Mile High City
Last week I attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) 2010 Conference in Denver, Colorado. Just under 10,000 writers descended on the Mile High City to talk, to meet each other, and to listen to discussions about all manner of things literary: Writing, editing, and publishing, to name a few. Everyone had a booth, including the KU-MFA program and the Kansas Bathtub Writers Collective.
Among other things, I bought this issue of The Paris Review, #18, Spring 1958, which contains an interview with Ernest Hemingway (The Art of Fiction) and a story by Philip Roth. This is not a reprinting; it's the original issue. The managing editor, Caitlin Roper, said she often brings extras to sell at events like AWP. Later that night I saw her give a talk at Denver's famous bookstore, the Tattered Cover.
I was lucky enough to spend some time with my friends, including Abayomi Animashaun, whose book The Giving of Pears recently won the Hudson Prize for Poetry.
The University of Kansas
Since I last wrote something here, in April 2009, much has come to pass. I decided to accept an instructor position at KU. The job will pay for my tuition and will also afford me a (modest) stipend. This is the best way to get an MFA and a PhD. My wife, Sarah, landed a wonderful job close by where we live. She's making more money and she's excited about her new job: marketing shoes.
Besides moving, and our wedding and honeymoon, I spent a lot of time with my father pulling up the carpet and laying down hardwood in our new house. My dad has been indispensable this summer; he knows how to do so much. And now, thanks to his hard work, the house is almost finished. All that remains is the odd job here and there.
I spent two weeks in San Francisco in July. Researching, walking around, absorbing the city. I'm planning to redraft some old stories set in the city by the bay soon. In the meantime, my short story "The Lexicon of the Sword" will appear in the upcoming Moon City Review 2009, which will be an anthology with award-winning and nationally-recognized authors in it. Reports of Updike letters showing up in those pages, though, were premature: Although MSU has the letters, Updike's estate is greatly restricting publishing permissions. From what I hear, Updike himself expected as much, but it means that what will appear in the book is a scholarly article dealing with the substance of the letters, not the letters themselves.
In other news, I will be participating in a panel discussion in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in April 2010. The panel, which includes Brian Shawver, D. Gilson, Jane Hoogestraat, and Linda Moser, will deal with the issue of standardizing a creative writing course curriculum. The conference will be in Denver, Colorado, and the keynote address will be given by Michael Chabon.
Now that I'm settled down, the wedding, honeymoon, and move are over, I'll try to keep up more with this blog.
Thank God Almighty, We Are Free At Last
Normally, I refrain from posting any political commentary on my blog, but I have made a few exceptions in the past. Although politics makes it hard to empathize with each other, I suppose it is a necessary evil, since we must talk to one another in the spirit of getting things done. The world has problems and America is part of the world.
When I do post something vaguely political, I prefer uniting, not dividing, stories. For example, fans of John McCain and Sarah Palin need not click away. We can be friends. And, unless you're a raging racist, we can agree that today marks another milestone on a long journey for the U.S.'s most famous (and disenfranchised) minority.
Let's be clear: Barack Obama is not just the President of Black America, as some news organizations might have it. He's the President of the whole U.S. He's my President, too. Really I don't even like thinking of him as black -- I just think of him as a Constitutional Lawyer from Harvard. The clip below is not to give any other impression. Likewise, the title shouldn't mislead: racism is not dead in America, just like sexism is not dead. The journey to equality for minorities and women continues.
But, I have to say, it is so interesting I had to post it. And to take a minute to celebrate. Can't we do that, before we start on the road again? Just relax. Take a break from fighting. Look at how far the United States has come.
In honor of this historic day -- the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th U.S. President -- I thought I'd post a video I found on the BBC.
BBC
World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther
King speaking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King
predicts an African-American president "in less than 40 years."
Black Friday
My stomach is still full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and the other usual Thanksgiving Day treats. And I have to leave in a few minutes to go eat lunch. I've been reading Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. The book is extremely well written and interesting.
I'll post a review of it on here as soon as I'm done.
I'll be very busy (and happy) this next week: finishing an article for Signature, presenting papers on historical linguistics and city-as-text narrative, reading my short story The Lexicon of the Sword at the Moon City Invitational at Missouri State, interviewing Brian Kiteley for Ask the Writer, and, finally, working on a nonfiction narrative book proposal.
To everyone who might stumble on this brief note: Happy Thanksgiving!
Manic Tuesday
I've been working nonstop since last week on four or five different projects. Some for school, some not. In any case, I haven't had a chance to post on the blog, so I thought I'd update readers on what's new. I can't post all of the stuff I'm doing here (I don't want to spoil any surprises) but, since you're on a need-to-know basis, I'll tell you what you need to know.
- The Read Well Store - Whenever I can I add books and authors to this Amazon-affiliate bookstore. For example, I just added some books by Brian Kiteley (under A Writer's Toolbox). The Denver University professor will answer questions for Ask the Writer soon, so be sure to look for that, too. And, if you're going to be buying books for Christmas presents, please consider buying them through our store to support the site.
- Ask the Writer with Brian Shawver, Part 1 - A few months ago I did a sit-down interview with Brian Shawver, author of Aftermath and The Cuban Prospect. I haven't had time to transcribe our talk, which was long and involved, but I will probably type up the first part over Christmas. Be sure to look for it then. Brian's novel Aftermath already appears under the ATW section of the Read Well Amazon Store.
- Ask the Writers, Coming Soon - Besides the interviews with Mr. Shawver and Mr. Kiteley, I have several more ideas for author Q & As. Be sure to keep an eye on the RSS feed this holiday season.
- Midnight Writing - I'm announcing a new series on my site based on writing exercises. The recurring series will feature creative ways to find story in your own fiction and nonfiction. Best of all, readers will be able to write along. Many of the exercises will come from Brian Kiteley's The 3 A.M. Epiphany.
The Read Well Bookstore
Do you enjoy the posts on Write Well? The tips, essays, and, perhaps most importantly, the interviews on Ask the Writer? Did you happen to catch the interviews with Dennis Lehane, Kevin Brockmeier, and Benjamin Percy, among others?
Did it make you want to read their books?
And if you could give back -- at no cost or hassle to yourself -- would you?
I'm pleased to announce the Read Well Amazon-affiliate bookstore. It's just like Amazon, except a small percentage of the money you spend goes back to support the efforts of Write Well.
The prices are the same. It has the same hassle-free navigation as Amazon, the "We also recommend..." links, the customer and starred reviews, the ultra-secure shopping cart, check-out, and shipping. You can see the search box on the right -- an exact duplicate, isn't it?
You even use the same user name and password that you use on Amazon.
As a bonus, though, we've tailored the Read Well store to our site. For example, the opening page is populated by authors who answered questions on Ask the Writer. You can buy Dennis Lehane's Gone, Baby, Gone, Ben Percy's Refresh, Refresh, and Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead, along with all the other books and movies featured on those pages (be sure to click over at the bottom of the page, so you can see all of the section).
The second link, A Writer's Toolbox (again, pictured on the right) features all the best books on fiction technique, especially the ones referenced in posts on this site -- John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist, Francine Prose's Reading Like A Writer, and Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees. It also includes, on the second page, a link to the textbook Missouri State's Creative Writing faculty uses when we teach English 215: Introduction to Short Story Writing (this, of course, would be Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, 7th Ed. by Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French).
Updates
The university work -- grading papers, planning classes, preparing presentations -- has kept me too busy to post on writing, technique, or anything this week. I'm hard at work on Moon City Press and The Moon City Review.
I'm also getting ready to apply to graduate programs (the Iowa Writer's Workshop among them). Next week I'm driving up to the University of Kansas (KU) to check out their Ph.D. in Creative Writing and see if it would be a good fit for me.
For Ask the Writer: as promised, I interviewed Brian Shawver, author of Aftermath and The Cuban Prospect. I'll have that up later this month.
I have also been polishing several short stories ("The Lexicon of the Sword," "Haunted," "The Surgeon," and a new story, "The Blind Man," which I'm very excited about).
Coming Soon
Remember, if you're out there writing, don't give up. I had to post this cartoon; it's just too funny. It's funny because the satisfaction is in the writing, not in being "rich and famous." Charles Schultz knew that, too, of course.
First, for interested readers, I will soon (probably in early September) post another interview as part of my Ask the Writer series. This installment will feature a longer, more informal talk with Brian Shawver, author of Aftermath and The Cuban Prospect.
In other news, I will send off the final re-writes for The Memory of Liars: An Evening with Grigori Efimovich Rasputin to Boston this week. Andrew Paul Jackson, who has been setting the text to music, tells me the opera will premiere in Boston (at the Conservatory) next April. His talented girlfriend Erica Spyres will be directing the show.
If you're not familiar with the history, the story takes place on the night Grigori Rasputin was murdered. The history is mixed up in mythology, so this opera will tell the true story of what happened -- and reveal the nature of the men involved. I'm really excited about the final product, because I know the extent of Andrew's and Erica's talent.
Also -- this is very exciting -- for those interested in writing and therapy, I am pleased to announce the launch of a national program, Read My Story, brought to you by the good people at the Mental Health Center of Crawford County, Kansas.
The idea is simple: People dealing with mental illness, alcohol and drug addiction, and other behavioral challenges can give each other hope.
One of the most valuable things we can do to help one another is to listen to each other's stories. --Rebecca Falls
The CMH has asked me to coordinate the web design and posting of submissions for Read My Story. If you or someone you know has an experience to share with readers, please, send in your narrative. Contact me at ReadMyStory.CMH@gmail.com.
New: Reviews Section Coming Soon
I'm finally back from Anaheim, rested (somewhat), and ready to travel again this week. I'm tired, I will admit, and the words are coming slowly. I'm working on several short stories, including one called The Destroyer, which is based on the true story of a heavily-armored train in Siberia, and The Kurdish Shepard, about a boy and his dog in modern-day Iraq.
More than that, though, I will shortly be reviewing several new books -- some haven't been released, yet, so I'm hoping to build buzz for their authors -- that I picked up at the ALA convention. Top of the list is Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, a young adult novel about a boy raised by ghosts, and Dennis Lehane's The Given Day, a novel about Boston circa 1917. both are fantastic; I will review them, of course, but first I'd like to check with the editor and publicity teams to make sure that's all right.
As always, keep posted for details on new "Ask the Writer" interviews, upcoming events, and more.
Recent Posts
- Burn Them Down
- Tip #2: Writing for Its Own Sake
- Tip #1: One Piece At a Time
- The Hemingway Solution
- Big Tent at the Raven Bookstore
What I'm Doing...
- Kansas City Race for the Cure 5k. 2010-08-08
- #Reading "13 Ways of Looking at the #Novel quot; by Jane Smiley http://amzn.to/d1O4KP 2010-07-22
- Ian McDonald's DERVISH HOUSE, superb novel of the mystical nano future of Istanbul - Boing Boing http://bit.ly/aIOp3u 2010-07-12
- Wow, fiction works!—By @colsonwhitehead (Harper's Magazine) http://bit.ly/cQUHjA 2010-07-12
- NPR: Michael Chabon: On What 'Manhood' Means-More at http://n.pr/128087770 2010-07-05
- More updates...