Sh*t Book Reviewers Say
The Washington Post fiction critic Ron Charles stars in this addition to the current video craze that has produced such gems as the recently released Sh*t Agents and Editors Say.
Reconsider Your Timeline
Take a working draft of one of your stories and reorder the structure—write it from the end to the beginning, use flashbacks to rearrange the timeline, or tell the story using some other kind of organizational principle, such as using short sections with subtitles.
David Foster Wallace at Fifty, Ann Patchett on Colbert Report, and More
David Foster Wallace at fifty; novelist Ann Patchett spoke with Stephen Colbert about why she opened an independent bookstore; the London Review of Books looks at the international popularity of Homer; and other news.
Nathan Englander
In the studio to record the audio version of his lastest book, the story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, Nathan Englander discusses the impetus for essentially rewriting Raymond Carver's famous story with the Holocaust in mind.
Epistolary Poem
Write a poem that is in the form of a letter to a person from your past, a person from history, or a place. As you revise the poem, examine the poem's structure, looking for patterns. How many syllables are most of the lines? How many lines make up each unit (or stanza). Once you get a sense of the dominant structure, revise the poem asserting that structure consistently.
Amanda Knox Bidding War, Martha Southgate's Thoughts on Whitney Houston, and More
HarperCollins secured the rights to publish Amanda Knox's memoir for a reported four million dollars; novelist Martha Southgate shares her thoughts on the life and death of Whitney Houston; an editor overheard a conversation on the subway, and the publication of a debut novel was set in motion; and more.
Dear Sugar
On the night of February 14, at the historic Verdi Club in San Francisco, Chery Strayed, who is profiled in the current issue of the magazine, was revealed to be the anonymous author of Dear Sugar, a popular advice column on Stephen Elliott's the Rumpus. Here's some amateur footage of the event.
Fight at Hotel Chelsea, E-Book Piracy, and More
The historic Hotel Chelsea in New York City, made famous by diverse literary figures such as Patti Smith and O. Henry, is now the center of a dispute between its new owners and its long-time tenants; seventeen publishers have banded together to fight European e-book piracy; the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the sales decline of chick lit; and other news.
Use Your History
Research one of the decades during which you were a child. Make a list of the popular music at the time, the best-selling books, the favorite movies and celebrities. Then write notes about politics—who was president? what were the major political issues in the United States and globally? Then freewrite about the neighborhood where you lived—who were your neighbors? what was the living situation like? what was a typical day for you and the people around you. Finally, choose an event from your life or from history that happened during the time you've researched and write about it, using your research to inform and contextualize what you write.
Philip Levine
In this clip from Fresno State University, the poet laureate reads "Gospel," from his collection Breath (Knopf, 2004). For more Philip Levine, read Michael Bourne's interview in the current issue and listen to the poet read "The Mercy."
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