Short stories: to read, and to write

Posted on January 29, 2010 by doradueck

The latest issue of the Center for Mennonite Writing’s online journal is up: this one devoted to “new fiction.” Editor Ervin Beck says the issue is intended “to encourage the writing of fiction in the Mennonite community.” Periodicals favour poetry, he notes. “Fiction requires more space from the publisher and more patience and commitment from the readers.”

For your patience and commitment then, seven new stories or novel excerpts, including the story “Chopsticks” by yours truly, in which the first person narrator weaves a tale of piano lessons, a train ride, her brother, and her father.

One of the goals I set myself several years ago was to put together a collection of short stories, containing some previously published stories as well as new work. I have eight published pieces from which I might draw, and about half that many others more or less completed or in progress. The publication of such a collection is by no means a given, of course; it may take as many years to find a publisher, especially in these uncertain times, as to write the stories themselves!

But in the meanwhile, I need to get back on track with the project itself. I lost momentum when I returned to the MB Herald last year as interim editor, and have had trouble getting it back, though my desire to continue remains strong. There’s just something about this kind of writing — perhaps because it’s a relatively new genre for me — that provokes all manner of self-doubt, fear, and procrastination. Each time I sit down to it, it’s like jumping into water over my head and knowing I still can’t swim. What’s the right technique again, for legs and arms, for breathing? Help!

Well, enough confession. Flannery O’Connor said, “The only way, I think, to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then to try to discover what you have done. The time to think of technique is when you’ve actually got the story in front of you.” So I’ve gone and declared myself here, and I’ve got the prod of my writers’ group’s monthly meeting on Monday, for which I must have something ready to read. The file of the story-in-progress is open. I’m jumping in. Again.

Mennonite chick lit

Posted on January 27, 2010 by doradueck

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen has all the marks of chick lit, which I don’t usually read. (If that sounds snobbish, let me rush to explain that it’s an age thing: I’m up for some well-written crone lit, actually, if it’s out there.)

Plus, Valerie Weaver-Zercher, reviewing the book in Christian Century, said Janzen “manages to reveal little of consequence about either herself or the church from which she came,” and “her wit at times obscures authentic self-revelation.” I thought I didn’t need to bother with it then.

But I also read other more positive reviews and a discussion of the book at the Center for Mennonite Writing. And, of course, there was the fact that, if chick lit, it was Mennonite chick lit — an oxymoron, perhaps, until now. I learned further that the “going home” of the subtitle was to the Mennonite Brethren, which happens to be my brand of Mennonite, and the author’s father is Edmund Janzen, for some years moderator of the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (although author Janzen calls him “head of the North American Mennonite Conference for Canada and the United States…the Mennonite equivalent of the pope”). Don’t most of us like to know what’s being said about “us”?

Given the intrigue of conflicting reviews, then, and my undeniable curiosity, I decided to buy the book and find out for myself.

Continue reading →

And something sweet

Posted on January 21, 2010 by doradueck

I had a note from Celeste Kennel-Shank of Mennonite Weekly Review that the 80-plus-year-old newspaper has launched a blog, “The World Together,” which is great to hear, and means thoughtful and interesting commentary ahead. She also told me that I won the blog naming prize, meaning they picked the blog name I suggested. Since I don’t win stuff that often, and don’t play the lottery, I’m rather pleased for sure, and will certainly enjoy the prize, a year’s subscription to MWR.

When I worked at the MB Herald I had access to a good number of publications, from Mennonite to other religious to academic and news journals, and one of my favourites was definitely the Mennonite Weekly Review. And I’m not just saying that because they gave me the prize. MWR is not a denominational paper but seeks to serve the entire Mennonite community. I think it’s the best first source for keeping up with what’s going on in the larger landscape of Mennonite conferences, agencies, schools, and happenings. It’s somewhat more tuned to the U.S. scene but works hard to cover the field and always looks and sounds professional.

Isn’t it a sweet irony, though, being rewarded for participating in a cyber-publishing launch with a whole year of weekly ink on newsprint? Fortunately, I’m still quite attached to the old ways of newspapers, magazines, and books, even though I read a lot online as well. I received a year’s subscription to the elegant Christian Century for my birthday, so this is going to be a blessed year indeed, in terms of the mail person’s comings and goings at our front door.

Oh, and please note note that editor Paul Schrag’s first post at the MWR blog is called “Responding to rapes in Bolivia” and comments on the Bolivian Mennonite story which has been a topic at this blog a few times already as well.