NewPages Blog

In his June 8 New Yorker article “Show or Tell:
Should creative writing be taught?” Louis Menand takes on the creative writing program through a thorough response to Mark McGurl’s The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing. Coming to the comment, “For, in spite of all the reasons that they shouldn’t, workshops work,” how Menand gets there is worth the read.

According to Turkey’s Today’s Zaman, a Nobel Prize, the European Union, and İstanbul named as a European Capital of Culture for 2010 are a few of the reasons why we might be seeing more Turkish works in translations. Of course, money helps: “…the project called The Introduction of Turkish Culture, Art and Literature (TEDA) has served as a turning point. As part of the project which is led by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, close to 600 publications have been translated into different languages since 2005, giving foreign readers the opportunity to get to know 150 Turkish authors. The number of books translated within the context of the project in the last four years is almost six times as many as the number of books translated in the history of Turkey…TEDA is a translation subvention project running in developed countries such as England, Germany and the US. Foreign publishers that want to translate Turkish works into their own language apply to TEDA; publishers who receive subsidies from the project can then pay for translation and copyright expenses. Publishers report the sale figures of translated books to TEDA every six months. Owing to the project, the works of many Turkish authors and poets are being read in foreign countries.”

Read more here.

I just can’t bang the drum enough for the folks at Writers Beware! If you still don’t know about them, go, now, and read their blog. At the very least, here’s two, super-cool articles that should be required reading of anyone who says they are interested in publishing their writing:

Writer Beware by Victoria Strauss
Excuse Me, How Much Did It Cost You? by A.C. Crispin

Palgrave Macmillan is currently seeking an Assistant Editor who will report to the Publisher.

Chronicle Books announces openings for a Children’s Marketing Manager, an Editor of Art and Design, as well as ongoing internships and biannual design fellowships.

Oxford University Press Acquisition Editor, Journals.

Simon & Schuster Associate Editor for The Atheneum Books for Young Readers & Margaret K. McElderry Books.

What book got you hooked? First Book wants to know: “This summer we are all about celebrating the stories that no child should grow up without – the classics, bestsellers and quirky favorites that got you reading and reading and reading some more. To introduce children to great stories, we need your support and we’ve set a goal to raise $100,000 by the end of August. Tell us What Book Got You Hooked and make a donation so that all children have access to great books!”

First Book will also be bringing back their “vote for a state” campaign to give the state which receives the most votes 50,000 new books. Past winners include Oklahoma and Kentucky.

Edward Champion interviews Sherman Alexie regarding his “controversial remarks” made at the BEA about his position on the Kindle as “elitist.” The topic wanders to related issues, such as the rights of authors in a world of varying forms of publishing technology and reading.

The Faculty of Letters of the University of Lausanne invites applications for Full or Associate Professor in English Literature, starting January 2010.

Managing Director: Poets & Writers.

From Teaching Artist Research Project (TARP):

The Survey Lab is collaborating with the National Opinion Research Center to carry out the first large scale survey of teaching artists. They are currently in the phase of locating teaching artists to participate in a web survey they expect to field in Spring 2009.

If you are a teaching artist, or if you manage a program that hires teaching artists – you can register for the survey on the site. They will send a link to the survey itself as soon as it “goes live” in your community.

If you are someone who hires teaching artists, you can help the project to develop a more complete list. Contact info available on the site.

Learn more about the Teaching Artist Research Project here.

The Richard J. Margolis Award of Blue Mountain Center combines a one-month residency at Blue Mountain Center with a $5,000 prize. It is awarded annually to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom and concern with social justice. The award was established in honor of Richard J. Margolis, a journalist, essayist and poet who gave eloquent voice to the hardships of the rural poor, migrant farm workers, the elderly, Native Americans and others whose voices are seldom heard. He was also the author of a number of books for children. Deadline July 1, 2009

In response to my previous post about the passing of David Bromige, his family has asked that those who would like may visit Remembering David to post reactions to David’s death and reflections on his life.

From The Gawker: “In a move that sort of reeks of desperation more than it does slick PR, Newsweek‘s Jon Meacham announced that Stephen Colbert will be the magazine’s guest editor for the issue hitting newsstands on June 8.” As if the last issue with “Crazy Oprah” on the cover wasn’t enough…

I love Green Porno.

Alain de Botton in his Boston Globe article Portrait of the Artist as a Young Data-Entry Supervisor says, “It’s time for an ambitious new literature of the office[. . .]many contemporary writers are notably silent about a key area of our lives: our work. If a proverbial alien landed on earth and tried to figure out what human beings did with their time simply on the evidence of the literature sections of a typical bookstore, he or she would come away thinking that we devote ourselves almost exclusively to leading complex relationships, squabbling with our parents, and occasionally murdering people. What is too often missing is what we really get up to outside of catching up on sleep, which is going to work at the office, store, or factory.”

Though we readers of literary magazines and small press publications know that these stories are being written and published, you just may not find them on the chain bookstore best seller shelf or paid-for-promotional-space tables.

Two such examples of these pockets of publication include two upcoming collections:

Anthology. On the Clock: Contemporary Short Fiction of People and Their Work. Working Lives Series from Bottom Dog Press Inc. Oct 1

Anthology: Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians (a working title), edited by Tracy Nectoux and published by Library Juice Press as part of the series Gender and Sexuality in Librarianship. Dec 31

Two teachers in Eugene, Oregon combine literature and outdoor adventure for a true experience in exploring writing.

The first four recipients of Dalkey Archive Press’s Applied Translation fellowship program have been announced.

The new program, which is the first of its kind in the world, was created in response to the need on a national and international level for providing practical experience to young literary translators. Although only in its first year, the program received over 130 applications from 35 countries.

The four recipients are Rhett Warren McNeil (USA), Ursula Meany Scott (Ireland), Jamie Richards (USA) and Kerri Pierce (USA).

Read more about the fellows here.

According to Press 53, movie rights have been optioned by Millennium Films and shooting is scheduled for Two of the Missing: Remembering Sean Flynn & Dana Stone, a Vietnam War memoir written by Perry Deane Young, first published in 1975. The new edition released by Press 53 includes 18 pages of photos, many published for the first time.

On April 6, 1970, Sean Flynn, along with his friend and fellow photojournalist Dana Stone, were captured by Communist forces near Cambodia and never seen again. Sean was 28 at the time of his capture; he would have been 68 years old this year. Sean Flynn was the son of legendary film actor Errol Flynn. His capture in 1970 set off an international plea for his release and the release of several other journalists who were captured while covering the war.

Adbusters magazine is looking for a creative writer who can deliver colourful, edgy copy on myriad subjects. Assignments will range from short blurbs for the magazine and website to full-length articles, email broadcasts and fund-raising letters. Looking for a dynamic person interested in writing about the environment, art, technology, activism and politics. Open to Vancouver residents only. Email your resume, cover letter and two writing samples to: editor[at]adbusters[dot]org

Apparently the controversy with the Dublin Writers Festival is that it excludes Irish-language writers:

Dear Administrators,

Once again the Dublin Writers Festival has excluded Irish-language writers from any meaningful participation in the Festival events and activities. This behaviour by the organizers is shameful, offensive, and imperious. Indeed, I call for a boycott of the Dublin Writers Festival. It is my intention to urge writers, artists, and other citizens (in Ireland, Britain, the U.S. and other countries) to withdraw any and all support from the Festival and its activities. I urge an earthquake of a protest campaign until there is a constructive remedy to this imperiousness!

For creative diversity in Ireland,

Seamas Cain
http://alazanto.org/seamascain

[Reprinted here by permission of the author.]