Legenda: Articles of Note

Legenda: Noteworthy Articles

{ LEGENDA (Latin) n. - that which should be read }
Reading culled from late-night netroaming

[Week of 14 Aug 2000]

The Authority of a Writer: An Interview With Nikki Giovanni Multiple award-winning author and poet Nikki Giovanni is considered to be one of the most influential and popular poets today. Nikki spoke with Jan McDaniel for the July-August issue of Writer's Write about her thirty year career, her poetry, the Internet, and what she believes that aspiring writers must never do.
See BookSlave's Giovanni pages for a biography and selection of her works.

The Myth of the Book Glut: Are books as plentiful as we've been led to believe? In Feed's Book Issue of 7/99, Matt Weiland examines the facts and trends. It's a topic even more relevant now, with the ebook explosion of this summer.

Where does authorial freedom end and identity politics begin? In To Heaven Without Dying Jhumpa Lahiri, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Interpreter of Maladies interprets herself. From the current issue of Feed.

From the Land's End Essay Shelf, two of many wonderfully-written essays:
Vanishing America: Books ahoy! This is one of three articles in a series by Tom Miller which chronicles parts of the cultural landscape that are going, going, but not quite gone. In this piece, the bookmobile is a welcome sight in Dutch Flats, California.

My Life In Clothing One of many fine essays by Karl F. Vollmer, who recently passed away. Vollmer was perhaps the most veteran of all Lands' Enders, writing single-handedly whole catalogs in the early days. His words were his legacy, and here he addresses the fine art of putting on clothes.

[Week of 18 June 2000]

The Writer's Secret Weapon: a Diary In the Writers Write section of The Internet Writing Journal, Nick DiSpoldo eloquently describes his lifelong journey love of literature and his journey through the stages of diary-keeping that have aided his successful writing career. Don't miss this thoughtful, amusing and insightful essay.

Sometimes having company makes writing easier. Introducing Writers Riot, the Internet's first collaborative (round-robin) fiction forum, where you can be a writer, reader, or even an editor! Join in and get inspired.

Check out Ray Kurzweil's Cybernetic Poet, a cutting-edge poetry generation program available for free download. Kurzweil is the author of a new best-selling book, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, which includes a discussion of the Cybernetic Poet and other programs that assist in the creation of art. The Cybernetic Poet (RKCP) includes a screen saver that writes poetry, a Poet's Assistant that helps you write poetry (and song lyrics!), and 50 professionally-designed "poet personalities" (in the registered version). The RKCP can help you find rhymes, alliterations, ideas for the next word of your poem (or song), ideas for turns of phrase, and more. The program reads a selection of poems, creates a "language model" and then writes original poems from that model. Check out some of the poetry at the site, and read the history of this unusual software, which includes "A Kind of Poetry Turing Test".
If you're interested in nanotechnology, biotechnology or the consequences of technology, spend an hour listening to National Public Radio's Science Friday discussion on March 17 (Kurzweil is one of the guests). It's a fascinating conversation about the consequences of 21st-century technologies--particularly robotics, genetics, and nanotechnology, the quest for intelligent machines, how our relationship to computers is changing, and whether computers could ever threaten human existence. It's available here. (RealPlayer required).

[Week of 13 March 2000]

From Lila Guzmán, Writer's Online Associate Editor: Flash Fiction, four intriguing pieces, none longer than 99 words, are from Short Shots, used by permission of Harvey Stanbrough, editor. Each illustrates beautifully what a talented writer can do in a short space.

Speaking of Lila Guzmán, who won an honorable mention in fiction from the National League of American Pen Women in 1996, check out the writing workshops and short story course she conducts at Word Museum.

If you're interested in book collecting, don't miss this excellent article that covers every aspect of that fascinating topic.

A marriage of two minds comes to life when Jan Moir meets a couple whose strength lies as much in their differences as the things they have in common. Michael Holroyd and Margaret Drabble are one of Britain's foremost literary couples, and this excellent interview reveals just a few of the reasons why.

Browse the Writer's Digest 101 Best Web Sites for Writers. Categories include search engines, research sites, places where writers congregate online, you name it.

Here are a few of my favorite "write sites"....

Zoetrope All-Story Extra On-line supplement to Francis Ford Coppola's fiction magazine. Features two never-before-published pieces of quality modern fiction each month.
The Arcanum Cafe Member poets & writers showcase their works, visitors read fresh writing and participate in one of the most innovative writing community environments around. The discussion boards cover every conceivable topic of interest to writers and readers. Check out the community poem, a collaborative effort to which members add their own lines.
Coffeehouse for Writers, another member's site that has a selection of online writing workshops, discussion forums, critique groups, free monthly contests.
Write101 is one of my favorite places to visit. You'll find numerous aids for writers, home tutorials and an extensive reference library. The Write Way newsletter, emailed each Friday, contains a featured article, a weekly word quiz, a Latin phrase to impress your friends, and some surprises....perhaps a quip, an oxymoron....who knows what, but it sure makes Friday a day to look forward to.

Feed The Hungry Just in case this has escaped your attention: you can go here once a day, click on one button and donate food to the United Nations World Food Program. Sponsors of the Hunger Site pay for the click and the food.

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