Remembering David Rakoff, and More
Author David Rakoff has passed away at forty-seven; Forbes lists the top-earning authors; Charles Simic laments the lost art of writing postcards; and other news.
David Rakoff
In a short video from earlier this year, the author of three essay collections, including his most recent, Half Empty (Doubleday, 2010), and a frequent contributor to This American Life, talks about why he writes, the nature of creativity, and why writing only gets harder. Rakoff died on Thursday night after a battle with cancer. He was forty-seven.
Charles Yu
The author of the new story collection Sorry Please Thank You (Pantheon), who is profiled in the current issue of the magazine by contributing editor Kevin Nance, talks about "not writing" as a means to being more productive, counterfeit writing, and writing that "slips out like a burp."
Sandra Beasley's Advice for Visiting Writers, Act in James Franco's Faulkner Adaptation, and More
Julie Bosman has more on the scandal at Oxford American magazine; If you'd like to act in James Franco's film adaptation of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, go to Mississippi; a screen adaptation of a story by humorist David Sedaris is in the works; and other news.
Write a Letter
The letter is one of the earliest and most widely practiced forms of the personal essay: It tells a story about the author's life; it poses questions; and, perhaps most important, it's a way of connecting to a reader. Write a letter to someone you know, keeping the basic tenants of the personal essay in mind. The letter should be about you, but should also somehow address a larger question or idea. For inspiration, check out Helene Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road (Grossman, 1970), a collection of letters that documents her years-long correspondence and relationship with the owners of Marks & Co., a bookstore in London.
Anna Blume
Inspired by the poem "An Anna Blume," written in 1919 by German artist Kurt Schwitters, this short film by Vessela Dantcheva explores the ways in which "lust and ingestion, disguised in love, drive the two characters to an end where love turns to be a very lonesome and strange place."
Robert Penn Warren's Insidious Punch Recipe, New Philip Marlowe, and More
Novelist John Banville will revive Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe character for a book coming out from Holt next year; poet CAConrad intends to open the Philadelphia Poetry Hotel, which will provide housing to low-income poets; the Guardian created a graphic of death scenes in the stories of Edgar Allan Poe; and other news.
Norman Mailer Film in the Works, Lena Dunham's and Jon Hamm's New Yorker Promo, and More
A film is in the works about the relationship between author Norman Mailer and convicted felon Jack Abbott; filmmaker Lena Dunham secured the help of Mad Men star Jon Hamm to promote the New Yorker iPhone app; Mat Honan explains how security flaws at Apple and Amazon allowed his digital life to be destroyed; and other news.
September/October 2012
Summary:
Our sixth annual MFA Issue features a special section on graduate programs in creative writing, including roundups of leading full- and low-residency programs; plus profiles of poet laureate Natasha Trethewey, novelist Emma Straub, and poet Larry Fagin; an essay on marriage, parenthood, and poetry; and more.
Totem
Write a story in which one of the following objects triggers a flashback: a child’s keyboard, a bag of Werther’s Original Caramels, a taxidermied animal, a bar of lavender soap, or an old travel brochure.
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