ARHU 319A Section 0101, Spring 2014

Tuesdays, 6-8:30 pmOffice Hours: Mondays 5:15-6:15 (Domain. Call: 202-763-1349)

Dorchester 0128Meg Eden, pirate_pegleg@verizon.net, 301-226-9147 (work)

ARHU 319A: Writing for Publication

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This workshop takes seriously the notion that good writing is an act of clear and imaginative "communication." The workshop challenges students to write and revise for public reading and publication, reading their own work at least once in public and producing a chapbook of high quality by end of semester. Students will also introduce each other to various literary journals, and receive an introduction to publishing, the submission process, and other helpful resources for writers. We will consider a number of journals, and read across cultures and subcultures. Additionally, students will do some self-directed reading of contemporary writers and poets, in the interests of developing and sharing their own deepest interests in writing. Requirements include attendance at two Writers Here and Now events (2/26 and 3/26) plus Litfest (5/1),weekly workshops, and some studio work.

REQUIRED CLASS MATERIALS: Please budget $25.00 - $50.00 for the production materials for your chapbook. You will need to produce at least 2 (two) copies: one for

the Writers’ House archives, and one for yourself. Peer Submissions, handouts in class. Two contemporary literary journals of your choice (about $10-$15/ea). Two full-length collections of contemporary poetry or prose of your choice. (You will present on one of these).

RECOMMENDED STUFF: Subscribe to the WritersMarket.com (use this tool to keep track of your submissions, manuscripts and favorite publications) Get a free Winning Writer’s account (http://winningwriters.com/index.php) Subscription to Poets and Writers Magazine

CLASS MEETING DATES:

In addition to the following class times, don’t forget to put all three Writers’ House mandatory events in your calendar:  Feb. 26, Mar 26, and May 1 (Litfest). 4/30/14 is optional.

day topic prompt activity homework28-Jan What is a Chapbook? photo grabbag intros/syllabus What are your publication goals?4-Feb What is a Litmag? found poem (?) White Elephant/Translation Self Directed Reading List + ORDER! W/S 1: SUBMIT,

RESPOND11-Feb Sarah Browning Visit: Split this Rock tbd Workshop 1 W/S 2: submit, respond,18-Feb Submitting: why, how, where haikyo Workshop 2 W/S 1: submit, respond, start looking at submitting25-Feb Collections: Thinking in Theme tbd Workshop 1 W/S 2: submit, respond, start compiling your pieces

for chapbook4-Mar Sexy Selling: Bios, query letters,

agentsbio write and share Workshop 2 write bio + cover letter

11-Mar Rejection Phobia, Catch up phobia/philia, cover letter edits reading litmags18-Mar SPRING BREAK work on presentations, reading collections + litmags25-Mar NO CLASS Optional Advising @ Domain

(email Meg)submitting

28-Mar Natalie Diaz: Split this Rock Fieldtrip Split this rock!1-Apr Writing Genres and Selling YOUR

LitmagOde to Stressed Litmag Presentation Groups advising: submission receipts, cover letter, bio, feels,

one page struggling with (optional)8-Apr NO CLASS Individual Advising @

Domainresponse piece/imitation and collection notesbring draft of chapbook for editingonline chapbook: submit now!

15-Apr Formatting + Editing (for next week), Linda Rollins

In-Class Manu editing Collection Presentation Groups

trip: money, 2x copies to bind, cover, supplies, binding type

23-Apr Pyramid Atlantic Field trip: no class 4/22

get cereal and open mike pieces for next week. bring chapbook (if possible)

29-Apr Promotion and Witnessing, Show and Tell

Open Mike

1-May Litfest: BRING CHAPBOOK bring chapbook to class, think about post-JPWH goals

6-May After Writer’s House: MFA and Freelancing

Guest speakers: Steven Y

13-May LAST DAY :< self eval.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance at all classes and events is required unless written documentation is provided and the absence constitutes an excused absence by University Guidelines (illness, death in the family, etc).  More than 5 minutes late to anything constitutes a “Tardy.” Attendance is counted into your participation grade.  It’s srs business.

Workshop: Be constructive and specific with POSITIVES and NEGATIVES.  We’re here to help each other grow, not express our subjective

likes/dislikes. Respond to others’ work honestly but respectfully. Listen to all feedback with respect, then revise with that in mind. NO DRAMA LLAMA.

Self-directed reading list: You will read 2 litmags, and 2 collections over the semester. You will present on ONE from each category, but you must read both. You

will be turning in presentation notes. 2 contemporary litmags – must be NOT DEFUNCT!  Bring in a recent copy, from the past year. 2 full length poetry/prose collections – must have been published in the last 30 years; preferably last 10. Resources: http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa-links.html , http://webdelsol.com/index-new-magazines2.htm ,

http://www.everywritersresource.com/topliterarymagazines.html. If you need more, talk to Meg or Johnna.

Formatting: Editors do care, so get into the habit. Font: nothing “funky”.

o 11 or 12 size (12 typical)o Acceptable: Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria, Calibri, Centaur, Century Gothico UNACCEPTABLE: Papyrus, Comic Sans

Prose: double space, title centered. Page numbers at bottom right corner. Poetry: single space (typically), left justified (typically), if long poem—page numbers bottom right. Any name/contact info in top right (header). OMG spellcheck, please.

Submission for Workshop: NEW work please. Even when not submitting, ALWAYS write! Poets:             3-5 pages of poetry, with one poem per page. Prose writers:     5-12 pages.  No excerpts as we are trying to work towards publication in this class.  Several short pieces is OK.

Think of this as a submission to a press and follow directions. DO NOT EXCEED/UNDERCUT GUIDELINES. Be willing to revise, but also take feedback with a healthy grain of salt. It is your work, but you’ll grow if you open yourself to new ideas. Submit online a week before. Deadlines are SERIOUS in this class, as they are for virtually all publication venues.  Late work NOT

ACCEPTED.

Advising: Each student will meet one-on-one with the instructor in a mandatory advising session.  Bring your submission receipt to advising, along with a short justification of why you chose the journals you chose, to submit to.  PS: Meg loves you and wants to hang out. She would love to talk about your work, your goals, and give you specific ideas of where to go next. So email her and let’s hang out <3.

Presentations: Students will read four books and present on two: one journal, one collection. Though you will read two litmags and two collections you only need present on one of each.

1. Literary Journal Presentation: (5-7 minutes) Goal: expose whole class to potential submitting journals. It should be one that you’re (relatively) passionate about. You do not have to submit to this journal, but consider it. If you do submit, you’ll be very well acquainted and know how to submit. READ THE JOURNAL. READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR THE JOURNAL. It MUST accept unsolicited manuscripts, and allow submissions at least through April 15th. BRING COPY OF JOURNAL TO CLASS Discussion ideas: What are the submission guidelines? Who’s submitting to this magazine? What do the editors like/dislike? Can you

submit online? Discuss the masthead and table of contents. How large is the press? Why should someone read this litmag (what is the audience)? Why should anyone submit here?

Select one piece that resonates with you and embodies what the magazine’s about. Share this with the class.

2. Collection Presentation: (8-10 minutes) Bring both collections to class so we can look at them all and get a sense of what people are reading.  You are only presenting on one of

the two. Provide a brief bio/background of the writer.  Also what themes haunt his/her work, what marks her/his style including what forms tend to

get published, who is the audience for this work, what’s her approach to writing or craft in general (if you can find interviews) etc. Select one poem or paragraph that resonates with you and embodies what the collection is all about. Share this with the class. In the case

of paragraphs, please contextualize, or choose a paragraph that “stands alone.”   You need to have notes for this. These will be turned in at the end of class. You should have at least 6 bullet points. In response to this collection, write a piece on this prompt: Reply to [Insert book name/writer here]. This can mean: similar ideas, replying

to an idea in the book, using a stylistic devise or form like the writer, rewriting an idea in the book or a page, or however you’d like to

interpret the prompt. Be prepared to read this to the class and to explain how it relates to your collection. This will be turned in at the end of class.

Publication Submission: Submitting is good for you. It’s not that scary. Choose at least 2 litmags to submit to (due April 8) (Yes, Stylus is an option.) Be prepared to talk about your choices briefly in advising: How do you feel about your submission? Was it a stronger piece of yours, or

could you have done better? Write up why you selected these journals, and bring this and the submission receipt from your lit journal into advising. Also include cover letter and/or bio.

Chapbook: (description below is cut and pasted from the JPWH Student Handbook)Residents will work towards the completion of a short collection of poetry or imaginative prose; they will compose, revise, and edit their work in preparation for publishing the collection as a limited edition, desktop-produced, single-genre chapbook. The content of the chapbook will be reviewed in consultation with an advisor. Those who wish to collect more than one genre may do so on a case-by-case basis and with the approval of the portfolio advisor and/or director.  The chapbook may include poems and prose written during the entire residency at Writers’ House.  The chapbook will be publicly displayed at Litfest.  

The requirements for the chapbook are as follows:Poetry: 25 pages (15 Spanish/foreign language), half of which must be new work from 2nd year Writers’ House coursework.  The remaining half could be drawn (in consultation with advisor) from any college course taken during residency.

Imaginative Prose: 40-50 pages in a single prose genre (25 Spanish/foreign language)-- (e.g. short story, novella, play, one-act play, screenplay, chapters towards a novel, etc.).  Half must be new work from 2nd year Writers’ House coursework.  The remaining half could be drawn (in consultation with advisor) from any college course taken during residency.

COURSE EVALUATION:Participation (includes attendance in class, at events, participation in class discussion, and public reading): 25%Written work collected (besides the chapbook, may include exercises): 20%Presentations: (10%, each – journals and collection) 20%Chapbook (includes draft and advising session): 25%Electronic Publication Group Project:  10%

DISABILITY:If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see the instructor as soon as possible. If you have a disability, you must register with Disability Support Services in the Shoemaker Bldg. (4-7682 or 5-7683), and bring the proper documentation to the instructor in order to receive accommodation.

PROMPT IDEAS:

Stuck? Below are some spring board ideas. Use them if you wish:

Write a poem in a form you’ve never tried before. Prose: if you write long work, try flash fiction. If you usually do flash, try long. Make a narrative timeline of your life. Pick one point on your timeline that’s super emotionally poignant. Find a piece in a language you don’t know and translate it with an online dictionary. Personify an object or animal or place. Let it plead a case for something: it’s existence, it’s interruption (e.g., a car pleading a case for

getting to park in your driveway, etc). Write a eulogy to something/someone/some place/some time (e..g, Eulogy to my 90s childhood) Write an ode something/someone/some place/some time (e..g, Ode to my 80 year old dentist). It can be literal or sarcastic. Write about a loss or a gain. Don’t write about the feeling. Convey the feeling in your writing. Write about a dream. If ou can’t think of a real dream you’ve had, make up a dream and write about that. (That’s more fun!) History: Write about your parents, weird things that they did. Write about your childhood house as if it were a character. Your past is

often some of the best material! Write about an object your mom/dad/sibling valued. That you valued. What happened to that object? Write about your family history, before you were born. Write about a family pet. Write about a place that means a lot to you, in your childhood or now.

Take one line from a piece you like and go from there.   Write a poem to the presence/absence of God. Take this wherever you want, but try to not end in the same place you start. Write instructions to someone or something. (e.g., how to use the microwave in Dorchester basement)

Don’t let this be you!!!