Reflections on Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, (Auto)Biography, Life-Writing, and the Essay
15 Mar 2012 at 10:10
Julija Šukys
Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, Editing, Epistolophilia, Essays, Journalism, Journeys, Personal Essays, Publishing, Rejection, SheWrites, Structure, Uncategorized, Writing
I’m leading a writer’s workshop on the personal essay in the fall. I’m happy about it, because the essay is a form I love. I tend to write essays at the beginning of a bigger project, and use them as a way to test out ideas and to work through central questions of longer projects. [...]
11 Oct 2011 at 04:10
Julija Šukys
Academia, Archives, Autobiography, Beth Kaplan, Biography, Canada, Children, CNF Conversations, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Exile, Journalism, Journeys, Language and Multilingualism, Letters, Marketing, Memoir, Mothering, Publishing, Rejection, Research, Russia, Theatre, Translation, Uncategorized, Virginia Woolf, Writing, Yiddish
Beth Kaplan, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin. Syracuse University Press, 2007 (Paperback 2012). * In this revelatory biography, Beth Kaplan sets out to explore the true character and creative achievements of her great-grandfather Jacob Gordin, playwright extraordinaire and icon of the Yiddish stage. Born of an Anglican mother and [...]
11 Oct 2011 at 04:10
Julija Šukys
Academia, Archives, Autobiography, Beth Kaplan, Biography, Children, CNF Conversations, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Exile, Friendship, Journalism, Journeys, Language and Multilingualism, Lituanus, Marketing, Memoir, Publishing, Rejection, Research, Russia, Theatre, Translation, Uncategorized, Vilnius
Beth Kaplan, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin. Syracuse University Press, 2007 (Paperback 2012). * This is Part II of a two-part interview with Beth Kaplan about her book, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare. Click here to read Part I. Julija Šukys: My second question about language is about your relationship [...]
12 May 2011 at 21:23
Julija Šukys
Canada, CanLit, Contests and Prizes, Creative Nonfiction, Journalism, Uncategorized
The notoriously unrewarding business of writing non-fiction books in Canada gained a double dose of glamour and money yesterday with the announcement of the $60,000 Writers’ Trust Hilary Weston Prize. Billed as the richest award for factual writing in Canada, the prize and the autumn gala at which it will be announced are intended to [...]
20 Jan 2011 at 10:41
Julija Šukys
Alternate Economies, Creative Nonfiction, Journalism, Literary Pyramid Scheme, Malcolm Gladwell, Personal Essays, Research
Those of you who follow this blog know about what I call the Literary Pyramid Scheme. Nonetheless, in case there are some newbie readers, here’s a quick recap: Some time ago, I posted a call for volunteers to step forward to help me with a literary experiment. I described a letter I received that invited [...]
27 Sep 2010 at 16:40
Julija Šukys
Contests and Prizes, Creative Nonfiction, Journalism, Personal Essays, Writing
18th Annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers $2,500 PRIZE The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted until November 10, 2010 for the 18TH ANNUAL SHORT PROSE COMPETITION FOR DEVELOPING WRITERS. The winning entry will be the best Canadian work of 2,500 words in the English language, fiction [...]
12 May 2010 at 11:20
Julija Šukys
Autobiography, Journalism, Ona Šimaitė, Personal Essays, Phillip Lopate, Research, Writing
I keep going back to that month I spent at the Banff Centre for the Arts almost four years ago. Never before had I been treated with such generosity and respect (one of the Literary Journalism program’s mentors jokingly warned us not to get used to it, since never again would we be treated this [...]
04 May 2010 at 06:35
Julija Šukys
Journalism, Language and Multilingualism, Lithuania, Mothering, Writing
This morning my Globe and Mail piece “Alphabet fusion” appeared in Lithuanian translation in the national daily Lietuvos rytas (Lithuanian morning). It was a very surreal (not to say postmodern) experience to read it. The article talks about how our family lives in three languages (Lithuanian, English and French), about what Lithuanian can do that [...]
Almost four years ago, I got a phone call telling me that I’d been accepted into the Banff Centre’s Literary Journalism Program. Thrilled by the news, I immediately went to the library (as I do at most major crossroads in my life) to do some research. I took out whatever I could find of Joan [...]
