Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Yet Another Job
At the risk of turning this blog into an employment agency, here’s yet another job opening: Director at Bethesda’s Writer’s Center. For details about the position, please look here.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Another Job
Here’s something to consider if you or your bookish friends might be looking for part-time work:
Permanent part-time positions are available at DC's Politics and Prose bookstore to staff our out-of-store (offsite) author events and book parties. Candidates should be responsible, resourceful, personable, professional, and must have strong communication skills. A valid driver’s license, flexible working hours (must be available days and evenings), and the ability to carry heavy boxes (of books) are all required. If you are interested, please email bkogod@politics-prose.com.
Permanent part-time positions are available at DC's Politics and Prose bookstore to staff our out-of-store (offsite) author events and book parties. Candidates should be responsible, resourceful, personable, professional, and must have strong communication skills. A valid driver’s license, flexible working hours (must be available days and evenings), and the ability to carry heavy boxes (of books) are all required. If you are interested, please email bkogod@politics-prose.com.
Get Your Novel Critiqued
I’m always pleased to announce this great opportunity for those of you who have a full novel manuscript that you would like critiqued:
Peabody's Novel Class for Summer 2008: Critique Your Complete Novel, Not Just a Couple of Chapters:
Limited to 5 students. We meet every two weeks on Thursday nights 7:30 until 10pm at my house in Arlington, Virginia. Four to five blocks from Virginia Square Metro station.
1. June 26
2. July 10
3. July 24
4. August 7
5. August 21
6. September 4
7. September 11
Cost is $500 to be paid before the first night. Due to people dropping the class at the last minute and forcing me to cancel the entire session I now require that $125 of this fee be non-refundable and paid before the class begins. Every participant turns in their complete novel and synopsis the first night along with 5 copies for everybody else and me. That way you get handwritten notes on everything from everybody. And you should feel free to recommend cuts, improvements, make suggestions, mark the manuscripts up at will. That's what this class is all about. By meeting every two weeks each participant should have plenty of time to complete their critiques. If you can't attend every meeting (which I demand save for unforeseeable illness or death in the family as it's a question of fairness and honor) please don't bother signing up.
Why do I teach this class? Because you can go to your favorite bookshop and lift any number of contemporary novels off the shelf and read a few chapters only to discover that they fall apart at chapter four. Why? I've found that most MFA programs only critique the first three chapters of your manuscript. Plus, I've learned from the hands-on experience of teaching this course that a complete reading and critique is absolutely the best way (dare I say only way) to go. What's the advantage of a small class like this one? There's nothing quite like having five people discuss your characters as though they were living people for 2 1/2 hours. What sorts of novels are eligible? Generally I handle serious literary fiction (both realism and experimental works), but the class has included YA , Sci-Fi, Mystery, Horror, Thriller, and Romance novels. If you are interested do please email me a chapter and a synopsis. I'm only considering completed novels in the 250-350 dbl. spaced page range. (That's one-sided, double spaced, 12pt. in Courier font.) Anything longer than that is pretty much wishful thinking right now due to grim market economics and politics. Most first novels are 300 dbl. spaced pages which equals 200pp. in book form. Simply a fact of the biz. Second novels are frequently a different story.
Alumni from Peabody's 22 years of university, Writer's Center, and private classes with filmed screenplays, books in print (or forthcoming) include: Mark Baechtel, Doreen Baingana, Toby Barlow, Maggie Bartley, Jodi Bloom, Sean Brijbasi, Peter Brown, Robert Cullen, Priscilla Cummings, Katharine Davis, Lucinda Ebersole, Sandy Florian, Cara Haycak, Dave Housley, Catherine Kimrey, Rachel King, Adam Kulakow, Nathan Leslie, Redge Mahaffey, Charlotte Manning, James Mathews, Meena Nayak, Matthew Olshan, William Orem, Mary Over ton, Saideh Pakravan, Carolyn Parkhurst, Sally Pfoutz, Nani Power, Carey Roberts, Lisa Schamess, Brenda Seabrooke, Julia Slavin, David Taylor, Lisa M. Tillman, Sharlie West, and Yolanda Young.
My house is 2 blocks from Quincy Park and the Central Library on Quincy Street. For more information, please email gargoyle@gargoylemagazine.com.
Richard Peabody wears many literary hats. He is editor of Gargoyle Magazine (founded in 1976), has published a novella, two books of short stories, six books of poems, plus an e-book, and edited or co-edited fourteen anthologies including: Mondo Barbie, Mondo Elvis, Mondo Marilyn, Mondo James Dean, Coming to Terms: A Literary Response to Abortion, Conversations with Gore Vidal, A Different Beat: Writings by Women of the Beat Generation, Grace and Gravity: Fiction by Washington Area Women,Alice Redux: New Stories of Alice, Lewis, and Wonderland, Sex & Chocolate: Tasty Morsels for Mind and Body, Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction by Washington Area Women, Kiss the Sky: Fiction and Poetry Starring Jimi Hendrix and Electric Grace: Still More Fiction by Washington Area Women. Stress City: A Big Book of Fiction by Fifty DC Guys is forthcoming in spring 2008. Peabody teaches fiction writing for the Johns Hopkins Advanced Studies Program and the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He lives in Arlington, Virginia. You can find out more at http://www.gargoylemagazine.com/ and http://www.wikipedia.com/
Peabody's Novel Class for Summer 2008: Critique Your Complete Novel, Not Just a Couple of Chapters:
Limited to 5 students. We meet every two weeks on Thursday nights 7:30 until 10pm at my house in Arlington, Virginia. Four to five blocks from Virginia Square Metro station.
1. June 26
2. July 10
3. July 24
4. August 7
5. August 21
6. September 4
7. September 11
Cost is $500 to be paid before the first night. Due to people dropping the class at the last minute and forcing me to cancel the entire session I now require that $125 of this fee be non-refundable and paid before the class begins. Every participant turns in their complete novel and synopsis the first night along with 5 copies for everybody else and me. That way you get handwritten notes on everything from everybody. And you should feel free to recommend cuts, improvements, make suggestions, mark the manuscripts up at will. That's what this class is all about. By meeting every two weeks each participant should have plenty of time to complete their critiques. If you can't attend every meeting (which I demand save for unforeseeable illness or death in the family as it's a question of fairness and honor) please don't bother signing up.
Why do I teach this class? Because you can go to your favorite bookshop and lift any number of contemporary novels off the shelf and read a few chapters only to discover that they fall apart at chapter four. Why? I've found that most MFA programs only critique the first three chapters of your manuscript. Plus, I've learned from the hands-on experience of teaching this course that a complete reading and critique is absolutely the best way (dare I say only way) to go. What's the advantage of a small class like this one? There's nothing quite like having five people discuss your characters as though they were living people for 2 1/2 hours. What sorts of novels are eligible? Generally I handle serious literary fiction (both realism and experimental works), but the class has included YA , Sci-Fi, Mystery, Horror, Thriller, and Romance novels. If you are interested do please email me a chapter and a synopsis. I'm only considering completed novels in the 250-350 dbl. spaced page range. (That's one-sided, double spaced, 12pt. in Courier font.) Anything longer than that is pretty much wishful thinking right now due to grim market economics and politics. Most first novels are 300 dbl. spaced pages which equals 200pp. in book form. Simply a fact of the biz. Second novels are frequently a different story.
Alumni from Peabody's 22 years of university, Writer's Center, and private classes with filmed screenplays, books in print (or forthcoming) include: Mark Baechtel, Doreen Baingana, Toby Barlow, Maggie Bartley, Jodi Bloom, Sean Brijbasi, Peter Brown, Robert Cullen, Priscilla Cummings, Katharine Davis, Lucinda Ebersole, Sandy Florian, Cara Haycak, Dave Housley, Catherine Kimrey, Rachel King, Adam Kulakow, Nathan Leslie, Redge Mahaffey, Charlotte Manning, James Mathews, Meena Nayak, Matthew Olshan, William Orem, Mary Over ton, Saideh Pakravan, Carolyn Parkhurst, Sally Pfoutz, Nani Power, Carey Roberts, Lisa Schamess, Brenda Seabrooke, Julia Slavin, David Taylor, Lisa M. Tillman, Sharlie West, and Yolanda Young.
My house is 2 blocks from Quincy Park and the Central Library on Quincy Street. For more information, please email gargoyle@gargoylemagazine.com.
Richard Peabody wears many literary hats. He is editor of Gargoyle Magazine (founded in 1976), has published a novella, two books of short stories, six books of poems, plus an e-book, and edited or co-edited fourteen anthologies including: Mondo Barbie, Mondo Elvis, Mondo Marilyn, Mondo James Dean, Coming to Terms: A Literary Response to Abortion, Conversations with Gore Vidal, A Different Beat: Writings by Women of the Beat Generation, Grace and Gravity: Fiction by Washington Area Women,Alice Redux: New Stories of Alice, Lewis, and Wonderland, Sex & Chocolate: Tasty Morsels for Mind and Body, Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction by Washington Area Women, Kiss the Sky: Fiction and Poetry Starring Jimi Hendrix and Electric Grace: Still More Fiction by Washington Area Women. Stress City: A Big Book of Fiction by Fifty DC Guys is forthcoming in spring 2008. Peabody teaches fiction writing for the Johns Hopkins Advanced Studies Program and the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He lives in Arlington, Virginia. You can find out more at http://www.gargoylemagazine.com/ and http://www.wikipedia.com/
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Work in Progress: Collage
I wanted to write just a bit about the collage class I conducted a couple weeks ago at the Writers at the Beach conference in Rehoboth, Delaware. I was intrigued with the idea of collage—melding together disparate elements to create a whole—but unsure as to what the outcome might be.
Here’s the process I used for the class:
The class—and I—started out by writing about foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs that I passed out: first, we wrote lists of descriptive phrases. We shared some of those out loud. Then we came up with various associations, also written in a list format, again sharing our favorite selections. (The reading out loud of various associations and lines created its own type of aural collage; it was amazing how people’s minds moved so differently along the same opening parameters of “foil-wrapped chocolate Easter egg.”) Then we took our most intriguing association, and wrote sentences about that, each sentence on a separate line—again, trying to continue with the sense of a list format. I think things were most successful when one viewed the sentences not necessarily as a continuation of the previous sentence but as a response, whether oppositional or complementary or adding additional information. Again, we read out loud.
We continued in this vein with two other structured responses, involving people we knew well and objects from home, and some random, evocative words that I provided. In the end, we had each produced about 15 or so sheets of paper with various lists and sentences (I recommend starting each list on a brand new sheet of paper; copy paper worked well, with no lines and a sense of abundance: we had 500 sheets at our disposal!).
Once we’d accumulated all this raw material, the fun began: we composed a collage of five or so sentences and/or phrases, organized with an eye to pattern, silence, and, again, response. We tried to do a minimal amount of editing on the sentences we had come up with. Of course, the main thing in working with this type of exercise is to feel relaxed and to go with your instincts, not forcing your collage into something, but letting it arise organically (well…as much as possible in the fifteen minutes we had allotted; I do think an interesting experiment would be to see what might be different—or not—if you were to create the collage the next day, approaching the material from a more distant vantage point.).
We read our collages out loud, and honestly, it made my spine tingle to see what people had come up with. There were themes that people had found through all three parts of the exercise, even though the topics were quite different. One woman reported that she had remembered things she hadn’t known she remembered about her grandmother. A man read a collage that was about grief and loss that almost made us cry. Everyone’s work felt like a magical, secret scrapbook of something intimate.
I was happy that I had actively participated instead of merely facilitating as I typically do during a writing exercise class. And though it’s easier to have the combined elements of surprise and structure as offered by someone else (after all, I knew we’d be writing about chocolate eggs in advance, and they didn’t), I still think this exercise could be done at home, alone. And people who may not think of themselves as natural writers* could benefit as well—this is a non-threatening approach to composition.
I suggest writing up a list of evocative words and writing one each on an index card (oh, again and again, the beauty of index cards!). When you sit down to try to compose a collage, select one card at random—start with a descriptive list, the list of associations, and finally, the sentences. Then try 2-3 more words, and then develop your collage. We took about 2 hours or so total, but we also spent some of that time reading out loud.
I found the exercise freed my mind and yet also pushed me into seeing new connections, both in my life and in the written word. Because the process was so different than the way I approach a story (“what happens next?”), I think I relearned that there is equal power in associations and in the silences between linked sentences. I can imagine approaching a troublesome scene differently after going through this exercise…in fact, it might be interesting to try this collage technique with a fictional character in mind (we were working from our own lives and experiences). I’m sure I haven’t quite figured out everything that I learned, just that this class was unexpectedly transformative for me. And that, more than anything, is what I enjoy about teaching: the countless times when I get as much from the experience as the class does.
*Note: Special thanks to husband Steve, the guinea pig as I tried out the chocolate Easter egg portion of the exercise at home…it’s nice to be able to bribe someone with a few pieces of candy! And he wrote up with some great stuff, too.
Here’s the process I used for the class:
The class—and I—started out by writing about foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs that I passed out: first, we wrote lists of descriptive phrases. We shared some of those out loud. Then we came up with various associations, also written in a list format, again sharing our favorite selections. (The reading out loud of various associations and lines created its own type of aural collage; it was amazing how people’s minds moved so differently along the same opening parameters of “foil-wrapped chocolate Easter egg.”) Then we took our most intriguing association, and wrote sentences about that, each sentence on a separate line—again, trying to continue with the sense of a list format. I think things were most successful when one viewed the sentences not necessarily as a continuation of the previous sentence but as a response, whether oppositional or complementary or adding additional information. Again, we read out loud.
We continued in this vein with two other structured responses, involving people we knew well and objects from home, and some random, evocative words that I provided. In the end, we had each produced about 15 or so sheets of paper with various lists and sentences (I recommend starting each list on a brand new sheet of paper; copy paper worked well, with no lines and a sense of abundance: we had 500 sheets at our disposal!).
Once we’d accumulated all this raw material, the fun began: we composed a collage of five or so sentences and/or phrases, organized with an eye to pattern, silence, and, again, response. We tried to do a minimal amount of editing on the sentences we had come up with. Of course, the main thing in working with this type of exercise is to feel relaxed and to go with your instincts, not forcing your collage into something, but letting it arise organically (well…as much as possible in the fifteen minutes we had allotted; I do think an interesting experiment would be to see what might be different—or not—if you were to create the collage the next day, approaching the material from a more distant vantage point.).
We read our collages out loud, and honestly, it made my spine tingle to see what people had come up with. There were themes that people had found through all three parts of the exercise, even though the topics were quite different. One woman reported that she had remembered things she hadn’t known she remembered about her grandmother. A man read a collage that was about grief and loss that almost made us cry. Everyone’s work felt like a magical, secret scrapbook of something intimate.
I was happy that I had actively participated instead of merely facilitating as I typically do during a writing exercise class. And though it’s easier to have the combined elements of surprise and structure as offered by someone else (after all, I knew we’d be writing about chocolate eggs in advance, and they didn’t), I still think this exercise could be done at home, alone. And people who may not think of themselves as natural writers* could benefit as well—this is a non-threatening approach to composition.
I suggest writing up a list of evocative words and writing one each on an index card (oh, again and again, the beauty of index cards!). When you sit down to try to compose a collage, select one card at random—start with a descriptive list, the list of associations, and finally, the sentences. Then try 2-3 more words, and then develop your collage. We took about 2 hours or so total, but we also spent some of that time reading out loud.
I found the exercise freed my mind and yet also pushed me into seeing new connections, both in my life and in the written word. Because the process was so different than the way I approach a story (“what happens next?”), I think I relearned that there is equal power in associations and in the silences between linked sentences. I can imagine approaching a troublesome scene differently after going through this exercise…in fact, it might be interesting to try this collage technique with a fictional character in mind (we were working from our own lives and experiences). I’m sure I haven’t quite figured out everything that I learned, just that this class was unexpectedly transformative for me. And that, more than anything, is what I enjoy about teaching: the countless times when I get as much from the experience as the class does.
*Note: Special thanks to husband Steve, the guinea pig as I tried out the chocolate Easter egg portion of the exercise at home…it’s nice to be able to bribe someone with a few pieces of candy! And he wrote up with some great stuff, too.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
NPR's Sound Pictures
I love this regular feature on NPR every time I happen to catch it. They play sound clips of various famous people and actors, and listeners write in to describe--creatively--what these voices sound like. Yesterday, I heard the responses for Henry Kissinger, Christopher Walken, Andy Devine, and Jeanette MacDonald.
This is a selection of how people described Henry Kissinger’s voice:
The old guy in the row behind you on an airplane dictating a letter for the entire flight [to hear] — Marty Combs
The love child of Marlene Dietrich and Elmer Fudd — Curtiss Clark
Pudding skin — John Peck
His tongue is the wrong size for his head — Lucie Shores
How the ticking might sound in Salvador Dali's paintings of melting clocks — Scott Olson
An old Chevy with a bad muffler idling inside an abandoned cave — Beth Bailey
Herman Munster after having bitten his own tongue — Patrick Gerrity
And here are some descriptions of actor Christopher Walken:
The car salesman who just quit smoking three days ago and has poison ivy on his arms — Charles Rajani
The nervous, shifting eyes of your neighbor's crazy dog — Marty Conboy
The cat that saunters by ignoring you, then suddenly turns around and smiles — Olivia Elisabeth Collins
The guy you change your mind about getting on the elevator with — John Harrison
Stoli served over cracked ice — Ginny McCaskey
The troubling dream you had and can't quite remember — Rhonda Broom
The cool uncle who snuck you a beer at the family barbecue when you were 13 — John Medici
There are others, found here. And you can participate in the next session; simply go here and listen to the voices up for next time: political activist Jesse Jackson, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Jefferson Airplane lead singer Grace Slick, and Paula Winslowe, better known as the voice of Bambi's mother.
This is a selection of how people described Henry Kissinger’s voice:
The old guy in the row behind you on an airplane dictating a letter for the entire flight [to hear] — Marty Combs
The love child of Marlene Dietrich and Elmer Fudd — Curtiss Clark
Pudding skin — John Peck
His tongue is the wrong size for his head — Lucie Shores
How the ticking might sound in Salvador Dali's paintings of melting clocks — Scott Olson
An old Chevy with a bad muffler idling inside an abandoned cave — Beth Bailey
Herman Munster after having bitten his own tongue — Patrick Gerrity
And here are some descriptions of actor Christopher Walken:
The car salesman who just quit smoking three days ago and has poison ivy on his arms — Charles Rajani
The nervous, shifting eyes of your neighbor's crazy dog — Marty Conboy
The cat that saunters by ignoring you, then suddenly turns around and smiles — Olivia Elisabeth Collins
The guy you change your mind about getting on the elevator with — John Harrison
Stoli served over cracked ice — Ginny McCaskey
The troubling dream you had and can't quite remember — Rhonda Broom
The cool uncle who snuck you a beer at the family barbecue when you were 13 — John Medici
There are others, found here. And you can participate in the next session; simply go here and listen to the voices up for next time: political activist Jesse Jackson, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Jefferson Airplane lead singer Grace Slick, and Paula Winslowe, better known as the voice of Bambi's mother.
Poets: Spend Time in the City of Big Shoulders
Here’s another residency that I’m dying to be selected for and I’m not even remotely eligible. Tell your poet friends:
The Poetry Center of Chicago Summer Residency
The Poetry Center of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are pleased to announce that they will award a poetry residency in the heart of Chicago's vibrant downtown. One poet will be awarded a month-long poetry residency with housing. This residency is open to poets who have published no more than one book of poetry, not including self-published work.
In addition to housing, the Poet will receive a $1,000 stipend. The Poet is responsible for his/her own travel and meal expenses.
Accommodations will be provided at The School of the Art Institute's residency tower, located in the Loop at 162 North State Street, which is walking distance from Lake Michigan, museums, including the Art Institute where the poet will receive free admission, and other attractions. The spacious studio apartments feature kitchens and private baths.
Submission deadline Friday, May 09, 2008. Applications and supporting materials must be received in office by 6 pm on Friday, May 09, 2008.
Download application here.
The Poetry Center of Chicago Summer Residency
The Poetry Center of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are pleased to announce that they will award a poetry residency in the heart of Chicago's vibrant downtown. One poet will be awarded a month-long poetry residency with housing. This residency is open to poets who have published no more than one book of poetry, not including self-published work.
In addition to housing, the Poet will receive a $1,000 stipend. The Poet is responsible for his/her own travel and meal expenses.
Accommodations will be provided at The School of the Art Institute's residency tower, located in the Loop at 162 North State Street, which is walking distance from Lake Michigan, museums, including the Art Institute where the poet will receive free admission, and other attractions. The spacious studio apartments feature kitchens and private baths.
Submission deadline Friday, May 09, 2008. Applications and supporting materials must be received in office by 6 pm on Friday, May 09, 2008.
Download application here.
Learn More about Copywriting
This is tomorrow night, so not much notice, but it sounds like a great program if you’re in the Richmond area:
The Writing Show: Don't just say it, sell it
Do you watch the Super Bowl just for the ads? Do you have a knack for snappy phrasing? Can you distill ideas, information, and the conflicting input of a dozen people into a single lively paragraph? Could copywriting be for you?
Copywriting is much more than creative headlines; discover what the experts have to say about the art, the craft, and the business of writing for advertising at this month's Writing Show.
Can you hear me now? The art and the business of copywriting.
Featuring panelists:
--Hugh Gouldthorpe, Jr., Owens & Minor
--Joe Alexander, The Martin Agency
--Caroline Kettlewell, freelancer
--Kathleen Toler, freelancer
--And your host, Carol Roper
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Eureka Theater
Science Museum of Virginia
6 PM JRW Member Reception
6:30 PM Writing Show Begins
$10 / $5 students with valid school ID
Register online at JamesRiverWriters.com
The Writing Show is brought to you by James River Writers and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Writing Show: Don't just say it, sell it
Do you watch the Super Bowl just for the ads? Do you have a knack for snappy phrasing? Can you distill ideas, information, and the conflicting input of a dozen people into a single lively paragraph? Could copywriting be for you?
Copywriting is much more than creative headlines; discover what the experts have to say about the art, the craft, and the business of writing for advertising at this month's Writing Show.
Can you hear me now? The art and the business of copywriting.
Featuring panelists:
--Hugh Gouldthorpe, Jr., Owens & Minor
--Joe Alexander, The Martin Agency
--Caroline Kettlewell, freelancer
--Kathleen Toler, freelancer
--And your host, Carol Roper
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Eureka Theater
Science Museum of Virginia
6 PM JRW Member Reception
6:30 PM Writing Show Begins
$10 / $5 students with valid school ID
Register online at JamesRiverWriters.com
The Writing Show is brought to you by James River Writers and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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