Brian Doyle, brief memoir, montaigne
In Brevity Updates, Brevity contributors, Teaching Resources, creative nonfiction on December 26, 2008 at 9:58 am
One of our favorite writers, Brian Doyle, is briefly interviewed on the Paper Cut blog today.
Just finished a lean little novel about a guy who goes looking for his foot, which was blown off in a war a while ago. It was glorious fun to write a novel. I was always terrified of fiction — I mean, I am an essayist, and proud of it, the Ancient Clan of Essayists, we are all descended from Plutarch and Montaigne, and Orwell’s our king, and it’s hard enough to grapple with this muddled confusing wild world — but it was very freeing to commit a novel like a venial sin.
The rest of the interview here. And some of Brian Doyle’s brief grapplings here and here and here.
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brief memoir, opium, tom perrotta
In Call for Submissions, creative nonfiction, memoir, online journals on November 25, 2008 at 10:10 am
Opium’s 500-Word Memoir Contest–judged by author and Oscar-nominee Tom Perrotta.
The rules? Write a memoir of 500 words or less. The winning memoir, along with a handful of finalists, will appear in Opium8 which will debut on May 1, 2009. For a shining example (and the rules)–a finalist from Opium5–check out Giancarlo DiTrapano’s heartaching memoir here: http://opiummagazine.com/contest.aspx
The Deadline: February 22, 2009
The Reward: $1,000, and publication in Opium8.
The Cost: $10 for a single entry; $17.50 for two (or you can now subscribe and enter for $25!)
How to Submit: Go to Opium’s new submissions system and enter!
The Judge: Tom Perrotta has written six novels, including Election, the New York Times best seller The Abstinence Teacher and Little Children. Election became an acclaimed movie directed by Alexander Payne, and Perrotta received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of Little Children. Perrotta has taught at Yale and Harvard, and lives near Boston.
