Writers Read literary events in full swing this month
thelinknewspaper.ca – Monday March 22, 2021
Writers Read is Concordia’s reading series that puts on events throughout the school year with an aim to create a sense of community built on literature, and to introduce new opportunities to students.
The series invites authors, poets and writers of all sorts to speak at the events and to share their work and professional insight with students. For the month of March, Writers Read planned four events, two of which you can still attend. The March events featured poets Kaveh Akbar, writer Marina Warner, and still to come, author Sheila Heti.
“My vision for the series is to create opportunities for students to be in a room with other students and members of the community, to hear people they might not necessarily hear, and to hear those people in different contexts,” said Writers Read director Sina Queyras.
New Publisher Listing: The Monacelli Press
firstwriter.com – Monday March 22, 2021
Will review book proposals in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture, fine and decorative arts, design, and photography.
New Literary Agent Listing: Angelique Tran Van Sang
firstwriter.com – Monday March 22, 2021
Actively building a list of authors of literary fiction and narrative non-fiction. Interested in essays and longform narratives that have a distinctive voice. Also partial to an exquisitely written memoir, ideally one that weaves in art, literature, history, politics or philosophy.
YOUTH: THE WRITING CONTEST
dawn.com – Sunday March 21, 2021
Gen Z and millennials are known as the generation of hustlers. We crave the notion of consistent productivity. We respond to texts and non-urgent emails within the hour, as we continuously update our followers on social media platforms about the minutiae of our existence, all the while feigning the image of #livingourbestlives.
Generally, it’s a struggle for us to slow down. In fact, we don’t really know how to. It is our naive belief that a culture of workaholism will somehow translate into a happier life. Even as we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic, the same rules apply.
I’ve been a freelance journalist, writer and poet for almost three years. Writing was initially a creative outlet for me, a way to digest all my thoughts about the noise of the world into a well-structured article. Slowly, my writing acquired a sizable readership and soon I was writing for noteworthy publications. However, over time I noticed that, once purely an exciting endeavour, writing assignments now only brought on a wave of anxiety.
How to decide when to ‘rescue’ your darlings and other writing tips
poynter.org – Saturday March 20, 2021
Although I have been unable to teach in-person writing workshops during the pandemic, my Zoom teachings have been zooming. Almost all of these virtual workshops have been pro-bono, but I have received rewards beyond money. A favorite activity is “visiting” a writing class, especially one that is using one of my writing books as a text. I have fun, play a little music, and get treated like Obama or Springsteen.
In other years, I would have walked across the street from the Poynter Institute to visit a class at the St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida. Instead, I taught this week, in my new mode, from a computer perched on our dining room table.
The day before the class, the teacher, veteran journalist Janet Keeler, submitted a list of questions from the students who had been studying my most recent book “Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser.” In short, it’s a writing book about writing books.
The questions were so good, I was inspired to sit down for an hour or so and answer them in writing. Those questions and answers, lightly edited for clarity, may be of use to you in your own work. I hope so.
New Literary Agent Listing: Delia Berrigan Fakis
firstwriter.com – Friday March 19, 2021
Most interested in representing adult nonfiction, but will also consider select fiction and children's picture books.
New Literary Agent Listing: Emma Bal
firstwriter.com – Thursday March 18, 2021
Actively looking for: new perspectives in history, arts & culture, politics, economics, philosophy, psychology, and science; original approaches to travel and nature writing; unusual illustrated projects; thoughtful and dynamic cookery and food writing; and atypical narrative non-fiction and memoir. See agency listing for submission guidelines.
Small Press of the Year regional and country winners unveiled
thebookseller.com – Thursday March 18, 2021
The nine winners of the regional and country round of the British Book Awards Small Press of the Year accolade have been revealed. Presented for the third time in 2021, and sponsored by the CPI Group, the award celebrates the diversity of small presses in the UK and Ireland. This year’s winners include publishers from County Kildare in Ireland, Hackney in London, Leicester, Sheffield, Cardiff, Beaminster in Dorset, and Edinburgh.
Still Stuck at Home? It Might Be Time to Work on That Novel.
nytimes.com – Thursday March 18, 2021
It was another Covid-era Wednesday night, another Zoom call, but for the entire hour, nobody spoke.
None of the attendees even looked at each other. All eight of their heads were tilted down, their pens and the corners of their notebooks occasionally bobbing into view of the laptop cameras.
These writers were gathered, virtually, for their weekly accountability session, a variation on the traditional writing group that replaces discussions and feedback with focused quiet time. Some of these informal gatherings have flourished as people who once shied away from writing groups — because of the time commitment, commute or intimidation factor of a room full of aspiring authors — are finding that the pandemic has lowered the barriers to entry.
Julie Burchill finds new publisher after her book about cancel culture was cancelled
standard.co.uk – Monday March 15, 2021
Edinburgh-based indie, Stirling Publishing has acquired world rights for Julie Burchill’s book, which was dropped by her original publisher Little, Brown, part of Hachette, last December.
Ironically, the journalist’s book, Welcome To The Woke Trials: How #Identity Killed Progressive Politics, which was due out this spring , became a casualty of the very issue it was describing, after Burchill made several comments on Twitter to Muslim “libertarian communist” journalist Ash Sarkar, including a reference to the age of one of the Prophet Mohammed’s wives.
The tweets were branded “deplorable” by Little, Brown’s managing director Charlie King in a letter to staff, the book was dropped and the company issued the following statement: “While there is no legal definition of hate speech in the UK, we believe that Julie’s comments on Islam are not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint, that they crossed a line with regard to race and religion, and that her book has now become inextricably linked with those views.”
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