49 writers weekly round-up

This week I got to part of “a select group of artists” asked to participate in the Artists and the Economic Recession Survey. Conducted by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), a ten-year national initiative to improve conditions for artists and supervised by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, the survey asked about how this year compared to others in terms of opportunities and sales. It asked how I was coping and what might help me cope better. Even though I was only filling in form-fields online, for fifteen minutes it made me feel like someone really cared about what it’s like eeking out a living doing what we do. It also acquainted me with LINC, where artists can learn about a nationwide network of fifteen Creative Communities working to improve local and regional conditions for artists as well as exploring resources, research, and tools on artist space, and learning more about live/work spaces available for artists across the country.

The site might even be helpful to one of our readers, who wrote to ask if there are any writing retreats in Alaska in August or September this year. I’ll tell her about the Wrangell Mountain Writing Workshop. If anyone knows of others, please leave a comment here.

Good news from Alaskan poet and playwright Joan Kane, who has made the list of 36 finalists (out of almost 600 applicants)for the 2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship competition. Winners will be announced on the Poetry Magazine website.

A reminder, too, that the world premiere of Joan’s play “The Gilded Tusk” is in its final week at the Anchorage Museum. Featuring a young woman who tires of waiting for her prospector husband and sets off for Nome alone, the play can be seen daily at 11 a.m.

Another Alaskan writer, Glenda Smith, reports that since December 2008, she has been the fortunate novice author participating in The Book Project,a group of 13 writers (selected from 50 applicants) who been writing a collaborative novel, working only online in our forum and using a private wiki site. The group is scheduling webinars in September; if interested, e-mail webinar@amazonclicks.com. Look for an interview with Glenda about the project in an upcoming 49 writers post.

More Alaskan writing activity: the Alaska Writers Guild is bringing six professionals in various aspects of the writing business as faculty for a two-day workshop at Coast International Inn, near the Ted Stevens International Airport, in Anchorage, August 22nd and 23rd, 2009. Writers in all stages from all over Alaska are invited.

Keynote speaker Andrew Harmon, playwright, and creativity consultant, will lead a workshop on “The Four Crises of Authorship—Moments of Truth in the Creative Process.” Harmon’s breakout session will cover “Voices of the Change Journey—Plot, Character Function and Dilemma as Explanation.” Elizabeth Sims, author of six novels, will go over the importance of the first draft: “Rough it Up: For a Better First Draft, Get Messy!”

Paula Margulies, PR expert, will cover “Book Publicity on a Budget—Seven Simple Steps for the Frugal Writer.” Literary lawyer Paul S. Levine will teach “Legal and Business Aspects of Writing Fiction and Non-Fiction Books.” Chuck Sambuchino, editor for Writers Digest Books, will go over “What Editors Want” and “Building Your Freelance Portfolio; Magazine & Newspaper Writing 101.” Lynn Price, editorial director, will speak on what to do after the manuscript is done: “I’ve Written ‘The End’—Pass Me the Maalox” and “Good Grief! Who ARE All these Publishers?” Janet Reid, literary agent, will lead the interactive workshop: “Write a Query Letter That Knocks My Socks Off!”

Workshop faculty will offer reviews and critiques of manuscripts that are submitted prior to arrival at the workshop. Some scholarships are available; contact the Guild for details.

Finally, a few competitions of note: The Briar Cliff Review Poetry, Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Competition opens August 1 and runs through November 1. There’s a $20 entry fee per story/creative nonfiction piece or grouping of 3 poems with a $1,000 prize for the winner in each category. Also, the Juniper Prize for poetry opens August 1 and runs through September 30, with a $25 entry fee for a manuscript of poems with a first place prize of $1,500, plus publication of the winning manuscript.

And speaking of contests, watch for details next week on our very own tongue-in-cheek “Ode to a Dead Salmon” writing contest.