Posted: May 21st, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Look what our instructors have been up to lately…
Neelanjana Banerjee received a scholarship to attend the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley this summer.
Adam Cushman‘s first novel Cut will be released by Black Mountain Press in December 2013. He is also now editing a weekly column of fake movie reviews called “Sleeper Celluoid” on www.tropmag.com.
Chris Daley will serve as a judge for the Fiction and First Fiction Awards of the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. She also moderated two panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April.
Seth Fischer’s essay “Notes from a Unicorn” will be listed as a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2013. He has also been named a contributor to BuzzFeed LGBT.
Edan Lepucki‘s short story “Coffee Bar” was published in the latest issue of NANO Fiction.
Elline Lipkin‘s essay “Phil Levine at Houston: My First Teacher,” about studying with Philip Levine when she was a grad student, was included in the recently released collection Coming Close: Forty Essays on Philip Levine.
Publisher’s Weekly picked Ivy Pochoda‘s upcoming novel Visitation Street as a Best Summer Read for 2013.
Shannan Rouss has a forthcoming children’s book, A Watermelon in the Sukkah, which she co-wrote with her mom (awwwww!). Pre-order it here.
Margaret Wappler was included in the anthology Yes is the Answer (And Other Prog-Rock Tales), edited by Marc Weingarten and Tyson Cornell, alongside works by Rick Moody, Joe Meno and Seth Greenland.
Posted: May 21st, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
WWLA students are publishing, getting into grad school and writing conferences, performing, teaching, and having babies! A big congratulations to all of them.
Spring 2013 creative nonfiction students Jen Berkowitz, Marie Condron, L. Marie Cook, Andrea Dandino, Heather Fowler, Louisa Levine, Jennifer McCharen, and Amanda McRaven will be reading at a June event in Los Feliz.
Renee Carlino‘s debut novel
Sweet Thing has hit the shelves and is available for purchase at your local independent bookstore (Vroman’s or Skylight or Book Soup, oh my!) or
online here.
Melissa Chadburn is a guest lecturer at UC San Diego, teaching Short Fiction, Personal Narrative and Creative Nonfiction. This summer she will attend the Graduate Summer Workshop at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Jon Doyle‘s first novel, The Awareness, co-written with Gene Stone, will be released this August by NetMinds, under their NetMinds Select imprint.
Elisabeth Adwin Edwards will be attending the Napa Valley Writer’s Conference this summer, studying with poet Major Jackson.
Terrance Flynn was a finalist in this year’s Annual New South Writing Contest. His last reading as a PEN Emerging Voices Fellow will take place at the Hammer Museum on July 16.
Sanam Mahloudji gave birth to twins Dahlia Anise Mahloudji Krug and Juliette Saffron Mahloudji Krug on April 1, 2013 at 6:03 and 6:10 am.
Josh Mak has been accepted to the MFA program at the University of Oregon.
Joyce Salter was accepted to this summer’s Squaw Valley Writers Workshop for creative nonfiction.
Posted: May 15th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Starting this summer, WWLA will offer payment plans to returning students only.
I’ve always wanted to make these courses affordable; when I conceived of the payment plan system, I imagined myself in my early twenties, working as a bookseller and struggling to pay the bills as I wrote short stories on my evenings off. I figured, if I allowed students to pay in more than one installment, writers who otherwise wouldn’t have the funds to participate in such a class would be able to. For a long time, it worked out well.
Unfortunately, as Writing Workshops Los Angeles has grown, more and more students have taken advantage of the payment policy, failing to pay balances they owe. This leaves me and my teachers without income we depend on; it’s also meant that I spend a lot of time trying to collect money when I could be writing my own work, or devoting hours to my students and the business, or hanging out with my family. It’s left me frustrated and discouraged.
Effective this summer 2013, new students must pay for their classes in-full. Once a student is part of the Writing Workshops Los Angeles community, I am glad to offer him or her payment plan options.
Hopefully, this change will spur new students to commit more fully to a course upon enrollment, and inspire them to return for the perks. To all of you returning students who have used the payment plan system the way it was intended: thank you so much!
At WWLA we continue to dedicate ourselves to affordable, rigorous, inspiring and fun courses, and this policy should only make our operations smoother and less…stressful.
Thanks, and please email any questions to me, Edan, at writingworkshopsla@gmail.com.
Posted: April 4th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
This year, Writing Workshops Los Angeles will have quite a presence at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held on the USC campus Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st.
On Saturday at 3:30 PM, Chris Daley will be moderating the panel “Fiction: With a Sideways Glance” (Conversation 1074), with authors David Abrams, Fiona Maazel, Diana Wagman and Jess Walter. On Sunday at 3:00 PM, Chris will also moderate the panel “Nonfiction: Sounds & Visions” (Conversation 2134), with authors Joshua Cody, Josh Kun and Johnny Temple.
On Sunday at noon, Margaret Wappler will be moderating the panel “Fiction: Inside Hollywood” (Conversation 2092), with authors Adam Braver, Alex Espinoza, Nina Revoyr and Matthew Specktor.
Also on Sunday at noon, Edan Lepucki will be moderating the panel “Fiction: Novel Narrators” (Conversation 2042), with authors Elizabeth Crane, Tara Ison, Antoine Wilson and Andrew Winer.
And stop by the “SMOKING HOT LIT LOUNGE” — Booth 380 — which Neelanjana Banerjee is helping to run. The booth will feature indie presses from LA, readings and workshops in our lounge (couches! rugs! lamps!), and fun interactive literary games. Stop by and make a bookmark, participate and watch our special #HOTLIT Instagram feed, or just curl up on our couch with some smokin’ hot indie literature. Readings & Workshops by: Deborah Miranda (Bad Indians, HeyDay Press), Nicky Sa-eun Schildkraut (Magnetic Refrain, Kaya Press), Richard Rayner, Dancing Girl Press, Boxcar Poetry Review, Writ Large Press, Southern California Review, and SO MUCH MORE.
Go to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books webpage for more info about all the amazing events, panels and readings on offer, not to mention all the bookstore and small press booths…!
Posted: April 2nd, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Chris Daley’s nonfiction students have published personal essays in Salon, The Rumpus, Guru Magazine, and Eclectica and memoirs workshopped in her class have won a PEN Emerging Voices fellowship and an award from the Los Angeles Book Festival. So, it’s no wonder Chris’s students keep coming back for more!
This Spring, Chris is teaching Nonfiction II, which you can check out on our Classes page and/or sign up for by emailing writingworkshopsla@gmail.com.
We asked Chris a few questions about reading, writing and teaching and loved reading her answers:
Your students are incredibly passionate about your classes and often take your workshops on back-to-back seasons. What is it like to watch your students grow in this way?
When I stop to think about how hard these students have worked – some for over two years now – it’s awe-inspiring. I have two classes that are closed to new enrollment, because the students are so committed to their projects that they keep coming back. Some of these writers have families, some have full-time jobs, and all have lives outside of class. Yet they show up every week with the reading done and the written homework complete, and on top of that, they submit new work for their projects every other week, read each other’s submissions, and provide generous and insightful feedback. Their discipline and love of writing never fail to inspire me, and I think we are all fortunate to have found each other.
What’s been both fun and challenging for me is keeping the class fresh each term with the same students returning. In December, we had our first public reading at Bar Covell in Los Feliz, which came about from the fall curriculum. In addition to our regular assignments, we focused on selecting appropriate excerpts and practicing performance. The event was a huge success. In the winter term that just ended, we focused on submission and publication. We analyzed print and online venues for nonfiction, read a couple issues of literary journals and some submission advice from editors, and kept track of deadlines for upcoming calls and contests. Now I’m trying to figure out what’s next!
You are a professional editor as well as a professional writer. What do you bring from your editing background into a workshop environment? What do you bring from your own history of writing?
I’ve never thought about how my class might be influenced by my editing work. I know submissions are professionally edited for the price of admission, but I think there’s a more subtle effect. The students come to consider style and substance at the sentence level to be as important as larger craft concerns. I believe this is how writers of memoir especially will distinguish themselves. Often, when discussing memoir, the focus is on the story, the angle, but readers want beautiful, compelling prose regardless of genre.
I’ve written personal narrative in the past – and I’ve taught essay writing for almost twenty years (yikes!) – but right now, I’m moving from work on a linked story collection to a project that would likely be described as narrative journalism. These choices weren’t related to my teaching, but I’m glad in a way to be working on a different genre than the students. For me, the teaching feels more…pure, maybe. In class, I’m able to concentrate fully on the students’ work and leave my own writing concerns… I’d say at the door, but the classes are at my house so I’m already inside.
The most important link between my writing and my teaching is a belief that audience is the most important consideration for a writer. That’s the beauty of the workshop environment, especially when you’ve found a cohesive class that stays together from term to term. You have an available, intelligent audience that can be honest with you about what’s working and what’s not.
What’s the best personal essay you read this week?
I’m being completely sincere when I say that on an average week, the best essay I read is almost always written by one of my intermediate or advanced students.
However, we’re on break right now, so I’m reading a stack of novels for a panel I’m moderating at the LA Times Festival of Books on April 20. Once I’m finished, I’m looking forward to reading a few essay collections, including Katie Roiphe’s In Praise of Messy Lives, Daniel Mendelsohn’s Waiting for the Barbarians, and Jo Ann Beard’s The Boys of My Youth. For a recent class, we read David Foster Wallace’s A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again and we were all madly in love by the end. The next craft book I’ll be reading is the new Phillip Lopate, To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction.
Do you have a writing outfit? A Lucky hat? An especially comfortable shirt? Or are you more of a writing snack kind of woman?
I don’t have a lucky anything. I’m more of a skill kind of girl. I tend to dress up just because I’m used to teaching at universities. The only ritual I have for the class is that at the end of every term, we always have a potluck finale. It’s a nice way to bond and celebrate as well as share some homemade cooking. Or at least treats from Trader Joe’s.
Posted: March 11th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Spring has sprung, and if the seasons changed in Los Angeles, we’d be getting ready for a burst of green. Instead, we offer you a burst of new classes from WWLA:
SPRING 2013 CLASS SCHEDULE
FICTION
Fiction I
Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 17, 2013 to June 5, 2013
Section 2 (taught by Neelanjana Banerjee in Silverlake)
Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 25, 2013 to June 13, 2013
SOLD OUT
This 8-week course will introduce beginning writers to the basic techniques of fiction writing such as characterization, dramatization, dialogue, point of view, and so on. In class, students will discuss published fiction from a craft perspective and do writing exercises designed to tackle particular techniques. Each week students will have short writing assignments to do outside of class, which will be turned in for feedback from the instructor. As this course is designed for beginning writers, there won’t be any formal workshopping. The class is also open to more experienced writers who simply want to brush up on the basics.
Section 1 will take place in the instructor’s home in Beachwood Canyon, and Section 2 will take place at the instructor’s home in Silverlake. The classes are the same, just different instructors and at different times. In both courses, wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students per section
$380 for new students; $340 for returning students. (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Fiction II (taught by Seth Fischer in Hancock Park)
Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 23, 2013 to June 11, 2013
SOLD OUT!
This 8-week intermediate-level class is designed for both short story writers and novelists. For the first four weeks, students will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. The class will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help students progress with their manuscripts. For the final four weeks of the course, students will be workshopped in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire every member of the class. Each student will have the opportunity to workshop either one short story manuscript or one novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages).
This course will take place in Hancock Park, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$380 for new students; $340 for returning students. (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Fiction III (taught by Adam Cushman in Beachwood Canyon)
Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 16, 2013 to June 18, 2013
SOLD OUT!
This 10-week course is designed for experienced students who are interested in deepening their understanding of fiction writing craft and technique.
For the first few weeks, the class will discuss published fiction and do in-class writing exercises. Students will be given optional out-of-class writing assignments, and there will be short critiques of students’ work-in-progress and revisions. Each student will write two pieces of fiction (short stories or novel excerpts); one of those manuscripts will be workshopped by the class, and the other will be given to the instructor for feedback.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Beachwood Canyon, where wine and sparkling water—and an occasional assortment of cheese and chocolates—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$410 for new students; $380 for returning students. (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Fiction IV (taught by Margaret Wappler in Mt. Washington)
Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 10, 2013 to June 12, 2013
2 SPOTS LEFT!
This 10-week course is designed for advanced writers with extensive workshop experience who are interested in deepening their understanding of fiction writing craft and technique. This course is by application only.
For the first few weeks, the class will discuss published fiction and do in-class writing exercises. Students will be given optional out-of-class writing assignments, and there will be short critiques of students’ work-in-progress and revisions. Each student will write two pieces of fiction (short stories or novel excerpts); one of those manuscripts will be workshopped by the class, and the other will be given to the instructor for feedback.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Mt. Washington, where wine and sparkling water—and an occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$410 for new students; $380 for returning students. (Payment plans available!)
To apply for entry, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Novel Writing III (taught by Ivy Pochoda in Downtown L.A.)
Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 1, 2013 to June 26, 2013
SOLD OUT!
In this 9-week course, students will work on novels they have already started. The first few weeks of class will be devoted to writing exercises and discussing craft and technique from a novelist’s perspective. All assignments, both in- and out-of-class, will ask students to think deeply about their projects and their aesthetic goals. There will be a weekly page-count requirement to keep students on task, and there will even be time set aside in class to write. The final weeks of the course will be devoted to workshopping student novel excerpts (35 pages maximum) in an intense yet compassionate environment designed to challenge and inspire all members of the class.
This course is designed as a continuation of the Winter 2013 Novel Writing II class. Students who haven’t taken the previous class are welcome to apply, but please note that the course is open to experienced writers only. Students must have at least 75 pages of a manuscript to be eligible for the course.
This class will take place in the instructor’s home in downtown L.A., where wine and sparkling water–and the occasional gourmet cheese–will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
Course fee: $380 for all students (Payment plans available!)
To apply for entry, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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8-Week Fiction Writing Group (taught by Adam Cushman in Beachwood Canyon)
Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 25, 2013 to June 13, 2013
1 SPOT LEFT!
In this course, students will have the opportunity to be a part of a fiction writers’ group facilitated by a published writer. Within a supportive environment, students will share new and in-process work, write from prompts, take home ideas for new stories, talk about writing, and ask questions about craft, creation and process. We will form our own writing community, giving and receiving feedback from one another, all the while having a good time. This is not a lecture class, nor will there be class assignments.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Beachwood Canyon, where wine, sparkling water, and the occasional snack, will be served.
Enrollment Limit: 8 students
Price: $250 (students must pay the full amount up front; no payment plans available for this course)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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NONFICTION
Mixed Levels Food Writing Workshop (taught by Amelia Morris by Echo Park)
Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 16, 2013 to June 4, 2013
2 SPOTS LEFT!
In this 8-week workshop students will examine the breadth and depth of food writing, from memoir to essays, and even a bit of fiction. Students will read and analyze various examples of published food writing, and they will also complete a number of in-class exercises designed to help them describe, capture and interpret the sensory and communal aspects of eating and/or cooking. Students will have two opportunities to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.
This workshop will be held in the instructor’s home in Echo Park, where wine and sparkling water will be served. For sustenance and inspiration, the instructor will also occasionally provide small bites!
Enrollment Limit: 8 students
Price: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Nonfiction I (taught by Seth Fischer in Echo Park)
Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 24, 2013 to June 12, 2013
SOLD OUT
In this 8-week course, students will read, discuss, and write essays (or chapters) that will explore the genre(s) of personal narrative and memoir. The readings will be selected to stimulate thinking, exemplify different techniques and styles, and suggest techniques for engaging personal and creative expression. There will be in-class and homework exercises that address topics such as persona, audience, story, description, memory and truth, and ethical considerations specific to the genre. Students will have the chance to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Echo Park, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Nonfiction II (taught by Chris Daley in Los Feliz)
Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 25, 2013 to June 13, 2013
SOLD OUT!
This 8-week intermediate course is designed for writers who are looking to continue their exploration of the memoir or personal essay genre. The students will already be familiar with most of the particular generic concerns of personal narrative (hybridity of form, the importance of scene, retrospective versus immediate point of view, authenticity of voice, memory, ethics). There will be some assigned readings, but the class will focus on bringing projects toward completion through a process of drafting, feedback, and revision in a challenging but supportive environment. Weekly in-class and homework exercises will help students develop their projects, and each writer will have the opportunity to submit work for review every other week. Since this course is designed for more experienced writers, previous enrollment in WWLA’s Nonfiction I course is suggested but not required.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Los Feliz, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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POETRY
Poetry I/II (with Elline Lipkin in Pasadena)
Saturdays, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
April 20, 2013 to June 15, 2013 (no class 5/25)
4 SPOTS LEFT!
This 8-week mixed-levels class is designed to immerse students in the power and pleasure of poetry. Each week students will consider a particular theme through an in-class writing exercise, read examples of other poems, and be given an assignment sheet of poetry prompts to use during the week. Students will explore different types of poetic forms, practice using a variety of writing techniques, and offer feedback on each other’s work. This class is an opportunity for students to explore the art and craft of poetry at any level with the chance to experiment with words and feel inspired.
This course will take place in Pasadena, where coffee and sparkling water—and the occasional assortment of breakfast pastries—will be served.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$380 for new students; $340 for returning students (payment plans available!)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Poetry III (with Elline Lipkin in Beverly Grove)
Tuesday, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 23, 2013 to June 11, 2013
1 SPOT LEFT!
This 8-week advanced class is designed to bring experienced writing students even deeper into their practice of poetry. In each meeting, the class will focus on a different poetic device or technique, and students will read writers whose work exemplifies a poetry challenge students can then try themselves. Students will explore different types of poetic forms, read established poets’ work, and offer feedback on each other’s writing. This class is an opportunity for students to explore the art and craft of poetry at a more rigorous level, and to engage with fellow students in a serious workshop environment.
This course will take place in Beverly Grove where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.
Poetry III is by application only, and it’s recommended to those students who have studied poetry for at least a year, and/or who have taken two or more poetry classes with Elline.
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$400 for new students; $360 for returning students (payment plans available!) **this class fee includes a $20 parking permit**
To apply for entry, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com
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Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Writing Workshops Los Angeles also offers one-on-one instruction in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com for more information.
Posted: March 11th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Look what our instructors have been up to lately…
Adam Cushman‘s short stories were published in El Portal and Trop Magazine.
Seth Fischer is about to start a residency at the Jentel Arts Residency Program in Wyoming.
Edan Lepucki‘s “Ambulance of Boys” was a finalist in The Standard’s Dog Days of Summer story contest, and her first novel will be published by Little, Brown in spring 2014. She is a judge in this year’s Tournament of Books.
Amelia Morris sold a book based on her blog, Bon Appetempt, to the Hatchette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing.
Ivy Pochoda’s second novel, Visitation Street, is coming out in July. Dennis Lehane picked it for his eponymous imprint, and says, “Visitation Street is urban opera writ large. Gritty and magical, filled with mystery, poetry and pain, Ivy Pochoda’s voice recalls Richard Price, Junot Diaz, and even Alice Sebold, yet it’s indelibly her own.”
Posted: March 4th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Congratulations are in order…
Edith Cohn sold her debut YA novel SPIRIT’S KEY, about a twelve-year-old girl psychic who works with the spirit of her pet dog to uncover the truth behind the mysterious deaths of wild dogs on the remote island where she lives, to Susan Dobinick at Farrar, Straus Children’s.
Elizabeth Lamping Diamond gave birth to baby boy Nolan David Diamond on December 28, 2012.
Betty Emirzian has been accepted to the graduate nursing program at UCLA.
Terrance Flynn has been awarded a residency at MacDowell.
Anthony Mohr‘s essay “Maid’s Night Out” will be published in
The MacGuffin Magazine. Also, his essay “26.9,” which was published last year in
Diverse Voices Quarterly, has been picked up by the anthology
The California Prose Directory 2013.
Lisa Sanchez‘s story “
The Medic’s Girlfriend” was a finalist in
Narrative Magazine‘s fall 2012 short story contest.
Alice Schock was accepted into the Library Science graduate program at UCLA.
Posted: February 19th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Writing Workshops Los Angeles is growing! Neelanjana Banerjee is not only an editor, a short story writer, and a poet, she’s also a member of the advanced novel writing workshop, so she knows WWLA very well. Check out Neela’s impressive bio below, and look out for her class in the forthcoming spring schedule. Welcome to the faculty lunch room, Neela!
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Neelanjana Banerjee‘s short stories, poetry and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in PANK, The Liner, The Rumpus, Virginia Quarterly Online, World Literature Today, The Literary Review, Nimrod, and anthologies like Breaking the Bow: Speculative Stories Inspired by the Ramayana (Zubaan Books, 2012) and Desilicious: Sexy, Subversive, South Asian (Arsenal Press, 2003), among other places. She co-edited the award-winning Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry (University of Arkansas Press, 2010). She received her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, and has been awarded writing residencies from Hedgebrook and the Blue Mountain Center. Her journalism about literature and culture can be seen at Colorlines, Fiction Writers Review, HTML Giant, Hyphen, Word Riot, and other places around World Wide Web. She is the Media Director for Kaya Press, and a teaching artist with The HeArt Project. She lives in Silverlake and is working on her first novel. Visit her on-line here.
Neelanjana Banerjee
Posted: February 5th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
For years, we’ve been reading Margaret Wappler’s stories in Another Chicago Magazine, Black Clock, Facsimile, Public Fiction, and Joyland, plus her arts and culture writing in Los Angeles Times, The Rolling Stone, The Believer and LA Weekly. So we are understandably pumped that she has joined WWLA as a Fiction instructor!
We asked Margaret a few questions about reading, writing and teaching.
You are currently writing a novel. Our least favorite question is “what is your novel about” so we won’t ask you that! Instead, can you tell us a little bit about your favorite scene from the novel, so far?
Well, my favorite scene is always the one I just finished revising. It feels so shiny and new (though it’s been redrafted, oh, probably some 15 times). In this scene, Gabe and Alison, the two teenage siblings in my book, are forced to fundraise for an Earth Day celebration on the mall. Their father is a staunch environmentalist and he really involves the family in his passions, for better or worse. Alison and Gabe, to make it fun, go to the weirdest stores on the mall first – the wig shop and the magic store. I’m a big believer in setting and how it can affect character interaction. If I succeeded, both of them have colorful encounters that are only enhanced by the surroundings.
You’ve lived, taught, and written about culture in both Chicago and LA. How does a city and a sense of place affect your fiction writing?
Oh, you’d like me to talk more about setting? Great! Some of my favorite stories or novels are ones where place functions as another character or at least a force that can apply narrative pressure on the characters. In Gretel Erhlich’s “The Solace of Wide Open Spaces,” an essay collection about a grieving woman who uproots her urban life for Wyoming cattle ranches, her internal state is often directly challenged by the landscape. In my novel, suburban Chicago is both the most “normal” place on earth, and the site of a mysterious UFO landing. I wanted to utilize the built-in ideas of the Midwest and suburban America while also subverting them. As far as Los Angeles, when I first moved here 12 years ago, the jumble dazzled me – palm trees and industrial wastelands, scrawny coyotes and Koreatown. LA is one giant non sequitur. Whenever I’ve used LA as a setting in fiction, those disparate relationships end up informing the piece’s tone and atmosphere.
Can you give us a preview of one of the stories or novel excerpts you’ll be teaching in Fiction III? Why did you choose it?
Margaret Atwood’s short story “Death By Landscape.” Atwood is a masterful writer who somehow manages to be devastating and understated at the same time. There are images from this story that are embedded in my brain, ever since I initially read it some 15 years ago. Those pictures, along with a certain memory of the story’s tone, will just come to me while I’m driving or standing in line at the bank. I’m eager to see if it affects other readers the same way.
What’s one of your favorite novels or short stories? Why?
“White Noise” by Don DeLillo. This isn’t a perfect novel (which is actually really encouraging to me as a working writer) but it had such an impact that I carry it around like a memory. I return to it frequently for its treatment of reality. On one hand, it captures the routine everyday of family life, career, things we all can relate to. On the other hand, fantastical things happen in the book and seamlessly mesh with those prior banalities. Ultimately, the book is about death, which is both the most ordinary and extraordinary thing that can happen to you.
Here’s a classic: if you could have dinner with any writer, alive or dead, with whom would you want to share a meal and conversation?
How about a dinner party with Don DeLillo, JM Coetzee (though he seems rather stern), Ann Beattie, Haruki Murakami, Alex Shakar, Carson McCullers, Aimee Bender or F. Scott Fitzgerald? I think the living writers would have to pay for the dead writers, however. It’s just the polite thing to do, considering they traveled a greater distance.