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Many companies now use computer-generated text rather than human writers; writers are suing five universities for copyright infringement through Google Books; Novelist Rick Moody reveals his obsessive fandom for the underground rock band the Feelies; and other news.
A Faber and Faber executive is shot to death by armed bandits; Alec Baldwin reads Colson Whitehead's essay "Lost and Found"; James Longenbach examines the life and work of T. S. Eliot; and other news.
In light of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001, we present here a collection of recent articles and personal essays that attempt to illuminate these events through the written word.
Fiction writer Susannah Risley blogs about her experience conducting workshops with diverse populations at Schenectady County Public Library in upstate New York.
I've taught in minimum security prisons, homeless shelters, rural libraries, and senior centers across New York State. Each group requires a slightly different approach to teaching. People in homeless shelters don't often write about their pasts, but respond positively to learning to observe the present. Prisoners need to feel great respect for their stories. They are hungry for knowledge and drink up the examples from literature that I bring to inspire their writing. Seniors need to be urged past their internal critics that say their lives have been unimportant. They feel a renewed sense of purpose in life as their stories pour forth. It is a joy to see people from all walks of life get excited about writing. It changes lives. It changed mine.
Recently, I wanted to try my hand at a different kind of writing workshop. I'd reread Jack Kerouac's On The Road to see if it held up for me. It did. I began to read some of the vast history of travel writing, and was delighted to envision solo travelers in distant times making their way across China, Afghanistan, Greece, or Persia. They recorded vital, specific details, just as a modern traveler must, to bring the world to life on paper. Wanting to share what I learned, I approached the Schenectady County Public Library about facilitating a travel writing workshop.
Twenty participants signed up for the five-session Travel Writing Workshop: Writing Your Own Road. People had traveled to, or were leaving for, Tanzania, Guatemala, Brazil, Italy, Scotland, India, and Paris. They had much to say, and, like many new writers, needed direction about how to begin and keep going.
An Indian scientist was overjoyed to break out of the strictures of science writing to describe her experience in Italy as colorfully as she wished. A college student did a performance poem about Times Square. A shy woman wrote about her first journey away from Guatemala as she watched houses and volcanoes appear toy-sized from her plane window. A German immigrant described her sister's spacious home in Albany from the perspective of someone who escaped great difficulties. A teen described going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Adirondacks with her family. An East Indian man, visiting his daughter, took us on a tour of Walden Pond and we learn of Gandhi's connection to Thoreau through civil disobedience. We see the old copy of the Bhagavad-Gita in Thoreau's reconstructed cabin and are astonished. The group was charged with new energy and decided to keep meeting. I was thrilled to have taught this class. Everybody won!
Photo: Susannah Risley and workshop participants. Credit: Karen Bradley.
Support for Readings/Workshops in New York is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with additional support from the Friends of Poets & Writers.
The editor of Granta discusses three works of fiction that best capture the effects of 9/11; Elissa Schappell on Blueprints for Building Better Girls; new literary events listings; and other news.
A volunteer at Ground Zero collected a poem written shortly after 9/11 by a sixth grader, and recently met the poet; a new study suggests the reading of fiction increases feelings of empathy; director Baz Luhrmann is filming a 3D adaptation of The Great Gatsby; and other news.
Literary agent Jason Allen Ashlock argues his profession should not also act as publishers; GalleyCat says this is the worst week to pitch a publishing professional; England's poet laureate claims texting is good practice for writing of poetry, and other news.
How a Twitter trend is born; top authors pitch story ideas for crowdfunded publication; bridging the L.A. divide with books; this fall's must-reads; and other news.
Sam Savage wrote for decades and eventually gave up completely before his debut novel was published when he was sixty-five. Now he’s an international best-selling author with a third novel, Glass, published by Coffee House Press, and one simple message for all of us: Art can save you.
Patti Smith honored for the poetry of her music; Russia's most famous inmate pens prison stories; Seattle faces a week without libraries; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has Austen at its heart; and other stories.
