William Frank and DW Stojek are the authors of nearly 10 books of poetry between them, and they’ve been creative partners and performers (at readings and presentations around New York City) for over twenty-five years. When not writing poetry, Stojek is an avid photographer, while Frank enjoys long hours of chess, bingeing on 1950’s Japanese Cinema, taking naps with Scrambles (his cat), arguing with the Devil, press-ganging the elderly and Sadism.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with Frank and Stojek about their collections (The Purgatory Elm and The Foreign Excellent Rainbow Company, Inc. 1920, respectively), as well as popular culture, outrage culture, being tongue-in-cheek about poetry, and much more!
Jendi Reiter, vice president of Winning Writers (named one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers” by Writer’s Digest, 2015-2018), oversees the Winning Writers literary contests. The website, founded in 2001 to help poets and writers, is located in Western Massachusetts. Jendi is also an award-winning author with a new book of short stories, An Incomplete List of My Wishes (Sunshot Press/New Millennium Writings, 2018).
How long did it take to organize the help so many poets and writers depend upon in Winning Writers? What was the spark that started it?
WW is always evolving and refining our features, which include a monthly e-newsletter, four writing awards, and a database of the Best Free Literary Contests.
To me, this is the single greatest fear that every
musician, singer and songwriter must confront over the course of their creative
lives. How should one respond when one’s audience no longer cares, or worse,
when it disappears entirely?
It’s a question I’ve been asking for more
than 20 years. During that time countless artistic empires have risen and
fallen, the music industry has transformed beyond belief and I’ve experienced
my own zenith and nadir as one of the architects of obscure indie-pop outfit
Silent Alliance.
Many claim that the creative process, the
pursuit and fulfilment of artistic vision is the higher calling – a pure,
uncompromising objective for any that wants to lay claim to true authenticity
as a musical creator.…
Founder/Editor-in-Chief of editor of Writing-World.com and freelance writer since 1979, Moira Allen is the author of several hundred published articles, and three books on writing published by Allworth Press: Writing.com, The Writer’s Guide to Queries, Pitches, and Proposals, and Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer (now in its 3rd edition). Allen has also served as the editor of the national magazine Dog Fancy, as well as the editor of several online/electronic publications. I first came across Moira Allen’s writing articles in Working Writer and her practical suggestions helped my writing and the often confusing submission process.
When did you begin your author website guide and how did it come about?
Writing-World.com actually began in several stages. My first website was “Tips for Writers,” and included only my own articles. …
Diana Raab is a memoirist, poet, essayist, blogger, and speaker. She has a PhD in Psychology with a concentration in Transpersonal Psychology and a research focus on the healing and transformative powers of memoir writing. She’s published nearly a dozen books and over 1000 articles and poems. Her latest book, Writing for Bliss: A Seven-Step Plan for Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life, was published by Loving Healing Press in September 2017.
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with Raab about the intersections between psychology and creative writing, including dealing with trauma, getting past mental/emotional roadblocks, and the like.
You worked as web editor and reporter on UK events for The Epoch Times, English edition, and worked with the White Cloud Poetry Society. Please tell readers about your additional background.
Reporting for TheEpoch Times was good grounding for writing about news and current events: fact checking, strong sources for quotes and information, a balanced view, simple sentences, transparency. Truth was and is paramount to its work.
For White Cloud Poetry Society, Jennifer Zeng translates poems of Xi Yuan into clear English, keeping close to the original and kindly gives me a character-for-word check. I finish the poems into rhymed and metered English, focusing on the original structure, characters per line, rhyme, and the features that Jennifer brings out. Xi Yuan is outstanding in her evocation of traditional Chinese poetry.…
Jen McConnell is a fiction writer and poet. Her work has most recently appeared in Buck Off Magazine, Luna Luna, Mused, and the Blue Lotus Review. Her debut collection of short stories, Welcome, Anybody, was published by Press 53 in 2012. She’s currently working on her second collection. She earned degrees in English and Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Vermont. Be sure to visit her website, too!
In this episode of Cover to Cover with . . ., Editor-in-Chief Jordan Blum speaks with McConnell about her story “Yorba, Yorba,’ her MFA, publishing, and mentor experiences, and more!
