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Transparency, Barthelme and Lahiri

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I've been reading Jhumpa Lahiri's short story collection "Unaccustomed Earth" recently, along with "Donald Barthelme" (by Lois Gordon) and "Reading Network Fiction" by David Ciccoricco. First I'll mention some general language features, then I'll compare the writers. In some aspects they're opposites though I like them both. Language Knowledge of, and skill with, words isn't a sufficient condition for understanding the world. In itself it's not even a necessary condition. We learn by doing, by writing. Learning leads to new instruments, new worlds. The Word and World inform each other. For writers in particular, words are not passive mediators. The Self isn't a separate layer either. It needs to be added into the mix. The " World -> Self (Author) -> Word " pipeline is misleading. There are eddies and backflows. Authors write in order to understand. The Reader needs to be added into the mix. The ...
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Breaking into print

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Contents What's the point? Inhibitions and how to overcome them Planning Sending off - Where and How (and electronic submission ) Keeping records Rejection Acceptance Marketing No Reply Shortcuts Conclusions References So, you have some poems, or short stories or maybe even a novel. You all know about the Writers and Artists Yearbook, you've all seen stories and articles that you could have written yourselves, so why don't you send things off? Today we'll try to identify what's holding you back. I'll talk first about general issues, then deal with the details about sending off, then what to do after. I'm not going to deal with blockbusters - I'm going to assume you're happy to start at the shallow end. If it all sounds like too much work, don't worry - I'll offer some shortcuts at the end. What's the point? I suppose firstly we should look at the incentives to sending things away. Money - Unless you regularly write articles, you won...
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The Week in Review - 29th May, 2011

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Another Sunday, another dollar. Or złotówka, or euro... Those of you with children will no doubt have been to, or are planning to go to, some kind of family picnic or other sort of public party in honour of Children’s Day, which hits us this coming Wednesday. The Little Proofreaders had a fun time yesterday – despite the rain – at our local dwór, meeting Bolek i Lolek , listening to live music and munching parówki.   Meanwhile, work continues apace for the Big Proofreader; April and May are historically very busy months and this year has been no exception. Still, an end is in sight, which pleases my aching eyes and sore pupa, and worries my shrinking bank account. The srebrny lining to that impending chmura is that I have more time to think about the Article.   After a recent unexpected hiatus this month which precluded any posting for nearly two weeks, I was finally forced to admit that our so-far packed schedule would have to be trimmed further down. So from now on, the sche...
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