Sirenland Writers Conference

Ron Carlson's Got the Touch

2010-03-10T11:27:00.004-05:00

Ron was my workshop leader at Squaw Valley Writers Conference last summer, helping me fine-tune my short story, "Farallon," which Narrative Magazine is featuring as a Story of the Week (through this Saturday; archived on Sunday).

I learned so much from Ron and my mates, and can't wait to join my fellow Sirenlanders in 11 short days. (I've told everyone I know I'm going, and have accumulated an amazing list of hellos to share with Ron, Dani, Hannah, Jim, and Michael.)

Meanwhile, I'd be honored if you'd take a look. See you all soon!

Nam Le at Sirenland

2010-03-06T11:09:00.003-05:00

We're excited to announce that award-winning writer (and One Story author) Nam Le will be joining us as at Sirenland for a day or two. He'll be giving a reading and you'll all get a chance to meet him and talk books. Here's a great interview with him from The New York Times to help you get acquainted.

Nam Le was born in Vietnam and raised in Australia. He has received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award, the Melbourne Prize for Literature (Best Writing Award), the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Book of the Year, the UTS Glenda Adams Award, the Steele Rudd Award, the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award, a U.S. National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Fiction Selection, as well as other awards and shortlistings. He has received fellowships from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Phillips Exeter Academy, and the University of East Anglia. His fiction has appeared in venues including Zoetrope, A Public Space, Conjunctions, One Story, NPR's Selected Shorts, Prospect Magazine, and has been widely anthologised. He is the fiction editor of the Harvard Review. To find out more, you can visit his website.

Bad Juju - Great Review

2010-03-05T13:41:00.001-05:00

Our own Jonathan Woods scores his first review for Badd Juju and it's a good one! Congrats Jonathan. Are you still going to talk to us now?

Also, check out his website.

Bad Juju and Other Tales of Madness and Mayhem Jonathan Woods. New Pulp (Ingram, dist.), $14.95 paper (220p) ISBN 978-0-9815579-7-7

Violence, sex, and gonzo plot twists fuel Woods's diverting collection of 19 stories, most set in sun-and-blood-drenched borderlands. “Incident in the Tropics,” “Down Mexico Way,” “Maracaibo,” and “We Don' Need No Stinkin' Baggezz” amp up the volume to 11, while other offerings feature flying sharks, the adventures of a bodiless head, and a slime thing quickly snaking up nostrils. Woods, who earned his neo-pulp rep in Web zines such as Dogmatika and Plots with Guns, keeps the words popping along, though the endings of his stories are often inconsequential—only more reason to hop instantly into the next yarn. Throughout, a penchant for vivid imagery slaps the reader around like a boxing bag: “A veneer of sweat covers her body like the glaze on a Christmas ham”; “shadows as murky as an abortion clinic in the Bible Belt”; “Her small conical breasts confronted him like twin interstellar ray guns.” New pulp, indeed. (Apr.)

How to Endure as a Writer

2010-02-06T12:37:00.002-05:00

Dani has an amazing essay in today's LA Times about how to endure as a writer. I'd highly recommend it to all Sirenlanders. And if you missed Dani's appearance on the Today Show yesterday, you can go here to see the clip!

cheers,
Hannah

1700 Steps

2010-01-28T10:28:00.009-05:00

Hello to All Sirenlanders!

I first heard of Sirenland on a cold Saturday in March of 2007. I saw an ad in Poets & Writers and immediately went to the website. I had loved Dani's novel Family History, had been a subscriber of One Story for years, and had been to Le Sirenuse twice. I could not believe that the applications had closed before I even knew about the workshop.

I tried to apply anyway. I even sent Michael an email, explaining I could come if anyone had to drop out at the last minute. He answered within an hour that he and Dani and Jacob were already in Italy but that he would keep my number handy.

That Saturday I spent hours reading every word of every post on the blog, and I felt like I was going too. All the preparations were so exciting--the Italian lessons, the manuscripts arriving, the packing lists. It's all still here in the Archives for February and March of 2007.

This year will be my third at Sirenland. Last year my husband Cal came with me, and he's coming again this year. I'm happy to answer any questions about what to bring or what to wear or traveling or anything. If you'd like to see who I am, you can find me at my blog, Catching Days. There are a few posts there about Sirenland too.

One of my favorite things to do while in Positano is after the morning workshop to climb the 1700 stairs for lunch at a little trattoria high above the sea. In 2008 we climbed during a torrential rain storm that turned the stairs into waterfalls. Last year we found a new trattoria where the brothers cook from their garden and are very generous with platters of desserts and liqueurs on the house! So be sure to put comfortable shoes on your packing list.

I look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones.

Ciao, Cindy

Oh, and we bought our plane tickets yesterday!

Sirenland Fellow 2010: Bruce Machart!

2010-01-08T11:09:00.002-05:00

Sirenland is happy to announce the winner of the 2010 Sirenland Fellowship: Bruce Machart

Bruce Machart's fiction has appeared in One Story, Zoetrope, Story, Glimmer Train, and elsewhere, and has been anthologized in Best Stories of the American West. This October, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish his debut novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, and his collection of stories, entitled Men in the Making, will follow in the fall of 2011. A graduate of the MFA program at Ohio State University, Machart currently lives and teaches in his hometown of Houston.

The Sirenland fellowship provides travel, room and board and fees for attending The Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. It is given to a writer who is in the process of completing a project, but has not published a book before March, 2010. The fellowship cannot be applied for; candidates are nominated by a panel of publishing professionals. All entries are read blind and the winner chosen by Dani Shapiro.

Devotion Book Trailer

2009-12-20T12:28:00.001-05:00

We've made a trailer for Dani's upcoming book, Devotion.

'Skateboards' Among the Best of 2009

2009-11-30T11:39:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Said. When Skateboards Will be Free has been chosen by the NY Times' Dwight Garner as one of the 10 Best Books of 2009.

'When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood'
By SAÏD SAYRAFIEZADEH

This delicate, discerning memoir is about growing up with parents who were committed members of the Socialist Workers Party; it reads like a peculiar bedtime story. (The Dial Press, $22 )

Bob Natiello's Excellent Adventure

2009-11-09T11:11:00.003-05:00

Bob Natiello writes us from Arizona:

When Peggy and I entered Glendale Civic Center last Saturday night, we knew two of my stories had already been declared winners in Arizona Authors 29th annual literary contest. But we didn't know at what level. First? Second? Third? Honorable Mention? (The contest officials make it a practice of holding off the specifics until the formal dinner is over--the better to increase attendance.)

    The dinner turned out to be far more fascinating than I expected. I sat next to an Arizona woman and her husband, a native of Afghanistan. Her book on her 10 years in Af'stan with him, their kids and his mother (who took care of the kids while she worked) won her a Pulitzer nomination. She held me spellbound with her tales of their food and customs. Then it came time for the awards.

   I'm happy to say that my "El Caballo Blanco" took First Prize in Fiction.

   My Memoir entry--"Jimimy Cricket" (you recall it was featured in the NY Times about a year ago) won Second Prize.

I also walked out with the most money--the princely sum of $150. Spread that amount over the number of hours I spent writing and editing these stories, and somebody's in serious violation of our Minimum Wage Laws.

    We stayed overnight at our daughter's Scottsdale home and celebrated by taking Annie and David to a well earned Sunday morning breakfast.

   Peggy and I are very poor photographers. Nevertheless, Peggy did get a shot of me at the mike. I'll scan it over in the next day or two.

If he ever gets around to sending the photo we'll post it here.
(Apparently the photo of Bob didn't come out very well, so we'll post this one of Bob doing his Dr. Evil impression by the pool at Le Sirenuse to make up for it)

Said Reading in Brooklyn

2009-11-02T09:11:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone,
Come see Said - recipient of the 2008 Sirenland followship - read at a fantastic and free event coming up in Brooklyn! Details are below, hope to see you there!
Nina

Date: Monday, November 16, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden -- Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Street: 618 St. John's Place, between Franklin and Classon Avenues
City/Town: Brooklyn, NY

DRINK SPECIALS
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Franklin Ave
www.franklinparkbrooklyn.com

November's readers tell tales of unconventional families -- sex-crazed moms, teenage aliens, rabid socialist parents and a gun-packing Vietnam vet dad.

Featuring:
AMY SOHN (Prospect Park West, My Old Man, Run Catch Kiss)
SAID SAYRAFIEZADEH (When Skateboards Will Be Free)
JOBIE HUGHES (I Am Number Four/young adult series, Agony at Dawn)
LIANNE STOKES (Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped and Canceled, comedian)

GREG CHANGNON AT A CELEBRATION OF WORDS

2009-10-25T21:27:00.008-05:00

CELEBRATING 2008 SIRENLANDER GREG CHANGNON AT A CELEBRATION OF WORDS

By Lizzie Bradbury (Sirenland 08/09)

What a treat it was to meet up with fellow Sirenlander and good friend, Greg Changnon, in Nashville for the “Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word.” Greg had been invited to be on a panel of three authors reading portions of their stories from Best New American Voices 2010, which was edited by our own beloved Dani Shapiro.

The Southern Festival is an annual three-day literary event that welcomed more than 200 authors from throughout the nation for readings, panel discussions and book signings. Reynolds Price calls the literary festival the “most elegantly organized and realized” that he knows of.

So it only figures that Greg Changnon would be at the festival as one of the authors, elegant and organized man that he is, right?

Greg brought his support team from Atlanta that included truly beautiful wife Pola and charming, adorable daughters, Ava (9) and Jenny (13). Ava and Jenny were antsy with pride as they waited for their dad to have his turn on the panel. Throughout Greg’s reading, all three Changnon females exchanged knowing looks, nudges and lots of smiles.

I sat a bit further back with my family feeling every bit as antsy and proud as a Changnon. Fortunately, I had 3-year-old Annabelle Bradbury in my lap to keep me firmly pinned down.

Greg did Sirenland proud. He read with a professional confidence and engaging wit. The audience laughed, sighed and clapped at all of the appropriate places.

Greg’s story, Half Sister, is an emotional journey of twists and turns that chases down the dysfunctional dynamics consuming a grieving widow and her two teenaged daughters. The story, told from 12-year-old Joan’s point of view, primarily takes place in the back seat of a 1973 Cadillac as “Mother” drives her unwilling daughters to meet their mysterious half sister for the first time. Unsure who to blame for the bad hand she has been dealt, Joan, rages internally and externally.

“Joan lowered the bottle. Sometimes she thought there was a sort of weather in everyone – climates hidden beneath the bones – and her weather was bad. Cumulonimbus, thundersqualls, mackerel skies – words Joan had learned when her father flicked from one weather channel to another …”

Greg kindly agreed to an interview following the festival.

Q) Greg, so how was it sitting up there in the fancy Tennessee State Capitol chambers with an audience of eager literary types waiting for you to read from Half-Sister? Nervous? Excited?
If Buzz Aldrin (one of the other writers at the festival) could do it, I knew I could too. I rarely get nervous in front of an audience anymore after teaching middle-schoolers. If you can survive standing in front of an angry crowd of pre-teens, everything else is butter.

No nerves, but great excitement; it was a tremendous experience. It felt like another great event in the journey that started with Sirenland.

Q) What were the seeds of imagination that started your story, Half Sister?

I first began the story over 13 years ago when my wife was first pregnant. Imagining what children were like, I started with two kids in a car on a long drive. I wanted to prepare myself for fatherhood so I thought of possibly the worst family situation there is. The story petered out because those kids -- two girls -- had very little life to them. They were quite boring, with good manners and pink cheeks. Obviously, I was hoping for children just like that.

When I returned to the story last year, one of my girls was about to become a teenager and the other was 8 going on 18. Now I knew how wicked and strange and fun and fascinating kids really were, and the two fictional girls came alive.

Q) Interesting that the complexity and unpredictability of your own daughters' personalities helped to bring Half Sister to life. Are either Phoebe or Joan based on your lovely and engaging daughters, Ava and Jenny?

There's a little bit of them in those characters. But Phoebe and Joan are exaggerations. I hope.

Q) There is a scene in your story where Joan locks herself in the gas station women's restroom and Phoebe goes into the men's bathroom to try to talk to Joan through the vent:

Phoebe had to talk to Joan through a vent in the empty men's room.

She tired not to look at the machine that sold stuff she didn't want to think about. "Maybe she'll like me, "Phoebe shouted, through the metal screen. "And you like me." Phoebe let her lips touch the tile on the wall below the vent. It tasted like ginger. She knew this was bad, disgusting even, but she was getting tired of hovering on the right side of decency. "You do like me, right? Phoebe asked, her tongue skimming the porcelain.

When you read this section of the story your daughters looked over at each other and smiled with some kind of recognition? It seemed to strike a chord with them. Had one of your daughters told you that bathroom tile tasted like ginger?

No. I know I should respect the writers' code of honor and perform as much research as possible. But I nor anyone I know has ever licked the tile in the men's bathroom at a gas station.

Q) Why did you choose to set the story in 1973?

Some weird bit of a story came to me -- the girls watching GUNSMOKE with their father. I just ran with it from there.

Q) Are you most comfortable writing stories that are set in the past? And if so, why?

Not so much. I get very nervous about the accuracy of the details in stories set in the past. I'm terrified of anachronisms and that reader who will throw the book across the room if GUNSMOKE went off the air before 1973.

Q) Only after her husband dies does "Mother" tell Joan and Phoebe that they have a half sister. While it is easy to surmise why "Mother" wanted to keep this earlier child a secret from her husband, what do you believe is the underlying motivation for her wanting to connect with with the daughter of her first marriage now?

Half-Sister is now the opening chapter of a longer narrative so as I've been working, the character of Joan and Phoebe's mother has deepened and I've discovered many things about her. Her motivations are many: fears of a lonely future, the memory of a past love, but mostly it's the desire for an ally.

Q) I, along with others, felt that the end of Half Sister seems a little abrupt. We wanted to know more about this ordinary, yet very complex, family of three.

Actually, that's one thing the series editor, Natalie Danford, wanted to adjust about the story. Initially, the end of the piece was even more ambiguous than it is in the anthology. She felt it read more like a novel chapter than a short story. Besides helping me discover a more effective last moment for HALF-SISTER, Natalie introduced me to the possibility that these characters could live on. And so, I've pushed Phoebe and Joan through a very strange adolescence in the last year. They're barely making it out of their teens.

Q) During the question and answer period following your reading you spoke of some of the struggles of being a writer that many, if not all of us, face. You had success with being published ten years ago and then there was a dry spell. However, over the past two years, recognition of your talent has come from many different directions. What do you account for that down period and what advice do you have for those of us who are experiencing a similar frustration?

In 1998, I got my MFA in San Francisco then moved across the country with my wife and newborn child. I lost a sense of the valuable writers' community that we all need to protect us from doubt, insecurity, laziness. Then another child came and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to stay home and hang out with my kids. Life sort of happened and other things got in the way. With more time spent away from writing, the harder it got to actually get myself in the chair. The hardest thing about writing is the effort to start -- the first five minutes of a day's work is tortuous to me. The first five minutes got harder and harder the more time I spent away. But now that I'm back writing regularly, that transition has become easier -- well, not easier -- let's just say less tortuous.

Q) I was honored that you asked for my reaction to early drafts of Half Sister leading up to the final published story. It was fascinating to witness the changes brought on by the editing process. How did the editing process go for you?

I was thrilled and honored to work with Dani on the story and then later with Natalie Danford. Because I was in great hands, the editing process was effortless. I learned so much about my writing and how HALF-SISTER worked from their advice and suggestions.

Q) How did Sirenland 2008 play a role in your renewed passion for writing and current success?

It played the starring role. Not only did Sirenland introduce to me a group of wonderfully engaged writers, but it also allowed me to feel so much more positive about my own material. It gave me the kick-in-the-pants that I needed. I went to Italy as a teacher who writes and came back a writer who teaches.

Q) Tell us the ways in which Dani Shapiro, your Sirenland workshop leader, helped to restore your faith in yourself as a writer?

Dani's kindness and generosity moved me deeply, and her insights into my writing helped me see that I was getting a bunch of things right. She was brilliant in determining my strengths and my blocks not only in my writing but also in my creative life.

Q) What advice from Hannah Tinti affected your writing and writing process?

Hannah is such a beautifully positive presence. She is an inspirational example of someone who lives to embrace the art of writing. I was extraordinarily anxious arriving at Sirenland but her welcome –which included an acknowledgement of the story I submitted—made me feel instantly a part of this community. I also remember one of her amazing tidbits about craft that I now treasure. She spoke of the importance of props in a scene; how focusing on a crucial object—an empty soda pop bottle, a mother’s bulky purse—brings considerable power, meaning and richness to the scene.

Q) What specific advice did Dani give you in terms of craft that had the biggest impact on your writing after Sirenland?

Dani has the amazing ability to see you in your writing. She zeros in on the writer as a way into the writing. And nobody is better mixing sharp craft wisdom with specific feedback on workshop stories. The wisest advice I’ve ever received was Dani’s challenge to live fully in the work.

Boy, I can sure relate to that. I get all teary eyed just thinking about how, after so many years of writing, I met Dani and Hannah and honestly, for the first time ever, I felt like a “writer.” And huge inspiration also came from Jim Shepard (2009) even though he wasn’t my workshop leader. He was there for all of us.

Q) How did Sirenland 2008 differ from other conferences you have attended and why do you think Sirenland works so well? (And no – I don’t mean the views of the sea from the Le Sirenuse balconies, the amazing Carla and Antonio Sersale, open mic night at their beautiful home, the unbelievable food and gorgeous atmosphere of the restaurant, the kind and reassuring workshop staff and fellow writers, the walk down to the beach and long lunches over red wine, Allison, Jackie, Jenny, Roberto, music and dancing late at night in the bar … none of that! – the other stuff)

It was the first experience I've had where there was absolutely no hustling. It's not the job fair most conferences end up becoming. It's more about relationships -- relationships with mentors, with fellow writers, and with your own work -- than it is about product. And the perks aren't half bad. I recommend the plunge pool in the health spa. It felt almost metaphoric.

Q) Your short story, “How the Nurse Feels,” was a very sensitive, serious yet humorous look into the life of an adolescent girl who ends up learning a difficult adult life lesson as she researches her role as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. “How The Nurse Feels” was adapted into a musical and was presented in 2008 at the 13^th Annual ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theater Workshop. Any idea of when we’ll see “How The Nurse Feels” up in the Lights on Broadway?

The fantastic creative team – the composer, lyricist and book writer—are actively looking for investors. It’s a tough market, they say.

Well, Greg, I can say on behalf of all of us 2008 Sirenlanders we are very proud of this recent achievement and know you'll be sitting on the "other side of the panel" at many more writing conferences and book fairs in the future.

Thank you, Lizzie. And I can say on behalf of everyone, you are one special lady. Promise that I can interview you back when your book, BEAUTIFUL FREAK, hits the shelves. See you at Le Sirenuse.

And as always, thanks to Michael Maren for his never ending patience with technical support. L

The Real Reason to Attend Sirenland

2009-09-11T07:27:00.006-05:00

When I realized that the time had rolled around for writers to apply to the Sirenland 2010 Conference, I felt a little bereft - it's not the lot of the Fellow to return - and also felt a desire to encourage everyone for whom it seems like it might be possible to go, to apply, because of the unique quality of the work that happens there.

I'll admit that when I learned last January that I had been selected as the 2009 Fellow, my initial focus was on the trip-to-Italy-week-in-a-super-deluxe-hotel-in-Positano aspect of the award. When you're used to gatherings of writers that include unnervingly suspect sheets slipping off plastic mattresses and meals that require a certain transcendent attitude just to ingest them, it's a little tough not to see the promise of five-star luxuries as the defining feature of Sirenland. It's true that during my initial phone call with Dani Shapiro, she said impressive things about the focus being on the work and about the care that goes into the selection of both participants and faculty, but have you SEEN the website for the hotel Le Sirenuse?

I'm not going to lie. It's even more gorgeous in person. Fantasize about a lovely setting, now double the beauty, triple the hospitality, add exquisite food, have a few drinks if that's your pleasure and you begin to have a sense of the physical delights. But it's by no means only the surroundings that set this conference apart or, ultimately, that give it the quality it has.

As the Fellow, I was in Dani's workshop and I can honestly say that it was among the very few finest workshops in which I've ever participated. The diverse nature of the works presented was such that not only did each participant receive excellent readings of his or her own piece, but the week as a whole became a kind of mini-course on structure - in the contexts of both fiction and memoir. There was none of the all too common workshop bloodletting that goes on, but for anyone who assumes that a cushy surrounding comes with cushy critiques as well, not a chance. The questions asked and suggestions offered were serious and incisive while also being consistently grounded in the apparent intent of the author. And I heard much the same from the participants in the workshops led by Jim Shepard and Peter Cameron - with an important assist for all three from Hannah Tinti.

One of my favorite things about the conference was the way in which the conversation through the week, over meals, over drinks, in odd corners of the hotel, became less and less about how lovely the view, how delicious the food, and more and more the odd, awkward sort one often sees among writers. One person is talking about their plans for revision, the other is frowning, half lsitening, half realizing she ought to add another scene to her story. And then often, at some point, both realize that there's a way in which their individual musings relate, that by discussing the revision, the added scene, together, they can help one another. Day by day, you could hear the work taking up more and more space in everyone's thoughts, see a hotel full of guests become a community of writers.

There are more things to praise - the readings, the individual meetings, the presentations on publishing and screenwriting, the parties, the parties, the parties - but my main point here is just that while you're poring over the website for Le Sirenuse, admiring the exquisite marble bathrooms and candlelit dining room, keep in mind that if you're lucky enough to attend, at some point, all that elegance and all that beauty will magically become wonderful, welcome side-benefits of a conference that itself, most of all, will benefit your work.

Sirenlanders Speak

2009-09-10T15:03:00.010-05:00

We asked some of last years' Sirenland Attendees to write a few words about the conference if they felt moved to do so. Here's a sampling: (Sirenland 2010 will be open for applications from September 15 - October 31, 2009.)

"Dani is a truly great leader. Kind and generous and smart. She sets a tone of exploration and inquiry, and she addresses each piece with equal respect and consideration. And, above all, she is unfailingly tender - with the writer, the words and the intention.

Also, Hannah, you're awesome. You have such a great, happy, light-touch with the your responsibilities through the week. Michael too. The feeling from the top is that this is a kind and fun place where real work can be accomplished.

Sirenland is unparalleled in its generosity to writers and its gracious commitment to helping participants to excavate their truest voice. By exploring structure, tone, intention and impulse, the conference makes room for both craft and art with the backdrop of a stunning setting." —Tessa Blake

“Fabulous!”— Melissa Van Hoosen

“Sirenland allowed me to be away and in the middle of a community at the same time. There’s something about the place that is like being on a magical deserted island—but not alone.” – Lauren Johnson

“I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew the location would be fabulous, and assumed the participants would probably be sophisticated and maybe even fabulous, but much more than that the participants were funny, authentic, unique and generous—and people I don’t want to part company with. The instructors were unassuming and unique—and most of the writers were kind and clever (but mostly kind) and people I wanted to hang out with and get to know.”— Carol Richards

“The conference exceeded my expectations in virtually every way and even fulfilled many I didn’t know I had (or should have!). From what Jim [Shepard]saw in any story to his critiquing and teaching methods as a whole, to all the great friends and colleagues I made, to of course the amazing surroundings, both outside and in, the conference was a joy.”— Eric Grunwald

“Sirenland is well named for I was lured to this place and these beautiful people. This is hard-working and intensive in a way that engages all your senses and sensibilities. Prepare to work hard. Prepare! I was challenged by the exacting demands of Jim Shepard’s class and richly rewarded by his with, literary insight and unique teaching style. Dani, Michael and Hannah were bountiful in generosity of spirit and inspiration. I loved every breath here and every segment of this beautifully conceived and orchestrated writer’s workshop.” – Jane H. Percy

“Sirenland is one of the two best workshops experiences I’ve had in eleven years since I attended my first workshop. In both cases, this was entirely because of the workshop instructor and his approach to how writing should be taught and how a writing student (and we are all students in some sense, however long we’ve been doing this) should be treated—seriously, with respect and consideration.”— Vivian Dorsel

“This experience, in an extraordinary vertical setting, inspires me to continue climbing toward my goals. The supportive and constructive nature of the workshop, its leaders and participants, feels life-altering.” – Jennie Reeves

“I left Sirenland feeling it is less of a place than a concept, created by a small group of gifted artists who understand writing as a calling, and that those among us who must heed the song crave a safe and beautiful haven, enchantment, community and nurturance. Sirenland gives us this and so much more. It feeds the soul, and like a dream you want to return to, it lingers.” — Adele Bertei

Sirenlanders amok

2009-09-05T09:44:00.005-05:00

Sirenlanders have hit a late summer publishing jackpot. Here are a list of some recent publications.

Teresa Burns Gunther has published a number of pieces, including her story “Lilies,” which was published in Stones Throw Magazine. Her interview with Hannah Tinti appeared on the Bookslut blog. Also keep an eye out for her story “Dream Boy” forthcoming in the Oct/Nov/Dec 2009 issue of The Storyteller Magazine. Her story “Magic Fingers” is forthcoming in the Pen and Brush, Inc 2009 Anthology. Her interview with Said Sayrafiezadeh is forthcoming in Glimmertrain’s “Writers Ask.”

Bob Natiello's short story, Dog Fight won the New York Press Summer fiction contest this year. Now Bob informs us that his essay “How Jiminy Cricket Helped Me” will be featured in the 2009 Arizona Literary Magazine. Bob, of course, credits all of his success to his time at Sirenland.

And finally, the irrepressible Jonathan Woods needs no plugging from me since he's plugged himself just below. Read all about it.

Sirenlander publishes new story

2009-08-31T21:11:00.007-05:00

Ladies & Gentlemen, Mesdames & Messieurs

"Maracaibo" a story by Jonathan Woods (Sirenland 2008 & 2009) appears in the summer 2009 issue of Plots with Guns.

Natiello Does it Again

2009-08-28T09:06:00.005-05:00

Sirenland '08 alum Bob Natiello has been named the winner of the Manhattan Media's Summer Writing Contest. (Publishers of the NY Press, Our Town and West Side Spirit) His story Dog Fight will be published in the September 3 issue of the New York Press. Bob wrote to Dani and Hannah: "I can't thank you and all 2008 Sirenlanders enough for your incisive, wonderful, supportive, demanding, clarifying input on "Dog Fight." It was a major element in helping me win First Prize in Manhattan Media's Summer Writing Contest." The contest, entitled 8 Million Stories, asked that all stories be set in New York City.

We will provide a link to the story as soon as it is online.

Why We Don't Invite Agents or Editors to Sirenland

2009-08-11T07:10:00.008-05:00

A number of people have written to us asking if there are going to be agents and editors at Sirenland this year. No, there won’t be. Here’s why:

1. It’s about the writing: Those of us running Sirenland have our own agents and editors and among us we know dozens and dozens of other agents and editors. Those agents and editors often press cards into our hands and let us know that should we desire their presence in Positano they would drop everything and be there for the price of a coach plane ticket. I can’t blame them. It’s one of the most beautiful spots on earth. But if you ask those same agents and editors how many clients of theirs are the result of writers conferences they will generally admit that we’re talking the very low one-figures. We believe strongly that it’s about the writing, that a piece of work that is ready to be published will be published. Our focus is on the page, on helping our participants become better writers, giving them the critical skills and other tools to be successful throughout their lives. So, once again, thanks to everyone who’s handed me a business card. I’ve put them in a file.

2. It’s about the writing: When agents and editors are in the room there is naturally some competition among writers for their attention. Competition among writers should happen in the marketplace, but not at a writers conference. We do everything we can to create a supportive environment where participants will spend their free time and time at cocktails or wherever talking about their work, helping and sustaining each other. We’re proud of the fact that many past participants in Sirenland continue to stay in touch with each other and share work. Several writing groups have formed and meet regularly.

3. It’s about the writing. There are no shortcuts to literary success. Writing is hard. Writers conferences are short. The point of Sirenland is total absorption in work and in the environment. Positano is a uniquely inspiring place. We want participants to talk and think and read and eat and drink and hike and swim and get massages and skim stones into the sea. Relaxation and total involvement are big parts of creativity. Anxiety about making the most of your 30-minute meeting with an agent is antithetical to doing your best work and growing as a writer.

We’re not saying that marketing and promotion have no place in a writer’s career. We just don’t want to lure writers onto the planes, trains and automobiles that it takes to get to Positano by dangling the possibility of making a life-changing connection. Participants have made life-changing connections at Sirenland, but it’s been with each other and, ultimately, with their own work.

2009-07-27T16:42:00.003-05:00

This is a trailer for Jim Shepard's short story, "Your Fate Hurtles Down at You" which appears in the electronic lit magazine, Electric Literature.

Electric Literature presents Jim Shepard's "Your Fate Hurtles Down at You" (trailer) from Editors Electric Literature on Vimeo.

Memory vs Fact in Writing Memoir

2009-07-25T12:41:00.003-05:00

Dani Shapiro has published an essay on memoir, memory and fact in the LA Times.

It's beautiful and strange that our lives shape our memories, and our memories shape our lives. All we have -- our entire consciousness -- is memory. Events turn into memories even as they are happening, and memories become the stories we tell.

The essay is here.

Cameron Wins O. Henry

2009-07-13T18:39:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Peter Cameron, whose story, "The End of My Life in New York," originally published in Subtropics, was selected for the O. Henry Awards 2010.

Note from Randolyn

2009-06-29T17:07:00.003-05:00

We received a note from Randolyn Zinn (Sirenland 2007) today:

I'm excited to tell you and the Sirenlanders that my first essay is published today at 3 Quarks Daily, a fascinating compendium of writing culled from various sources (NYTimes, Harpers, Atlantic, Scientific American, etc), but on Mondays they feature original pieces.

I'm a guest writer, hoping to make this a regular gig. Reader comments have been amazing so far this morning. Steven Pinker, David Byrne and a lot of geeks read 3QD but since the site doesn't really have a person writing about music or dance, that's where I could come in, helpful for a new writer searching for a home for the first novel.

In any case, there you are. Hope you're well. Feel free to spread the word.

Ron Carlson to teach at Sirenland 2010

2009-06-17T10:17:00.002-05:00

Dear Sirenlanders:

We are very happy to announce that Ron Carlson will joining us at Sirenland 2010 as an instructor. The other two workshops will be led by Dani Shapiro and Jim Shepard, returning from Sirenland 2009. Peter Cameron (who also taught at Sirenland 2009) will be returning to teach at Sirenland 2011.

Ron Carlson is the director of the M.F.A. program in fiction and professor of English at U.C. Irvine. He is the award-winning author of several short story collections and six novels, including the newly published The Signal, which has been receiving rave reviews, including this one in The Washington Post and this one in the LA Times. I first met Ron at Breadloaf in 2004, where he gave one of the best lectures I've ever heard about the process of writing. Later, One Story published a special edition of Ron's story, "Beanball" for our 100th issue. Ron Carlson is an amazing writer, teacher and friend, and I know that he is going to be a great addition to Sirenland 2010.

Cheers,
Hannah

Great advice on writing

2009-06-02T08:37:00.004-05:00

I'm not big on inspirational quotes, but this is one of the best pieces of advice about writing that I've ever come across.

One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. ...Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.

-- Annie Dillard from The Writing Life

Doris Lessing on Writing Programs

2009-06-01T09:16:00.002-05:00

"I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer."

-- Doris Lessing

Thanks to Scott Myers

Upstart Sirenlander to Publish Book of Stories

2009-05-31T19:33:00.003-05:00

Yes, there are fairy godmothers. Or something like that. My news is that my book of noir crime stories has been accepted for publication by a small press located in Denver called New Pulp Press.

Tentative title: No Way, Jose & Other Crime Stories. Two of the stories in the collection were workshopped at Sirenland in 2008 & 2009. So thanks to everyone at Sirenland who provided insightful comments that made the stories better. The title novella was workshopped at the Zoetrope: All-Story writers' conference held in Belize in 2007. Thus far Ben Fountain and Ron Rash have agreed to write blurbs for the book. So...anything is possible if you just keep after it. My painter spouse Dahlia and I are still living with the magical dream that was that week in March 2009 at Le Sirenuse. Her oil pastel drawing of Positano is above.

Cheers,

Jonathan Woods