Make It Make Sense
Write an essay about a story or anecdote from your family lore that has never added up. Imagine various details of or revisions to the story that would make it make more sense.
Adapt a Fairy Tale
Write a contemporary adaptation of a fairy tale using first-person narration from the point of view of the villain.
Imaginary Friend
Write a poem in the form of a letter to an imaginary friend in which you ask them for help that begins, Dear Friend. Keeping the person or creature or entity you’re writing to in mind, include details and images that reveal your imaginary friend’s characteristics as you craft your entreaty.
Literature and Burlesque, State of Freelance Writing, and More
Peabody Award-winning journalist Nate Thayer reports the Atlantic offered to publish one of his essays—for free; Julian Barnes claims authors are driven by market forces to write about sex; Coffee House Press announced it's expanding its catalog to include books of essays and creative nonfiction; and other news.
Preparing for AWP
Rebecca McClanahan's poem, which was published in River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, will resonate with anyone in Boston later this week for the annual AWP conference and book fair. "Annual Conference: 8,000 Writers Expected" is read by the poet and visualized by Donald Devet.
VIDA Count 2012, Second Lehrer Book Pulled, and More
The VIDA count for 2012 has been published, which spotlights gender disparity among publications; Paul Ford considers Amazon's foggy corporate culture; LynDee Walker shares unconventional tips on dealing with rejection; and other news.
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Terra Chalberg of Chalberg & Sussman
Is it typical to give a publisher rights for all media? Is there a standard practice regarding adaptation rights into other media and/or translation rights when initially signing a contract?
I’ve seen contracts that grant the publisher all rights to the book, including all media. Most frequently such contracts are used when there is no agent involved. Sometimes the author signs one because she would rather have someone other than herself responsible for the rights, or because she lacks firsthand knowledge of industry standards. Independent and university presses, which are wonderful for many reasons, are most often responsible for contracts such as these because they publish unagented work and because their rights income is on a smaller scale, so they like to have as many rights as they can. However, at small presses there is not always someone specifically assigned to pursue selling foreign, audio, first-serial, and especially media-subsidiary rights. There are now also other rights to consider because of evolving technology, like e-book rights and enhanced e-book rights. Publishing is undergoing many changes, so it’s a crucial time for authors to protect themselves from contracts that assign rights to a publisher not equipped to exploit them.
Beth from Denver, CO
Yale Announces Winners of New $150,000 Literary Prizes
The recipients of the inaugural Windham Campbell Prizes in fiction, nonfiction, and drama were announced this morning at Yale University. Each of the nine winners of the new prize will receive $150,000 to support their writing.
The winners in fiction are Tom McCarthy, James Salter, and Zoë Wicomb; the winners in nonfiction are Adina Hoffman, Jonny Steinberg, and Jeremy Scahill; the winners in drama are Naomi Wallace, Steven Adly Guirgis, and Tarell Alvin McCraney.
Sponsored by Yale and established with a gift from the estate of the late writer Donald Windham, the Windham Campbell Literature Prizes recognize English-language writers at all stages of their careers. The prizes are named in honor of Windham and his longtime partner, the journalist and publisher Sandy M. Campbell. The prizes are administered by the Beinecke Rare Book Room and Manuscript Library, which also houses Windham’s papers. The awards join a list of esteemed literary prizes already sponsored by Yale, including the Bollingen Prize for Poetry and the Yale Series of Younger Poets.
“Yale is a place that hopes to inspire and recognize greatness in every field,” said Peter Salovey, president-elect of Yale University, in a press release. “The Windham Campbell Prizes allow us to fulfill that ambition in the field of world literature in ways we are only beginning to understand.”
There is no application process for the Windham Campbell Prizes. Established professionals in each category are asked to nominate names for consideration, and a selection committee meets at Yale to name up to nine writers to receive prizes.
The winners of the inaugural prizes will receive their awards at a ceremony at Yale during the Windham Campbell Literary Festival from September 10 to September 13 in New Haven.
“I look forward to the dialogue the winners will inspire on the Yale campus and around the world,” Salovey said. “We will learn much from our prize-winners, particularly in these first years of awarding the prize.”
In the video below, Salovey announces the prize and the first annual winners.
The Spark of Life
"Man is a mass of electrified clay!" Percy Shelley wrote a couple hundred years ago. Frances Ashcroft and Denis Noble, professors at the University of Oxford, discuss the science of how ions transmit electricity through the body as well as the more poetic aspects of electricity, including Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, Mary Shelley's inspiration for Frakenstein, and more.
Amazon in New York City, Bukowski Drawings Discovered, and More
Amazon is reportedly looking to rent half-a-million square feet of office space in New York City; nineteen Charles Bukowski drawings were rediscovered at a book fair; Jillian Goodman considers Michelle Orange’s This is Running for Your Life; and other news.
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