January 2nd, 2012
"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us."
—Hal Borland
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday from our New Year's Resolution tome 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.
Do you enjoy organizing your rubber band collection and showing up early to parties? Grub Street seeks a super-organized, prompt, and detail-oriented person to join our staff as part-time Registrar. The Registrar will support the needs of students enrolling in our many workshops and programs. Application deadline is Monday, January 9th. Please see full info here: http://grubstreet.org/index.php?id=1050.
The application period for Grub Street's Novel Incubator program has begun. Details of the year-long program, including tuition and application requirements, can be found here: http://grubstreet.org/index.php?id=1427. The absolute deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on February 15th, 2012, so get working on those novels now!
Start 2012 off right with new Grub Street community events. This year we have a slate of brand-new free events to help you connect with fellow writers, get inspired, and lead a fuller writing life. Here's a look at three new events and groups starting in January. If you're interested in participating in any or all of these, please RSVP to sean@grubstreet.org. You may also sign-up on the spot for each event, but RSVPing ahead of time would be very helpful.
We've got an impressively large amount of congratulations to dive into today. First up, some book news. On December 27th, Grubbie Kathryn Kay celebrated the publication of her debut novel, The Gilder, and began her book tour. She'll be visiting tons of bookstores in California and New England--check out her website for details. The wonderful and self-effacing Gerald Zeitlin wrote in to tell us that his memoir, Laughing and Crying About Anesthesia:A Memoir of Risk and Safety, is now available on Amazon, and also said we had to rename his section of the DoC "the Department of Self-Congratulation" (which we refuse to do!) Grub instructor Rebecca Givens Rolland's first full-length poetry collection, The Wreck of Birds, just won the 2011 May Sarton New Hampshire First Book Prize and will be published in May 2012. Rebecca also has a chapbook, On the Refusal to Speak, coming out with Dancing Girl Press. Mary Johnson's book, An Unquenchable Thirst, made Kirkus Review's list for Best Nonfiction of 2011, and on December 2nd, Slate.com named it their Book of the Week.
Next up, lots of literary magazine news. Brittany Capozzi recently broke into the publishing world with her personal essay featured in the Belly Dance New England online magazine. "Fidelis," a new short story by Muse 2011 presenter Erika Dreifus, was featured in NPR's 2011 "Hanukkah Lights" broadcast. Bill Prindle saw The Yellow Ham's call for entries in the Grub Street newsletter and submitted some pieces. So far, The Yellow Ham has accepted three for publication. Now Bill is so excited that he can't stop writing even when people beg him to. See even more of Bill's stuff at chancedagger.wordpress.com. Sara Brodsky got a poem called "Reentry" published in Pulse, a magazine featuring voices from the heart of medicine. Sara thanks her writing friends, who said "send it already," and Grub Street instructor Michelle Seaton, who urged her to keep writing about Aunt Sylvia. Margaret Holmes just had a story accepted by The Alembic at Providence College. It is her eleventh published story. Amy Powell Faeskorn just had her piece "DSM-5 DIAGNOSES FOR TOAD FROM ARNOLD LOBEL’S FROG AND TOAD STORIES." published in the "Lists" section of McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
And “Remember the Shoe,” Robert Oakes’ essay on teaching in the Boston Public Schools, can be found at www.milksugarliterature.com/roberto1.html.
Last but not least, a special feature of the DoC this month: Hedgebrook news! Liz Quinn will be attending a residency in April, and Kim Freeman will be there in June.
Congratulations to all!
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 fill out our brand new Congratulations Form (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/congratulations) or kick it old school and 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.
We're proud to announce our blog's latest feature: 366 Days of Creativity, a free online calendar of daily inspiration, curated by Stuart Horwitz in partnership with Grub Street. Each day we'll present a mini-blog which pairs an event from the annals of creativity with a writing prompt. Members of the community are encouraged to submit their ideas for 366 during the year. To join in, email your writing prompts and/or inspirational events from artistic history to 366daysofcreativity@gmail.com. The best submission each month will be given a $25 gift card to a local independent bookstore in your area! Check it out and start getting inspired today.
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Eve, Chris, Rowan and Sean
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.
SEMINAR: Thursday, January 5th, 6:15-9:15pm, Dynamic Scene Writing
Instructor: Michelle Hoover
* SOLD OUT* Click here to join waiting list.
SEMINAR: Thursday, January 5th, 6:30-9:30pm, So You Want to Be a Writer?
Instructor: Ethan Gilsdorf
* SOLD OUT* Click here to join waiting list.
SEMINAR: Thursday, January 5th, 6:15-9:15pm, How to Make Your Prose Sing (and Why It Should)
Instructor: Steve Almond
* SOLD OUT* Click here to join waiting list.
SEMINAR: Thursday, January 5th, 6:30-9:30pm, Social Media Trends in Author Promotion
Instructor: Crystal King
* SOLD OUT* Click here to join waiting list.
SEMINAR: Thursday, January 5th, 6:00-9:00pm, Coping with Rejection: A Key Survival Skill for Writers
In Hillary Rettig's class on overcoming writer's block, a frequent scenario involves the class discussing a particular type of rejection or harsh criticism, and a student saying, “Wait – I just realized! That happened to me and I never finished a work again.” Or submitted one. Or took a writer's workshop. Make no mistake: unhealed rejections can cause your writing or career to grind to a halt. Rejection also comes in many more forms than most writers realize. In this workshop, Hillary will discuss the many forms of rejection, and the factors that can make a rejection worse. Then she'll offer ways to recover from toxic rejections in your past, and avoid them in the future. If you've ever thought you needed to develop more resilience or a "thicker skin" this class will show you how.
Instructor: Hillary Rettig
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.
WORKSHOP: 6 Sundays, 1:00-4:00pm, beginning January 8th, Fiction II: Revising With Intention
This section of Fiction II is designed to give intermediate/more experienced writers, and those with workshop experience, the intensive review and analysis that leads to deeper and sharper prose. We’ll begin each class by examining a nuanced element of craft (such as narrative urgency or thematic structure) as a lens through which students can determine potential next steps for their work. Workshops will focus on problem areas in novel chapters and/or short stories, and will include brainstorm sessions to devise clear revision objectives. Feedback on revised pages will be given through class discussion as well as in-depth written comments from the instructor. The goal is to write fiction that has “a sturdy sense of itself, of being built of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you,” as Alice Munro put it.
Instructor: Lara JK Wilson
$305/$280 members, at Yoga Mandala in Winchester, MA.
SEMINAR: Monday, January 9th, 6:15-9:15pm, Social Media for Writers
Instructor: Lauren E. MacLeod
* SOLD OUT* Click here to join waiting list.
SEMINAR: Monday, January 9th, 6:00-9:00pm, PR 101 for Writers
These days, all authors need to understand and know how to use basic PR tools to build a platform and publicize their work, even long before it’s published. From press releases and pitches to blog posts and tweets, this primer will lay out in clear, actionable terms the various tasks PR includes, their purposes, how they intersect with other types of promotion and how authors can use them effectively. It will offer a practical PR resource “tool-kit” and a realistic look at the potential outcomes.
Instructor: Sharon Bially
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Monday, January 9th, 6:15-9:15pm, Provoking Thought: Writing and Selling a Book of Ideas
There's a burgeoning market for nonfiction books of ideas, such as science, medical, architecture, culture, technology, and political books. Fortunately they're much easier to sell than fiction or memoirs. All you need is a great idea--and a great proposal. In this seminar, you'll learn everything you need to know to market your idea book to a publisher. You'll learn about the state of the nonfiction publishing industry, what editors are looking for, what readers are looking for, how to find the best agent for your project, and how to craft a winning proposal. We'll analyze successful and failed books of ideas published in the past few years, giving special attention to the different styles of Malcolm Gladwell (author of Outliers) and Steven Pinker (author of Blank Slate). You'll also learn what to expect when you do sell your book--and the challenges you'll face when you must actually get the research and writing done by a deadline. We might also address special topics such as e-books, Amazon, and endorsements.
Instructor: Ogi Ogas
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.
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: Wednesday, January 4th, 6pm - 7:30pm, Boston radio icon Ron Della Chiesa
Boston radio icon Ron Della Chiesa will be reading and discussing his new book Radio My Way--it's part memoir, part celebrity profile. Free apps, cash bar.
FREE, Stellina Restaurant, 47 Main St, Watertown, MA.
--READING: Thursday, January 5th, 5pm, Joshua Rubenstein at Upstairs on the Square
Please Join Porter Square Books and PEN/New England for Joshua Rubenstein at Upstairs on the Square. Joshua Rubenstein is the Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA and a longtime associate at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. He is the author of Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg and is coeditor of The KGB File of Andrei Sakharov and Stalin's Secret Pogrom, both published by Yale University Press. Stalin's Secret Pogrom received a National Jewish Book Award. His latest book is Leon Trotsky.
FREE, Upstairs on the Square, 91 Winthrop Street, Harvard Square.
--LAUNCH PARTY: Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 7 p.m., Jessica Keener’s Night Swim
Celebrate Jessica Keener’s debut novel with cake, goodies, a short reading, and book signing. Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan says "Jessica Keener steps boldly into the terrain of Eugene O’Neill, conjuring up the pathologies and quirks of a besieged Boston family in stark quivering detail that never fully distracts us from a looming sense of crisis. This gripping first novel announces the arrival of a strong, distinct and fully evolved new voice." Set in Boston, 1970s, Night Swim tells the tale of the Kunitz family, who hide their deep tensions behind a shimmering façade of parties and affluence before tragedy changes everything.
FREE, Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA, Coolidge Corner
--SEMINAR: Saturday, February 11th, MWA-University
MWA-U is a full-day writing seminar which teaches participants the skills needed to write a mystery novel, from the idea stage to publication. The focus is on the craft of writing, and the college-level courses are taught by published writers and experienced teachers. A direct link to the event: https://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=MWA-University
$50,
Registration deadline is Monday, February 7th. Sheraton Boston Commonwealth Ballroom, 39 Dalton Street. Boston, MA.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where like a confused groundhog appearing on the wrong holiday, we offer you the chance to win a prize. This American poet was asked to compose a poem for a Presidential inauguration, but was unable to read it because of the sun's glare. What is the poet's name, and what poem did he recite from memory instead? Email your answer to whitney@grubstreet.org. The first correct respondent wins a Starbucks gift card for a coffee treat.
Last week's trivia: After reaching forty, Jean Auel began writing her first books, the Earth's Chidren fictional saga--which went on to become one of the fastest-selling series in publishing history. Winner: No one.