Spotlighted Literary Events

Nov. 16th, 6:30 pm: "Querilous with Bryan Bliss," presented by Writer's on the River. Query letter practice and input from the pros. First Presbyterian Church (114 SW 8th St) in Corvallis.

Nov. 17th, 4:30 pm: Edward Channon, a.k.a. "piper to the stars," reads from his recent memoir, Ballad of a Bagpiper at Portland's Horse Brass Pub, 4534 SE Belmont St.

Nov. 18th, 7:30 pm: Roger Wendlick explains being a Lewis and Clark book collector and re-enactor in his memoir, Shotgun on My Chest. Part of the Mountain Writer's Series at Portland's The Press Club, 2621 SE Clinton St.

Photo Story Prompt: Central Park

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Central Park" by jlacy304

Editorial Tip of the Week: Writing in Other Languages

Parlez-vous français? Yeah, me neither. Although I do own une caniche (a poodle), I traveled one summer during college à Paris, and j’adore le chocolat. Impressive, I know, so I will admit I studied French for three years in high school, but didn’t continue because the Madame who taught fourth year French was très frightening. But I love to hear other languages spoken and try to add a word or phrase to my vocabulary, here and there. Not to be partial, but French and Italian are probably my favorites. I have a strange tendency to read novels by Italian authors, who write about Italian characters, living in Italian places, and yes, incorporating the Italian language into their prose. There is a correct way to do this, though, according to the experts.

If you’re writing about the food at a Mexican fiesta, an encounter at a Parisian café, or the art and architecture of Rome, there may not be an English word that does it justice. As a reader, I enjoy when writers slip in a foreign word or two (when it fits, of course). If a foreign word is likely to be unfamiliar to readers, use italics on its first reference. In my little rant above, I used italics when writing une caniche because I figured it would be unfamiliar; let’s face it, who regularly talks about their poodle in French? In these cases, it is also appropriate to translate the foreign word in parentheses or quotation marks. According to Chicago, if a familiar foreign term (such as parlez-vous français, à Paris, and all the other French I spoke above) appears in the same context as an unfamiliar term, choose to italicize either both or neither to remain consistent.

On the other hand, if a foreign word is commonly used by English writers, there is no need to use italics or to translate. As a general rule, you may check Webster to see if the foreign word is listed, but this should not be the sole basis for deciding whether or not to italicize. Use your best judgment when deciding how familiar a word is to readers. Ciao!

Spotlighted Literary Events

Nov. 6th, 7:30 pm: Poet Robert Briggs performs "My Own Atom Bomb," accompanied by jazz musicians. Works based on his memoirs of the 1950s and the beat generation. Mt. Tabor Presbyterian in Portland. $10-15 at the door.

Nov. 9th, 7 pm: Uphook Press presents 29 poets from across the nation (including PDX) reading from the brand new "you say. say" at The Waypost Cafe, 3120 N. Williams, Portland.

Nov. 11th, 7 pm: VoiceCatcher 4, an anthology of over 40 diverse, new and emerging women's voices is released with prose and poetry readings from Constance Hall, Toni Partington, and others at the Lloyd Center Barnes and Noble, 1317 Lloyd Center, Portland.



**Also, November is National Novel Writing Month. That's NaNoWriMo, for short. The purpose: "Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!" The goal: write a 50,000 word (that's about 175 pages) novel by midnight November 30th. You won't be the only one undertaking the madness, either. Last year, as many as 119,000 writers across the world participated. And anyone who finishes (and uploads their novel online) is automatically a winner! Still need convincing? Visit the official website http://www.nanowrimo.org/ for further instructions on signing up and dozens of motivations for participating. Now get started on that novel; you have some catching up to do!

Cabaret Meets Literature, with Bob Sterry

Everyone, mark your literary calendars for a musical and spoken journey with Bob Sterry, performing original works, as well as prose and poetry from British and American writers. Sterry shows audiences how cabaret can be a literary event!

Bob Sterry is an artist who consults other artists as well. Bob recently celebrated alongside his wife, Anne-Louise Sterry, with the release of her cookbook, Aunt Lena's Cucina, proudly edited by Indigo Editing. What a talented and highly entertaining duo!