Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i The Writer

Roughly this time last year, I was preparing for a 10-day tour of Spain, a country I’d studied obsessively since middle school. I knew what to pack. I knew where to eat. I knew a rough approximation of what to say. But one small must-do on the itinerary was keeping me up at night: Bellying up to a jam-packed tapas bar, grabbing the bartender’s attention, and confidently hollering my order above the roar of the crowd. It’s such a small, silly thing, right? Why wasn’t I more worried about lost luggage or changing currency or sheepishly saying “estoy embarazada” which sounds like it means “I am embarrassed” but actually means “I am pregnant?” But in the long list of things I am terrible at, “confidently making eye contact with strangers,”…

WHEN I was in the querying and submission stages of my debut young adult novel, The Accidental Bad Girl, I consistently received two pieces of criticism. The first was, “I don’t understand the motivations. I don’t understand why [spoiler alert] Gilly would have done that to Kendall. I don’t understand why Kendall wouldn’t just go to the police. I don’t understand why.” I summarily ignored these comments. Because it takes such a long time to a) write a book, b) find representation for a book, and c) get ready to sell a book, I was able to ignore these comments for literally years. If I’m being honest with myself, I often ignored these notes (generously and sincerely given by friends and colleagues) because I secretly believed that my readers simply weren’t…

Laura van den Berg: “Yoko Tawada’s The Naked Eye left me changed as a reader. Tawada uses dislocations to reality to uncover the beautiful and frightening layers of our worlds.” Margaret Verble: “In being funny about serious things, Twain is always, above all, entertaining.” Peter Nichols: “St. Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose saga took me to a place in writing my novel, The Rocks, I might have not have found without him.” Bernice L. McFadden: “In her novel Who Asked You?, the statement ‘it’s clear to me right this minute that regret is just a wasted emotion’ is a perfect summation of how Terry has chosen to write her stories and live her life. As I continue to use her as a compass, I, too, hope to live a life full of…

Ph.D. students Kelly Caldwell and Cassie Donish run much of their 4-year-old literary magazine, The Spectacle, out of their kitchen near Washington University in St. Louis. They’re passionate about the intersection of critical theory and creative writing. “We’re interested in providing space for people to do weird and interesting hybrid and crossover pieces,” Caldwell says, explaining that as a scholar herself, she has found it difficult at times to claim the identity of poet as well. “Our goal is to open up the space for possibility in The Spectacle,” she says. To that end, she and Donish and the magazine’s genre editors also want to emphasize the connection between literary and visual arts. Most pieces that appear in the biannual online publication are paired with original art from a variety…

A prolific writer, Elizabeth Berg is the author of many best-selling novels, including Durable Goods, Joy School, and Oprah’s Book Club pick Open House. Her latest, Night of Miracles, is a follow-up to her popular 2017 novel The Story of Arthur Truluv, though readers can also enjoy the book as a standalone work. Her novels have been published in 30 countries, and several have been adapted into movies for television; she also hosts intimate one-day writing workshops for writers. In 2018, she received the Illinois Literary Heritage Award from the Illinois Center for the Book. Although Berg’s plots vary, there are certain constants to be found that appeal to her readers: Love, loss, hope, compassion, and humor all can be found in her narratives. Story ideas Oftentimes at readings, an…

Surely you’ve had this happen. You are seated by choice or misfortune in a window seat on an airplane. You look out as the plane takes off, rises up higher and higher, levels off. If you chance to glance down, you see a particular kind of order not realized on earth. You might feel a kind of hopefulness at the sight of houses clustered together in their various neighborhoods, at roads running straight or artfully curved, at what look like toy cars. You see the lakes and rivers, occasionally the wide stretch of ocean meeting horizon. You see natural quilts formed by the lay of fields and farmlands, you see the grouping of trees into parks and forests. Sometimes you see the splendor of autumn leaves or Fourth of July…

Last call for entries in our spring fiction contest Our spring short fiction contest closes on May 31. Have you submitted your short story yet? Don’t miss your opportunity to win $1,000 and be published in our magazine. Learn more at writermag.com/contests. It’s summer reading season Our annual summer book coverage is in full swing at writermag.com/blog. Spend the hottest season of the year with the hottest books hitting shelves across the country over the next few months. Warm weather, cool prompts Don’t let the heat get you down: A fun new writing exercise may be just the thing to recharge your literary mojo. We post a new prompt every Friday, so check in each week and start your weekend with a burst of creativity. STAY IN TOUCH Put our…

Writing, for most of us, is a hobby. When someone asks what we do, we answer, “I work in the service industry,” “I’m an electrician,” or any number of positions that don’t involve a lot of creative writing – or creativity in general. Given the need to make money, there isn’t a lot of time to commit to our craft; thus, managing time becomes critical to our success as writers. Success as a writer, however defined, requires time. No one is waiting for you to turn in that poem or short story or novel. You have to want it, but sometimes the more you want it, the harder it becomes, especially when you hit a creative block. As anyone who has ever untangled a basketball-sized knot of Christmas lights can…

“Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”—Annie Proulx Serious novelists know the truth of Proulx’s words, and so they are attentive readers. When they read a novel, they dig deep into it. They get down to its inner workings, the gears that make the wheels turn. They think about myriad story connections. They consider craft. With great novels, several questions naturally arise: How does this novelist create such compelling characters? How does she handle plot and structure so well? What makes this style so perfect? As artists, novelists may read for pleasure, but they also want to take away as much as they can from the fictional craft in action. They appreciate fresh perspectives on the world, insightful ideas – plus the various…

Even though many don’t offer payment and some are more popular than others, literary journals are a great way to get your writing’s foot in an editor’s door. Some writers may overlook smaller publications in order to concentrate on bigger projects, but doing so could be a mistake. Whether you’re looking to apply to an MFA program or want to build your publishing portfolio, having your work appear in a literary magazine or journal can be a big first step toward your dream career. The magazines listed here are a sampling of what the industry has to offer. Find more at writermag.com. Information in this section is provided to The Writer by the individual markets and events; for more information, contact those entities directly. F = Fiction N = Nonfiction…