There May Be Ice Cream
Guest blogger Derek Furr writes about hope, dessert and ambiguous rejection letters. Let me begin with a familiar tale of rejection. I pulled into my driveway at the end of the day, entered the back door and greeted my family…
MFA is for Applications
Volunteer Karolina offers advice about applying to MFA programs. What happens once you’ve decided to apply to an MFA program in creative writing? If you’re anything like me, the application process can be a little daunting. There are so many…
NaNoWriMo: Not Just About Getting Published
Guest blogger Shannon Lawrence writes about why she does NaNoWriMo. #nanowrimo As the leaves turn and begin to fall, writers everywhere are doing more than busting out the rakes. Autumn means it’s time for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month,…
The Opening Sentence
Intern Gediyon offers advice about opening sentences. In creative writing workshops, instructors discuss setting, plot, dialogue, conflict, description, characterization and all the other things that go into a great story. All these things are important—they wouldn’t be taught if they…
Eulogies for Poe
Volunteer Holly honors a late literary great. The night was like a scene from Poe’s own pen: “The skies they were ashen and sober; / The leaves they were crisped and sere-- / The leaves they were withering and sere;…
NaNoWriMo Here I Come: Erin M. Hartshorn
Guest blogger Erin M. Hartshorn writes about her NaNoWriMo experiences and her hope for the month of November. I first did NaNoWriMo in 2003, about the time when I first decided I was actually going to pursue writing. My goal…
Book Festival Season
Volunteer Nathan ventures out to the National Book Festival and the Baltimore Book Festival. Book lovers in the D.C./Baltimore area have it made. On September 22-23, the National Book Festival was held on the National Mall in D.C. The Baltimore…
Speaking Truth to Power: Salman Rushdie and Joseph Anton
Guest blogger Tara Campbell attends a presentation by Salman Rushdie at George Washington University. Salman Rushdie is known for his sweeping, multigenerational family sagas featuring willful matriarchs and larger-than-life patriarchs. In his novels, history and magical realism intertwine, and the legends and…
Accolades for Susi Wyss and The Civilized World
Volunteer Andrea interviews Susi Wyss, winner of the Peace Corps’ 2011 Maria Thomas Award for Fiction. Volunteer Andrea: How did you find out that you won the Maria Thomas Award for Fiction? Susi Wyss: I was contacted by John Coyne,…
National Book Festival: Tribute to Madeleine L’Engle
Volunteer Andrea celebrates Madeleine L’Engle and the 50th anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time at the National Book Festival. Hope Larson illustrated a full-length graphic novel about A Wrinkle in Time. “Two pages of pictures for every one in the…