Poe House in Tin House

Rob Spillman, editor of Tin House magazine and our guest this year at the Baltimore Writers' Conference, published a bit of Baltimore in the magazine's most recent edition. You can read an online excerpt from "On the Outskirts," an essay by A.N. Devers about her visit to the Edgar Allen Poe house in Charm City, or you can buy the magazine and read the whole thing.

Tin House started in 1999 and quickly became one of the country's top literary magazines and publishing houses. If you'd like to meet Rob Spillman, make sure you register for the conference. See our main page for details.

"Dark Horse"

The conversation keeps spreading following publication of Lisa Couturier's article "Dark Horse" in the July issue of Orion magazine. Her article, bringing to light the practice of horse-slaughter, has generated more than 50 online comments with the most recent coming this week. Couturier will participate in the BWC panel "Words for the Natural World."

In her article, Couturier reports from an auction where horses are sometimes sold for slaughter. She quotes a trustee with the New York Racing Association: " 'There are two things that flourish in the dark—mushrooms and horse slaughter. Most people don’t know it’s going on. We must deny them the darkness.”

BWC synchronicity

The writing world offers some pleasant synchronicities now and then. Here's one: A BWC organizer reads this week in a series hosted by a BWC presenter, which presenter herself has a new book out.

Geoffrey Becker, a short story writer, novelist, and primary organizer of BWC 2010, will read from his fiction and answer questions at Anne Arundel Community College's Arnold campus on Thursday, Oct. 14 from 2-3:30 p.m. The event is free and is part of the Writers Reading @ AACC series, hosted by Susan Cohen.

Cohen, a writer and editor whose work focuses on the natural world, will participate on the BWC 2010 panel, "Words for the Natural World: Essays on the Environment". With Florence Caplow, Cohen most recently edited the volume, Wildbranch: An Anthology of Nature, Environmental, and Place-Based Writing, which was published last month by University of Utah Press. Her essay, "Dear Bowl" is included among writings by Alison Hawthorne Deming, Scott Russell Sanders, and others.

Rated "R" and ready for BWC 2010

When we invited novelists Jessica Anya Blau (pictured, right) and James Magruder to BWC 2010 to dish about writing sex scenes, we imagined a raucous fun time. But we thought they'd wait until we put the kids to bed and closed the door.

Turns out, Jessica and Jim can't keep their words off each other. If you're over the age of 18 and want a peek at what's coming to BWC 2010, check out Jessica's "sex interview" with Jim at the website The Nervous Breakdown.

Adichie part of New Yorker's 20 under 40

The New Yorker magazine recently named twenty writers to watch who are under the age of 40, and included Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the keynote speaker for BWC 2010. The online edition of magazine includes a story, "Birdsong," and an interview.

SAVE THE DATE!

BWC 2010 is scheduled for Nov. 19 - 20 this year, with panels and quick critiques on Saturday and a reading by special guest Chimamanda Adichie on Friday night at 8 p.m.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a writer of international acclaim, the author of three books: the novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of Yellow Sun, and the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck. Having earned a graduate degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins, she has since won the prestigious Orange Prize, given annually for the best novel written by a women in English. She has also received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Adichie's reading is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Baltimore Writers' Conference, the Towson Literary Reading Series, the Department of English at Towson University through the Clarisse Mechanic Fund, the Dean's Office in the Towson University College of Liberal Arts, and Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing Program.

The Baltimore Writers' Conference is sponsored by City Lit, Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing program, and Towson University.

We hope to see you at BWC 2010!

Scenes from BWC 2009

The 2009 Baltimore Writers' Conference featured Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, and dozens of other panelists and speakers mingling with more than 100 publishes, aspiring or up-and-coming writers. We had a great time, and we hope you did, too, and that we'll see you again for the expaned BWC 2010, featuring a Friday night reading on Nov. 19 and the main conference on Nov. 20.

Bowden discussed the nature of truth in war reporting during his keynote speech.

The quick critiques allowed participants to have their work evaluated by published writers.

Elissa Weissman, author of Standing for Socks and The Trouble with Brent Hopper, shared her insights of the Young Adult market.

Novelist and dramaturge James Magruder, author of Sugarless, gave tips for playwriting.

Michael Salcman answered questions about poetry during his craft lecture.