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The Guardian attended a writing workshop to help authors pen more compelling sex scenes; the Charles Dickens Museum has reopened after a complete restoration; the Brooklyn Rail takes a close look at the low-residency MFA program at Bard College; and other news.
Listen to this 1985 recording of Orson Welles reading “The Secret Sharer," a story by Joseph Conrad. “I think I’m made for Conrad,” Welles once said. “I think every Conrad story is a movie.”
Make a list of ten words by flipping randomly through any book—a dictionary, a poetry collection, a novel, an encyclopedia–and choosing a word you see on the page. Incorporate these words into a poem made up of three stanzas composed of five lines each.
Lee Child illustrates how to create suspense; author Darin Strauss surveys the state of literary fiction, and spotlights the influence of James Joyce on his contemporaries; today is Emily Dickinson's birthday; and other news.
Does a writer need to have an established list of publishing credits to be considered by a decent agent?
If you’re writing nonfiction, then the answer is usually yes. You need to show credentials in your field, and such credentials often come in the form of previous publications. If you’re writing fiction, though, the answer is no. Publishing credits will always help, however. Even if you’ve only had a short story or two published in a small literary journal, those publications show that somebody somewhere read your work and fell in love with it. This is no small feat! Such credits show an agent that you’ve been writing for a while, that you’ve been sending your work out into the world, and that you’ve had some success. All that said, I truly believe that if your work is good enough, an agent will eventually take notice and jump on it, whether you’ve been published previously or not. Just write an irresistible query letter, and then have excellent work to back it up. Easy as pie, right?
Check out award-winning Japanese animator Koji Yamamura's adaptation of Franz Kafka's tale "A Country Doctor," written in Prague during the winter of 1916.
A new study reports e-readers may be sharing user information without consent; Victoria Strauss discovered a publicity firm's claims were far removed from reality; Charles Simic reveals his love for silent screen legend Buster Keaton; and other news.
The author of ten books, including the novel Between Heaven and Here (McSweeney's, 2012), delivered this talk on telling stories at an independently organized TED event in Redondo Beach, California, back in October.
Apple announced it intends to assemble a line of computers in the United States; novelist Jonathan Evison candidly reveals exactly how much he's earned from his books; Jeanette Winterson, Caroline Leavitt, Lauren Slater, and Lauren Groff discuss why they read Joan Didion; and other news.
Poet Ron Silliman recently drew attention to this footage of Frank O'Hara from the 1966 TV series USA: Poetry. O’Hara died a few weeks after the filming was completed.
