Writing It!

We talk with Yale Professor in the Practice in the department of English and Francis Writer in Residence, Anne Fadiman about essay writing, being a monogamous writer, teaching writing, how students keep us open to new ideas, creating a team spirit in the classroom, providing feedback, being the child of accomplished writers, sharing our writing with people we trust, and when procrastination stops. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re speaking with Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Professor Emerita at Emerson College, she is the author of biographies of Margaret Fuller, the Peabody Sisters, and Elizabeth Bishop, among other books. We speak about working on writing projects that take many years, writing about her former teacher (poet Elizabeth Bishop), unexpected turns in a writing project (including changing editors), archive discoveries, organizing notes, recreating scenes from long ago, writing groups, and balancing our absorption with a subject and our own family life. We also talked about Megan’s turn to writing about her own family in her most recent book, After Lives: On biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

In this episode, we talk with Yale University Press Executive Editor Adina Popescu about what makes her interested in a book manuscript and in an academic author. Our topics include: What the query letter should include; how to approach the conference "book exhibit hall conversation with an editor; what occurs at the mysterious university press "boards" and who is present at those meetings; why and when book manuscripts return to reviewers; why an editor might ask for additional reviews of your manuscript, and how to get the most out of the review process. Adina also talks what has changed the most in publishing and book-reviewing. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

Yale professor Elli Stern talks with us about figuring out what kind of writing we want to do after tenure—and the importance of building a team of friends and colleagues who can read drafts and provide valuable feedback. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re talking with Alia Hanna Habib of the Gernert literary agency about how academics can successfully find agents; what’s the best way to write a cold-call query letter to agents; how an academic author can include her own intellectual history in the book proposal; avoiding the “voice from nowhere” style of writing; how much money is reasonable to expect as a first-time trade press author; and what to expect from an agent. We also discuss how book deals differ from their cinematic portrayals, and when an academic might consider trade press publication. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re speaking with Richard Breitman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of history at American University about his 45+ year career, and his 12 books. We talked about how research on FDR and the Holocaust spawned many research projects; how convenience and cost affects archival projects; how an agent can helpfully shape a writing project; how journalists can play a useful role in disseminating academic research; how even successful co-authoring has its rough patches; and getting past the “Hasn’t that been done before?” challenge to a book idea. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re talking with Helen Sword, emeritus professor at the University of Auckland, and founder of the writing community, the WriteSPACE. She is also the author of several books about academic writing, including Writing With Pleasure (Princeton, 2023); Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write (Harvard, 2017), The Writers Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose (Chicago, 2016), and Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard, 2012). We talk about what Helen has learned about academic writing through her research and by working with academic writers in groups and one-on-one. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re talking with film historian Noah Isenberg, the Charles Sapp Centennial Professor and former Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin. Isenberg is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood’s most Beloved Movie, and several other books about film. We talk about why and when we might drop theory from our writing; finding a literary agent; the excitement of finding your audience and readers through community events; making the most of our research through multiple publications; the backlash and stigma academics can face when they “go popular,” and how academics help academic presses by writing more accessible books. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

We’re speaking with founding and current editors of In Geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies, about what it means to establish a new journal. Founded in 2015, In Geveb partook in the decade's ethos of disruption in technology by seeking to reimagine the academic journal. Aspiring to be the “N+1 of Yiddish studies, the journal is completely online, and contains sections on pedagogy and translation, as well as a blog, and has remained accessible to readers outside of the academy. Our guests, Jessica Kirzane, Saul Noam Zaritt, Sarah Zarrow, and Dalia Wolfson, tell us about the skills and knowledge they acquired about things ranging from fundraising and the financial side of a journal, to managing others and cultivating a collaborative and supportive working environment. We also talk about what working on the journal has allowed them to do in their professional lives, that had not been possible, otherwise. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact

With the support of the University of Florida Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, we’re talking with history professor, we’re talking with history professor Raphael Folsom (Oklahoma), who wrote the book, How to Get Grant Money in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Yale University Press) about why it’s important to think big for grant writing; recommendation-letter writing; being encouraged by our failures; why it does make sense to be a giver in academia; and the good energy that comes from supporting others. Don't forget to rate and review our show and follow us on all social media platforms here: https://linktr.ee/writingitpodcast Contact us with questions, possible future topics/guests, or comments here: https://writingit.fireside.fm/contact