Talking Writing

Programs: Talking writing, a free online literary magazine for writers, is the primary activity of talking writing, inc. Four issues of the magazine were published in 2014. Each ran for approximately two months, publishing new pieces every week of an issue cycle and including personal essays, opinion pieces, fiction, poetry, author interviews, regular columns, and work by visual artists. The winter 2014 issue, titled "do we need critics? ," offered essays about the prognosis for literary criticism in the digital error, as well as a spotlight on the poetry of muriel rukeyser. The spring 2014 issue, "family stories," focused on creative nonfiction pieces and fictional accounts of family life, including an interview with mark vonnegut, son of kurt vonnegut. In july and august, talking writing took a break from its weekly publishing schedule. The fall 2014 issue, "money! " featured a series of essays about the difficulties of making a living today as a literary writer or journalist. The holiday 2014 issue, "writing and faith," offered personal essays and poems about the ways faith helps writers create meaning out of life's big questions. Well-known writers interviewed in talking writing in 2014 included mark vonnegut, caitlin moran, and chana bloch. The magazine included essays and stories by authors and poets such as aimee phan, ron maclean, alicia ostriker, steve adams, and katie cortese. In 2014, talking writing launched the tw reading series, which republishes selected print-only work from small and university presses to help it find a wider audience. Authors published in the tw reading series in 2014 included andrew lam, william least heat-moon, kim triedman, and william todd seabrook. At the beginning of the year, talking writing averaged 9,000 readers a month. The magazine had 1,100 email and rss subscribers, 2,500 twitter followers, and 2,500 facebook fans. By the end of the year, talking writing maintained about the same number of monthly readers, but had increased its total page-view count to more than a quarter-million annually. The magazine made modest gains in email and rss subscribers, twitter followers, and facebook fans. In 2014, several talking writing features, especially "why mainstream critics fail writers of color," were widely distributed via social media on the web, sparking discussion about important topics that now matter increasingly to the practice of digital literature and journalism.

the annual conference of the association of writers and writing programs (awp) is the largest literary event in north america. At the 2014 conference in seattle, held february 26-march 1, talking writing was represented by editor-in-chief martha nichols, creative nonfiction editor lorraine berry, poetry editor carol dorf, features editor karen ohlson, board clerk bianca garcia, and other talking writing volunteers. The conference drew more than 13,000 attendees, 700 exhibitors, and 500 events. Talking writing organized and staffed three well-attended panel presentations at this conference: "digital lit," "literary politics," and "first-person journalism. " talking writing was also one of the exhibitors at the conference bookfair, and the magazine's attendees staffed the table, with the goal of generating interest in talking writing's offerings for the writing community, all available at no charge. Talking writing staff live-tweeted several events each day of the conference in order to distribute information about it via social media to readers and writers around the world. More than 200 submissions flyers and promotional bookmarks were distributed to writers, directors of writing programs, and small press editors. Talking writing also co-hosted an offsite digital literature reception with carve magazine and solstice literary magazine.

in february 2014, in conjunction with the awp conference, talking writing announced its third annual writing contest, offering prizes for flash nonfiction and for advice writing. The goals of the annual contest are to celebrate the diversity online of original, personally driven writing and to acknowledge and support writers from all backgrounds and at all stages of their careers. Eighty-two flash nonfiction writing submissions and eighteen advice writing submissions were received. Entrants paid a $15 fee for each submission, garnering $1500 (less the service fees paid to submittable) for talking writing. These funds defrayed the costs of contest advertising and administration. The contest winners were announced in december 2014. The talking writing prize for flash nonfiction, judged by dinty w. Moore, was awarded to stephen brown for "how can i miss you when you won't go away? " the talking writing prize for advice writing, judged by emily toth, was awarded to ruth carmel for "misdirection. " both prizewinners received publication of the winning work in talking writing and a $250 award. In 2014, there were two additional finalists in the advice writing category, lale davidson and susan terris, whose work will be published in talking writing in 2015.