March 5th, 2012
"I'm saying look, here they come, pay attention. Let your eyes transform what appears ordinary, commonplace, into what it is, a moment in time, an observed fragment of eternity."
—Philip Levine
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday by the underdog in the Pictionary competition 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.
Have you been meaning to sponsor an item for Grub Street's new home? So far, over 270 donors have contributed to our campaign, naming items from markers to refrigerators. We'll be showing off the nameplates at our Grub Goes...Up party on March 30th, and if you want to see your name in all its glory that night, sponsor an item by March 10th. Plenty of items are still available at all donation levels. Thank you for helping to make Grub Street an inspiring community center.
The day has finally come – Grub Street’s official move date is this Friday, March 9th! It’s been a long road to the 5th floor of 162 Boylston, and we’re excited to show you our new home. Though the Grub Street office will be open on Friday, we will be spending most of the day doing heavy lifting and reconnecting phone cords. We ask for your patience, as we will not be able to respond to your emails or return your calls until that following Monday. Classes will be held at 162 beginning Sunday, March 11th, and there will be signs directing you to your new classroom. If you have any questions about our move please don’t hesitate to contact Rowan at rowan@grubstreet.org. Otherwise, we’ll see you next door! 
We're revising our address, and we want you to help us celebrate. The literary party of the year takes place on Friday, March 30th, and tickets are selling fast. There'll be celebrity author bartenders, music, literary-themed drinks and appetizers, and word game throwdowns all night long. The fun doesn't wait until sunset, though: we'll also have daytime activities: tea and tours, family friendly activities, etc. Buy your tickets today.
Do you want a chance to read your work out loud? Join the new Grub Street Reading Series for a fun open mic event and practice the art of reading to an audience this Friday, March 9th. This event is open to the public, and limited to 10 readers. Sign-up begins at 6:30pm. Readings will run from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for any members interested in sharing their work and connecting with other writers. For more information or to join the reading series mailing list, please email sean@grubstreet.org.
Some really great news this month. First up, book publication news: Grubbie Audrey Schulman's newest book, Three Weeks in December, is out this month and it's gotten raves from the New York Times Sunday Book review and the New Yorker. Miriam Stein's newly published book, Make Your Voice Matter With Lawmakers: No Experience Necessary, is now available on Amazon. Former Boston Phoenix editor and freelance book critic Nina MacLaughlin's memoir Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter, an account of how she left a life of the computer screen for one with hammer and nails, capturing the pleasures and challenges of making things by hand, how carpentry affects one's view of the world, and what it's like to work as a woman in a trade that is 98% male, just sold to Norton and will be published next year. Grubbie Lisa Levey's book, The Libra Solution: Shedding Excess and Redefining Success at Work and at Home is just out and she said in her acknowledgements that she "wanted to thank Grub Street for supporting a community of writing professionals who have greatly enhanced this book." And Grubbie Matt Hanlon has a piece appearing in the just-published Final Fenway Fiction, edited by Adam Pachter.
Next, Grub's version of "Look Who's Honoring Me Now." Grub instructor Sue Williams has been named the Writers' Room of Boston Nonfiction Fellow for 2012. Literary Council member Andre Dubus III was nominated for an Indies Choice award for Townie: A Memoir, with the winners to be named April 5. Lynne Barrett's story collection Magpies has been awarded the Gold Medal in General Fiction in the Florida Book Awards. Lynne will be receiving her medal at ceremonies at the State Capital in Tallahassee March 21 and will also be among the medal-winners honored at a banquet at the Florida Library Association conference in Orlando in April. More about the awards and winners here. Lynne has been a presenter at the past two Grub Muse & the Marketplace conferences and will be presenting again this May.
Last but not least, story publication news. Alexa Kontes has a story in the current issue of Spittoon Magazine. Susan Phillips' short story A Face in the Crowd is now online on Poetica Magazine's website. Christian Schlubach's story "Haunted House," written this term during (the incredible) Sue Williams' 10 Weeks, 10 Stories, was just published on MonkeyBicycle. Jennifer Palmer has a piece in Bay State Parent. Robin Schoenthaler, who has taken a few classes with Ethan (and sponsored the hand dryer for our new bathroom) just had a piece published at Pulse Magazine. And last but not least, The Common OnLine will note International Women's Day with a Dispatch feature from Seneca Falls, New York called The Center of the Rebellion, written by Grubbie Lynne Weiss.
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.
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Eve, Chris, Rowan and Sean
The P.S.: Don't forget: the next installments of our Winter Term Open Houses take place Tuesday and Thursday this week (March 6th and 8th) from 5:30-6:3opm at 160 Boylston Street. Hope you can make it!
For the next two months, The Rag will be spotlighting sessions from our annual conference, The Muse and the Marketplace. We hope you’ll be able to enjoy these sessions in person the weekend of May 5th & 6th at the Park Plaza Hotel. For all details, including registration info, go to www.museandthemarketplace.com.
"Muse" Spotlight: Joining us for the first time this year, author and Emerson professor Jerald Walker will lead a provocative and important session entitled, “The Suspension of Belief: On Being a Practitioner & Teacher of the Essay in the Age of Skepticism.” In his description, Professor Walker reminds us that “just because the essay or memoir we’ve written is true doesn’t mean readers will automatically believe it. Nor should they. ‘Belief’ in creative nonfiction must be earned, particularly on the heels of such scandals as James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. Professor Walker’s talk and discussion will address strategies for how to make the truth trustworthy, and how to win over a public grown suspicious of the personal narrative.” Jerald Walker is the author of Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption, recipient of the 2011 PEN New England/L.L. Winship Award for Nonfiction and named a Best Memoir of the Year by Kirkus Reviews. His essays have appeared in periodicals such as the Harvard Review, The Missouri Review, Mother Jones, The Iowa Review, and The Oxford American, as well as in numerous anthologies, including twice in The Best African American Essays and three times in The Best American Essays. Walker is an Associate Professor of creative writing at Emerson College, where he is Interim Chair and Co-Director of the Boston Summer Writing Conference.
Marketplace Spotlight: Continuing on the (mostly) non-fiction theme, we are excited to welcome Jennifer Niesslein and Stephanie Wilkinson, co-editors and co-founders of Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers. Both Jennifer and Stephanie will be offering feedback on manuscripts in the Manuscript Mart and considering your essays, short fiction, long-form journalism, humor and book reviews for the magazine, which has a circulation of 35,000 and has won numerous Pushcart nominations. In addition to the Manuscript Mart, the editors will be leading a craft session entitled “What Serves Our Needs At This Time” on Saturday afternoon. This session will give students a behind-the-scenes look at what literary magazine editors look for in a personal essay. The editors will share the conversations they have between themselves about essays and dissect the anatomy of a perfect essay. Essays in Brain, Child have attracted attention from agents, won awards and honors, and have been the germs of many a book, but the talk and discussion will be applicable to nearly any literary magazine.
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.
READING SERIES: Friday, March 9th, 7-8pm, Grub Street Reading Series
Do you want a chance to read your work out loud? Join the new Grub Street Reading Series for a fun open mic event and practice the art of reading to an audience. This event is open to the public, and limited to 10 readers. Sign-up begins at 6:30pm. Readings will run from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for any members interested in sharing their work and connecting with other writers. For more information or to join the reading series mailing list, please email sean@grubstreet.org.
LECTURE: Tuesday, March 13th, 6:30-8:30pm, Agents For Today's Author: Jason Allen Ashlock
Since founding Movable Type in the spring of 2009, Jason has been a leading voice for change in the agenting community, advocating for "radical mediation," a more expansive and digitally responsible form of representation and creative management. Jason believes that with greater access to production, distribution and marketing tools, authors are poised to be more successful than ever before--but they are also at greater risk of choosing short-term gratification over long-term success. Jason will speak for 45 minutes about the value of literary agent as radical mediator, and then take questions.
Instructor: Jason Ashlock
FREE, Cambridge YMCA Theater.
SEMINAR: Monday, March 19th, 6:15-9:15pm, Writing the Big Moments
We all have them: those events in our lives that seem to change everything. Oftentimes we find ourselves retelling these personal stories, until the retelling itself becomes part of the narrative of our lives. But when we sit down to write about those milestones, and make them the centerpiece of our essays or memoirs, how do we do so most effectively? It’s not enough to have had these experiences; we need to learn how to render them in the most vivid way. In this seminar we will focus not only on the big moments but also on the smaller moments around them, looking with a fresh eye to create a context from which we can deliver our most powerful material. We will use writing prompts and short published pieces, along with the supportive environment of our class, to help bring balance and strength to our work.
Instructor: Rita Zoey Chin
*2 spots left* $65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Friday, March 16th 7:00pm to 9:00pm, March Member Mixer
Join us on Friday, March 16th for an exclusive member only party from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at Grub Street Headquarters. A wonderful way to kick-off your St. Patrick ’s Day weekend! This is a fun opportunity to meet other Grubbies and connect outside of the classroom. Wine, beer, soda, and light snacks will be provided as well as the company of your fellow Grubbies. And did we mention Irish literary themed trivia?
MUST BE A CURRENT GRUB STREET MEMBER TO ATTEND. MEMBERS MAY BRING FRIENDS.
For more information or to join the reading series mailing list, please email sean@grubstreet.org.
SEMINAR: Sunday, March 18th, 10:30am-5:30pm, Writing the Novella
Whether it's Heart of Darkness or Breakfast at Tiffany's, some of our favorite books are novellas, even if they're not always defined as such. For some Goldilocks-channeling writers, the novella is the perfect fit: not too long, not too short. In this class, we will look at several classic and recent examples of the form in order to further understand the structures and patterns of literature's middle child. Through discussion, we will try to formulate a list of characteristics of the novella as well as some theories as to why this wonderful form is often maligned, and why it was described by Stephen King as "an ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic." Exercises will focus on creating a framework and initial scenes for students' own novellas. Students should come to class having read Denis Johnson's Train Dreams.
Instructor: James Scott
$115/$95 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: Thursday, March 8th, 7pm, Literary Death Match
Grub instructor Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich will face off against writers Lizzie Stark (author of Leaving Mundania), Bob Shea (author of children's book Dinosaur vs. The Potty), and Ken Calhoun (author of the interactive site and story "Big Swing") in a special Beantown edition of Literary Death Match ("the most entertaining reading series ever," according to the LA Times). They'll be judged by best-selling author Tom Perrotta and a panel of other celebrity guest judges. For tickets (just $10!) and more information, visit: http://www.cluboberon.com/events/literary-death-match
$10, Club Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Harvard Square
--TRIVIA: Thursday, March 8, 6pm-8pm, Literary Trivia Night
Do you know your assonance from your alliteration? Do you know the difference between Invisible Man and The Invisible Man? Join some other notable know-it-alls -- Christopher Castellani, Jennifer Haigh, Andrew McAfee, and Christina Thompson -- in a fierce and wickedly funny battle for literary trivia supremacy, hosted by WBUR's Meghna Chakrabarti. Sign up at the door for your chance to participate, or just sit back and watch our teams duke it out! Tickets for each event--which go to support the Boston Book Festival and The Drum and include complimentary appetizers and beer or wine--are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Buy tickets here: http://www.bostonbookfest.org/bookfest/schedule_detail/schedule_lounge_lit_literary_trivia/.
--READING: Monday, March 19, 8PM, Christopher Hennessy and Rebecca Morgan Frank
Grub Instructors Christopher Hennessy, author of Love-in-Idleness, and Rebecca Morgan Frank, author of Little Murders Everywhere, will read from their debut poetry collections at the Blacksmith House Reading Series.
$3, Blacksmith House, Cambridge, MA.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where like giving up exclamation marks for Lent, we offer you the chance to win a prize! Er... we mean we offer you the chance to win a prize. Today is the birthday of this author, who writes about the disappearance of Native American culture. Email your answer to whitney@grubstreet.org. The first correct respondent wins a Starbucks gift card for a coffee treat.
Last week's trivia: Hans Christian Andersen was so terrified of being buried alive that he insisted that his arteries be cut before he was placed in his coffin. Winner: Sara Neaves.
