I’m teaching a class this summer!
Class info for Intro to Literary Publishing + spring cleaning, summer reading
Intro to Literary Publishing
A common complaint about writing programs is that they teach students how to write, but not how to be writers. Outside of the classroom, it’s difficult to maintain a writing practice, much less make a living off of one’s writing (or, at least, to make some walking around money). The only class I took that addressed these realities was Literary Publishing, taught by a wonderful professor and mentor, Geeta Kothari, and I was fortunate enough to TA for the class the following year.
This summer, from July 14 to August 31, I’ll be teaching a class through The Arts League in Philadelphia on the same topic, walking students through the process of submitting to literary magazines, working with editors, and preparing their work for publication. If you’ve ever wondered how to draft a submission cover letter, how to find the literary magazines that will be the best fit for your work, or what’s going on behind the curtains after you press “submit,” this class is for you.
I’ll be drawing on my experience being on both sides of the literary magazine editor-writer relationship: I’ve worked as the editor in chief for Collision Literary Magazine, a prose reader for Chestnut Review, and a creative nonfiction editor for Sundog Lit. My work has also been published in The Offing, Waxwing Magazine, Longleaf Review, Barrelhouse, and The Rumpus, among others, and was nominated for Best American Essays, a Pushcart Prize, and the Best of the Net, for which it was a 2022 finalist in the nonfiction category.
I typically dislike lists of bona fides, so I offer these only to say that this is where my knowledge will be coming from in teaching this course. Literary magazine publishing can be unnecessarily opaque, and I hope to provide people with answers and a supportive environment in which to begin submitting their work. If this sounds like something you’re interested in (and you’re based in Philadelphia), you can register here!
Spring cleaning, summer reading
The days have been alternating between rain and humidity so thick it suspends dust like fog. I return home coated in it, and even after I wash it from my face and body, I can still feel it creeping in through the cracks in my windows. When temperatures rise, I become overcome with the urge to shed excess. I’ve been clearing out clothes and books that I haven’t touched in ages, and my reading plans this summer revolve around knocking books off my to-read list that have plagued me long enough to develop their own gravitational pull of guilt.
I recently finished Hamlet on the Holodeck, and I’m in the middle of reading the Dialectic of Enlightenment with a friend. I’ll soon be starting Gender Trouble with another friend, and I’ll be reading something (yet to be determined) by Lacan later this summer. If you’ve read or are interested in reading any of these, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them and what brought you to these texts. I’m longtime a fan of the micro book club.
Admittedly, I’m quite behind on my reading goal (7/20 books) for the year, though I’ve completed my film-watching goal (33/30 films). I’m hoping to add more fiction to my reading list, so please let me know if you have any recommendations! If it’s something that’s already on my list of books, all the better. Until next time <3
