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The Mark Blog is a writing resource featuring The Mark program participants.
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July 2011
Weekend Literary Roundup
Pacific - Gabrielle Calvocoressi Interviews Jen P. Harris (Guernica, July 2011)
The Mechanic Muse - The Jargon of The Novel, Computed (The New York Times, July 29, 2011)
Writing Prompt Thursday
Every Thursday, The Mark Blog will post a writing prompt from a PEN staff member, a Mark Poetry faculty, a Mark participant, or from one of our favorite writing websites. This week's prompt comes from Louderarts.com and is by Victoria McCoy:
Poetry and Kissing by Mehnaz Turner
Poetry’s my thing, but it doesn’t pay the bills. So I’m a high school English teacher by day, a gig I would also describe as "my thing," just a thing of a different sort. And I’ve been indulging in this "thing of a different sort" all summer, as a matter of fact, because I elected to teach summer school this year - not my usual first choice. Most summers, I like to sleep in and sleep long. However, I was down for a different kind of vibe this July, and with five students in total, I can hardly complain about the stress.
"The Time is Now": Poetry Prompts from Poets & Writers Magazine
Poets & Writers provides a whole range of resources for writers, among them a weekly offering of creative writing prompts. Poetry prompts go up on Mondays, fiction on Thursdays. Today, the Write Now prompt goes a little something like this:
The Defense by Harold Terezón
I arrived early to the Defense in order to avoid the much anticipated & over-hyped Carmageddon on the 405 which was to unleash a vehicular chaos of unprecedented proportions. This extra hour or so gave me the opportunity to walk to the park down the street, sit on the bleachers, look onto the lovely, empty baseball fields, & consider why I had put this collection together & applied to The Mark.
Why Poets Aren't Just Artists on Paper by Mehnaz Turner
Harold Terezon and I are the two participants of the Mark Program in poetry this year, and I'm totally stoked! I feel like I'm being offered an opportunity to get serious about my creative work, and I don't have to give up my day job to do so. I hope to conveniently fit in the demands of the fellowship with my weekly routine as a high school English teacher.
ALBERT REYES: THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL
Art. Drinks. Readings. Books. Giveaways. Gelato.
Be there or be square.
_____________________
The Defense: An Introduction
The project defense allows Mark faculty and PEN staff to learn more about the participants' projects. This is the first official day of The Mark Program, and the participants have prepared to answer a series of detailed questions regarding the creation and crafting of their manuscript, as well as their future goals for the project.
Stay tuned for harold's and Mehnaz's take on the defense! Each participant will write a post about how it went.
The 2011 Mark Poetry Participants
PEN Center USA and The Mark are proud to introduce the 2011 Mark Poetry Participants:
PEN Center USA
P.O. Box 6037, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
phone: (323) 424-4939 | fax: (323) 424-4944 | pen@penusa.org | 
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