A lot of people who read this blog, by virtue of their blood, legal, or otherwise obligatory relationship to me already know this, but for those who are here out of your own free will, and know little about me and what I do besides teach english and travel with Callan andMelissa, I have a pretty cool announcement (Well cool for me, and twenty eight other young writers at least). Last November Randomhouse Publishing held a contest, asking for essays on being twentysomething in America. The winners would be published in a new tradepaperback anthology called "Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers: The best new voices of 2006). Well, I submitted a short essay about working at Wendy's last year when Melissa was finishing up at BYU, and it was selected for publication along with 28 other essays.
I am in the middle of reading the galley proof of the book, so I don't know a lot about the company I keep in this anthology, but from what I have read, being twentysomething is different for everyone. I'll cut and paste the randomhouse.com blurb about the book. That will be easier than trying to redue it myself.
quoted from randomhouse.com:
"Selected as the winners of Random House’s national contest, a stunning collection of essays ranging from comic to poignant, personal to political, by the newest, brightest young writers you haven’t heard of . . . yet.
Here, for the first time, current twentysomethings come together on their own terms, in their own words, and begin to define this remarkably diverse and self-aware generation. Tackling an array of subjects–career, family, sex, religion, technology, art–they form a vibrant, unified community while simultaneously proving that there is no typical twentysomething experience.
In this collection, a young father works the late-night shift at Wendy’s, learning the finer points of status, teamwork, and french fries. An artist’s nude model explains why she’s happy to be viewed as an object. An international relief worker wrestles with his choices as he starts to resent the very people who need his help the most. A devout follower of Joan Didion explains what New York means to her. And a young army engineer spends his time in Kuwait futilely trying to grow a mustache like his dad’s.
With grace, wit, humor, and urgency, these writers invite us into their lives and into their heads. Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers is a rich, provocative read as well as a bold statement from a generation just now coming into its own.
I have begun to coorispond a little with some of the other authors and one of them started a blog (how twentysomething of her, right). ONe thing is for sure, these folks can write. Its inspiring, intimidating, and just plain cool. I feel a bit like I did in seventh grade when I made the A2 basketball team and at our first practice we all stood on the baseline giving each other nervous looks, wondering where we fit in, wondering how we got chosen when so many others didn't, and wondering if 13 year old shoulders look right in the new tanktop uniforms. We were all weighing the value of the social capital we had earned by making the team, and were really unsure of what it all meant. Okay so maybe getting published isn't as cool as making the 7th grade basketball team, but it's at least as awkard and guardedly exciting.
http://twentysomethingauthors.blogspot.com/
The book will be released August 29th, 2006 and I can't wait to put a curl in its cover.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment