Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the August 7, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Between the Lines
Writing is a lonely pursuit, especially fiction writing.
Reporters get to begin their article-writing process by doing interviews,
but fiction writers and poets must keep company only with their own
imaginations.
Partly because writers like to meet people, and partly because it’s
a great excuse for a party, U.S. 1 always hosts a party to celebrate
the paper’s annual Summer Fiction issue. This year’s issue, dated
July 24, contains 26 short stories, 18 poems, and one short play.
This year’s party will be at Barnes & Noble in MarketFair on Thursday,
August 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be provided by the Barnes
& Noble Cafe and Big Fish Bistro, and the editors will start introducing
the writers around 5:45.
Even though we writers are solitary, once our stories are published,
we begin another dialogue, with ourselves and with our imaginary readers.
Should I have used a different word in the third paragraph? Should
I have cut that line about mother? Was that adjective too overbearing
or simply misplaced? It can take many readings for an author to "make
his peace" with a published text.
One of this year’s contributors wrote us a letter about that process,
how his mindset changed when he saw his story in print. Plainsboro
resident Paul Spagnoli is a retired lawyer, a Princeton University
alumnus, and a veteran of World War II. His story appears on page
34 of the Summer Fiction issue. He wrote:
"Now I’m experiencing the strangest reactions. Writer-oriented
in all those writing classes and programs — us against `them’
— now I find myself on the side of the enemy, the editors! As
a writer so proud and satisfied with `Billy Darling,’ now as an editor
I find all sorts of faults and inadequacies!
"Is that because I feel so exposed, that I am literally being
presented as a target for all those who know they can write one hell
of a lot better? Yes! I’ve been there, done that! Nevertheless and
despite all, I am so very, very grateful to you for giving me this
chance to see how the other half lives! I do hope I can thank you
in person — on August 8th."
submitted work, not just those who were published — and all U.S.
1 readers as well. Fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and poets
crave honest feedback, not the whitewashing of "It was terrific,"
but compliments and insights that can be believed.
In that spirit we will say thank you in advance to Barnes & Noble
and Nancy Nicholson, the store’s community relations manager, for
supporting this event. We hope you will join us on August 8.
Technology Showcase
SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, and computer programmers, but they too like
the chance to meet each other in person. That opportunity comes along
at the annual U.S. 1 Technology Showcase Wednesday, September 4, at
the Merrill Lynch/Harrison Conference Center.
In addition to table top displays, the showcase will feature a panel
discussion on the quest for better cancer cures, with Lisa Drakeman
of Genmab and Sidney Pestka of Pestka Biomedical Laboratories. See
page 16 for more information.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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