Emily Barton

Double Take—with Paul La Farge!

2012-05-18T00:00:06Z

Event: Double Take—with Paul La Farge!

Where: apexart
When: Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 7:00 pm

Tonight at 7:00: Join me and Paul La Farge as we participate in Albert Mobilio’s event Double Take at apexart. Albert writes, “It’s a commonplace—we all see things our own way. When three pairs of authors each trade takes on a shared experience they reveal just how different perception and prose can be.” Paul and I can’t tell you what we plan to write/talk about, but we promise it will be fun. The other authors featured tonight are Darcey Steinke & Shelley Jackson, and Joshua Cohen & Justin Taylor. 291 Church Street, New York City!

New Additions to the Advice Page

2012-04-25T15:01:59Z

I have two new articles up on my Advice page: How Can I Improve my Chances of Being Accepted to an Undergraduate Workshop? and How Do I Ask a Professor for a Letter of Reference?. I hope either or both might be helpful to you. I’m proud to see that author Erika Dreifus linked to them from her excellent blog—itself a storehouse of good advice for young writers. Many thanks to Sonnet Media for redesigning the Advice page as a whole; it’s now much easier to navigate.

Event: New Additions to the Advice Page

Good News from the Sustainable Arts Foundation

2011-12-01T20:24:03Z

I am absolutely thrilled to have been awarded a Winter 2011 Artist’s Grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation! This wonderful organization’s mission is to support artists and writers who are also raising families. I’m honored to have been chosen; and very grateful for their help in finishing my new book.

Event: Good News from the Sustainable Arts Foundation

Good Things Come in Threes

2011-11-15T14:04:00Z

My brilliant husband has three recent publications in which you might be interested: a new short story in Fence (both the print and online editions), whose new issue also features new work by Deborah Eisenberg and Fiona Maazel; an essay on observing the yarzheit of a non-Jewish parent, currently up on Tablet; and an article called “Network: How to Use LinkedIn to Connect With Your Community” in the November/December Poets & Writers. I recommend all three!

Event: Good Things Come in Threes

New Work from the Hopkins & Barton Book Trailer Manufactory

2011-11-15T13:21:41Z

The Hopkins & Barton Book Trailer Manufactory proudly presents the second installment in its book trailer manufacturing project, Tobias’s incisive yet glowing review of Michael Griffith’s new novel, Trophy:

Event: New Work from the Hopkins & Barton Book Trailer Manufactory

“They Don’t Have On Clothes,” A Paul La Farge Book Trailer

2011-08-25T01:09:50Z

Or, as Tom Hop so aptly put it on his website, a trailer for “They Don’t Have On,” by Clothes.

Our three-year-old son, Tobias, made this unofficial trailer for Paul La Farge’s new novel, Luminous Airplanes, whose print and online versions I most wholeheartedly recommend.

Event: “They Don’t Have On Clothes,” A Paul La Farge Book Trailer

An Essay in the Threepenny Review!

2011-06-06T14:12:54Z

I am absolutely thrilled to have a long essay in the Summer 2011 edition of The Threepenny Review. The essay, entitled “The Jazz Singers,” is about the three different movies—all iconic Jewish films—by that name. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Event: An Essay in the Threepenny Review!

A New Piece in the New York Times Book Review

2011-05-22T16:14:13Z

Here’s my review of Michael Parker’s new novel, The Watery Part of the World. The essay ran in the New York Times Book Review on Sunday, May 22nd, 2011—further proof that the world didn’t end on the 21st!

Event: A New Piece in the New York Times Book Review

The Frogs on the Roof at Yaddo

2011-02-17T01:03:12Z

My husband, Thomas Israel Hopkins, has an excellent article on “The Future of Family-Friendly Residencies” in the March/April 2011 issue of Poets & Writers magazine. Though the article is only available in the print edition (as if you needed another reason to purchase—or better yet, subscribe to—the magazine), you can watch a video on the subject right here on the Internets. Tom talks about his inspiration for the article; Tobias talks about the frogs and monkeys writing poems on the roof at Yaddo (who knew?); and I hold a toy seal pup.

Event: The Frogs on the Roof at Yaddo

The Department of State & Literary New York

2011-01-04T23:07:25Z

When the Department of State contacted me to ask if I’d be willing to record the ice bridge segment of Brookland for their Literary New York website, I was beyond bowled over. I had not, until then, realized that part of State’s mission involved the promotion of American literature, both at home and abroad . . . but it turns out it does. I had the pleasure of recording the segment at WAMC, Northeast Public Radio (my favorite NPR affiliate); and I’m honored to see my work up on the website now alongside that of Tom Wolfe and Pete Hamill. I hope you’ll go listen to all of the recordings and enjoy the other articles on the page.

Event: The Department of State & Literary New York

FSG’s “Work in Progress”

2010-12-16T16:57:32Z

FSG keeps a wonderful blog called Work in Progress, and I’m proud to be part of it for the first time: they’re reprinting my advice to students about when and why to apply for an MFA (if ever) as part of the ongoing dialogue about what MFAs are really for.

Thus far, there is advice about applying for an MFA, beginning to get one’s work published, and looking for an agent on this website’s advice page, which I invite you to visit. Please check back soon for new postings to the section; future topics will undoubtedly include “How to Write a Cover Letter That Will Actually Get You Into That Writing Class” and “How Best to Request a Letter of Reference (or Anything Else You Might Need).” I’d also like to do a post about the more general topic of humility, but that might be more of an essay. We’ll see.

Event: FSG’s “Work in Progress”

Upcoming Events

2010-12-01T18:19:51Z

I’m delighted to have two readings to look forward to this winter: at Bates College in February and at NYU in March. I’ll post details as the time approaches, but for now would just like to say that if you’re in Portland, ME or in NYC, I’d be very happy to see you there! My intention is to read new work at both events, which seems not completely impossible, given that I’ll have the great good fortune to be at Yaddo working on said work for a few weeks in between now and then. (Keynahora.)

Event: Upcoming Events

Golems! A Musical

2010-08-23T14:19:47Z

Charles Orr's poster for the hypothetical play Di Goylemim

Charles Orr’s Hypothetical Library is one of my favorite projects on the internet. Orr, a brilliant book-jacket designer, partners with authors, asking them to provide flap copy for a book they could write but never actually will. He then designs a cover for this book, and together they seek a blurb from another real author. In complex and fruitful ways, the Hypothetical Library blurs the distinction between the real, the potentially real, and the pure dream of fiction.

It’s an honor and a great pleasure to have a hypothetical novel newly out on the Library: Golems! A Musical, a campy yet semi-theological story of the Second Avenue theater. Orr designed both a jacket for the novel and a hypothetical poster for the play within the novel, Di Goylemim. And Michael Chabon has been kind enough to provide a blurb for the project.

Please go take a peek!

Event: Golems! A Musical

The Fall of the House of Walworth

2010-08-22T19:51:03Z

I’m delighted to have had the chance to review Geoffrey O’Brien’s wonderful new book, The Fall of the House of Walworth: A Tale of Murder and Madness in Saratoga’s Gilded Age, for today’s Los Angeles Times. As I mention in the review, when I first learned of the Walworths’ lurid family saga, I wished someone would write a good, juicy book about it. (In all seriousness, it puts the Beecher-Tilton scandal—of which I’m a huge fan, if one can be a fan of a 150-year-old lawsuit—to shame.) I can’t think of a better writer to take on the project than Mr. O’Brien. 22 August 2010.

Event: The Fall of the House of Walworth

Thanks to Joe Donahue and WAMC!

2010-08-11T17:53:32Z

What a pleasure it was to appear on WAMC’s live talk show The Roundtable. As a regular listener, I already knew what an insightful and affable interviewer Joe Donahue is, but it was wonderful getting to meet and talk with him in person. Thank you to Joe and to Sarah LaDuke for inviting me on, and to Ray Graf, Alan Chartock, the WAMC staff, and Murray the dog for making me feel so welcome. Thanks also to any WAMC listeners who are here visiting my website for the first time! It’s nice to meet you.

You can listen to my interview with Joe on your computer by clicking here. If you’d like to take a look at my contribution to Charles Orr’s Hypothetical Library, the hypothetical novel Golems! A Musical, it should be up any day now. In the meanwhile, go check out the site; Orr has done some beautiful design work for some truly wonderful authors.