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Activist poet and performer Jayne Cortez has died in New York at the age of seventy-eight; the New York Times traces the circuitous route to publication for novelist Jenny Offill; the Believer looks at the life and work of Nelson Algren; and other news.
I’m building up my publishing credits, maintaining a blog, coordinating a monthly writers group, and working on finishing up my novel. I have confidence that I can finish the book within six months. At what point should I start looking for the agent to represent me? Should the book be finished first, or should I remain open to editorial suggestions? I’ve read articles about how to approach agents, but very few on when.
You should wait until you’re really finished (and have set the book aside and finished it twice more!) before querying agents. This may sound like a Zen koan, but you should be finished and open to editorial suggestions. If you dream of locking in an agent before finishing your novel, the best way is to publish pieces of your work in literary journals, to build your credits and get your name out there. Agents are actively looking for talented writers, and I do represent a number of writers whose short fiction is exceptional and whose first novels I’m patiently anticipating. But by and large the first order of business is putting in the work of writing and rewriting that compelling first novel. If the novel is terrific, finding an agent is actually the easy part.
Independent bookstores may now sell Kobo tablets; Joel Lovell profiles master storyteller George Saunders in this weekend's New York Times Magazine; H. P. Lovecraft's advice to young writers; and other news.
Written in the midst of a deep depression, Eric Pankey’s “Cogitatio Mortis” (Latin for “I think of death”) is translated by video artists Jeff Saunders and Scott Olson in the latest installment from Motionpoems.
Meridian, the literary journal of the University of Virginia, is currently accepting submissions for its annual Editors’ Prize. Two awards of $1,000 each and publication are given for a poem and a short story. The deadline is January 8.
Emerging writers who have published no more than one full-length book, and who are not current students, staff, faculty, or recent alumni of the University of Virginia, are eligible to enter. Using the online submission system, submit up to four poems totaling no more than ten pages or a story of up to 10,000 words with an eight-dollar entry fee. Writers may submit two entries per genre, and all entrants receive an electronic subscription to Meridian. Winners will be announced in late March.
Founded in 1998 in conjunction with the MFA program at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Meridian is published twice yearly, and has featured such writers such as Richard Bausch, Ann Beattie, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Rita Dove, Seamus Heaney, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Charles Wright. The 2012 Editors’ Prize winners were poet Laura Davenport for “Apology for a Horse” and fiction writer Janet Hilliard-Osborn for “Easter, 1954.” Both winning works were published in the May 2012 issue of Meridian. In addition to the annual prize, the journal accepts general submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction year-round.
For more information about Meridian, and for complete submission guidelines, visit the website.
Over the holidays, Barnes & Noble experienced a decline in retail revenues compared to last year; David L. Ulin looks at the prison diaries of the late Greek poet Yannis Ritsos; Michael Johnson reveals his obsession with Alexander Pushkin, and other news.
Think about an aspect of your life story and rewrite it, telling the tale from another angle or perspective. For example, if your family always considered you to be a difficult teenager, write about other interpretations of your behavior. Or if you’ve always been considered successful, write about the fear of failure that lurks beneath the facade. Find a way to reconstruct an aspect of your personal narrative that explores the complexity of who you are.
Authors Michael Chabon, Alice Walker, Robert Munsch, Noah Gordon, Robert McCammon, and even William Shatner sing the praises of e-readers in this short video from Open Road Media. Chabon even goes so far as to say, "Having an e-reader broadens the possibilities for the life of a reader."
Publishers Weekly reports independent bookstores experienced a rise in sales over the holidays; editor Christian Wiman announced he is leaving his position at Poetry magazine; the Review Review offers an easy five-step guide to submitting your writing; and other news.
Kioni "Popcorn" Marshall, who has been writing poetry since the age of five and performing at New York City venues since she was nine, reads her poem "Love."
