“The end is where we start from.”

In ”Little Gidding” (the fourth poem in Four Quartets), T.S. Eliot writes of endings as beginnings and of routes that start from the place to which you just came.  With the end of 2009 upon us and the promises and potential of a shiny new year and new decade just around the corner, the air is heavy with the scent of hope and [...]

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The Best American Short Stories

Each year, the Best American series editor reads thousands of short fiction and nonfiction stories from hundreds of periodicals to select the 120 most notable works.  A guest editor then chooses the best twenty to publish in the annual showcase of short stories. The 2009 anthology includes stories first published between January 2008 and January 2009 in nationally [...]

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“Christmas…

was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitality, merriment, and open-heartedness [sic]; the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently and calmly away.” ~ Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

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What Christmas Is

“Welcome, old aspirations, glittering creatures of an ardent fancy, to your shelter underneath the holly!  We know you, and have not outlived you yet.  Welcome, old projects and old loves, however fleeting, to your nooks among the steadier lights that burn around us.  Welcome, all that was ever real to our hearts [...]. Welcome, alike [...]

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“Conrad Under California Skies”

Chapman University, in conjunction with the Joseph Conrad Society of America, is pleased to host an international Joseph Conrad conference January 7-10, 2010, which will mark the 100th anniversary of “The Secret Sharer.”  Panelists include Daphna Erdinast-Vulcan and keynote speaker Zdzislaw Najder.  Selected essays from the conference will be published in a special edition of Conradiana in 2011.   For more details regarding this event, click [...]

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Why write?

I spent the majority of the last two weekends writing a short story that may never be read by anyone other than the fifteen aspiring writers in my MFA workshop and possibly a submission editor at Writer’s Digest.  Three weeks ago, I spent the weekend polishing an essay for the Sigma Tau Delta convention judges.  Prior to that, I spent a month of weekends crafting a [...]

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Call for Submissions – Iron Horse Literary Review

Iron Horse Literary Review is hosting a short fiction/essay collection competition judged by Mark Richard, author of two novels, Fishboy and When Truth Gives Out, and two award-winning short story collections, Charity and The Ice at the Bottom of the World.  The winning collection will be published in 2010 as a separate issue, and the [...]

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The MFA Experience

The November/December 2009 issue of Poets & Writers includes a special section on the MFA and PhD programs in Creative Writing.  This issue is a must-read for current MFA students and individuals thinking about applying to an MFA program.  In addition to presenting the 50 top-ranked programs in the United States based on genre emphasis, funding, selectivity, and [...]

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Writer’s Relief

I’ve recently become an online subscriber to Writer’s Relief, a submission service for creative writers, poets, and essayists who could use some assistance with the business side of writing and getting published.  Writer’s Relief can devise a submission strategy for your work, help you target the right literary agents and editors, and even proofread and package your submissions.  I’m hoping to use [...]

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