miss the Open Mike on Sunday, September 25th at 4pm, hosted by Grub Street's own Michelle Hoover and Lynne Griffin. Read your poetry or prose, but keep it to three minutes; sign-up on-site, first come first served. This event will be held at Gulu-Gulu Cafe, 247 Essex Street, Salem.
--CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Yellow Ham
The Yellow Ham, humor from stay-at-home comedians, launches in January. Sister magazine of Errant Parent, The Yellow Ham specializes in written humor from folks who'd give stand-up comedy a try if they were less scared of hotel bedspreads. Currently accepting submissions from the highbrow to the very lowbrow. New humor to be posted each Wednesday on www.theyellowham.com. Submit to: submit@theyellowham.com.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where like playing pinochle in polo shirts, we offer you the chance to win a prize. When Gertrude Stein lay dying, what was the last question she asked Alice B. Toklas? Email your answer to whitney@grubstreet.org. The first correct respondent wins a Starbucks gift card for a coffee treat.
Last's week's trivia: In 1969, twenty writers got together to produce the worst sex novel ever committed to paper. Called Naked Came the Stranger, the novel sold over 100,000 hardcover copies. Winner: Ray Anderson.
