Anselm Hollo
The poet, who passed away on January 29, is seen here reading "It Was All Right, or What I Learned from Kenneth Koch" at an event sponsored by Rain Taxi Review of Books in Minneapolis in 2007.
Remembering Anselm Hollo, Lunch with Robert Silvers, and More
Amazon reported its net sales increased 22 percent in 2012's last quarter; Brooklyn magazine speaks with Emily Gould and Ruth Curry, founders of Emily Books; David Abrams remembers the writers who died this past year; and other news.
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Job Search
Write about a main character for a story, focusing on his or her occupation. Freewrite for five minutes about this character, considering the following: What is his or her job? How did the character get it? How long has he or she held it? What does he or she like and dislike about it? Set your freewriting aside, then research details about this occupation, taking notes along the way. What kind of language would a person with this job use? What kind of equipment? Where would the office be located? Who would be the boss? What would the job title be? Use your freewriting and your research to inform a story about this character.
Richard Blanco
The youngest poet ever selected to write and read the inaugural poem discusses his piece and the experience of delivering it at the inaugural ceremony last week.
J. D. Salinger Biography Set for Fall, Robert Frost Collection on Display, and More
Simon & Schuster will release a biography of the late J. D. Salinger this fall; Dale Smith looks at the life and work of Beat poet Diane di Prima; a feature film is in the works of Joan Didion's 1977 novel A Book of Common Prayer; and other news.
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After Robert Frost
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of American poet Robert Frost. To honor this day, read Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" on the Academy of American Poets' website. Analyze the poem's structure, and write a poem with the same rhyme scheme and number of lines.
Geoff Dyer
Essayist and novelist Geoff Dyer delivered this talk, "The Novelistic Essay and the Essayistic Novel," at the 31st annual Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Florida, earlier this month.
Pride and Prejudice's Two Hundredth Birthday, Jeffrey Berg Launches New Agency, and More
Barnes & Noble may close about twenty stores each year; former ICM chairman Jeffrey Berg has opened Resolution, a new agency; Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Jennifer Egan explains why she writes; and other news.
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Deadline Approaches for New England Poetry Prize
The Loft Anthology: New England Poetry and Art is accepting submissions for its annual Loft Prize for Poetry until February 1. The award, which includes $1,000 and publication in the Loft Anthology, is given for poems about visual art, written by poets who reside in or are natives of New England.
Poets may submit up to two poems by e-mail with a $15 entry fee. Poems inspired by a piece of artwork from a New England museum are eligible. A list of museums is available on the Loft Anthology website; artwork can also be found online at the Athenaeum. Winners and finalists will be invited to read at an awards reception at the Providence Public Library in Rhode Island on June 6.
Poet Denise Duhamel, whose latest collection, Blowout, will be released by the University of Pittsburgh Press in February, will judge.
The Loft Anthology is published by the Cranston, Rhode Island-based Poetry Loft, a nonprofit literary arts organization that provides free poetry workshops in Rhode Island. The anthology publishes original work by both established and emerging poets in an effort, as stated on the website, to paint “an intimate portrait of the rich state of poetry in our region, informed by the distinct voices and souls of New Englanders. We humbly seek to inspire and disseminate the best poetry of New England.”
Copies of the 2012 anthology can be ordered through the Loft Anthology website, and are available for purchase at Brown Bookstore, Books on the Square, Symposium Books, and Cellar Books in Providence. For more information and complete submission guidelines, visit the website or send questions by e-mail to [email protected].
Jennifer Carlson of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner
I’m a self-published author who just completed his second novel. An agent once told me I shouldn’t state that I’m a self-published author in my query letter because it shows that no one has taken an interest in my writing and therefore I had to publish my own books. Apart from being rather insulting, does this agent have a point?
Yes, it’s a little slighting. Am I guilty of countless acts of the same? Um, yes. This may change as the definition of self-publishing evolves, but we’re not all the way there yet. So unless you’ve sold a zillion copies of your self-published book, best not to bring it up too soon.
Ammanuel from Baltimore, MD
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