Writers-in-Progress

Lean Back

What I want to tell all you writers and poets out there is - lean back.

If something you're working on isn't working, be it poem or essay or song or story. Stop. Lean back. Let it go. Take a few days off from it. A week if you can.

If you're sending out your writing with an anxious heart, desperate to be published, making a big production out of it (scouring The Writer's Market until you can't see straight, spending tons of money on contest fees) and no one is accepting your work and you're not even getting honorable mention - stop. Lean back.

You're getting too intense. You're crushing the possibility of your success with the weight of your need.

There's a moment when you cross the line from just believing in your writing and working to get it out there as part of the process - submitting to lit mags and contests, querying agents - to trying to force something to happen - the exact thing you want to happen, in exactly the way you want it.

You have to lean back to receive.

New NEA Grants in Literature!

The NEA has announced 13 literature fellowships totaling $200,000 to support projects by literary translators.

See the release in the NEWS ROOM at http://www.nea.gov/news/news08/translation.html.

Complete descriptions are available in RECENT GRANTS at

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/LitTranslation.html

FY 2010 Literature Fellowships for Translation Projects guidelines have been posted. These grants support projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English. The guidelines are available in APPLY FOR A GRANT at

http://www.nea.gov/grants/apply/LitTranslation/index.html

For the Poets: If Famous Poets Had Written the Star-Spangled Banner

This is from two years ago, but just came across it in the online version of The Atlantic and had to share.

By Garrison Keillor - his version of the SSB from poets like Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and this one by Wm. Carlos Williams, which is my favorite:

This is just to say
I have taken
The flag
That was
Flying

And which
You probably expected
To see
This morning

Forgive me
It was beautiful
So free
And so brave
—William Carlos Williams

They are really terrific. Check out all the poems at: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200601/keillor

(Note: it's two pages)

Good Quote

In reality the main purpose of life is to raise everything that is profane to the level of the holy.

- Martin Buber

I would argue that this is also true of poetry, but in the opposite direction (making what's holy, profane) as well.

Barack Obama Statement on Arts Education

I don't know who you're voiting for, and I don't need to know, but I wanted to share with you Obama's statement on arts education, which includes some great news for artists. Here are a few little tidbits about his plan to:

Create an Artist Corps: Barack Obama supports the creation of an “Artists Corps” of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities. Studies in Chicago have demonstrated that test scores improved faster for students enrolled in low-income schools that link arts across the curriculum than scores for students in schools lacking such programs.

Provide Health Care to Artists: Finding affordable health coverage has often been one of the most vexing obstacles for artists and those in the creative community. Since many artists work independently or have nontraditional employment relationships, employer-based coverage is unavailable and individual policies are financially out of reach. Barack Obama’s plan will provide all Americans with quality, affordable health care. His plan includes the creation of a new public program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. His plan also creates a National Health Insurance Exchange to reform the private insurance market and allow Americans to enroll in participating private plans, which would have to provide comprehensive benefits, issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums. For those who still cannot afford coverage, the government will provide a subsidy. His health plan will lower costs for the typical American family by up to $2,500 per year.

Ensure Tax Fairness for Artists: Barack Obama supports the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions.

You can find the whole statement here:

Obama Statement on Arts Education