Professor Selina Todd argues that you can be taught to write well, as demonstrated by American and Australian university students. Plus letters from Christopher Dodd and Anthony OrmsonIan Jack’s wariness towards writing manuals and classes is a peculiarly British response to teaching this craft (So you want to write better sentences than Jane Austen?, 27 May. While visiting Australian universities a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the fluency and clarity of the (history) students’ prose. It turned out they were taught to write – not by rote learning grammar, which is the only form of pedagogy recognised by the current British government, but in lively writing workshops that encouraged them to believe that anyone, given time and hard work, could write well. Conversations with American colleagues revealed a similar mindset and introduced me to the American writer William Zinsser, whose book On Writing Well I recommend to all my students. Zinsser’s democratic premise is that good writing is the result of hard work, not innate “talent”. That’s a radical realisation for many British students, brought up with the gentlemanly myth that talent is hereditary, effortless and looks a lot like a public schoolboy.It is no coincidence that Zinsser spent part of his career at the New School in New York, the self-declared “comprehensive university”. In Britain, the adult education movement, including the Workers’ Educational Association, and the Open University, has... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors from across the globe document the joys and travails of diaspora communities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With J.D. Vance as the 2024 Republican vice-presidential candidate and 'Hillbilly Elegy' back on the bestseller list, the plight of America's working class is once again the subject of intense media scrutiny. Here are eight recent books worth reading on the subject. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Welcome to I’m a Writer But, where writers discuss their work, their lives, their other work, the stuff that takes up any free time they have, all the stuff they’re not able to get to, and the ways in which any of us get anything done. Plus: book recommendations, bad jokes, okay jokes, despair,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-23 08:01:09 UTC ]
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Sable Yong’s debut book comes with some unusual marketing merchandise—a perfume to match. Sable Yong always wanted to make a perfume. She calls herself a “frag-head,” having previously written about fragrances for Allure and hosting the podcast Smell Ya Later with Tynan Sinks. Still, producing... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-07-22 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-15 08:01:27 UTC ]
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It’s the spring of 2021, and the pandemic is beginning to slide away from us in ways that still feel impossible. But there is work to do. There is lost time to make up for. Even though I have a debut novel publishing this summer, I have been getting rejection after rejection for every literary […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-12 08:56:22 UTC ]
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Novelist Zoë Eisenberg and journalist-turned-author Rhaina Cohen have something in common: they both published books about extraordinarily intimate friendships. Their debut books published in February of this year with strikingly similar titles—Significant Others (Eisenberg) and The Other... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-12 08:55:38 UTC ]
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Original film’s screenwriter in talks for sequel which will see Miranda Priestly battling a luxury brand outfit headed by former assistant Emily Charlton A sequel to hit 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada is under way at Disney, with key cast and crew widely expected to return, including director... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-09 11:46:42 UTC ]
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The Fort Smith, Ark.–based small press is committed to publishing books by Mid-South writers that are accessible to readers everywhere. Publisher Casie Dodd hopes that its newly inked distribution deal with IPG will help make this goal a reality. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In July, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Patricia Highsmith’s classic 1955 thriller about wealth, status, obsession and murder. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-02 09:03:17 UTC ]
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In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-29 11:50:03 UTC ]
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Motorola is still trying to reclaim the glory of its original Razr phone with its latest foldables. The new Razr and Razr+ are more stylish than the previous models, and at $700 and $1,000 respectively, they're surprisingly affordable for devices with massive folding OLED screens. In other news,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-06-28 11:30:27 UTC ]
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The rise of artificial intelligence in our media and entertainment industries has raised a lot of concerns about programs like Open Al’s text-to-video maker Sora replacing the artistic endeavors and aspirations of humans. If those AI made movies are anything like a new brand film about the Toys... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-06-25 21:47:30 UTC ]
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His memoir began when he was a child, watching his father die young. Mine started when my young children learned their father died by suicide. We were drawn to each other’s perspectives, thought they could inform our own. In a writing class, students often make alliances such as these,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-25 08:54:10 UTC ]
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Before he began to write, John Cheever put on a three-piece suit and took the elevator from his Manhattan apartment down to the basement, where he took off his jacket and tie, and then began. Hemingway famously needed a drink to loosen him up. Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver has said,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-24 08:55:40 UTC ]
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Since September 2023, the book criticism working group of the Freelance Solidarity Project (a union of digital media workers, organizing to raise labor standards across the industry) has been collecting data on freelance rates. Its findings, published earlier this month, are pretty damn bleak.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-20 20:53:12 UTC ]
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The story of why Priyanka Mattoo quit her job as a Hollywood agent to pursue a career in writing has as many twists and turns as her literary debut, the memoir 'Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-06-17 10:00:00 UTC ]
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For all the hullabaloo around AI this year, the consumer products that feature AI seem a bit lackluster. They’re either augmenting existing designs (like “AI PCs”) or they’ve flopped hard. Take the Rabbit R1, which was such an instant failure that it made its way into mainstream news.... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-06-10 15:16:41 UTC ]
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As a city kid, veterinarian Amy Attas had big dreams of roaming the countryside healing animals a la the classic “All Creatures Great and Small.” Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2024-06-10 13:18:31 UTC ]
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Beginning this fall, Picador will reissue the majority of Chilean author Roberto Bolaño’s catalog in English translations in a "major repackaging program," starting with 'By Night in Chile,' 'The Return,' and 'Antwerp.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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