Just returned from a manic 48 hours at the “largest literary gathering in North America,” otherwise known as the AWP Conference. Every year, some 8,000 writers, MFA students, and publishers swarm a major metropolitan city and hold hundreds of readings,…
Now that the holidays have wound down and we’re all embarking upon our new years, I thought I’d share another installment of Deadlines for Lifelines: notifications about exciting opportunities in the worlds of travel and letters… First up, my friend…
Feliz New Year, everyone! I’ve just returned from 66 hours in my favorite city on the planet — NYC — which I spent with six of my closest friends. It was the first time I’d been back since my rather…
Have you, like me, been obsessively watching all those TV shows that have come out about hoarding lately? My good friend Jessie Sholl has just published a memoir on the subject, Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother’s…
Last night, I fulfilled one of my (admittedly geeky) New Year’s resolutions for 2010: I read 60 books in a year. Welcome to grad school! Granted, not all of those books were for class, but the bulk were at least…
Now hear this: The beautiful people at Passports with Purpose have recently launched their 2010 fundraising campaign, and it’s amazing. After raising nearly $30,000 last year and building a school in rural Cambodia (which opened this October), they are currently…
Any essayist within 500 miles of the Hawkeye State should drive on over to Iowa City for the biennial NonfictioNow Conference, which kicks off Thursday, November 4 at the University of Iowa. For three days, we’ll be celebrating nonfiction in…
Exciting news on the guidebook front. My travel writer friend Ayun Halliday has just published a sweet new ditty: The Zinester’s Guide to New York City, which folks are calling “an anecdotal, illustrated, low budget, highly participatory exploration of the…
This week’s Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 contributor has taken care of wild birds and raccoons in rehabilitation centers, traveled by white horse in West Africa and Mongolia, and lived with the Fulani and Bambara people of the Sahel: Erika…
I am excited to announce that the Dallas Morning News just published my profile of a South Texas hero: Lionel Lopez. Here is an excerpt: CORPUS CHRISTI – Depending on whom you ask, Lionel Lopez is either Jiminy Cricket –…