For the full interview, see it on Fiction Advocate.
Published on February 14, 2019.

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Alanna Okun is a writer, editor, and crafter living in New York. She is currently a deputy editor at Vox, and she has previously worked at Racked and Buzzfeed. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Brooklyn Magazine, Apartment Therapy, The Billfold, NPR, Vogue Knitting, The Hairpin, and other places. She has appeared on The Today Show and Good Morning America, as well as other local and national television and radio shows. Okun’s first book, The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater, was published by Flatiron Books in March 2018.

This month’s guest Non-Fiction by Non-Men interviewer is Céillie Clark-Keane. Céillie lives in Boston, where she she currently works as a managing editor. She has a Master’s in English Literature from Northeastern University, and her work has been published by Electric Literature, Bustle, Entropy, and more.

The post Non-Fiction by Non-Men: Alanna Okun, interviewed by Céillie Clark-Keane appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Do you like animals? OF COURSE.

Do you like writing? YES, DUH.

Then I have the *perfect* class for you: Of Mice and Writers: Writing About Non-Human Animals. It’s happening a week from today on Friday, February 1, from 10am-5pm, at GrubStreet.

Here’s the course description:

For as long as stories have existed, humans have included non-human animals in their tales (or should I say… tails). From Anansi the Spider to Aesop’s fables, from E.B. White’s pig to Jean Craighead George’s wolves, from Helen Macdonald’s hawk to Samantha Irby’s cat to Sy Montgomery’s octopus to Porochista Khakpour’s dog, animals show up in all forms of literature: fiction and nonfiction, adult and children’s, poetry and prose, ancient and contemporary. This session will explore how authors approach writing about animals, both domesticated and wild, in both fiction and nonfiction, and address some of the common questions that come up when writing about non-humans: avoiding sentimentality, grappling with anthropomorphism, and developing animal characters that are more than thinly-veiled allegories. In addition to reading literary excerpts featuring animals, this session will include several writing exercises to help you tackle writing about your own feathered, scaly, or furry friend.

Do you wish you could take this course but you’re under 18? GREAT NEWS.

I am also teaching a *free* version of this class for teen writers as part of GrubStreet’s Young Adult Writers Program on Saturday, February 9, from 12pm-4pm. It’s called Writing Critters: Writing About Non-Human Animals.

Sign up today! You know your pet is just begging you to write their biography!

The post Calling all animal-loving writers! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Are you wishing you had signed up for The Personal Essay in Progress at GrubStreet? Feeling major regret in your creative writing class choices for 2019? Worrying you’ll have FOMO because you’re missing so many great workshop discussions about the craft of essay writing? Was ten weeks too much of a commitment? Well, you’re in luck! The class start date is now February 5th (two weeks from today!) and runs for eight weeks, on Tuesdays from 6pm-9pm.

The post There’s still time to sign up for The Personal Essay in Progress! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Are you working on some essays of your own? Do you need guidance, motivation, deadlines, and/or a workshop of cheerleaders and helpful editors to keep you going? Spots are still available in The Personal Essay in Progress at GrubStreet! Class starts 1/22 (a week from tomorrow!) and runs for ten weeks, on Tuesdays from 6pm-9pm.

The post The Personal Essay in Progress at GrubStreet! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.