Happy Spring! We were thrilled to hear the response of so many of you to the new newsletter format and to the March meetup where, over the course of the evening, 17 of us stopped in to catch up and talk about what we’re writing and reading. We also had some spirited convo around ways we can be in Newport during the June residency and the Newport MFA Workshop for events and to socialize! There is clearly hunger for connection, particularly in person. Its been a long pandemic. Its enervating effect is something the NYT has recently reported on.
We've got lots more for you this month, including a new section titled Work in Progress. Read on!
SAVE THE DATE!
... to check in and talk writing ...
5 May 2021 at 7:30pm ET
Essays we liked
"Our Autofiction Fixation" by Jessica Winter (author of The Fourth Child) in the New York Times Book Review. This bit is especially beautiful: "To dig a book out of the ground can be backbreaking, hand-tearing work; you need to forget what you are doing, to fall into a trance, and when the spell breaks, you can’t be entirely sure what you’ve unearthed, where it came from or who will recognize it as belonging to them, too. And however much of what results is pure invention (or so you think), your subjectivity is all you have. You made it up. It’s made of you."
This Melissa Febos essay: "The Heart-Work: Writing About Trauma as a Subversive Act," published in Poets & Writers in 2017. Here's an excerpt: "Being healed by writing does not excuse you from the insanely hard work of making art. There are plenty of mediocre memoirs out there, just as there are plenty of mediocre novels. I labored endlessly to craft my memoir [Whip Smart]. But after it was published, I still fielded insinuations that I had gotten away with publishing my diary. Interviewers asked only about my experiences and never about my craft. At readings, I would be billed on posters as “Melissa Febos, former dominatrix” alongside my co-reader, “[insert male writer name], poet.” Even some friends, after reading the book, would write to me to exclaim, “The writing! It was so good,” as if that were a happy accident accompanying my diarist’s transcription."
If you read one thing today, make it this prose-poem: "We Longed For Parties" by Yolanda Wisher.
Words Without Borders is a great newsletter for all things translation, and a recent issue featured works originating in Galicia, a small region in North Western Spain where the dialect is closer to Portuguese. Here’s an excerpt from "And They Say" by Susana Sanches Arins, translated from Galician by Kathleen March.
And for fun, this short piece,"The Case for Semicolons,"by Lauren Oyler in defense of semicolons. Oyler’s new book, Fake Accounts, has been much talked about.
What have you been reading and loving? Let us know! We’d like to get a Newport MFA resource list of what we’ve read and found especially useful. Click here to add your favs to a shared Google Doc.
While you're there, check out this month's recommendations from students and faculty.
Every month we feature a short excerpt from a graduate's work in progress. This month we have a section from Sandra Taylor's (June 2020) personal essay, "The Bracelet," about a mother who, prompted by the curiosity of her daughter and nudged by love, is made to reconcile a part of her past she'd rather keep hidden.
Of all my jewelry, it’s the diamond and sapphire eternity bracelet I keep locked in a safe at our home in the suburbs that interests my 18-year-old daughter, Nicole. “Who gave it to you?” I fumble with the clasp, which seems smaller, trickier than the last time I helped her put it on. “A secret admirer.” She cocks a brow and looks at me, her eyes hazel like her father’s. “You’ve told me that. Who was he? He must have been really rich and loved you to have given you such an expensive gift.” She turns her wrist slowly back and forth so the diamonds catch the sunlight pouring in through the picture window, scattering tiny rainbows across the mirrored walls above the vanities, the white ceiling and floor of the master bath. Our reflections float in a pool of refracted light, Nicole a good head taller than I. She is transfixed by the diamonds’ fire, the dazzling display of color while I am transfixed by her, the miracle that is my only daughter. I long to pull her onto my lap, sink my face into her thick hair like I did when she was younger, drink in the clean, fresh smell of her. But I don’t. She gets impatient with my exuberant gestures of love now. “I’m not a kid anymore,” she’ll say, patting my back. She’s right, of course. I see the eager young woman in the mirror, exposed skin below her white crop top tan from the sun.
June is around the corner…
Guest faculty for our June residency include bestselling, twice Oprah book club Jane Hamilton. And award winning nonfiction writer and essayistEmily Bernard whose essays have appeared in Best American Essays, Best African American Essays and Best of Creative Nonfiction. Her book, Remember Me to Harlem, was a NYT Notable Book of the year. Plus, Johnny Temple, publisher and president of Akashic Press, will talk to us about publishing.
And on June 26 at 7 p.m., Ann will be in conversation with Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife, the New York Times bestselling story of the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. This conversation will be open to the public, so invite friends and colleagues!
The Newport MFA Workshop will be held June 25-27, online.
Fiction with Andre Dubus lll; Non Fiction with Nick Flynn; and YA with David Yoo. All three will read Friday night, June 25. Newport MFA graduates and alumni are eligible to attend.
Don't Forget ....
June residency workshop packets are due June 4.
Upcoming deadlines
The 2021 Gulf Coast Prizes are now open for works in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Entries of fiction and nonfiction should be a single prose work not exceeding 7,000 words; entrants in poetry may submit up to five poems not exceeding 10 total pages in length. Deadline: April 15
The Curt Johnson Prose Awards offer prizes of $1,500 and publication in the Fall/Winter 2021 issue for First Place (fiction and nonfiction), $500 and publication in the Fall/Winter issue for honorable mention (fiction and nonfiction). All finalists will be listed in the awards issue. Maximum of 8,000 words for fiction and nonfiction. $20 entry fee. Deadline May 1
Ploughshares at Emerson College’s Emerging Writers Contest, open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. One winner in each of the three genres receives $2,000, publication, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a one-year subscription. Deadline: May 15
Crazyhorse is now open to general submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The specifics: Any works of fiction and nonfiction between 2,500 and 8,500 words; for poetry, submit a set of 3-5 poems. Simultaneous submissions welcome. Deadline: May 31
The Macguffin Annual Poet Hunt Contest offers first place winners $500 and publication. Two honorable mentions will be published. Each entrant will receive one free issue of The MacGuffin that includes the winners of the 26th Annual Poet Hunt contest. An entry may consist of up to five poems. Each poem can be up to 400 lines long. $15 entry fee. Deadline: June 15
The Blue Lynx Prize For Poetry awards $2,000 plus publication for a full-length poetry collection. The Prize is awarded for an unpublished, full-length volume of poems by a U.S. author, which includes foreign nationals living and writing in the U.S. and U.S. citizens living abroad. $28 entry fee. Deadline: June 16
EX LIBRIS: Rita Dove hosted by the Providence Athenæum. Former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rita Dove discusses her upcoming collection, “Playlist for the Apocalypse.” When? April 23
The 2nd Annual National Antiracist Book Festival, hosted by Boston University. The #AntiracistBookfest is the first and only book festival that brings together, showcases, and celebrates the nation’s leading antiracist writers and helps to prepare the writers of tomorrow. When? April 24
Bomb Magazine event: A Room with a View, featuring Lilly Dancyger, Melissa Febos, and Forsyth Harmon. The event celebrates Lilly Dancyger’s memoir, Negative Space, Melissa Febos’ essay collection, Girlhood, and Forsyth Harmon’s novel, Justine. The writers will explore these new works, which use illustrations and hybrid forms to break apart conventional narratives. The event will begin with a reading by the authors, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A session. RSVP here.When? April 28
Have you joined the WhatsApp Newport MFA group? It's open to all students and alum!
Download WhatsApp on your phone and send Helena an email with your cell number if you'd like to join.
Ann Hood will be teaching a class at Castle Hill for the arts: “Writing the Story That’s Been Growing in Your Heart,” August 16-20, via zoom. She will also be teaching week-long, lunch-break workshops with Hester Kaplan the weeks of May 17, May 24, May 31, and June 7. Email Ann or Hester to reserve a spot.
Tim’s short story, “The Origin,” was shortlisted for The Fish Short Story Prize. Acclaimed novelist and short story writer, Emily Ruskovich, judged this year’s contest.
Let us know....
What you're reading, listening to, and watching that's lighting you up!
Alums, tell us what your writing life is like post graduation. What keeps you inspired and engaged in your work?
Faculty, what events, publications, and workshops do you have coming up?
P.S. Feeling generous? Donate to the Ann Hood Scholarship
What’s that? It’s a fund that’s been created to help support future students of the Newport MFA. For more info, click here. On the donation page, select "Other" and type in "Ann Hood Scholarship."
