November 08, 2006
Top literary editors to work with local writers
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Four top-notch editors will give tips on becoming a better writer and getting published in prestigious journals during a panel discussion at Southern Illinois University Carbondale next week.
The SIUC Graduate Writers Forum, Fine Arts Activity Fee committee, Graduate and Professional Student Council, "Crab Orchard Review" and Judge William Holmes Cook Endowment are sponsoring the event, set for 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11 in the SIUC Student Center Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
"We're very excited that this accomplished group of editors will meet with students and faculty," said Jon C. Tribble, managing editor of "Crab Orchard Review." "We hope that people in the community also come out to get a feel for the vitality of literary activity in this country."
In addition to dispensing advice, the editors will discuss editorial policies for those interested in publishing nonfiction, fiction and poetry.
C. Michael Curtis edits fiction for "The Atlantic Monthly," as well as letters to the editor, and other pieces. He also screens book-length first serial submissions and most unsolicited stories, which total 12,000 manuscripts annually.
Under Curtis's direction, the fiction in "The Atlantic Monthly" has been nominated for a National Magazine Award virtually every year, winning in 1988. Curtis taught creative writing, ethics and grammar at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, Tufts University, Boston University and Bennington College.
Ted H. Genoways is the editor of the "Virginia Quarterly Review," for which he received six National Magazine Award nominations in 2006. He also edited numerous books, including "The Selected Poems of Miguel Hernández," "The Collected Writings of Walt Whitman: The Correspondence, Volume VII" and "Joseph Kalar's Papermill: Poems 1927-1935."
M.M.M. Hayes is editor-in-chief and publisher of "StoryQuarterly," a fiction anthology recognized by "Best American Stories," "O. Henry Prize Stories," Pushcart Prize and the Illinois Arts Council.
Richard T. Newman is editor of "River Styx" magazine. His most recent book of poems is "Borrowed Towns." He teaches at St. Louis Community College and Washington University and reviews books for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Dan E. Wickett will moderate the discussion. Wickett founded and runs the Emerging Writers Network, a group of new and established writers seeking increased exposure to readers.
Providing cultural outreach is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.