A Twist on 25 Things

For some quick, fun reading, you might want to check out my recent blog post to The Eclectic Writer titled "25 Things That May Suggest You're Addicted to Facebook." Special thanks to Aaliyah Miller, whose "coming clean" about her own social networking addiction on her blog, triggered the thinking behind this.

Jeff Davis Reading on Campus

MFA Mentor Jeff Davis will read on campus on Thursday, March 5, 3:00, in Haas Library Room 508. Many of you have had the pleasure of working with Jeff either in mentorships or in residency workshops and know that he is the author of Writing from the Center to the Page, that he is an expert on the benefits of yoga for writers, and that he writes lovely nonfiction and poetry. Come out and support Jeff and the program, if you're in the area and not working at 3:00 on the 5th. Jeff's workshop will be taking place on campus Thursday night and Saturday morning.

Magazine Niche Article

I read this article today in BrandChannel, an online weekly ezine from Interbrand. The article is about niche markets in the magazine industry. Although the slant is more focused on advertising and branding, as writers I thought the information provided some interesting background about where the opportunities to land freelance may be, particularly if you have an area of expertise for which there is a magazine published.

Mixing Business with Family Fun

My latest tips for sanity on the go can be found at TravelingMom.com. In my recent article I share advice for mixing business travel with family fun without too much stress and too many tears. It really can be done!!! Check it out by clicking here.

New Pages Reviews Miranda

Click on the title above to see the review concerning Miranda Literary Magazine. New Pages is a vast directory of places to find good writing and send your work. If you are not familiar with the site. Check it out.

Some Good News Shamelessly Shared

A couple of bits of good news to share. The Cicero Speechwriting Awards were posted this week and I'm honored that one of my speeches won the coveted Grand Prize recognizing the best speech of 2008. The same speech - Working Toward a (New) Industrial Policy - also won the gold prize for the best speech in the Public Policy category as well the gold prize for the best speech in the Manufacturing and Production category.

The Cicero Speechwriting Awards are sponsored by Vital Speeches of the Day and The Executive Speaker — the leading publications in the speechwriting field — to " celebrate the talent so crucial in helping the great leaders in the public and private sectors achieve prominence."

See the full speech and other winners here.

Also, on Friday I got to share the stage - albeit briefly - with one of the lions of the speechwriting world, Ted Sorenson, at the Ragan Speechwriters' Conference in Washington. JFK's counselor and speechwriter presented me with an Honorable Mention (third place) in the inaugural Theodore Sorenson Speechwriting Awards. Yes, for the same speech.

All in all ... not a bad week.

Fletch

JIMMY BRESLIN @ RJ JULIA, Tuesday, 17 February, 2009, 7 p.m.

Where's Marvin The Torch?

Tough guy writer Jimmy Breslin (The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight) comes to RJ Julia to talk about his latest book, The Good Rat: A True Story, a hard look at the Mafia informants.

Complete Post @ RJ Julia Booksellers

Information for Playwrights, Actors, Theatre-Lovers, etc.

New Works New Britain was founded by a friend of mine, Mark Ohanesian, and Carolyn Paine to give an opportunity to CT playwrights, both professional and aspiring, to have their work presented on stage in their home state. Drawing from the inspiration of its sister festival, New Works New Haven, the NWNB festival hopes to continue to be held annually at Trinity on Main in New Britain, CT.

Twenty-five CT playwrights submitted their work which was reviewed by the NWNB Reading Committee, compiled of CT based actors, directors, producers, and theater professors. The diverse group of nine selected plays will be performed in the weekend long festival from Feb. 27-March 1 by talented local actors and directors. The New Works New Britain festival aims to give experience to up and coming theatre professionals while inspiring Greater Hartford and its theatre community to grow.

To purchase tickets please go to our website at www.nwnb.webs.com

Show times are:

Friday February 27, 2009 8 pm / doors open at 7 pm

Saturday February 28, 2009 8 pm / doors open at 7 pm

Sunday March 1, 2009, 4 pm / doors open at 3 pm

Three Girls and Their Buddy are...

Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, and Buddy Miller. If you get a chance to see this show, DO IT! I saw them last night in Torrington, and they were heart-rendingly good. They did a round robin where each of them would select a song to do. There was no set list. They had clearly done several of the songs in other shows, but there were also a couple of songs they hadn’t done yet. All four of them nailed every song; the playing was great and he singing great, and the storytelling between songs was great. I’ve always liked Buddy Miller but I never realized how good a guitarist he is. Colvin sang a couple of her better known songs—These Four Walls and Wichita Skyline. Emmylou picked some great covers, and Griffin did a couple of great gospel songs in addition to some of her originals. They also covered a Tom Waits song (Hold On), a Lefty Friezel song, and an old Johnnie and Jack song that’s one of my all-time favorites—“Poison Love.” All in all, a fantastic show, and the Warner—whew!—what an amazing hall. What did Torrington do to deserve THAT? You can still catch them on these dates: 19th: Baltimore (do we have anyone down there?), 20th: Beacon Theatre, NYC, 21st: Kingston, NY, 22nd: Orpheum Theatre, Boston--assuming there are still tickets available...

Marketing Your Book Workshop

Hello MFAers,

I came across the following event at the New Haven Public Library and thought some CT students may find this of interest.

Rosemary Harris, author of two books in the Dirty Business Mystery Series and Bruce Harris, former president of sales and marketing at Random House will will outline effective ways that newly published writers can promote and influence the success of their own book.

Date: March 18, 2009
Day: Wednesday
Time: 6 pm
Location: New Haven Public Library

Thesis Proposals

I will be out of the office for the rest of the week. If you plan to email your thesis proposal, send it to Laurel at richardsl@wcsu.edu

Davis Workshop

There are 4 seats left in Jeff's workshop. I will be out of town until Feb. 23. If you want to reserve one of the remaining seats, please email Laurel at richardsl@wcsu.edu

Z.Z. Packer Reading

For all the people on the eastern side of CT who feel left out of all the Western events, or anyone in love with best-selling author Z.Z. Packer, come check out her reading at Eastern CT State University. She'll be reading 25 February from 3-4 pm in Web Hall, room 110. It's open and free to the public. If you've got any questions, feel free to e-mail me at majestak@hotmail.com so I can most likely tell you I have no idea what the answer is.

Here's a map of the campus: http://www.easternct.edu/ecsu/map/index.html

Web Hall is building 21 on that ridiculously confusing map.

Hope to see some of you there.

Adam

Davis Workshop Filling Fast

There are only a few seats left in Jeff's workshop. If you want one, speak quickly!

Spring Workshops on Campus

Hello All,

In addition to the Jeff Davis event (see previous post), there are three workshops scheduled on campus this semester.

April 14-15 Anthony Swofford (Author of Jarhead--reading and workshop on 15th; screening of Jarhead on 14th)
April 23-24 Jerry Mirskin (reading and poetry workshop)
April 23-24 Liz Rosenberg (reading and writing for YA/children workshop)

Mark you calendars! More info to come...

Jeff Davis Reading/Workshop on Campus

Jeff Davis will be on campus March 5-7 to offer the below workshop and to read on Thursday afternoon. The workshop is open to MFA students, MFA graduates, Writing Dept. undergraduates, and Writing Dept./MFA faculty, but there is a cap of 12 participants--so reserve your seat soon! To reserve a seat, email or call Brian (Laurel is on vacation, so don't contact her). Please note the Feb. 24 deadline for submission of work.

EAR IN THE PALM: WRITING WITH COMPASSION & EMPATHY

a multi-genre writing workshop with JEFFREY DAVIS

Compassion is, in part, that capacity to hear the cries of the world, to feel them in our skin as our own, and to respond accordingly. In their Nobel Prize Acceptance Speeches, Faulkner and Steinbeck each claim that the writer’s charge is to write about, among other verities, humanity’s capacity for compassion. But what is the impetus for any writer – poet, memoirist, novelist – not only to write about compassion but to write with it? How does a writer “practice” it?

This two-day workshop begins with the premise that much mature, compelling writing stems from a writer’s capacity to write with compassion and empathy – both to know her own interior self intimately as well as to imagine and feel reality and consciousness beyond a personally constructed selfhood and worldview. On Thursday evening, we will explore voices of yearning and suffering as ways to embody and give voice to “difficult” characters and personas. Participants will be encouraged to assimilate the evening’s study to prepare for Saturday morning. On Saturday morning, we will consider how we can embody socially “unheard” voices as well as voice that which is more-than-human. We also will practice listening and responding to one another’s writings with two complementary qualities – compassion and truthfulness. The workshop is part discussion hovering around student-writers’ challenges and projects as well as around readings in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that Jeff will choose; part exercise and writing generation; and part discussion of students’ writings. Selected readings might come from the work of Robert Olen Butler, Patricia Smith, Jeanette Walls, Barbara Kingsolver, Adrienne Rich, Faulkner, Sam Shepherd, and others.

Participants are invited but not required to submit up to eight double-spaced pages of writing to Jeff (email: kymtkv@gmail.com) by February 24 along with a note clarifying why this selection has been submitted. This writing might reflect a student-writer’s challenges in voicing one’s “self” in poetry or portraying characters based on one’s self in prose; challenges in creating compelling characters whether “good, bad, or difficult and depraved;” or another challenge related to the workshop’s topic. Jeff will respond to each submission and may draw upon these writings as part of the workshop’s flow.

Perhaps by workshop’s end, student-writers will come away with a keener sense of how to practice writing with compassion and why doing so matters. For a writer to hear the cries of the world is, in a sense, to have an ear in the palm.

"Bears" at Johnny America; "Wedding" at monkeybicycle

Hey,
I'm pleased to have my story "Things to Consider Before Waking a Sleeping Bear" accepted at Johnny America. It went up today. Some of you heard me read the piece at the winter residency.
I am also happy to have another piece accepted at monkeybicycle called "A Modern Wedding."
I'm really proud of this piece. It's about as serious as I get and the only time I've tackled the subject of love. Lookout!