Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘State of the Book’

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The State of the State of the Book

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Fall has swept in to this part of Michigan, bringing with it the low, gray clouds and cool weather of October. But even with the overcast skies of the past few days, my spirits are still high after our State of the Book literary symposium two Saturdays ago. Nearly 900 people attended the symposium’s seven events, which stretched over eleven hours. And more than 30 authors with Michigan roots participated in the day’s readings, panels, and conversations. We also had the next generation of authors on hand. In fact, they kicked off the event! 826michigan timed this year’s OMNIBUS anthology […]


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Why write, Why I write, Why a Write-a-Thon

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

According to our official press release, the goal of The Great Write Off is to bring attention to the important work that the non-profit literary organizations partnering for The State of the Book are doing for and on behalf of young writers, and to raise much needed funds for their operation. But we also wanted it to be fun! And perhaps just as importantly, we wanted to give people the permission to write. As a writer who also loves teaching and editing and working for FWR, I know how easily my creative work can end up taking a backseat. To […]


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The Great Write Off: Dispatch from Ann Arbor – Day One

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Day One of The Great Write Off dawned cool and foggy here in Ann Arbor. My wife and I had had to turn the furnace on for the first time this weekend, and the leaves have already started to turn on our block. For the past week the students in my Michigan Lit course here at the University of Michigan have been reading Charles Baxter’s Feast of Love, in anticipation of his arrival for Saturday’s The State of the Book symposium. And we’ve been talking a lot about the Midwest and weather. (After all, who captures the subtlety of Michigan […]


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FWR Announces The State of the Book: A Celebration of Michigan Writers and Writing!

by The Editors

Although Fiction Writers Review’s contributors come from many different states and countries around the world, the idea for the site started in Michigan. In 2008, Anne Stameshkin, a University of Michigan MFA grad, started a simple blog for reviewing books. As it become more popular, she recruited a few friends from her MFA program to help her. Fast forward four years, add about 100 contributors, and here we are, a community of readers and writers—thank you for being a part of our journey! We’re thrilled to announce that we’re having our first big in-person event in the place we started. […]


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Letterpressing Baxter

Fritz Swanson has graciously donated time, talent and materials to create a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind edition of Charles Baxter’s poem “Please Marry Me” for The Great Write Off and The State of the Book. The top five FWR fundraisers for The Great Write Off will get one of only 100 copies of the poem handmade with care by Fritz.


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Help FWR grow—join The Great Write Off! (UPDATED)

by The Editors

Here at Fiction Writers Review, we run this website as volunteers, in our spare time and out of our own pockets. We think we’ve got a great site with great content—and since you’re here, reading this blog, we hope you agree! This fall, we’re running our first-ever fundraiser, and it’s your chance to help FWR just by doing what you do normally: writing. On October 3-5, Fiction Writers Review will compete in The Great Write Off, a three-day write-a-thon. (Think walk-a-thon, but with writing.) It’s a friendly fundraising competition involving six Michigan lit organizations—each fielding its own team of writers. […]




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