This article explains quite explicitly why we encourage you to follow professional writing career paths rather than academic career paths:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/01/2009013001c.htm?pg=dji
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sentence #6 Now Available
The new issue of Sentence is in. There will be free copies available at the August residency, but if you'd like a copy before then, just let me know and we'll send you one.
bc
bc
Online Workshops
Folks, just a quick note about the online multigenre workshops--if you haven't logged in and checked the syllabus yet, you're overdue!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Updike Passes
This just announced on CNN.com. John Updike has passed awayfrom cancer. He was 76 years old. No link to story just yet.
For anyone interested in YA novels
If anyone is interested and is in the area...
Newest Novel From Bolton Author to be Published Jan. 27
(published in the Hartford Courant, Your Reader-Submitted Articles section).
"Happenstance Found," a new fantasy-adventure novel from a Bolton author - his sixth and the first in a trilogy called "The Books of Umber" - will be available in bookstores and from online book sellers beginning Jan. 27.
The novel, published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster, is written by Bolton resident Paul Catanese, who writes under the name P.W. Catanese. The book recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which stated, "Catanese dazzles in the first of the Books of Umber rich characterizations well-choreographed action sequences and genuinely surprising twists at the end. An auspicious start to the series."
The trilogy tells the story of Happenstance, a boy who wakes up, confused and frightened, with no memory of his past but with some extraordinary abilities. Soon a mysterious trio arrives to take him away, led by Lord Umber, who is a merchant, explorer, inventor, and chronicler of all things monstrous and magical. This begins an adventure in a world filled with frightening and majestic creatures, strange and wonderful places, new friends and terrible foes. As the boy tries to unravel the mystery of his own origin, he learns about the incredible and daunting destiny that's planned for him.
"I wrote this new novel as a rollicking, scary and humorous adventure tale," Catanese says. "It's about discovery and self-discovery, alienation and acceptance, friendship and rivalry. It's also about technology and magic -- and the responsibility of those who hold the keys to either."
Catanese has over a half million books in print. His first five novels, published as a series called "Further Tales," were written as sequels of sorts to popular Grimm's Fairy Tales. They tell stories about what happens many years after the original tale. The novels are "The Thief and the Beanstalk," "The Brave Apprentice," "The Eye of the Warlock," "The Mirror's Tale," and "The Riddle of the Gnome."
Books 2 and 3 of the "Books of Umber" trilogy are scheduled for publication in 2010 and 2011. "For anyone worried about jumping into the first book and being left hanging while waiting for the next installment, please don't hesitate," Catanese says. "When I began sketching out the story arc of this trilogy, I decided that each book would be satisfying on its own, while leaving something to look forward to. No giant cliffhangers here, although maybe a tease or two."
Catanese has traveled to schools and book stores throughout the U.S. to speak about his novels and the writing process. He will present a book talk and book signing at the Barnes & Noble located within the Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester on Saturday, Feb. 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Newest Novel From Bolton Author to be Published Jan. 27
(published in the Hartford Courant, Your Reader-Submitted Articles section).
"Happenstance Found," a new fantasy-adventure novel from a Bolton author - his sixth and the first in a trilogy called "The Books of Umber" - will be available in bookstores and from online book sellers beginning Jan. 27.
The novel, published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster, is written by Bolton resident Paul Catanese, who writes under the name P.W. Catanese. The book recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which stated, "Catanese dazzles in the first of the Books of Umber rich characterizations well-choreographed action sequences and genuinely surprising twists at the end. An auspicious start to the series."
The trilogy tells the story of Happenstance, a boy who wakes up, confused and frightened, with no memory of his past but with some extraordinary abilities. Soon a mysterious trio arrives to take him away, led by Lord Umber, who is a merchant, explorer, inventor, and chronicler of all things monstrous and magical. This begins an adventure in a world filled with frightening and majestic creatures, strange and wonderful places, new friends and terrible foes. As the boy tries to unravel the mystery of his own origin, he learns about the incredible and daunting destiny that's planned for him.
"I wrote this new novel as a rollicking, scary and humorous adventure tale," Catanese says. "It's about discovery and self-discovery, alienation and acceptance, friendship and rivalry. It's also about technology and magic -- and the responsibility of those who hold the keys to either."
Catanese has over a half million books in print. His first five novels, published as a series called "Further Tales," were written as sequels of sorts to popular Grimm's Fairy Tales. They tell stories about what happens many years after the original tale. The novels are "The Thief and the Beanstalk," "The Brave Apprentice," "The Eye of the Warlock," "The Mirror's Tale," and "The Riddle of the Gnome."
Books 2 and 3 of the "Books of Umber" trilogy are scheduled for publication in 2010 and 2011. "For anyone worried about jumping into the first book and being left hanging while waiting for the next installment, please don't hesitate," Catanese says. "When I began sketching out the story arc of this trilogy, I decided that each book would be satisfying on its own, while leaving something to look forward to. No giant cliffhangers here, although maybe a tease or two."
Catanese has traveled to schools and book stores throughout the U.S. to speak about his novels and the writing process. He will present a book talk and book signing at the Barnes & Noble located within the Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester on Saturday, Feb. 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wally Lamb Addresses Hundreds in Glastonbury
I don’t feel completely comfortable calling Wally Lamb a chick-magnet. Yet, after attending his reading in Glastonbury Sunday, I’d have to at least dub him the literary lodestone - to a flock of mature hens – myself included. The elder English-teacher type out-numbered all others the hour before doors opened at the Riverfront Community Center. When folks did start crossing into the big and bright reading room, set up to seat at least 300 attendees, the ladies still outnumbered the gentlemen, 20 to 1 I’d say, with three – maybe even four – generations of readers present. By the time the program began, at two, people were being turned away at the door.
I watched Wally stand by the entrance minutes before he was introduced. He blended with the ebb and flow of walk-ins. Earlier, the Rham English teacher in line next to me had referred to his looks as generic. That pretty much coincided with a story a colleague of mine recently shared. It seemed his sister, who had joined a health club in Eastern Connecticut a few months back, spoke regularly of pleasant conversations with a low-key gentleman at the facility. Weeks passed before she figured out this other member was Lamb – even though she knew his name was Wally – and she had already read all three of his novels.
In the minutes before he would address the packed room he chatted, probably as nonchalantly as he had at the health club. Then, after my hour wait outside the room and another hour wait inside the room, Wally was introduced. Wearing a charcoal jacket atop a like-colored, mock turtleneck sweater, Wally approached the podium, his generic appearance soon refashioned by his way with words.
Lamb has a tendency to smile even as he speaks. He grinned as he sized up the crowd. “Wow, you people come out for these things.” He grinned as he positioned the mike. “I always freak out on AV stuff.” And he grinned through his half-hour essay about growing up (mostly) Italian (on his mother’s side), working class (Dad was a superintendent at the local utility company), and hen-pecked (by his sisters and gal cousins). The local Norwich Free Academy graduate ventured on to UCONN and back to Norwich Free Academy (a public high school) to teach for 25 years – until Oprah rocked his world in 1997 with Book Club Invitation Number One (for She’s Come Undone) followed by Book Club Invitation Number Two a year later (for I Know This Much Is True), an unprecedented literary feat.
As acclaimed as his writing is, Lamb insists he is not the novelist by which to model process. He has a terrible time starting books. Claims years go by before a main character takes him, the mere recorder of the journey, through his or her story. And, he follows the lead with little or no insight about how his character will fare – until he pens the end. Lamb says he grew almost despondent trying to move The Hour I First Believed along until, while teaching at a writer’s workshop in Louisiana, he meandered into Saint Louis Cathedral, lit a candle, and prayed for help to “start the story.” In time, a line that began, “My mother was a convicted felon. . .” entered his mind beckoning him through the high school English teacher’s life and Columbine times of his troubled narrator: Calum Quirk. Lamb, who also read an excerpt from his latest novel, says placing his “fictional protagonist inside a nonfictional maze,” takes him down unknown corridors too. One of these could very well be the book-signing event he attended in Colorado during his 22-week book tour last year. A man approached his table asking, “Do you think Eric’s brother should read this book?” The question unnerved the author when he soon realized it was posed by the father of the real-life Columbine killer and suicide victim - Eric Harris,- who along with Dylan Klebold enacted the all-out assault on Columbine High – April 20,1999.
Stunned, Lamb held out his hands to Mr. Harris. As they embraced tightly, Lamb replied, “I don’t have any answer for you.” Mr. Harris countered, “I don’t have any answer either.”
Wally Lamb, the gifted writer who filled the Riverfront Glastonbury Community Center with hundreds of friends and fans this weekend, managed to manifest not only the popularity and charisma of a best-selling novelist, but the loneliness and vulnerability of the writer as well.
I watched Wally stand by the entrance minutes before he was introduced. He blended with the ebb and flow of walk-ins. Earlier, the Rham English teacher in line next to me had referred to his looks as generic. That pretty much coincided with a story a colleague of mine recently shared. It seemed his sister, who had joined a health club in Eastern Connecticut a few months back, spoke regularly of pleasant conversations with a low-key gentleman at the facility. Weeks passed before she figured out this other member was Lamb – even though she knew his name was Wally – and she had already read all three of his novels.
In the minutes before he would address the packed room he chatted, probably as nonchalantly as he had at the health club. Then, after my hour wait outside the room and another hour wait inside the room, Wally was introduced. Wearing a charcoal jacket atop a like-colored, mock turtleneck sweater, Wally approached the podium, his generic appearance soon refashioned by his way with words.
Lamb has a tendency to smile even as he speaks. He grinned as he sized up the crowd. “Wow, you people come out for these things.” He grinned as he positioned the mike. “I always freak out on AV stuff.” And he grinned through his half-hour essay about growing up (mostly) Italian (on his mother’s side), working class (Dad was a superintendent at the local utility company), and hen-pecked (by his sisters and gal cousins). The local Norwich Free Academy graduate ventured on to UCONN and back to Norwich Free Academy (a public high school) to teach for 25 years – until Oprah rocked his world in 1997 with Book Club Invitation Number One (for She’s Come Undone) followed by Book Club Invitation Number Two a year later (for I Know This Much Is True), an unprecedented literary feat.
As acclaimed as his writing is, Lamb insists he is not the novelist by which to model process. He has a terrible time starting books. Claims years go by before a main character takes him, the mere recorder of the journey, through his or her story. And, he follows the lead with little or no insight about how his character will fare – until he pens the end. Lamb says he grew almost despondent trying to move The Hour I First Believed along until, while teaching at a writer’s workshop in Louisiana, he meandered into Saint Louis Cathedral, lit a candle, and prayed for help to “start the story.” In time, a line that began, “My mother was a convicted felon. . .” entered his mind beckoning him through the high school English teacher’s life and Columbine times of his troubled narrator: Calum Quirk. Lamb, who also read an excerpt from his latest novel, says placing his “fictional protagonist inside a nonfictional maze,” takes him down unknown corridors too. One of these could very well be the book-signing event he attended in Colorado during his 22-week book tour last year. A man approached his table asking, “Do you think Eric’s brother should read this book?” The question unnerved the author when he soon realized it was posed by the father of the real-life Columbine killer and suicide victim - Eric Harris,- who along with Dylan Klebold enacted the all-out assault on Columbine High – April 20,1999.
Stunned, Lamb held out his hands to Mr. Harris. As they embraced tightly, Lamb replied, “I don’t have any answer for you.” Mr. Harris countered, “I don’t have any answer either.”
Wally Lamb, the gifted writer who filled the Riverfront Glastonbury Community Center with hundreds of friends and fans this weekend, managed to manifest not only the popularity and charisma of a best-selling novelist, but the loneliness and vulnerability of the writer as well.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
"Five Percent Dilation" in sub-TERRAIN
Thanks to social democracy, even underground culture is subsidized by governments, at least in Canada. Good for me then, as I published my first piece in a Canadian literary journal. "Five Percent Dilation" appears in the latest issue of the long-running and surprisingly well-paying literary journal, sub-TERRAIN.
They also sent along a slew of contributor copies.
The magazine does have at least a tiny dollop of US circulation (I've seen copies at the Harvard Coop in Cambridge, and here in SF at Fog City News) so keep an eye out. sub-TERRAIN was a pleasure to work with.
They also sent along a slew of contributor copies.
The magazine does have at least a tiny dollop of US circulation (I've seen copies at the Harvard Coop in Cambridge, and here in SF at Fog City News) so keep an eye out. sub-TERRAIN was a pleasure to work with.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I wanna share...so let me!
Today I had to attend a professional development day for this teaching fellowship thing I'm a part of and we were given the writing exercise of writing a letter to ourselves for our first day of teaching. Since next week will be my first day, the letter wasn't the challenge I thought it would be. Below is my result. If you're a teacher, no doubt you will relate.
Dear Lisa,
How exciting is it for you to be teaching your first class? You thought about this for a while, you contemplated this teaching thing since you started undergrad, but you never really believed it could happen. Perhaps it was destiny that you got that job at Eastern. Regardless of your personal feelings on why you were hired to work for Dr. Pachis, the end result is that you were granted the rare pleasure to work for a man who was passionate about student learning and in a roundabout way he passed that passion onto you because he inherently knew you would know what to do with it.
Perhaps you are fulfilling what your father was never able to do because life was hard for him and he had everything working against him: a stroke, alcoholism, mental illness, an early and tragic death. But you aren’t teaching to fulfill what he wasn’t able to do, you are teaching because it’s a part of who you are. Your personality, your encyclopedic knowledge of useful and useless facts from years of watching biographies on A&E television, your need to help people even if at times you don’t believe in them, those things are what make you Lisa and to deny them is futile. To succumb to the very essence of Lisa is and will be a marvelous thing, not only because it will make you happy but also because you will be able to spread your wisdom, knowledge and passion to those who need to believe in themselves.
No doubt you will be nervous. Like the day you first got on the mic at Eastern’s campus radio station for your Friday radio show and your voice trembled with every word you spoke. But with each radio show you got more confident, more sure of yourself and little did you know you slowly gained a following. Remember the little note you got in a used book you bought from a dealer in Columbia? When at times you thought no one was listening, when you thought that no one really “got you,” you received that wonderful note that said he listened to your program every Friday as he wrapped books. He recognized your name when you ordered that book from him, recognized the fact that it must be the same Lisa Overton who gabbed on the airways about living in East Hartford on WECS FM and he took the time to write that little thank you. How cool was that, Lisa? Do you remember the smile that spread across your face after the surprise wore off? Do you remember the little laugh that followed and the warm, gooey feeling that came from someone showing their appreciation for what you do?
Eventually the same thing will happen for you in teaching. Appreciation will not come right away, don’t forget that. But you will gain a following, I’m sure of it. Why? Because you will love it just as much as you loved doing that radio show. Your passion for all things will flow as you stand in front of a group of people looking to you for knowledge, insight and guidance. Your doubts about whether you will be successful are justified, as nothing is ever certain in life. But you will grow, you will adapt, you will find “your way,” one that will work best for you and you will be awesome. Remember, you are a Scorpio, a water sign, and your life thus far has been a demonstration of the characteristics of that sign: fluid, flexible, ever-flowing with the ability to accept change and to not let that change deter you from your ultimate destination.
So remember, dear Lisa, to never loose that passion even during the most difficult of classes and the most challenging of students. Remember to find interesting and creative ways to bring the word of gospel to your students. Remember to be patient, as not all think as quickly as you do. Remember that these people are relying on you to guide them and to care about how well they must do not only in your class but in life. Remember your humbled beginnings and the road you took to get to this point. Remember the teachers that impacted you and the encouragement they gave that somehow stuck long enough for you to find the courage to be a writer.
If you can’t remember all of that, remember this: be who you are and you’ll do fine.
With all my love,
Lisa Smith-Overton
Dear Lisa,
How exciting is it for you to be teaching your first class? You thought about this for a while, you contemplated this teaching thing since you started undergrad, but you never really believed it could happen. Perhaps it was destiny that you got that job at Eastern. Regardless of your personal feelings on why you were hired to work for Dr. Pachis, the end result is that you were granted the rare pleasure to work for a man who was passionate about student learning and in a roundabout way he passed that passion onto you because he inherently knew you would know what to do with it.
Perhaps you are fulfilling what your father was never able to do because life was hard for him and he had everything working against him: a stroke, alcoholism, mental illness, an early and tragic death. But you aren’t teaching to fulfill what he wasn’t able to do, you are teaching because it’s a part of who you are. Your personality, your encyclopedic knowledge of useful and useless facts from years of watching biographies on A&E television, your need to help people even if at times you don’t believe in them, those things are what make you Lisa and to deny them is futile. To succumb to the very essence of Lisa is and will be a marvelous thing, not only because it will make you happy but also because you will be able to spread your wisdom, knowledge and passion to those who need to believe in themselves.
No doubt you will be nervous. Like the day you first got on the mic at Eastern’s campus radio station for your Friday radio show and your voice trembled with every word you spoke. But with each radio show you got more confident, more sure of yourself and little did you know you slowly gained a following. Remember the little note you got in a used book you bought from a dealer in Columbia? When at times you thought no one was listening, when you thought that no one really “got you,” you received that wonderful note that said he listened to your program every Friday as he wrapped books. He recognized your name when you ordered that book from him, recognized the fact that it must be the same Lisa Overton who gabbed on the airways about living in East Hartford on WECS FM and he took the time to write that little thank you. How cool was that, Lisa? Do you remember the smile that spread across your face after the surprise wore off? Do you remember the little laugh that followed and the warm, gooey feeling that came from someone showing their appreciation for what you do?
Eventually the same thing will happen for you in teaching. Appreciation will not come right away, don’t forget that. But you will gain a following, I’m sure of it. Why? Because you will love it just as much as you loved doing that radio show. Your passion for all things will flow as you stand in front of a group of people looking to you for knowledge, insight and guidance. Your doubts about whether you will be successful are justified, as nothing is ever certain in life. But you will grow, you will adapt, you will find “your way,” one that will work best for you and you will be awesome. Remember, you are a Scorpio, a water sign, and your life thus far has been a demonstration of the characteristics of that sign: fluid, flexible, ever-flowing with the ability to accept change and to not let that change deter you from your ultimate destination.
So remember, dear Lisa, to never loose that passion even during the most difficult of classes and the most challenging of students. Remember to find interesting and creative ways to bring the word of gospel to your students. Remember to be patient, as not all think as quickly as you do. Remember that these people are relying on you to guide them and to care about how well they must do not only in your class but in life. Remember your humbled beginnings and the road you took to get to this point. Remember the teachers that impacted you and the encouragement they gave that somehow stuck long enough for you to find the courage to be a writer.
If you can’t remember all of that, remember this: be who you are and you’ll do fine.
With all my love,
Lisa Smith-Overton
An Accumulation of Astonishments: Interview
I had the pleasure of an interesting conversation in the interview linked below, thought some of you might be interested in some of it. The interviewer, Rauan Klassnik, says of the interview:
i've just posted up an interview with Brian Clements re his captivating new book of prose poems "And How to End it."
to check it out go to rauanklassnik.blogspot.com
some interview highlights-
--Brian talks about permanently and drastically changing your brain-
--Jack Gilbert ("contradictions and inflated ego masquerading")-
--Elitist Poetry-
--Entropy-
--"Sentence" (prose poem journal)
etc etc etc
i've just posted up an interview with Brian Clements re his captivating new book of prose poems "And How to End it."
to check it out go to rauanklassnik.blogspot.com
some interview highlights-
--Brian talks about permanently and drastically changing your brain-
--Jack Gilbert ("contradictions and inflated ego masquerading")-
--Elitist Poetry-
--Entropy-
--"Sentence" (prose poem journal)
etc etc etc
Thesis Binders Inquiry
Final Semester MFAers,
Is there anyone interested in splitting the cost of thesis binders with me? If so please email me at amiller_12@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
Is there anyone interested in splitting the cost of thesis binders with me? If so please email me at amiller_12@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mira Nair Event
MFAers,
Mira Nair, the director of The Namesake (as well as of Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra, Salaam Bombay, and Mississippi Masala) will be on campus March 31. We have five seats reserved for MFA students in a private meeting with her before her public talk. If you are interested in having one of those five seats, please let me know by January 30. First come, first served!
bc
Mira Nair, the director of The Namesake (as well as of Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra, Salaam Bombay, and Mississippi Masala) will be on campus March 31. We have five seats reserved for MFA students in a private meeting with her before her public talk. If you are interested in having one of those five seats, please let me know by January 30. First come, first served!
bc
Registration Late Fee
Hello All,
Please let me know if your bill shows a registration late fee. That fee is waived for MFA students due to our registration procedure.
bc
Please let me know if your bill shows a registration late fee. That fee is waived for MFA students due to our registration procedure.
bc
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wally Lamb to speak in Glastonbury
In case anyone is interested and is in the area...
Glastonbury
Wally Lamb to speak in Glastonbury Jan. 25
(from the Your Reader-Articles Submitted section of the Hartford Courant)
Best-selling author Wally Lamb of Mansfield will speak about his new book, "The Hour I First Believed," at the Riverfront Community Center, 300 Welles Road, Glastonbury, on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Second Century Fund, the endowment fund of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury.Doors will open at 1 p.m. The talk is free and open to the public and reservations are not necessary. A book-signing will follow the talk and all of Lamb's books (including his two previous novels) will be available for sale. Refreshments will be served following the event.Wally Lamb is the author of the two best-selling novels, "She's Come Undone," and "I Know This Much Is True." Both were selected by Oprah Winfrey for her Oprah's Book Club and Lamb appeared on the Oprah television show on both occasions.The new book, published in November, has already been on the New York Times best-seller list for several weeks. For more information, call Betsy Wittemann at (860) 633-5973.
Glastonbury
Wally Lamb to speak in Glastonbury Jan. 25
(from the Your Reader-Articles Submitted section of the Hartford Courant)
Best-selling author Wally Lamb of Mansfield will speak about his new book, "The Hour I First Believed," at the Riverfront Community Center, 300 Welles Road, Glastonbury, on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Second Century Fund, the endowment fund of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury.Doors will open at 1 p.m. The talk is free and open to the public and reservations are not necessary. A book-signing will follow the talk and all of Lamb's books (including his two previous novels) will be available for sale. Refreshments will be served following the event.Wally Lamb is the author of the two best-selling novels, "She's Come Undone," and "I Know This Much Is True." Both were selected by Oprah Winfrey for her Oprah's Book Club and Lamb appeared on the Oprah television show on both occasions.The new book, published in November, has already been on the New York Times best-seller list for several weeks. For more information, call Betsy Wittemann at (860) 633-5973.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
I've got some good news to share
Just 13 days into 2009 and I've had work accepted by the MacGuffin, Paddlefish, and Big Bridge. I also have my first chapbook coming out this year published by Clemson University. The Title, "I Dream My Brother Plays Baseball." I'll update when I know the book is available.
Also, My Vietnam Veterans group invited me to be on TV with them. So on Feburary 5, I will be meeting them at CTV where we will talk about their book, and we will all be reading poetry.
Also, My Vietnam Veterans group invited me to be on TV with them. So on Feburary 5, I will be meeting them at CTV where we will talk about their book, and we will all be reading poetry.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Supporting WestConn, because they're supporting me
Just received an e-mail letting me know that Black and White, WestConn's literary rag, is including five of my pieces for their annual edition. Maybe they were short in the submission department? I'll take it either way...hope everyone's doing well back in the real world outside the haven of the winter residency.
Online Workshops and Syllabi
Hello All,
Elizabeth Cohen's OMGW syllabus is up and available for your review. Oscar De Los Santos's syllabus, if it is not up already, will be up soon, definitely by the 18th. Please check in with your online syllabus so you'll know when work is expected of you. It may be soon!
Syllabi for all other courses are due to me from your mentor(s) by this Friday, the 16th.
Elizabeth Cohen's OMGW syllabus is up and available for your review. Oscar De Los Santos's syllabus, if it is not up already, will be up soon, definitely by the 18th. Please check in with your online syllabus so you'll know when work is expected of you. It may be soon!
Syllabi for all other courses are due to me from your mentor(s) by this Friday, the 16th.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thesis Writing Guide for 4th Semester Students
During our Thesis meeting at the residency Brian showed us a copy of the handbook he recommended for use as the writing guide. As promised, here's the info for the newest edition.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses & Dissertations
Kate Turabian
7th Edition
ISBN 9780226823377
University of Chicago Press
2007
$17.00
It should be available through any retail, university or online outlet.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Pick Up Some Resume Writing Tips
A recording of my recent internet radio show interview, Recession-Proof Your Resume During Turbulent Times, hosted by Leisa Watkins, founder of Rich Women Sisterhood, is now available for replay by clicking here.
This link will take you to my blog posting, which highlights some of the topics discussed. You can pick up some good tips whether you're working on a resume, running a small business, or positioning yourself as a writer. The interview is an hour-long (I got in a 45-minute workout on the elliptical while listening to it!)
Hope this information is helpful to those in the job market.
Anne
This link will take you to my blog posting, which highlights some of the topics discussed. You can pick up some good tips whether you're working on a resume, running a small business, or positioning yourself as a writer. The interview is an hour-long (I got in a 45-minute workout on the elliptical while listening to it!)
Hope this information is helpful to those in the job market.
Anne
Congrats to Two MFA Mentors
Congrats to Charles Rafferty for receiving an NEA grant in poetry and to Michael Grabell for having one of his poems selected by David Wagoner for Best American Poetry 2009. Woohoo!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
New Search Website for Submitting Work
This might be a useful tool for finding a place for your work.
http://www.litmags.org
Litmags.org uses a points system to attempt to separate magazines from one another and deliver more meaningful search results. Magazines are given a limited number of points to assign to various tags (i.e. short story, flash fiction, science-fiction, free-verse poetry). The more points a magazine assigns to a certain tag, the higher it will show up when someone searches for that term. In addition (and this is something I’m still perfecting) litmags.org offers a recommendation button. If you like a certain magazine, you may click on a button to recommend it. The site keeps a tally of the number of times each magazine has been recommended and displays it just below the mag’s name.
http://www.litmags.org
Litmags.org uses a points system to attempt to separate magazines from one another and deliver more meaningful search results. Magazines are given a limited number of points to assign to various tags (i.e. short story, flash fiction, science-fiction, free-verse poetry). The more points a magazine assigns to a certain tag, the higher it will show up when someone searches for that term. In addition (and this is something I’m still perfecting) litmags.org offers a recommendation button. If you like a certain magazine, you may click on a button to recommend it. The site keeps a tally of the number of times each magazine has been recommended and displays it just below the mag’s name.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Why it's hard to be back home
Man. Back at the old job for the first time in 10 days. I get a wave of depression after every residency and this one is no different. The only thing different this time is that I was, as you might have heard, depressed as the residency neared its end. So here I am, surrounded by middle-aged men who are grasping at anything -- worn-out office chairs, out of date computer monitors, yellowed stacks of newspapers -- as the building around us crumbles. That is if they aren't laid off tomorrow. I'm working on a product at this moment that will sell more than a hundred thousand copies but you get the sense that the number is closer to zero. We're quibbling over word choice and font size for a bankrupt industry and a yawning audience. These guys I work with, nice guys, asked me "How was your time off" and I said "It was nice" without follow up or elaboration. It meant nothing to them and nothing to me. They do not know I write, or teach, or study. I am a guy who goes home and watches TV, sleeps, eats, and comes to work. Nothing more. Which is fine. I am what I am while sitting in this chair.
My melancholy in Danbury mourned the loss of a place and time where I was somebody. We all were. I got to spend the last six days with people who knew my dream and I theirs. I was given the chance to confess and think and ponder and conclude. I was inspired, forgiven and found out. I asked questions and was met with opposition or answers or both. The best part: I came home with an injured throat from laughing too much. Seriously. It hurts to swallow.
Before I left the Maron yesterday I ran into our new friend John Wekerle. I said "It was nice meeting you and talking with you," and he shook his head and gave me a quizzical look, almost annoyed. "Vici," he said. We conquered. He kicked his feet together and stood up straight and gave a quick salute, then walked away.
I wish I could be that eloquent. But I can't. Not yet anyway. Some day.
My melancholy in Danbury mourned the loss of a place and time where I was somebody. We all were. I got to spend the last six days with people who knew my dream and I theirs. I was given the chance to confess and think and ponder and conclude. I was inspired, forgiven and found out. I asked questions and was met with opposition or answers or both. The best part: I came home with an injured throat from laughing too much. Seriously. It hurts to swallow.
Before I left the Maron yesterday I ran into our new friend John Wekerle. I said "It was nice meeting you and talking with you," and he shook his head and gave me a quizzical look, almost annoyed. "Vici," he said. We conquered. He kicked his feet together and stood up straight and gave a quick salute, then walked away.
I wish I could be that eloquent. But I can't. Not yet anyway. Some day.
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