12/22/12
Word is spreading
I was touched to see that the founder and head of an elementary school in California is reading Mentors, Muses & Monsters, and was so struck by Alexander Chee's essay on Annie Dillard that she devoted a blogspot to it. Click here to read it. Thank you!
10/22/12
Center for Fiction - A Great Evening - Nov. 13!
Nov. 13. NYC. Please join Dani Shapiro, Thomas Beller, Maud Newton and me for this Mentors, Muses & Monsters panel at the Center for Fiction at 17 East 47th St, just off Fifth Avenue. Gail Kinn's donation of books by her late husband Jerome Badanes is at the heart of this very special evening. RSVP is necessary. $5 suggested donation. (Hey, it's worth it and more!)
5/2/12
Barack, Barnard & 3Ms
I was thrilled that President Obama chose to give a commencement address at Barnard this year, on May 14--thrilled for Barnard, from which I graduated, and for the attention it will bring to women's issues as the Republicans wage their war against women.
The Barnard reunion will be held a few weeks later, the weekend of June 1, and for the second year in a row, Mentors, Muses & Monsters will be used as an inspiration for getting reunion goers to remember people who mattered to them. In conjunction with The Moth, a Barnard alum from each decade has been chosen to do a public telling of her story of a mentor, muse or monster from her time at Barnard. I'm honored the book is part of the reunion program and looking forward to attending the event and posting the video when it's available.
The Barnard reunion will be held a few weeks later, the weekend of June 1, and for the second year in a row, Mentors, Muses & Monsters will be used as an inspiration for getting reunion goers to remember people who mattered to them. In conjunction with The Moth, a Barnard alum from each decade has been chosen to do a public telling of her story of a mentor, muse or monster from her time at Barnard. I'm honored the book is part of the reunion program and looking forward to attending the event and posting the video when it's available.
4/25/12
Looking backwards and forwards...
Huge thanks to Porter Square Books in Cambridge, and to panelists Jay Cantor, Chris Castellani, and Elizabeth Searle, who joined me to talk about influence and mentorship - and specifically Bernard Malamud, John Hawkes, and the Bread Loaf writers conference, where Chris Castellani, now the Director of Grub Street, got his mojo back after a dispiriting time in graduate school. Many old friends showed up. It was great to be back at my favorite local bookstore!
This summer, I'll be teaching, as I always do, at the NY State Summer Writers Institute, and talking about mentorship and influence - and 3Ms - with the Young Writers, in their special program at Skidmore, and doing a panel with director Robert Boyers, also a contributor to 3Ms, at the end of the first week of July. Stay tuned for details.
This summer, I'll be teaching, as I always do, at the NY State Summer Writers Institute, and talking about mentorship and influence - and 3Ms - with the Young Writers, in their special program at Skidmore, and doing a panel with director Robert Boyers, also a contributor to 3Ms, at the end of the first week of July. Stay tuned for details.
3/5/12
Tin House Behind the Scenes & Out Front
Mentors, Muses & Monsters was conceived as a result of an essay I wrote for them about Elizabeth Hardwick. Once the book was sold, Sigird Nunez's piece on Susan Sontag was first published in Tin House as well. Here's a thank you to Tin House for all they've done.
Tin House Behind the Scenes & Out Front
Mentors, Muses & Monsters was conceived as a result of an essay I wrote for them about Elizabeth Hardwick. Once the book was sold, Sigird Nunez's piece on Susan Sontag was first published in Tin House as well. Here's a a thank you to Tin House for all they've done.
2/7/12
2/6/12
Why Writers Need Mentors ...
This wonderful tribute to the anthology appeared on the blog "3:17 AM" some time ago, but just came to my attention. It includes, among other goodies, a cover photo of one of Carolyn See's father's porn novels that she writes so splendidly about in her essay. Worth a look!
2/5/12
NOW IN PAPERBACK!
Mentors, Muses & Monsters is now in paperback, and also available on Kindle and through BN's ebook/Nook. Is there a writer, reader, MFA student, or librarian in your life?
From my "Preface to the Paperback" -- "Every book is special to its author or editor, but this anthology has a particular place in my affections for several reasons. When I asked the writers whose work you are about to read to contribute to the collection, I knew what they wrote would be good -- but there was no way of knowing just how good each of these essays would be. As they arrived in my e-mail inbox, one after another, and I read them sitting at the screen, I often felt the wind knocked out of me. It was clear from the depth of feeling and the care lavished on each sentence that the writers had devoted themselves to this project, to these tender and complex tributes to the people, books, and events that had altered the course of their lives...."
Thanks to all the contributors, the many magazine and journal editors who published these essays in connection with the anthology, and to the readers and reviewers who have praised them in public and private.
~~ Best, Liz Benedict
From my "Preface to the Paperback" -- "Every book is special to its author or editor, but this anthology has a particular place in my affections for several reasons. When I asked the writers whose work you are about to read to contribute to the collection, I knew what they wrote would be good -- but there was no way of knowing just how good each of these essays would be. As they arrived in my e-mail inbox, one after another, and I read them sitting at the screen, I often felt the wind knocked out of me. It was clear from the depth of feeling and the care lavished on each sentence that the writers had devoted themselves to this project, to these tender and complex tributes to the people, books, and events that had altered the course of their lives...."
Thanks to all the contributors, the many magazine and journal editors who published these essays in connection with the anthology, and to the readers and reviewers who have praised them in public and private.
~~ Best, Liz Benedict
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