Office: Li 218 K (Main English Office) Hours before or after class;
others TBA.
Phone: X 2869. Home number (GENUINE EMERGENCIES ONLY): 410-828-0724
Email: charriss@towson.edu
Description of course:
"Editing Grub Street" is exactly what the course title indicates: an opportunity for hands-on experience in the process of getting the university's undergraduate literary magazine published and into the hands of readers, from start (soliciting contributions of student writing) to finish (getting the next issue to the printer/binder, camera-ready--and, with great good luck, actually holding the finished product in your own two hands). There are many components to the task, including
Required:
Hollander & Lehman, BEST AMERICAN POETRY (most recent year available)
One issue of a current POETRY Magazine
One issue of a current AMERICAN POETRY REVIEW
Brooks, et al, WORKING WITH WORDS
Henderson, ed. PUSHCART PRIZE 1999
Recommended:
deFord & Lott (Harriss), FORMS OF VERSE
IMPORTANT ITEM TO SCHEDULE INTO YOUR LIFE!
"FINAL EXAM": Attend and possibly read 2-3 of your poems (about 5 minutes
total) at the public reading that serves as a "final" in this course and
one or more of my other poetry courses. This reading will occur on a weeknight
evening, and the exact date will be given at the start of the semester
so you can begin planning your schedules accordingly. Students from other
TU poetry classes will be participating in this same reading, either as
listeners, performers, exam-takers, or all three. As GS editors, please
pay careful attention to the other readers and consider asking authors
for copies of poems you feel would make good submissions. Try to get authors
to give you copies right on the spot--but BE SURE THAT THE SUBMITTERS PUT
THEIR NAMES ON THE COPIES.
Bring something to eat or drink if you feel like it. Edibles/potables do not figure into your final grade for the course, alas.
Attendance:
The basics: 2 cuts permitted. Each absence thereafter will lower the final average 3 points. Absences will be excused only with medical or other relevant written documentation. Of course, class sessions officially designated as time to do GS business that must take place elsewhere do not constitute absences.
In addition, participants are expected to attend every meeting their specific work commits them to, e.g., budget hearings, training sessions in technology, design, purchasing, and the like. Participants are also expected to attend GS' evening staff meetings and public readings featuring GS. Failure to be present at a scheduled meeting or event constitutes an unexcused absence.
Grading:
A grade in the course ranging from A to F will be determined by the following formula:
C= Turning in all required written work; maintaining an adequate notebook that includes responses to submissions, log of meetings and other out-of-classroom activities, ideas for layout and design, drafts of p.r. pieces, etc.; C average on quizzes; attending required out-of-classroom activities.
B=Doing the above with noticeable energy. Making strong contributions to peer editing.
A=Doing the above with oustanding energy and going beyond the call of
duty. Making exceptionally valuable and informed contributions to peer
editing.
Schedule of work:
This schedule shows what is required both in and out of class each week. Work marked * is to be turned in to the instructor. Always make two copies of ALL written work thus designated--one for the instructor, one for portfolio inclusion or other use.
Unless otherwise indicated, all written work listed under a particular week's heading should be submitted at the second class meeting of that particular week.
DAY ONE: Fill out cards giving me your name, email address, address and phone # where you're reachable during the semester, Major, Minor if any, previous lit mag experience, interest in GS, and, above all, YOUR SPECIAL SKILLS RELEVANT TO GS (from "I'm a poet" to "I know how to use Pagemaker {or other computer programs relevant to typesetting and page design." And if you know how to manage a Web site. . .you're well on your way to an A+ in the course. . . .)
Also: get volunteers for Baltimore Book Fair!!!!
Week One:
Look over the copy of GS given out in class and be ready to discuss it.
Make an entry in your log/journal. (Note: This is the ONLY time I'll remind you to do this! But you'll need to do it at least once a week, as a means of keeping a record of what you did for the course outside the classroom.)
*Create a P.R. flyer for GS to solicit submissions. Consider GS' needs:
all genres
visual as well as literary art
diversity of genres, diversity of submitters
directions for how to submit
instant eye and mind appeal
ease of duplication
*Write a paragraph: "What I Ask of a Poem" (or Short Story)
*Bring in a typed or Xeroxed copy (no more than one page long) of a published poem you admire (preferably NOT just for its subject matter)
*FOR WEEK 2: Bring in one piece of your own creative writing to share with the group for editorial discussion.
Week Two:
Discuss GS, its strengths and weaknesses.
Begin reading randomly in PUSHCART and BAP. Respond in your log.
Have your copies of your piece of creative writing ready to discuss. Be ready to ask the
group for specific advice on at least one specific aspect of the piece.
Disseminate selected solicitation flyers.
Schedule classroom visits to introduce writing classes to GS.
*Write a draft each of the following letters to be sent to submitters: acceptance,
"revision, please" and rejection.
TBA: Meet with computer lab director .
Finalize arrangements for Baltimore Book Fair.
Week Three:
Read randomly in PUSHCART and BAP.
Select and prepare to disseminate the 3 response letters.
Complete classroom solicitation visits.
*Select one lit mag with a college-age audience; can be a campus lit mag or an indie. The object is to form a one-on-one partnership with that mag. Write a letter to the editor(s) of the selected mag asking for information about policies, etc., and inviting them to exchange publications w/ GS.
Select editorial interest groups. Go over submissions if any.
Work out response system: typically check, 0, or X in pencil on back of submission
(meaning, respectively, "I vote to accept it," Would be okay if revised," or "Not for GS."
*Optional: design a GS logo and stationery. (Remember, K. I. S. S.!)
Read (section TBA) in WORKING WITH WORDS.
Week Four:
Discuss PUSHCART and BAP.
Dicsuss any submissions.
Pass along first batch of triple-check submissions for typesetting.
Select logo and stationery design.
Finalize response system.
TBA: meet with Design and Publications Office and Accounting Office.
Subsequent Weeks: Specifics TBA
Always, unless otherwise indicated in class: meet as full group on Tuesday.
Thursday may be a day to attend meetings, workshops, other classrooms, etc., but never assume there's no full-group meeting on Thursday; the Thursday plan will always be announced the previous week. If I forget to do so, remind me!
NOTE ABOUT YOUR "MAJOR PORTFOLIO": Part or all of the package which you will turn in for your final grade will also be a valuable item to include in your Major portfolio. It will show significant aspects of your skills and style to potential employers in any writing- or editing-intensive job; to graduate or professional schools, or to an administrator in a school where you might apply to teach. Class time will be devoted to peer discussion of what your portfolio selection from this course will reveal to such audiences.