Debbie Zeitman

Fiction writer and essayist Debbie Zeitman, who also has a few screenplays in the works, writes in her bedroom in Venice, California. She uses a lap desk to hold her laptop and keeps a writing pad close at hand.

For Zeitman, writing isn’t always a solitary pursuit. Before taking this photo, she left her workspace for a moment and her industrious Chihuahua, Speck, stepped in. "I am still awaiting his critique," she says.

Barbara Torode

Poet Barbara Torode converted a small bedroom in her Philadelphia home into a writing den, where she works surrounded by favorite books and pieces of advice tacked to the walls and shelves. "There is a dark shade on the window to kill screen reflections and task lighting so the room can be dimmed," Torode says of the deliberate design of her space. "I'm in easy commuting distance to my kitchen—no wasted time going and coming for meals," Torode adds, noting that she can also escape to her garden "for necessary eye-resting breaks, exercise, and meditation."

Jenifer Joy Madden

Nonfiction writer Jenifer Joy Madden (left) and fiction writer Caron Martinez (right), both of Vienna, Virginia, enjoy a DIY retreat, complete with meals cooked by their teenage sons, at Madden's home-away-from-home on Hutchinson Island, Florida. "The screened-in porch allows uninterrupted comfort," says Madden of her writing spot overlooking the Indian River. "The heavenly June breeze created a lovely background noise of lapping water and rustling palms."

 

Amy Groshek

Poet Amy Groshek works at the dining room table of her one-bedroom apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. She uses the typewriter for drafting her poems, avoiding the potential distractions of the computer during early stages of writing.

"The scraps of paper on the wall are favorite poems that I have memorized or am in the process of memorizing," Groshek says.

Dzanc Books to Hold All-Day Write-a-thon

by Staff
10.7.08

Dan Wickett, cofounder of Dzanc Books, announced today that the nonprofit publisher in Westland, Michigan, will hold a "write-a-thon" next month in order to raise money for its community-based programs. Volunteers can ask others to sponsor their writing by pledging either a specific amount of money based on the number of words written during the day-long session or a flat-rate donation. On the morning of November 15, Dzanc will e-mail participants a writing prompt or topic. Participants will then write poems, stories, and essays during the day.

Henri Cole Wins $25,000 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

by Staff
10.6.08

The Academy of American Poets announced last week that Henri Cole received the 2008 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for his collection Blackbird and Wolf (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The $25,000 prize is given annually to honor a book of poetry published in United States in the previous year. Cole’s collection was selected by poets Lucie Brock-Broido, B. H. Fairchild, and John Koethe. 

Rowling Tops Ranks of Richest Authors

by Staff
10.3.08

Forbes released on Wednesday the names of the ten highest payed authors. The list contains writers who have weathered the volatile market and conquered the void of big box stores to pull in eight-plus figures—not to mention spawn an array of products, from films to toys to video games—in the past fiscal year. 

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