Launch Meeting and Halloween

        Last Tuesday all of the interns got to sit in on Milkweed's first book launch meeting. I thought it would be boring and logistical, focusing on dates and figures, but it was actually really fascinating. The meeting began by discussing a book of poetry in translation by a well-renowned Afro-Brazilian author. I have noticed the lack of authors of color represented on Milkweed's shelves and I think this would be a good addition, not just  for that reason. The poet Salgado Maranhão has published around nine collections of poetry in his home country, but he has never been published in the United States. This is a great opportunity for Milkweed to introduce a new and talented voice into the American poetry scene.
       Among topics discussed were the book cover, making a branded series of Milkweed poetry books and translating from Portuguese. All the talk of translation made me realize that I would be suited for that kind of job. I am a creative writing major and a Hispanic studies minor. I am fluent in Spanish. It would be amazing to be able to translate literary works into Spanish. I'm always translating songs just for fun. I have a facility with language and tend to learn them easily. I took only a year of French and I am pretty functional in the language. I would love to better learn French and Portuguese so that I could translate in those languages as well. I know that I am often disappointed by Spanish translations. They often sacrifice literary integrity for clarity.
        Being in the meeting not only made me want to pursue a career in translation but in publishing. Up until now, although I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Milkweed, I have assumed that I should become a creative writing professor if I want my own writing to be a priority. But the launch meeting was so engaging that it made me realize that  I would be happy in the publishing world. I would prefer to  work at a small press like Milkweed because they focus on the quality of the writing as opposed to profit. Large publishing houses print what they think they can sell and Milkweed prints what they believe is relevant, interesting and -above all- well-written. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the second half because I had a class, but I hope I get to sit in on another one!
        Yesterday was the senior editor's birthday. Someone brought in coffee and breakfast treats and we all sat around and shared our Halloween weekend shenanigans. The senior editor is only forty five years old. I was impressed that he had secured such a prominent position by a relatively young age. Then again my supervisor is only three years my senior and she is three years younger than our oldest intern. There's definitely a feeling of comraderie among the staff.
        The other interns and I agreed to wear orange today, but I only have a necklace with a few orange beads and the other intern resorted to purple. At least we are trying to be festive. Last night I had the inspired idea of having a literary themed costume party where everyone is required to be their favorite author, a character from a book or a representation of a book. I think it would be amazing! I hope I'll know enough people next year to actually pull it off. Oh how I love Halloween.

Literary Gratification

        I recently finished all of my forwarded submissions! It was so gratifying to watch the thirty or so that I had in my inbox gradually dwindle. One of the editors took interest in two manuscripts that I put through, also a very gratifying feeling. I have to read them in their entirety and write a slightly more extensive reader's report on them. It's liberating to not read submission after submission, many with absurd plots and heinously bad grammar. It baffles me as to why anyone submitting a manuscript wouldn't edit their piece repeatedly. If they want us to care, they should care too. When I read a manuscript with abundant, careless errors, I almost immediately reject it.
        I'm also still proofreading a manuscript, which is proving to be a long and tedious process. I enjoy finding errors, writing the changes in red and then putting a post-it on the page. The text itself is not something I would read on my own. It's a book of essays about the nature of poetry. There are a plethora of references to Greek Mythology and to Walden- one of my least favorite books in history. Thoreau can go on for pages about the nature of an apple and I find this insufferably boring.
        Luckily I'm reading an interesting book recently published by Milkweed. I'm reading The Pakistani Bride by Bapsi Sidhwa. I've only about forty pages in but so far much has happened. The protagonist's family has all died from smallpox except for him and after his family is gone, he manages to rescue a little girl who reminds him of his late daughter. I recently realized that my  entire life centers around reading fiction. I read fiction eight hours in a row for my internship, I read fiction for my two academic classes and I read fiction for my own personal enrichment. Basically I have the perfect life. For a writer, anyway.

Seedlip and Sweet Apple by Arra Lynn Ross

      Lynn Ross is a Minnesota native who grew up on a communal farm. She is a Macalester College alumnus, which I found out after beginning her first book of poetry; Seedlip and Sweet Apple. Her collection has a very specific focus. All of the poems concern Mother Ann Lee one of the most preeminent leaders of the Shaker  movement. This would have been helpful to know going into the text. She doesn't reveal this outright. I suggest doing some research before delving in. At first I wondered why there was so much religious imagery. Although most of it was rather beautiful, "When night is folded tight like a prayer," it irked me. It seemed as if Lynn Ross was trying to beat the reader over the head with a bible. But when I discovered the origin of the subject matter, this made much more sense.
       All of the poems are set in Manchester, England in the eighteenth century. Most are concerning religion. But some of them tie in the domestic. The last poem in the collection, "Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock", is essentially a long list of different foods. Some poems only have the murmurings of religion while others directly quote the bible. Although all of them are tied together, each could easily stand on its own.
        I liked this collection, although, with some reservation. One has to be accustomed to more archaic language and have a sense of Shaker history to fully appreciate it. As a writer I found many of the lines very inspiring, "our hands holding  you up like wings." However if you are not interested in religion, at least conceptually then this is not the collection for you.

The Book Lover's Ball

     This Saturday I donned a velvet, caramel-colored dress and headed to work. The big day had finally arrived. The silent auction room was set-up with items and descriptions, there was everything from Milkweed galleys, to a private dinner for six cooked by a local chef. Christmas lights were wrapped around the beautiful Open Book staircase. The cafe was cleared of all tables and chairs. Paper butterflies were hung from the ceiling. All of the interns came early to set up.

     In typical Midwestern fashion our first guests arrived thirty minutes before the event actually started. As a native New Yorker, this kind of behavior baffles me. I was on coat check duty. It was an older crowd, generally speaking. No kids allowed. My fellow interns and I watched longingly as fancy hors d'oeuvres were taken upstairs. The other interns were in charge of registering people's silent auction devices. Milkweed hired a company called "Bidpal" to be in charge of their auction. Participants essentially bid on ipod touches and could search the items this way as well. Two Nook ebooks were also being raffled off. 

      The event was catered by D'amico & Sons and the food was spectacular. After standing for eight hours I really wanted a glass of red wine, but the open bar was off limits to us volunteers. I was disappointed to miss author David Gessner's speech, but excited to see the unveiling of the new website. It was very sleek and stylish. Everyone left with handmade Milkweed broadsides (even the volunteers). Overall I'd say it was a success. Although I overheard one of the event planners say that it didn't bring in quite as much funding as they had hoped for. 

        In office news I finally got my first copyediting and proofreading project! It's going to be a bit laborious, I have to proofread for grammar, formatting and pagination. I have two weeks to finish. Let's hope it's everything I've dreamt it would be!

Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

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Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

             Larry Watson was born the year before that in the the title of his book, in Ruby, North Dakota. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degree from the University of North Dakota and his PHD from the University of Utah. Watson has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Watson has published eight books, three of which were with Milkweed Editions. Montana 1984 was published in 1993 and was a fast success. The novel helped Milkweed establish itself as a premier press.
            The setting of Montana 1948 is self-explanatory. However the plot is not so obvious. The novel is kind of a historical, mystery, drama set in the iconic western landscape. The narrative is in the perspective of David a young boy without any siblings. His uncle Frank is beloved by all townsfolk as the handsome, veteran doctor. David's family calls him when their maid is sick. From her they hear that the seemingly perfect Frank, has molested numerous Native American women during doctor's visits. Soon after revealing this, she dies. David's father has no choice but to arrest his brother, not only for sexual harassment, but possibly for murder.
            Watson is deft at exploring this family's dynamic under a crisis. The reader learns much about David's parents and David himself from how he perceives them. Montana 1948 poses an essential question; is one's family above the law? This is a question that David's father , the town sheriff , must grapple with. He is the true hero of the story. A man who against his father's wishes arrests his own brother because he knows that it's the right thing to do. The novel also explores racism against the Native American community, something very foreign to me because there are few reservations on the east coast (where I'm from). But in the prairie states and especially in decades past Native American culture has been  more pervasive. I also know very little about Montana, but the text beautifully describes the grassy plains and small town nuances of the state. It was a fast and engaging read. I highly recommend it

Zombies, Fact Checking and Balls. Oh my!

                I missed Friday's post but expect a piece of creative writing this Friday. Just as a bit of Twin Cities news The Zombie Pub Crawl was last weekend. It's exactly what you think it is, people dress up as zombies and drunkenly stumble from bar to bar looking for fresh brains to eat. Most participants don't dress up as your typical undead corpse, but assume a new identity. In my group we had a zombie beauty queen, a zombie hipster and a zombie cowgirl complete with fake intestines. I didn't get the memo. I wore a black and white striped dress and cagey shoes, so I pretended to be an inmate zombie last minute. We spent a few hours on our make up and we looked pretty frightening, if I do say so myself. The highlights of the evening were brain shots (tequila, orange juice and grenadine) and dancing in a dive bar. It is a Twin Cities tradition I plan to partake in for years to come.
             Another event that I will be participating in is The Book Lover's Ball this Saturday and most of the interns are helping to prepare for it. One is creating labels for the auction and we're all processing mailed in donations.This morning was a close call for me. I recovered a lost check that I processed. It was a hefty sum and it fell behind the mailbox slots. I was relieved to find it. All funds raised at the BLB are going to Milkweed. From the sense I get, a small press like us can use all the support it can get.
              I finally got a special project! I had to fact check part of a manuscript that is set for publication this winter. It just entailed a lot of googling  and dictionary searches, but it was a nice break from reading manuscripts all day. I assume that as The BLB draws closer we will be intensifying our efforts. I will let you know how the affair transpires.

To Edit, or not to Edit, that is the Question

            I am currently taking a Shakespeare class at Macalester. Shakespeare has always been very challenging for me. I really enjoy seeing his plays performed, but reading them can be quite a chore. Yesterday my class went to see The Jungle Theater's production of "Hamlet" in the trendy UptowN neighborhood of Minneapolis. The performance was set in modern times, it featured photo slideshows, iphones and ipads. I personally enjoy when Shakespearean actors dress in Elizabethan garb, I find it more transporting. Overall it was a successful production. All my classmates thought that the man who played Hamlet was an excellent actor, but I couldn't really see it.   
           The play was three and a half hours long. Both I and the young man that I was sitting next to dozed off involuntarily multiple times. Unfortunately he banged his head against the wall when he was startled awake. Thankfully there were two intermissions.
There is nothing new at Milkweed. I unknowingly spoiled my supervisor's birthday surprise on Friday, which I still feel very guilty about. Our poetry reader came in with a cake and pressed her index finger to lips. Then later I asked my supervisor who the cake was for.
"Probably me cause today is my birthday,"she replied.
This type of thing always happens to me. It was a delicious carrot cake. My mom had one for her wedding (she was a hippie).
I and all of the interns have been doing more grunt work lately to prepare for various Milkweed events. I've been mailing packages, folding pamphlets and answering phones. I'm still reading manuscripts but haven't come across anything lately that has really struck me. I'm still waiting on any editing jobs.