Writers Faire

The UCLA Extension Writers’ Program is hosting the 2011 Writers Faire on Sunday, August 28.  This event features twenty-four mini-classes and panel discussions about creative writing and screenwriting, as well as the opportunity to network with more than sixty-five writers, instructors, and graduate program advisors.   The Writers Faire will be held in the Young Hall [...]

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Chew on This

RUMINATE Magazine is now offering personalized writing critique and feedback on pieces previously submitted to the journal or new work.  Workshop options include a single critique, which entails working one-on-one with a RUMINATE editor for one week on a fiction or nonfiction piece up to 8,000 words or 120 lines of poetry; a single three-week [...]

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Это правда?

In perusing the application requirements of local Ph.D. programs in comparative literature ever so nonchalantly, it has come to my attention that one (notice the noncommittal pronoun) must be proficient in at least one foreign language (typically French, German, or Latin) and have an adequate competence in another to even be considered for candidacy.  Is [...]

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Writers Ask

“I see it in my students – this idea that I have spent all these hours, days, even weeks, on these pages, on this story, they must be good.  Well, the truth is that it is quite possible that they aren’t.  It doesn’t matter that you spent all this time on it.  It still might [...]

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Life’s Stories

“I dislike modern memoirs.  They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering.” ~ Oscar Wilde, “The Critic as Artist”  The current literary landscape is lush with memoir.  Contrary to autobiography, which tends to span the entire life of the author and is expected [...]

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An Evening with Literary Agents

Last night I attended An Evening with Literary Agents, part of Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s Pen on Fire Speaker Series held at the Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar.  The sold-out event was an intimate gathering of Orange County writers and literary agents Jamie Weiss Chilton (fiction for children and young adults), Sally van Haitsma (commercial and [...]

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National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, so now is the perfect time to reflect on the richness of poetry and the many ways it enhances our lives.  Literary journals and websites offer an abundance of suggestions for celebrating poetry this month; I’ve listed a few of my favorites here:  Sign up to receive poem-a-day e-mails from [...]

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The First Five Pages

The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by literary agent Noah Lukeman has been included on my Archetype “On My Bedside Table Now” list for months.  In this invaluable reference, Lukeman points out common writing errors to be avoided, such as a weak opening, flat or forced metaphors, and melodramatic dialogue.  The First [...]

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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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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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