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Amazon has launched a Kindle store in China; a discovery of a manuscript in Denmark's national archives may be a forgotten story by Hans Christian Andersen; the New York Times has created an e-book publishing program; and other news.
The author of the novels Grendel, October Light, and The Sunlight Dialogues as well as legendary books such as On Becoming a Novelist and The Art of Fiction, had a tremendous influence as a creative writing teacher. Watch Gardner's children discuss their father's rigorous teaching style and his devotion to the craft of fiction—then see the man in action in this clip from Open Road Media.
Mira Ptacin visits author E. B. White's Maine hideaway; CAConrad's best of the small press list for 2012; Octopus Books and Tin House Books will collaborate on a new poetry series; and other news.
Here's a pleasant daydream in the form of an animated New Yorker cartoon by Charles Barsotti.
Choose a subject that has cultural currency: consumerism, American decline, Internet overload, trends in pop culture, celebrity fascination; take a position on it; and write an essay that explores that position. Read Christy Rampole's New York Times essay "How to Live Without Irony" as an example. For more examples, read Best American Essays Series editor Robert Atwan's "The Top 10 Essays Since 1950" in Publishers Weekly.
Gift ideas for every book lover on your holiday shopping list; the unexpected literary friendship between Dracula author Bram Stoker and Walt Whitman; what Shakespeare can teach us about the fiscal cliff; and other news.
Write a work of flash fiction, a story that contains the classic elements—a main character who faces a conflict that is resolved—but one that is only three hundred to one thousand words in length. For guidance, read David Gaffney’s advice in the Guardian or visit the literary magazine Flash Fiction Online.
Monday was Emily Dickinson's birthday (born on December 10, 1830). To celebrate, the Poetry Foundation and PBS presented an animated version of “I Started Early–Took My Dog,” part of the Poetry Everywhere series. The poem is animated by Maria Vasilkovsky and read by actress Blair Brown.
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.
