June 11th, 2012
"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down. "
—Ray Bradbury, 1920 - 2012
Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday from the Room of Untranslateable Ancient Texts 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.
Relive the glory and excitement of Muse 2012...or at the very least tag yourself and your friends in some Facebook photos. All are available on Grub Street's page at http://on.fb.me/LE3sed. While you're there, be sure to "like" us, too!
This Thursday, June 14th from 7-9pm, come celebrate the great writing from Grub's spring term. Join students, plus Grub instructors Elaine Dimopoulos and Peter Bebergal, as they read from recent work. Five-minute reading slots open only to students who've taken courses, seminars or weekend workshops in the spring term. Limited to 15 readers. Everyone can come and listen, and get free snacks and drinks. Sign-ups begin at 6:30pm. A great event for current Grubbies and those who want to check us out.
What better way to support your favorite writing organization than by stuffing your face with pizza, swilling delicious local microbrews, and strapping on someone else’s shoes so you can kill it in the bowling alley? From 5pm – midnight on July 17, Flatbread Company in Davis Square will host a benefit night for us and donate a portion of all pizza sales to Grub Street. The more you eat, the more money we raise! We’ll be holding bowling contests and raffles all night for great prizes, including free classes and books. Parties of 10 or more can reserve tables or bowling lanes, so grab some friends and enjoy a great night for a great cause.
Join us on Thursday, July 19th from 6:30 - 7:45pm at the Brattle Theater as Susan Orlean, staff writer for The New Yorker, gives the latest lecture in our Publish it Forward series. Confused by Twitter in the early days, once Susan started Tweeting regularly she began to see all that the new medium offers creative writers, including a deep and interactive connection to readers, a test lab for new ideas, a writing discipline that strengthens narrative muscle and – of course – marketing might. With well over 200,000 followers today and some of the funniest posts out there, Susan deserves her spot on Time's list of the 140 Best Twitter Feeds. Susan will talk for 45 minutes about the pros and cons of social media for new and emerging writers, share behind-the-scenes stories from her years as one of the country’s most prominent and plugged-in non-fiction writers, and then take questions. Reserve your spot today. Immediately following her lecture, Susan will sign copies of her latest book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend and introduce a screening of the classic Rin Tin Tin film, Clash of the Wolves. Must purchase film tickets at the Brattle. For more information about the film screening, please visit The Brattle’s website at brattlefilm.org.
Summer term classes are starting soon, and there are still some spots in many of our classes. We've also added some new courses to the roster, so take a look at the list below and reserve your spot today. To see the full list of summer offerings (and to search for the ideal class for you), go to http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=402.
Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Eve, Chris, Rowan, Sean and Lauren
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.
OPEN HOUSE: Monday, June 11th, 5:30-6:30pm, Summer Open House
Drop by our new headquarters after work or before your workshop, and learn about what's going at Grub Street this summer. If you’re new to Grub Street, this is a great introduction. And if you’re a long-time Grubbie, this is an opportunity to meet other members, connect with Grub Street staff, and chat with some of our instructors. Our summer schedule is live on our website, and if you have questions about workshops, our staff will be happy to discuss what classes might be right for you. Light snacks and drinks provided.
FREE, Grub Street HQ.
BOOK CLUB: Tuesday, June 12th, 6:30-8:30pm, the Grub Street Book Club reads Bedbugs
The Grub Book Club offers a chance to read and discuss great books with a focus on reading from a writer's perspective. The book club's next pick is the novel Bedbugs by Grub Street instructor Ben H. Winters. The club will discuss Bedbugs for the first hour and will then be joined by the author for a Q&A about his novel. For more information or to join our book club please contact sean@grubstreet.org.
FREE, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 12th, 6:30-9:30pm, Criminals and Outsiders in Fiction and Memoir
What makes outlaws and drifters so compelling and such essential staples for the American literary tradition? In this seminar, we will discuss why outlaw figures are so appealing and what makes them powerful as literary figures. We will examine ways to fashion sympathetic bad guys in our writing, and the instructor will share his own approach to creating the outsider characters in both fiction and memoir. We will look at examples of such figures in American literature in order to better understand why individuals who embody recklessness, lust, greed, and cruelty often seem the most authentic. This is an expanded version of the popular Muse 2012 session.
Instructor: Deni Y. Béchard
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.
OPEN MIC NIGHT: Thursday, June 14th, 7-9pm, Spring Season Showcase
Join Grub students from the winter 2012 term, plus two Grub instructors, as they read (for 5 minutes each) from recent work. Open only to students who've taken courses, seminars or weekend workshops in the spring term. Limited to 15 readers. Everyone gets free snacks and drinks. Sign-ups begin at 6:30pm. A great event for current Grubbies and those who want to check us out.
FREE, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Friday, June 15th, 11:00am-2:00pm, Making Images
What makes an image fresh, vivid, astonishing, memorable? What makes an image at all? In the first half of this seminar we'll take a hard look at some surprising and dazzling images in poetry and fiction to articulate a working definition of the image, to observe the choices involved in the making of great images, and to develop a list of image-driven strategies. In the seminar's second half we'll perform some exercises to practice and implement these strategies, and to rethink how we construct images in our own work. Participants are expected to bring an image that they would like to revise, which they'll work on and have the opportunity to share at the seminar's end.
Instructor: Scott Challener
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Friday, June 15th, 11:00am-2:00pm, Use Obsession to Jumpstart Your Writing
Most good writing-- whether fiction or non-fiction-- arises from a writer's obsessions. In this session, we'll discuss how to explore our obsessions on the page, without falling pray to self-absorption or sentiment. We'll start by looking at the work of Nick Hornby, Calvin Trillin, and other obsessive writers, and proceed to a broader discussion of passionate attachment. Large-group seminar; limited to 24 students.
Instructor: Steve Almond
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
DAYTIME SEMINAR: Friday, June 15th, 11:00am-2:00pm, Time Management for WritersInstructor: Ben H. Winters
SOLD OUT. Click here to be put on a waiting list.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 16th, 10:00am-5:00pm, The Psychology of Strong Characters
SOLD OUT. Click here to be put on a waiting list.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 16th, 10:30am-5:30pm, Haiku Intensive
Often misrepresented or only partially understood, the heart of Haiku contains many lessons for poets in its compacted form: image, metaphor, enjambment, attention, word choice, and silence. This intensive will survey the history and core principles while reading ancient and contemporary examples. By the end of the day you will be equipped to incorporate the powerful discipline of haiku into your life, using it to hone your poetic practice and increase your daily awareness.
Instructor: Janaka Stucky
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 16th, 10:30am-5:30pm, Unruly Fictions
All successful fiction is somewhat unruly. Any story that sticks its talons into our brains, gets under our skins, making us ponder or sending us sprawling, simply cannot be playing it entirely safe, “hugging the shore,” to use John Updike's expression. In any story with power, something is alive, mysterious, wild; the surface might be deceptively calm, but beneath is an undertow lurking and making its way toward us. In this class, we'll look in particular at works that have been dubbed "experimental," flagrantly challenging the conventions of narrative order and logic, cause and effect, plot and characterization, time and space. In several cases, they don't even look like stories. By trying out the exercises in this class, you will stretch yourself and explore some unconventional narrative modes. But this class is by no means geared exclusively toward those who already find themselves drawn to the literary avantgarde. The guiding assumption is that all writers can benefit from the ways in which such work galvanizes our minds and our pens, uncovering latent potential in whatever work we are already doing. By trying out everything from stream of consciousness to Oulipean games, montage to typology, you'll get fresh vantage points on your characters and storylines already in progress, whether in your mind or on the page. Optional: Bring in a draft of something in progress to which you can apply some of the techniques we'll cover.
Instructor: Tim Horvath
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 16th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Characters with Attitude
How do you create characters so vivid that you know how they would act, both inside and outside your story, novel, or essay? How, with little or no physical description, do you make a reader see a character in all his or her particulars? In this session, using examples from classic and contemporary literature, we'll unlock some of the secrets of characterization. We'll discuss "flat" and "round" characters, as defined by E.M. Forster, and we'll do a couple of exercises designed to get your characters fully onto the page. Come to this class with one or two of your characters in mind.
Instructor: Chip Cheek
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 16th, 9:30am-4:30pm, Jumpstart Your Blog
SOLD OUT. Click here to be put on a waiting list.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 19th, 6:30-9:30pm, Writing Suspense: You Know It When You Feel It
Suspense is that feeling that makes it impossible to put a book down and shut off the light. It’s that essential ingredient that turns a work of fiction into a “page turner.” In this 3-hour workshop we’ll talk about what makes suspense work.
Instructor: Hallie Ephron
*1 spot left* $50/$65 members, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 19th, 6:15-9:15pm, Ask the Agent
In this Grub Street seminar, you will sit down with two accomplished literary agents to ask any question that's on your mind about the role of the agent and get an insider’s view on life inside a literary agency. You’ll learn how to pitch agents and how not to pitch them, how agents make decisions, how thebusiness works, what happens once you have an agent, how nonfiction projects get developed and more. Come with questions. The agents will tell all.
Instructor: Kathryn Beaumont, Katherine Flynn
$50/$65 members, Grub Street HQ.
SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 19th, 6:00pm-9:00pm Brilliant Openings: How to Hook Readers from Word One
Instructor: Steve Almond
SOLD OUT. Click here to be put on a waiting list.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 23rd, 10:00am-5:00pm, The Art of Flashbacks
Have you been told that flashbacks kill a narrative? Do have a story that cries out for using them nonetheless? This seminar will help you decide which flashbacks are useful to you and which are not, how to make your reader hungry for a transition back in time and how to handle those transitions, where to position flashbacks, and how to make them the fully developed and immediate scenes that they need to be. The class will contain lecture, examples, and writing exercises. Bring your notebook with two flashbacks that you're having trouble with.
Instructor: Michelle Hoover
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 23rd, 9:30am-4:30pm, Intro to Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
Writing flash pieces (for this workshop, under 1,000 words) can be a great way to boost your creativity. This class will help you see the possibilities of this short form through a series of in-class writings—appropriate for both fiction and nonfiction writers—as well as discussion of published pieces. We'll also look at some potential markets for manuscripts of these lengths. By the end of the day, you'll have several good narrative starts and perhaps one or two more fully conceived pieces. Come prepared to write a lot and share some of your work with others for on-the-spot feedback.
Instructor: Amy Marcott
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.
LUNCHTIME WRITING: Wednesday, June 27th, 12:30-1:15pm, Brown Bag Lunch Series - June
Do you work downtown and want to fit some writing into your day? Or do you have a schedule that gives you free afternoons instead of evenings? Bring your lunch and come on over to Grub Street for a Brown Bag Writing Workshop – a series recently profiled in the Boston Globe. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Led by one of our award-winning instructors or ambassadors. Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day...and beyond. No need to RSVP-- just come!
Instructor: Nadine Johnstone
Free, Grub Street HQ.
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 23rd, 10:00am-5:00pm, Jumpstart Your Writing: Creative Non-Fiction Focus
This one-day weekend version of one of our most popular courses has a very clear mission: spend the day writing. Through a series of fun directed writing exercises, we will explore the terrain of creative non-fiction (no five-paragraph essays here!) and some poetry: mining for material, constructing characters and settings, shaping vivid dialogue, understanding point of view, exploring the many forms of non-fiction today, and finding your voice. We will discuss the process of writing and the strengths and weaknesses of the work we produce in class. We will read and discuss some short published non-fiction pieces and poems in regards to craft, then write exercises inspired by the texts. A supportive and generative experience for both new and practicing writers.
Instructor: Judah Leblang
$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, June 14th, 7pm, Deni Y. Béchard
Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome Deni Y. Bechard for a discussion of his two recently released books, Cures for Hunger: A Memoir and Vandal Love: A Novel.
FREE, Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138.
--READING: Friday, June 15, 11am, Beth Raisner Glass
Beth Raisner Glass, author of the picture book, Blue Ribbon Dad, will do a reading and follow up craft activity at the Boston Children's Museum. The event is free and will be held in the "Countdown to Kindergarten" space.
FREE, Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210
--READING: Tuesday, June 19th, 7pm, A Night of Secrets featuring Meg Mitchell Moore & Rosie Sultan
Join us for a night with two acclaimed Boston writers as they share new novels of long-held secrets. So Far Away, the second novel by Meg Mitchell Moore (The Arrivals) links together the lives of a thirteen-year-old victim of cyber-bullying and an archivist mourning the loss of her daughter as they discover a buried secret in the journal of a 1920’s Boston maid. Elin Hilderbrand calls it “an intoxicating read!” In Brookline native Rosie Sultan’s new novel, Helen Keller In Love, she re-imagines the secret affair of renowned deaf and blind activist, writer, and speaker, Helen Keller. Jill McCorkle calls it “a vivid, sensuous portrait full of sound and vision.”
FREE, Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St. Brookline MA.
Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where like using a lightning rod as a pogo stick, we offer you the chance to win a prize. How did Edna St. Vincent Millay get her name, and if you were to use her name in a poem, what meter would it be in? Email your answer to whitney@grubstreet.org. The first correct respondent wins a Starbucks gift card for a coffee treat.
Last week's trivia: Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, chose to write under a pen name to see if he could make it on his own merit. He was born June 11th, 1972, and his two novels are Heart Shaped Box and Horns. Winner: Caroline Bennett.
