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Monday, June 08, 2009
Read Reviews of Literary Magazines on NewPages.com
Reviewed Magazines Include:
Alligator Juniper
Bayou
Beloit Fiction Journal
Creative Nonfiction
Cutbank
Gulf Stream Magazine
The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review
Hunger Mountain
Iron Horse Literary Review
JMWW
The Ledge
Manoa
Memoir (and)
New Orleans Review
PALABRA
Slice Magazine
The Sycamore Review
Third Coast
Western Humanities Review
Willow Springs
Word Riot
Bayou
Beloit Fiction Journal
Creative Nonfiction
Cutbank
Gulf Stream Magazine
The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review
Hunger Mountain
Iron Horse Literary Review
JMWW
The Ledge
Manoa
Memoir (and)
New Orleans Review
PALABRA
Slice Magazine
The Sycamore Review
Third Coast
Western Humanities Review
Willow Springs
Word Riot
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Phoebe MacAdams Whispers an Invocation and We Find Connection in the Commonplace
Sanora Bartels reviews Phoebe MacAdams’ latest book of poetry released by Cahuenga Press, Strange Grace and you can read it here at www.LAwritersgroup.com.
A response to "Should Creative Writing Be Taught?'"
An article by Louis Menand in The New Yorker:
Menand just published a well-written, and intriguing article in the The New Yorker entitled "Show or Tell, Should Creative Writing be Taught?"
He recounts the history of informal writing workshops to the creation of university level degree programs in creative writing, which he posits are a fairly recent development in the history of the creation of creative writers. Using many references such as John Barth's 1985 article in the Times Book Review entitled Writing: Can It Be Taught?, as well as Mark McGurl's book, The Program Era, he examines whether or not writing workshops, either informal or institutionalized, are worthwhile endeavors for both authors and readers. He poses the question: "Is the rise of the creative-writing workshop, as McGurl claims, “the most important event in postwar American literary history”?" He later writes the profound statement that "Writers are products of educational systems, but stories are products of magazine editorial practices and novels are products of publishing houses."
The article is a worthwhile read, and at the end, he injects his own experience of participating in writing workshops and how they've affected him in the long-term:
Brenda Ueland wrote in If You Want to Write,
Menand just published a well-written, and intriguing article in the The New Yorker entitled "Show or Tell, Should Creative Writing be Taught?"
He recounts the history of informal writing workshops to the creation of university level degree programs in creative writing, which he posits are a fairly recent development in the history of the creation of creative writers. Using many references such as John Barth's 1985 article in the Times Book Review entitled Writing: Can It Be Taught?, as well as Mark McGurl's book, The Program Era, he examines whether or not writing workshops, either informal or institutionalized, are worthwhile endeavors for both authors and readers. He poses the question: "Is the rise of the creative-writing workshop, as McGurl claims, “the most important event in postwar American literary history”?" He later writes the profound statement that "Writers are products of educational systems, but stories are products of magazine editorial practices and novels are products of publishing houses."
The article is a worthwhile read, and at the end, he injects his own experience of participating in writing workshops and how they've affected him in the long-term:
"I don’t think the workshops taught me too much about craft, but they did teach me about the importance of making things, not just reading things. You care about things that you make, and that makes it easier to care about things that other people make."As someone who is somewhat adverse to institutional learning environments, but who has participated in, and run, many writing workshops that concentrate on the creation of new work, I have witnessed the joy that writers get from creating something they never expected they would invent, and how the act of creation itself keeps them coming back week after week. If a writing workshop makes you feel productively creative, then it has served it's purpose.
Brenda Ueland wrote in If You Want to Write,
"...at least I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had. Not to preach to them, but to give it to them if they cared to hear it. If they did not - fine. They did not need to listen. That was all right too."What she is saying here, and what I agree with, is the motivating factor to write should not be to gain, but rather because you love. If you gain from it, so much the better. If a writing workshop or a university degree feeds your love, feeds your passion, then participate. If writing alone feeds your love and your passion, then don't participate. Either way, write because you love.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
New Writers Group starting on Thursday
There's still time to join Sanora's group! Learn more about how our groups work:
How the LAwritersgroup.com 8-Week General Writers Group Works
How the LAwritersgroup.com 8-Week General Writers Group Works
Each Group is Unique
Each of our groups are unique, in that we have new creative writing exercises we use in every group (save for a few oldies but goodies)? So if you've already participated in a group and would like to participate again, you don't have to worry about repeated creative writing exercises.
How the Meetings are Structured
Our groups meet once a week in eight-week cycles.
Each meeting is broken up into two sections: Creative Writing Exercises, and Feedback.
Creative Writing Exercises
During the creative writing portion, we do three improvisational creative writing exercises via writing prompts. This is the major portion of our night: getting words on the page. We do not allow laptops. We write the old fashioned way.
Feedback
The feedback portion of our meeting is something everyone participates in. All writers can bring work in for critique, and all writers are encouraged to give feedback. We have guidelines that we follow for our critique session so that the feedback remains constructive, and we also have guidelines regarding how much work each writer can bring in each meeting.
Who can participate?
We are open to all kinds of writers. Whether you are new to writing, or a seasoned veteran, you will get a nearly full notebook of new material out of the 8-weeks. We've had all kinds of aspiring and published writers participate in our groups: poets, essayists, screenwriters, comedy writers, all kinds of fiction writers, songwriters, journalists, and even attorneys who want to do some creative writing.
Do we Teach Writing?
This is a writers group. A peer-to-peer group of writers who get together once a week to create new work and support each other by giving and receiving feedback on works-in-progress. Although we are not formally teaching writing, you'd be surprised the things you pick up in these groups just by listening to and interacting creatively with other writers. We provide a safe space to tap into your own creativity and generate new work and solicit opinions from your other group members on writing you bring in for critique. We may offer more instructive seminars in the future, though, so keep your eye out!
How We Started
LAwritersgroup.com began five years ago. We started a writers group because we wanted to get creative and write with other writers for an evening once a week, and as some of our members started moving out of town, we put up a website to keep in touch with them. Before we knew it, people found our website, and contacted us, wanting to participate, and we grew from there!
If you have any additional questions about our groups, send an email to nicole@lawritersgroup.com or visit LAwritersgroup.com.
Each of our groups are unique, in that we have new creative writing exercises we use in every group (save for a few oldies but goodies)? So if you've already participated in a group and would like to participate again, you don't have to worry about repeated creative writing exercises.
How the Meetings are Structured
Our groups meet once a week in eight-week cycles.
Each meeting is broken up into two sections: Creative Writing Exercises, and Feedback.
Creative Writing Exercises
During the creative writing portion, we do three improvisational creative writing exercises via writing prompts. This is the major portion of our night: getting words on the page. We do not allow laptops. We write the old fashioned way.
Feedback
The feedback portion of our meeting is something everyone participates in. All writers can bring work in for critique, and all writers are encouraged to give feedback. We have guidelines that we follow for our critique session so that the feedback remains constructive, and we also have guidelines regarding how much work each writer can bring in each meeting.
Who can participate?
We are open to all kinds of writers. Whether you are new to writing, or a seasoned veteran, you will get a nearly full notebook of new material out of the 8-weeks. We've had all kinds of aspiring and published writers participate in our groups: poets, essayists, screenwriters, comedy writers, all kinds of fiction writers, songwriters, journalists, and even attorneys who want to do some creative writing.
Do we Teach Writing?
This is a writers group. A peer-to-peer group of writers who get together once a week to create new work and support each other by giving and receiving feedback on works-in-progress. Although we are not formally teaching writing, you'd be surprised the things you pick up in these groups just by listening to and interacting creatively with other writers. We provide a safe space to tap into your own creativity and generate new work and solicit opinions from your other group members on writing you bring in for critique. We may offer more instructive seminars in the future, though, so keep your eye out!
How We Started
LAwritersgroup.com began five years ago. We started a writers group because we wanted to get creative and write with other writers for an evening once a week, and as some of our members started moving out of town, we put up a website to keep in touch with them. Before we knew it, people found our website, and contacted us, wanting to participate, and we grew from there!
If you have any additional questions about our groups, send an email to nicole@lawritersgroup.com or visit LAwritersgroup.com.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Real Simple's Second-Annual Life Lessons Writing Contest
Real Simple's seeks 1,500 word essays about first realizing you were a grown-up.
Contest description (from the Real Simple website):
Contest description (from the Real Simple website):
When did you realize that you had become a grown-up? Perhaps it was when you first paid taxes or met your son’s first girlfriend. Whether the experience was difficult, funny, easy, or bittersweet, share your lesson and you could win.
Enter Real Simple’s second-annual Life Lessons essay contest and you could have your essay published in Real Simple; win round-trip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, tickets to a Broadway play, and a lunch with Real Simple editors; and receive a prize of $3,000.
For more information and submission details, go to:
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/second-annual-life-lessons-essay-contest-00000000013682/
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/second-annual-life-lessons-essay-contest-00000000013682/
First Person America Seeks Sumissions
Stories, Videos, and Photographs Reflective of Our National Economic Crisis
Competition information as listed on website:
Artists: We are looking for short memoirs and essays, documentary films, and photographs that depict Americans from all walks of life. We are especially interested in stories that are unique to your family, your community, your town, your region – that capture the idiosyncratic things that are happening where you live - the slices of life that, taken together, will give us a First Person picture of America in 2009 – the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.Submission Guidelines:
Writing submissions – up to 2,500 words.
Film and video submissions – up to five minutes, excluding credits.
Photography submissions - may include up to five photographs, with or without accompanying text of up to 100 words per image.Submission deadline: June 30, 2009
For more information: http://www.hardtimes.firstpersonarts.org/
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