writing life

Just got home from a post-reading chocolate fest at Max Brenner’s with Lauren Sandler, Nona W-A, and Marco. I think I’m going to be up all night. I highly recommend ordering mass quantities of chocolate fondue after you read. Assuming you don’t have to be anywhere early the next morning. Is there such thing as a chocolate hangover? I guess I’ll soon find out.

(Thank you, Kelley McMasters and KGB bar, for organizing the reading tonight, and thank you, Sassy girls Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer, for your fabulous book! And big shout out to Lauren and Nona for coming! Grandma Pearl: this reading was dedicated to YOU.)

Yesterday, after a piece I wrote (“Wired, She Wrote”) went live, I received the NICEST emails from a handful of women who have been my bloggy mentors, heros, and connectors these past months. Just wanted to send out a heartfelt shout out to you all — Amy Tiemann at MojoMom, Cooper Munroe and Emily McKhann at BlogHer and the Motherhood, Andi Buchanan at MotherTalk — for the amazing work that you do. You inspire me deeply!

And speaking of connecting, I met with Nona Willis-Aronowitz last night over spring rolls and fries. I love her energy. Nona (23-year-old daughter of the much-beloved and recently departed Ellen Willis) is soon to embark on her feminist road trip, as I’ve mentioned here, and I’m eager to hook her up with wired women far and wide. She needs help finding a diverse swath of women ages 18-25 to interview about their connection to or understanding of feminism, and she’s also just looking for folks who are interested in her project and would like to spread word. If this is you, send me an email and I will pass it along to Nona!

I’ve been so fortunate these past months to have learned a ton from fellow feminist bloggers – and in the spirit of “see one, do one, teach one,” I’m eager to share. So my fall webinar, MAKING IT POP: Translating Your Ideas for Trade, will include a session on how authors can use blogging and new media to spread word about their books, online. Details about the 6-week course, including how to register, are posted here. (All you need in order to take it is an Internet connection and a phone — I will walk you through the rest! The first session is Nov. 6, 8-9:15pm ET.)

And on a related note, the Women’s Media Center recently asked me to write a piece on this issue of authors and new media. The piece is now live. I look forward to your thoughts — and to working with some of you to “make it pop”!

Heather Hewett is an Assistant Professor in English and Coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program at SUNY-New Paltz, and a freelance journalist to boot. If it weren’t for Heather, who sat across from munching salads at Cosi while she finished her dissertation, I never would have finished mine. These days, in addition to organizing conferences, writing WashPo op-eds, and hosting MotherTalk Salons, Heather is mom to a 9-month old and a 4-year old. Here’s Heather:

So here’s a question: how much of the desire among many younger academic feminists to reach out to a larger audience is generational, and how much has a much deeper history informed by the goals and visions of the feminist movement?

I write this question as a writer, professor, and scholar (and now, for the first time, blogger!) who has never been able to stop herself from writing for mainstream audiences. As a result, I’ve found myself crossing back and forth, locating myself both in and outside the academy. I’ve learned a lot as I’ve traveled this road, journeying along byways (plus more than a few dead ends) and cultivating skills that aren’t taught in most graduate programs. In order to keep going, I’ve constantly had to hew a vision of myself that includes multiple kinds of writing and interests. An endeavor, I sometimes worry, that isn’t always rewarded in the academic world. As a result, it’s been liberating for me to find other young feminists on this journey and to realize that I’m not traveling solo.

But as much as I might congratulate myself on my own ambition (or castigate myself for my lack of discipline), I have to ask: isn’t this one of feminism’s visions? Doesn’t feminism invite us to think about the relationship of our research to social change, to connect with larger audiences over concerns we all share? Haven’t lots and lots of feminist intellectuals – Betty Friedan, Barbara Ehrenreich, Susan Faludi, Laura Kipnis, to name only a few – done this? (If you haven’t guessed already, this is why I love Girl w/Pen!)

So here is another story (and, I will confess, a bit of a shameless plug). One of the things I love about my current job at SUNY New Paltz is that I help to organize a regular Women’s Studies conference. One of the goals of this conference is to connect feminist scholars and researchers, activists, social workers, teachers, students, and other community members – and the Women’s Studies Program has been putting this together for 28 years. The year of its launch, I was in third grade! I’m a bit awed by this history, and it reminds me that plenty of academic feminists before me have sought to create dialogue and community that transcend the confines of the so-called Ivory Tower.

This year’s conference is entitled “Girlhood: The Challenge and Promise of Growing Up Female.” Our keynote speakers include journalist and Feministing contributor Courtney Martin, Senior UNICEF Adviser Mary Roodkowsky, and SUNY New Paltz students Julliany Lahoz, Cristal Pimentel, and Queen Bond. Workshops and panels will explore girls’ identity, culture, activism, health, education, struggles, and successes in the U.S. and globally. Please check us out – we’re on the Hudson River, only an hour and a half north of New York City. Girls of all ages and those interested in girlhood are invited to attend!

You can contact Heather directly at hewetth AT newpaltz DOT edu

I just learned about MediaCommons, an online community exploring the changing nature of what it means to “publish,” and new forms of digital scholarship and pedagogy. Interesting convo going on over there now about the issue of what blogging and other forms of online publishing “count” for in the academic system of reward. For those of you tenure bound, might want to check it out!

(Thanks to Elizabeth Curtis for the heads up.)

People are always asking me if I know any freelance book editors, so I thought I’d post some info here about someone I always recommend.

Jean Casella is an editor, writer, and publishing consultant with more than twenty years of experience as an in-house editor for distinguished independent publishing houses. She provides a full range of editorial services to authors, publishers, and non-profit organizations.

Jean served, most recently, as editorial director and then publisher of the Feminist Press at the City University of New York, where she launched several successful new publishing initiatives in international literature, U.S. literary classics, and nonfiction by women. Earlier in her career, she managed the editorial programs at Thunder’s Mouth Press and the Fiction Collective. She has run a successful freelance editing and consulting business since 2005.

If you are interested in working with Jean, mention Girl with Pen and receive a 10% discount.

Contact:
917-974-0529
casellaj4@msn.com

One for each of our towers.

Kathy Rich, author of the forthcoming book Unspeakable: A Story About India and Life in Other Words and a writer in my authors group, wrote a beautiful, poignant essay for the Modern Love column in Sunday’s New York Times. Thank you, Kathy, for giving us your amazing tale.

And my guy Marco has a very astute post up today over at Hokum on the branding of OBL. Ok, so granted, I love the guy (Marco), but I objectively think this post is brilliant. See for yourself – go check it out.

(Photo credit)

Here’s a preview (practice version?!) of something we prepared for the National Women’s Studies Association — complete with a goofy out-take at the end. (Hint: I cackle.) Thank you, Elizabeth, for leading the way!

A thousand thanks to everyone who came out on Friday night to my reading at Park Slope BN: mother/daughter teams Leslie and Clea Weber and Daph and Rena Uviller; father/daughter team Scott and Grace; Megan McKenna; Jean Casella; fellow Invisible Institute member Christine Kenneally; Susan Doherty; Iggy, all those I didn’t know but asked awesome questions (including Marjory and Sam, in the back), Eryka Peskin from The Red Tent, and, of course, Marco (who promises he’s not yet sick of my schpiel). Shout outs to Samantha for organizing it, and to the post-game crew for eating meat loaf and chocolate cake!

I was only sorry I wasn’t able to make it back on Sat. morning for Lauren Bank Deen’s reading for more on one of my favorite subjects: food. Congrats on Kitchen Playdates, Lauren, and those of you with kids, definitely check it out! Lauren was on The Today Show today, and for those who missed it, there’s a piece by her today on MSNBC.

In a departure from our usual fare, I’m taking a moment to pay homage to a writer my guy Marco adores: Jack Kerouac. It’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road. (To Marco’s credit, he’s equally obsessed by the writings of the Beat women — Hettie, Joyce, and Diane — go Beat girls!) Check out my dude’s post today over at his blog, Hokum. You won’t think of “scrolling” the same way again.