Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i The Writer

Once upon a time, I was a child prodigy of bad fiction. And I mean bad fiction. Awful, wretched, bore-you-to-tears fiction. My characters were all jaw-droppingly beautiful, with waist-length hair, striking features, and the personality of limp cardboard. They had achingly long conversations about the weather and what they would wear to school that day. They existed in settings that were described in excruciating detail, down to the precise color of the floorboards. They occupied sentences that were regularly 30 words longer than the average American attention span. And nothing ever happened to them. Nothing. They sat contentedly in an abundance of adjectives and adverbs, with nary a plot in sight. And then, happily, I discovered nonfiction, which was the equivalent of the world’s worst bowler discovering bumpers at their…

Could you write a poem using only… Two-syllable words? Four-syllable words? Three-letter words? Twenty letters of the alphabet? Thirteen letters of the alphabet? Verbs and nouns? One hundred words? Fifty words? Fifteen words? Five words? The last word of each sentence as the starting word for the next sentence? Thirty syllables? Two lines? Nine lines with nine syllables in each line? Twenty questions? Iambic pentameter? Letters that aren’t “e” or “a?” The “snowball” constraint, in which a poem starts with a one-letter word and each word after it grows in size by one letter (a two-letter word, followed by a three-letter word, etc.)?…

Several months ago, I interviewed Dave Blazek, who draws and writes the Loose Parts comic strip. As someone who draws a nationally syndicated strip, Blazek receives his fair share of criticism. He’s not bothered by it. Anybody can make an accurate criticism once, he told me. That doesn’t mean you can draw a strip every day no matter what – when you’re sick, when you’d rather make yourself the filling in a blanket burrito and lose yourself in the pages of a thick, great novel. In short, you have to treat cartooning like a job. The same mindset applies to writing. You know this, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this magazine. But I think we also have to work at being risk-free freelancers, people who can contribute to the emotional…

FIRST-PLACE WINNER Something Happened I sever the first two fingers of my left hand on a Tuesday. They fall to the ground at my feet, causing a momentary confusion as I wonder what tree has dropped this odd fruit. Then I see the crescent scar left behind by a fish hook and know that these are my fingers, that they are no longer attached to my body, and that I will surely not be going to piano lessons the next day. This is when I know how much I dislike piano, that the momentary relief at the thought lifts my spirits even though I am bleeding profusely. I am 9, and it is fall, the woods around me swaying in the wind, dead leaves drifting to the ground as I…

Dear Typo, You win. You always win. No matter what we writers do; no matter how many times we scrutinize our final drafts, you always manage to sneak into the published version of our books, essays, articles, emails…You even managed to weasel (or is it wheedle?!) your way into a cover letter I once sent, applying for a position as a copy editor. Oh, the irony! (Or is that the wrong use of the word?!) I have to give you credit. Most publishers employ (yes, employ, not employee! Stop messing with my head!) not one but two lines of defense to prevent you from slipping into our subheads and sentences. You are up against trained copy editors who not only scrutinize our work for misspellings but also mistakes in word…

NIKKI GIOVANNI TEE Legendary American poet Nikki Giovanni serves as the inspiration for this minimalist portrait T-shirt. $26, amorphia-apparel.com WALT WHITMAN STATIONERY These notecards from the Princeton Architectural Press display a variety of quotes from Walt Whitman’s poetry, including “Each of us inevitable, each of us limitless” and “Some people are so much sunlight to the square inch.” $15, papress.com LANGSTON HUGHES TOTE This cotton tote bag from the Academy of American Poets features Langston Hughes’ name on one side and “I pick up my life and take it with me” on the other. $15, poets.myshopify.com SYLVIA PLATH NECKLACE This piece of literary jewelry is inspired by a line from poet Sylvia Plath’s lone novel, The Bell Jar. (“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of…

1 Focus your questions Know what you want. The better the information you provide, the more helpful the staff can be in accessing relevant information. “It’s not helpful to say ‘I’m interested in Leonardo da Vinci,’” says Mattie M. Schloetzer, program administrator for internships and fellowships at the National Gallery of Art. “You may be missing something if you let the librarian interpret the question for you. You’ll get more targeted information if you focus the question, such as ‘Can you direct me to information about Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of bridges?’” 2 Ask about vertical files Many institutions have “vertical files” – or published documents of fewer than 50 pages – that aren’t in the catalog. These items can be news clippings, pamphlets, invitations, and other materials received or…

A man with dementia struggles to remember the process of filling and hanging a hummingbird feeder while dealing with rage and then sudden salvation as his wife looks on. A woman navigates a romantic relationship with a man baffled by behaviors brought on by her obsessive-compulsive disorder. The sister of a man with an intellectual disability surveys childhood photographs and reflects on the challenges and joys of growing up in her particular family. Since 1979, Kaleidoscope has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art that explores the intersection of disability and fine arts. Submissions come from around the world, from writers whose lives have been touched by dyslexia and autism, visual and hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury and bipolar disorder. “We look at everything that’s sent to us, and we appreciate…

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 P = Poetry C = Children’s Y = Young adult O = Other F N C Y 3 SEAS LITERARY AGENCY Represents romance, women’s fiction, science fiction/fantasy, YA and middle-grade fiction, and select nonfiction titles. Query by email only. No attachments. Contact: Michelle Grajkowski or Cori Deyoe, 3 Seas Literary Agency, P.O. Box 444, Sun Prairie, WI 53590. 608-834-9317. queries@threeseaslit.com threeseasagency.com F N THE AARON M. PRIEST LITERARY AGENCY Seeks mainstream and literary fiction, thrillers, and narrative nonfiction. Query by email only. No attachments. Contact: The Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency, 200 W. 41st St., 21st Floor, New York, NY 10036. 212-818-0344.…

Award-winning poet Richard Blanco was launched into the public eye after reading his poem “One Today” at President Obama’s second inauguration. Following this life-changing event, Blanco took on an increasingly public role – one he continues with his speaking and teaching and as the education ambassador of the Academy of American Poets. His latest poetry collection, How to Love a Country, is a poignant and moving reflection on issues facing our nation and its people. Topics he addresses in the collection include cultural identity, immigration, race, sexual identity, mass shootings, and modern politics. His powerful, beautiful, and sometimes painful work conveys both personal and collective experiences and struggles. Blanco is also the author of two memoirs, The Prince of los Cocuyos and For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural…