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Graphic designer and filmmaker John Koenig reads from his “Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,” an original lexicon of emotions we don’t have words for. In this clip, he illustrates the word keta, “an image that inexplicably leaps back into your mind from the distant past."
Mathematical Poetry Month; the best books to celebrate warmer weather; John Updike’s home turf; and other news.
Reality television might not be that in touch with “reality," but it is still a source of entertainment for many people. Whether or not you enjoy The Real Housewives of New York (or Beverly Hills, Atlanta, etc.) or any other shows of that nature, there might be something to learn about characterization through watching these people battle it out on screen. This week, create a character that you think would be perfect for one of those types of shows. Then put your character in a scenario in which he or she must go through a dramatic, emotional struggle publicly, in front of millions of viewers, with another person or group of individuals. The key is to really amp up the drama and imbue the scene with as much nail-biting tension as you can muster.
Graphic designer and filmmaker John Koenig reads from his “Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,” an original lexicon of emotions we don’t have words for. In this clip, he illustrates one of his words, sonder, “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.”
Is strong journalism and column writing considered when judging the talent of a writer seeking to branch out into more creative areas?
My own client list includes nearly a dozen reporters and columnists. As a former magazine writer and editor, I pay special attention to queries from journalists and columnists, and I believe many other agents do, too. It’s always important to include your credentials in a query letter. Your reporting and column writing may even be what grabs an agent’s attention, but what most interests any agent will always be a high-quality book proposal or manuscript. And no matter how good they are, some reporters and columnists aren’t able to make the transition from short-form journalism to the long form of books.
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced today that Karen Joy Fowler has won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her most recent novel, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. The $15,000 prize honors a book of fiction by an American author published in the previous year.
Fowler is the author of six novels, including the bestselling The Jane Austen Book Club (Putnam, 2004), and five short story collections. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, published by Marian Wood last May, is loosely inspired by the work of psychologist Winthrop Kellogg in the early 1930s, and tells the story of a young woman raised with a chimpanzee as a sister.
Known for writing genre-bending work, Fowler also cofounded the James Tiptree Jr. Award in 1991, a literary prize given annually for works of science fiction and fantasy that explore the understanding of gender. The prize is named for science fiction author Alice Sheldon, who wrote under the pen name James Tiptree Jr.
In the following podcast from Aspen Public Radio’s First Draft series, Fowler discusses the new book, her process and inspiration, and how she came to be a writer.
The judges for this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award were Madison Smartt Bell, Manuel Muñoz, and Achy Obejas. Fowler’s novel was chosen from more than 430 novels and short story collections. In a statement released this morning, Muñoz said, “Fowler captures an altogether new dimension of the meaning—and heartbreak—of family dynamics.” Smartt Bell added, “This is a book that really does tell us something new about what it is to be human—and what it is not to be."
The finalists for the award included two short story collections, Joan Silber’s Fools (Norton) and Valerie Trueblood’s Search Party (Counterpoint); and two novels, Daniel Alarcón’s At Night We Walk in Circles (Riverhead) and Percival Everett’s Percival Everett by Virgil Russell (Graywolf). Each finalist will receive $5,000.
Fowler and the four finalists will be honored at the 34th annual PEN/Faulkner Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on May 10.
In the video below, Fowler reads an early excerpt from We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, originally published in the literary magazine ZYZZYVA.
Jimmy Carter signs 1,600 books; a road trip to film dead poets; Sherman Alexie book banned in Idaho; and other news.
Support from P&W enabled me to travel to New Orleans with other writers from Flying House in Chicago to perform at the Rook Cafe. I connected with new writers in this culturally rich city and made lasting personal and professional relationships. This expansion of my intimate writing community is essential to my well-being as an emeging and struggling writer.
The first card in the Major Arcana of the tarot, a deck of cards used by mystics for divination, is called “The Fool." He is depicted on the card as gliding towards the edge of a cliff with the sun rising up behind to light his way, beginning a new journey full of unlimited potential. Have you recently set out on a new journey? Or are you itching to try something new, be spontaneous, and break out of your routine? Write a poem that captures the excitement of the first day of a new adventure. It could be a physical journey, like traveling to a distant land, or an emotional journey, like the start of a new relationship. Whatever path you choose, make sure it’s exhilarating!
Happy National Poetry Month! Last week U.S. poet laureate Philip Levine read three of his poems at the Rogue Festival in Fresno, California, accompanied by the Benjamin Boone Evolution Quartet. All music was written specifically for each poem.
