Nevada Writing Resources
Posted by David Duhr in 
The next installment of our State Writing Resources series takes us to the Silver State, Nevada, a word which means “heavy snowfall” in Spanish and “Yes, all this shit really is legal” in American English.
One of my favorite books in my late teens was Mark Twain’s Roughing It, a kinda/sorta memoir of his time spent in the Nevada Territory after his brother, Orion, was named secretary of said territory. Fun book, worth checking out, even if you’re a moderate Twain fan.
Other well-regarded writers with Nevada ties include Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle), Matt O’Brien (Beneath the Neon), and the poet Donald Revell.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Nevada writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you are a Silver Stater, or are planning to become one, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Nebraska Writing Resources
Today we pick up our State Writing Resources series again and pay a visit to the Cornhusker State. Nebraska was the 37th state admitted to the Union. Its capitol is Lincoln, its largest city is Omaha, and I can tell you from experience that it takes exactly 58 hours to drive from Omaha to Ogallala (la la la).
When one thinks of Nebraska writing, Willa Cather jumps straight to mind. How many of us were not force-fed O Pioneers! and/or My Antonia in high school, and how many of us were not surprised to love her writing? (And how many of us question the efficacy of my syntax in that line?) But of course Nebraska boasts other literary luminaries: John Neihardt (Black Elk Speaks); Virginia Tufte; Ted Kooser; and some sci-fi author named L. Ron Hubbard.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Nebraska writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you are a ‘Husker, or are planning to become one, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Montana Writing Resources
Next up in our State Writing Resources series is Montana, Big Sky Country, a.k.a. the Treasure State. The name Montana is taken from the Spanish word for mountain, montaña. So basically, the state is named Mountain. Montana’s motto is “Oro y Plata,” again Spanish, meaning “Gold and Silver.” And yet Hispanics make up only 3% of Montana’s population, as per the 2010 census.
Montana writing boasts names such as Rick Bass (known well in Texas), Maile Meloy and Ivan Doig. Mystery author James Lee Burke studied and lives in Montana. Christopher Paolini, the guy who wrote the Inheritance Cycle books, lives in Paradise Valley, where Thomas McGuane once had a ranch and Richard Brautigan wrote some fine work. Norman McLean, a Montanan, wrote A River Runs Through It, which became popular after its film adaptation. And screenwriter Holly Sorensen, who received a famous fax from Hunter S. Thompson reading “Okay, you lazy bitch,” was born and raised in Montana.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Montana writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in Big Sky Country or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
My Own Land of the Morning Calm
by DS Peters
Eight mountains surround the city of Seoul, and beyond these mountains the Republic of Korea is surrounded by the sea, except to the north of course where something small but impassable restlessly occupies the portion of the Korean Peninsula that borders China. Humans have occupied this area on the Han River since the Paleolithic Era, but the city was not officially established until 16 BCE by Baekje (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea). The city has gone through a few name changes, such as Wirye-seong, Hanju, Namgyeong, Hanseong, Hanyang, and Gyeongseong (by the Japanese during their occupation), however, through such superficial alterations the city continued as the capital of the great Joseon Dynasty, the brief Korean Empire and the country we know today as the Republic of Korea. read more
Missouri Writing Resources
Missouri, the Show Me State, is next up in our State Writing Resources series. Did you know that as of the 2010 census, the mean center of U.S. population is in Plato, Missouri? No? Well, Wikipedia does!
Missouri writing sports a fine history and present, and boasts legends Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Kate Chopin and William S. Burroughs were born in St. Louis. Poet Mary Jo Bang was born in Waynesville, and teaches at Washington U. in St. Louis. And Patience Worth, one of the world’s best-known novelist ghosts, did her ghost(ly)writing through a medium in St. Louis.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Missouri writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in the Show Me State or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at.
Mississippi Writing Resources
Mississippi is known as the Hospitality State, which is fitting because Mississippi is up next in our State Writing Resources series, and Justine and I spent Thanksgiving week there and enjoyed some of the finest Southern hospitality we’ve experienced yet. (Although said hospitality was delivered by Northerners, they proved to be quick studies.)
When one thinks of Mississippi writing, two names pop immediately to mind: Welty and Faulkner. But the list of writers with ties to the Magnolia State carries many, many more household names: Richard Wright. Donna Tartt. Tennessee Williams. John Grisham. Jesmyn Ward. Natasha Trethewey. Various Barthelmes. And many more. It’s like the ’27 Yankees. (But not, because few Southerners would align themselves with a team called the Yankees.)
Perhaps living in a state whose postal abbreviation is the same one we use for manuscript is part of what makes Mississippi such a fruitful place for writers.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Mississippi writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in the Magnolia State or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Minnesota Writing Resources
Minnesota, the Gopher State, is next up in our State Writing Resources series.The 32nd state admitted into the Union, Minnesota is the 12th largest U.S. state in area, the 21st largest in population, and, despite being known as “The Land of the 10,000 Lakes” (though I defy you to name more than 250 of those lakes off the top of your head), is only the 8th-most-covered-in-water state.
Harumph.
Minnesota writing boasts plenty of well-known and well-regarded names, such as: current National Book Award for Fiction titleholder Ms. Louise Erdrich, born in a place called Little Falls; Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) of St. Paul; Mr. Sinclair Lewis, the first U.S. writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (born in Sauk Centre [sic]); and self-pubbing sensation Amanda Hocking, who hangs her hat in Austin, Minnesota.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Minnesota writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in the Gopher State or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Michigan Writing Resources
Michigan, the Great Lakes State, is next up in our series of State Writing Resources. The only state comprised of two peninsulas (though I prefer “peninsuli”), Michigan’s motto is “Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice,” which means “If you seek a pleasant peninsula look about you.” As if anyone seeking a pleasant peninsula and is presently standing on a pleasant peninsula is unaware that he/she is already standing on a pleasant peninsula.
Michigan writing has a storied history, boasting acclaimed wordsmiths like Nelson Algren, Terry McMillan, Edna Ferber, Bonnie Jo Campbell and Austin’s James Hynes. Screenwriters Sam and Ivan Raimi were born in suburban Detroit.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Michigan writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in the Great Lakes State or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Writers’ Room of Boston
By Nico Vreeland
I’ve always been susceptible to non-traditional–not to say gimmicky–methods of increasing my writing output (at one point in the early 2000s, I had both a portable typewriter and a four-line word processor, but no laptop). To this day, I’m still not sure what kind of system fits me best, although I’m much more settled than I was a decade ago, largely because I’ve spent the better part of that decade experimenting with different setups.
One of those setups was a subscription I held for about a year at the Writers’ Room of Boston. The Writers’ Room is a great idea executed well, but whether or not it works for you is a matter of your own best working methods and your other options.
First, a description of the Writers’ Room. read more
Massachusetts Writing Resources
Up next in our series of State Writing Resources is the great state commonwealth of Massachusetts, also known as the Bay State, though shouldn’t it be known as the Bay Commonwealth, amirite? (Did I lose you at “amirite”? I definitely lost myself.)
Residents of Massachusetts are known as Bay Staters, Massachusites and/or Massachusettsians! But shouldn’t Bay Stater be Bay Commonwealther? I’m so confused.
One thing I’m not confused about is the richness of Massachusetts writing, past and present. It’s just too much to even summarize. Wikipedia needs two pages to list writers from Massachusetts, and another page for writers from Boston. Shall we pretend for even a moment that Wikipedia is comprehensive? read more
Maryland Writing Resources
Up next in our series of State Writing Resources is Maryland, sometimes known as “America in Miniature” (!), and whose motto, “Fatti maschii, parole femine,” means “manly deeds, womanly words” (!). Maryland was the seventh state admitted to the Union (1788), causing some to dub it “The Extra Point State.” (I made that up.) The history and present of Maryland writing boasts dozens of well-known names. Edgar Allan Poe, for one, whose Baltimore house just had a soft reopening after much fiscal trouble.
Other Maryland literary luminaries include: Helen DeWitt; H. L. Mencken (known as “The Sage of Baltimore”); Dashiell Hammett; Ann Brashares; James M. Cain; Frank O’Hara; and Nora Roberts. And so many more! James Wolcott. The recently deceased Tom Clancy. (Somebody stop me.) Leon Uris. John Barth. (Please!) Ann Beattie grew up on the Maryland/D.C. border. (Stop reading this for a moment and go reread her short story “Janus.”)
That’s enough. Point is, Maryland has spawned many dozens of our top writers. And it will continue to do so. And perhaps some of those future top writers are involved in these organizations listed below? Presented in no particular order, here are ten Maryland writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in America in Miniature or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more
Maine Writing Resources
Maine is next in our series of State Writing Resources, leading the charge with its motto “Dirigo,” which means, naturally, “I lead.” You’d think that with a state nickname like “Vacationland” Mainers wouldn’t get much writing done, but somehow writers like Sarah Orne Jewett, Edna Millay, Ron Currie Jr. and word factory Stephen King fought, or continue to fight, through the vacation blahs and, well, dirige.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Maine writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in Vacationland (!) or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at. read more