Almost Ordinary
Write a story in which the protagonist is "perfectly ordinary" (however you choose to define "ordinary") in every way except for one obvious trait. Follow how this one trait sets in motion the story’s central conflict or turn.
Mary McCarthy and Edmund Wilson, Djuna Barnes in Brooklyn, and More
The New Yorker unravels the history of the early stories of Mary McCarthy, including “The Weeds,” which cast a spotlight on her troubled marriage to critic Edmund Wilson; Microsoft announced its eventual entry into the tablet market with new devices called Surface; NPR looks at the life and times of Nightwood author Djuna Barnes; and other news.
Listen Up
Choose one of your poems that needs revision. Give it to five friends and ask each of them to create an audio version of it by reading it into your telephone answering machine or recording themselves reading it and sending you the audio file. Listen to the five audio versions for places where the rhythm or musical qualities of the poem fall away or sound flat. Use these readings to revise the poem.
Luis J. Rodriguez
"I ended up being the one that fell through the cracks," says poet, novelist, and journalist Luis J. Rodriguez, whose memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. (Curbstone Press, 1993) elevated him as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature. In this video from Open Road Media, Rodriguez tells his story and explains how books helped him escape a dangerous life on the streets of Los Angeles.
PublishAmerica Lawsuit, Drunk Texts by Famous Authors, and More
A group of writers unhappy with PublishAmerica have filed a lawsuit alleging it charges fees for services that traditional publishers perform at no cost; entrepreneur Seth Godin funded his new book on Kickstarter within three hours; George Saunders explains why Donald Antrim's The Verificationist is an underappreciated masterpiece; and other news.
Amazilla vs. Barnes Kong
There's nothing understated about this one. Check out Rebecca Migdal's trailer for Andrew Laties's Rebel Bookseller: Why Indie Bookstores Represent Everything You Want to Fight for, From Free Speech to Buying Local to Building Communities (Seven Stories Press, 2011), which pits an online retail giant against a chain bookstore monster (who kidnaps Emily Dickinson)! Can the Rebel Bookseller save the day and bring back a community of books?
Self-Published Author Lands Seven-Figure Deal, Strange World of Fan Fiction, and More
Net sales for the first quarter of 2012 are down for adult hardcovers, and up for e-books; the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the strange world of fan fiction; Nathan Englander reveals his love for the international storytelling series called the Moth; and other news.
Personalize the Historic
Research the news for an event or incident that occured during your life or during the life of a close relative. It could be an historic sports event involving your home team, a crime that happened in your town or city, or something else that had a significant effect on the people nearby, such as the building of a major bridge or highway. Write an essay about this event, blending it with anecdotes from your (or your relative's) life that took place during the same time the event occured. Use the personal to elucidate the historic and vice versa.
Bloomsday
For lovers of Irish literature, and the work of James Joyce in particular, June 16 is a special day. Bloomsday is a celebration of the life of the Irish author on the day in which the events of his novel Ulysses (which stars Leopold Bloom, hence the name) is set. To commemorate the thirtieth annual observance, we present Adam Harvey's performance of pages 193 to 195 of Finnegans Wake.
Nora Roberts Responds to Nora A. Roberts, Syrian Poet Faraj Bayrakdar on Assad's Regime, and More
GalleyCat's recent list of self-published best sellers included SpellBound Cafe by Nora A. Roberts—a pen name that attempts to fool readers into mistakenly believing the book is by best-selling author Nora Roberts; the editors of n+1 examine the vagaries and pleasures of Twitter; Book Riot rounded up the best covers of BookExpo America; and other news.
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