Write, Publish, and Shine

In this episode, Rachel Thompson talks with Lilly Dancyger of Narratively, about the responsibility of editors to elevate voices left out the conversation, why you should know what conversations have already been had about the subjects of your writing, her experiences with memoir writing both deep and shallow with ideas on how to find the deep stories that resonate with readers and editors.

Lilly Dancyger's essays and journalism on sex, politics, and culture have appeared in Rolling Stone, The Rumpus, The Washington Post, Psychology Today and more. She is the editor of Burn it Down, an anthology of women and nonbinary writers on anger and it's forthcoming from Seal Press. Lilly is also at work on a memoir about her father's art and heroin addiction and the legacy of both in her life.

In this episode, Rachel talks with Maya Marshall, a self-described demanding and productive writer and editor with [PANK] magazine—yes, the magazine founded by Roxane Gay.Among much glorious and affirming advice she shares for writers, she is clearly someone who delights in language and craft, and cheers this enchantment—a word that comes up often in our interview—when she sees it in her submission inbox.They talk about mentoring and modelling, and about the risque words she does not want you to send into [PANK]—at least, not until you have a more mature revision practice.From the transcript:Maya Marshall: [00:10:39] That's that's the advice: read a lot, write a lot. Nikky Finni has been really helpful in saying "be specific." So she taught me to write revision narratives and to go down the sort of checklist, like have I paid attention to the sequence here? Why is it this line-length? How is imagery working? Am I using associative language? If I mention it at the beginning of the poem or the essay or story, has it come back by the end? And if no, why not? There is a language of talking about writing that I think writers should learn.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Rachel talks with Maya Marshall, a self-described demanding and productive writer and editor with [PANK] magazine—yes, the magazine founded by Roxane Gay.

Among much glorious and affirming advice she shares for writers, she is clearly someone who delights in language and craft, and cheers this enchantment—a word that comes up often in our interview—when she sees it in her submission inbox.

They talk about mentoring and modelling, and about the risque words she does not want you to send into [PANK]—at least, not until you have a more mature revision practice.

From the transcript:

Maya Marshall: [00:10:39] That's that's the advice: read a lot, write a lot. Nikky Finni has been really helpful in saying "be specific." So she taught me to write revision narratives and to go down the sort of checklist, like have I paid attention to the sequence here? Why is it this line-length? How is imagery working? Am I using associative language? If I mention it at the beginning of the poem or the essay or story, has it come back by the end? And if no, why not? There is a language of talking about writing that I think writers should learn.

“I’ve just become better at noticing those little mechanical things,” says the guest for this episode, Donna Talarico, the founder and publisher of Hippocampus Magazine.Hippocampus makes memorable creative nonfiction. It is an online journal, a conference, and most recently a publishing house. Hippocampus Magazine is an exclusively online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction. Each issue features memoir excerpts, personal essays, reviews, interviews and craft articles.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I’ve just become better at noticing those little mechanical things,” says the guest for this episode, Donna Talarico, the founder and publisher of Hippocampus Magazine.

Hippocampus makes memorable creative nonfiction. It is an online journal, a conference, and most recently a publishing house. 

Hippocampus Magazine is an exclusively online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction. Each issue features memoir excerpts, personal essays, reviews, interviews and craft articles.

In this episode, we break outside the Lit Mag Love bubble we’ve been in—both in terms of region, The Threepenny Review is an established American lit mag, but also in terms of the approach to writers—a well-lauded, establishment figure in US literary scene, she says she can always tell when a writer has her or his own voice and that’s the thing they need to bring when they submit to the review. Also in the approach to being a gatekeeper, while she has published work that came from “under the slush pile” as she put it, and is aware that perhaps she has certain tastes when it comes to the writing, TPR is not a journal with a deliberate practice of finding voices from the margins of writing.

Of course, it is easier to say don’t give up than to do it, as my guest for this episode, Amanda Leduc admits. She’s the nonfiction Little Fiction: Big Truths, so, of course, we continue the trend from the last several episodes of Lit Mag Love and talk about truth-telling in creative nonfiction.

Amanda is a writer with Cerebral Palsy, who grew up with scant examples of disability in literature. We talk about how the literary culture in general in North America, but in Canada particularly, has not made a place for writers with disabilities, while also taking stock of the really exciting times we are in, with many writers, Amanda among them, blazing a trail for younger disabled writers.

Amanda Leduc is from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She has published essays and short stories across Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia, and currently serves as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity, Canada's first festival for diverse authors and stories. Her first novel, The Miracles of Ordinary Men, was published in 2013 by Toronto's ECW Press. Her new novel, The Centaur's Wife, is forthcoming from Random House Canada.

Little Fiction is a mostly digital publisher of short fiction and nonfiction singles. They are not officially a lit mag, though but do publish on a monthly basis.

Of course, it is easier to say don’t give up than to do it, as my guest for this episode, Amanda Leduc admits. She’s the nonfiction Little Fiction: Big Truths, so, of course, we continue the trend from the last several episodes of Lit Mag Love and talk about truth-telling in creative nonfiction.

Amanda is a writer with Cerebral Palsy, who grew up with scant examples of disability in literature. We talk about how the literary culture in general in North America, but in Canada particularly, has not made a place for writers with disabilities, while also taking stock of the really exciting times we are in, with many writers, Amanda among them, blazing a trail for younger disabled writers.

Amanda Leduc is from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She has published essays and short stories across Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia, and currently serves as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity, Canada's first festival for diverse authors and stories. Her first novel, The Miracles of Ordinary Men, was published in 2013 by Toronto's ECW Press. Her new novel, The Centaur's Wife, is forthcoming from Random House Canada.

Little Fiction is a mostly digital publisher of short fiction and nonfiction singles. They are not officially a lit mag, though but do publish on a monthly basis.

advice for writers of creative nonfiction (CNF) and for writers who are trying to decide if a piece is suitable to enter contests.More About Sierra Skye GemmaSierra Skye Gemma On Publishing in Lit Mags (Rowan McCandless, Room)“The Wrong Way” (PDF of Sierra's  National Magazine Award-winning story from The New Quarterly)Finding a Voice in Creative Non-fiction, with Sierra Skye Gemma (Plenitude)Background on Sexual-Harassment in CanLitCanLit Has a Sexual-Harassment Problem (Zoe Whittall, The Walrus)Under a cloud: How UBC's Steven Galloway affair has haunted a campus and changed lives (Globe & Mail)CanLit is a Raging Dumpster Fire (Alicia Elliott, Open Book)CreditsHost: Rachel ThompsonSound Editor: Mica LemiskiProduced by Room magazine and Rachel Thompson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

advice for writers of creative nonfiction (CNF) and for writers who are trying to decide if a piece is suitable to enter contests.

More About Sierra Skye Gemma

Sierra Skye Gemma On Publishing in Lit Mags (Rowan McCandless, Room)

“The Wrong Way” (PDF of Sierra's  National Magazine Award-winning story from The New Quarterly)

Finding a Voice in Creative Non-fiction, with Sierra Skye Gemma (Plenitude)

Background on Sexual-Harassment in CanLit

CanLit Has a Sexual-Harassment Problem (Zoe Whittall, The Walrus)

Under a cloud: How UBC's Steven Galloway affair has haunted a campus and changed lives (Globe & Mail)

CanLit is a Raging Dumpster Fire (Alicia Elliott, Open Book)

Credits

Host: Rachel Thompson

Sound Editor: Mica Lemiski

Produced by Room magazine and Rachel Thompson