Literary World at a Glance: 11/18/20
By Hannah Paige
News:
The Authors League Fund is accepting applications for writers who have been impacted by Covid to receive grant funds.
“Since 1917, the Authors League Fund has helped professional authors, journalists, poets, and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income, or other misfortune.
Most of those we help suffer severe health problems but have inadequate insurance; some face eviction; many are older writers whose income has ceased through no fault of their own.
The Fund exists to help professional writers continue their careers with dignity by providing no-strings-attached “loans” to pay for pressing expenses. Repayment of this emergency support is not required.”
#BoxedOut Campaign still going strong
The campaign against Amazon to support and strengthen independent booksellers was launched in October. For more information on how to participate in the campaign, you can visit the American Booksellers Association website.
The New York Times also published a piece on the relevancy of this movement and why it’s important to keep this effort moving.
WordTech Communications LLC is holding a reading period for full-length poetry manuscripts.
Dates: November 1–December 31 (e-mail submission). Recent authors: Arlene Biala, Judith Brice, Rhina Espaillat, Charles Brice, Lee Herrick, George Keithley, Lehua Taitano. Publication in 2022. Guidelines: www.wordtechcommunications.com/deadline-list.htm.
Meet Me at 5 a.m. (A rotating list of resources for the dedicated writers)
One of the most important lessons for writers to learn in their study of the craft and their path to becoming a published author is to trust the work. The terrible sentence had to be written in order for you to write the one that makes you sit back in your chair, sip your coffee and say to yourself, “Wow, so that’s what it is to write. This is the magic of words.” Anne Lamott’s famous essay “Shitty First Drafts” is widely read by writers everywhere for a reason; its message is imperative to embrace.
In this week’s segment of Meet Me at 5 a.m., we look to a fantastic article in Poets & Writers about trusting the work. It is especially relevant during these times, when those of us in the creative fields can feel discouraged and unproductive. The guilt surrounding the unproductivity of artists during stressful times is abounding in conversations. I encourage my fellow writers to turn to pieces such as these, to be reminded to trust the work, and to have faith in themselves as creative people.
