The smallest newspaper in the world has appeared in London. It is called The Moon, and is published by a national institute for the blind, and printed in embossed type. The Writers, Inc., composed of men and women who have had material published or produced by recognized publishers, magazines, or theatre managers, are now holding meetings at the Green Witch Inn, 68 East Eleventh street, New York, every Tuesday, at 8.30 p. m. Visiting writers are welcome to attend these meetings on payment of a fee of fifty cents. "Thomas Hardy," by Lascelles Abercrombie (The Viking Press), consists of a series of critical studies of Hardy's characteristics, his minor novels, his dramatic form, and his epic form. "Hawthorne: A Study in Solitude," by Herbert Gorman, is a new volume in the series of Murray Hill Biographies published by the George H. Doran Company. "Disraeli," by D. L. Murray, is published by Little, Brown & Co. "Marcel Proust: His Life and Work," by Leon Pierre-Quint; translated by Hamish and Sheila Miles, is published by A. A. Knopf. "Thomas Love Peacock," by J. B. Priestly, is the newest book in the English Men of Letters series, edited by J. C. Squire, and published by the Macmillan Company. "Dante," by John Jay Chapman, is published by the Houghton Houghton Mifflin Company. Mr. Chapman says that the theme of the book is "disparagement of Dante as a character, praise of him as a poet, and a kind of amazed wonder about him as a force." "The Genius of Shakspere," by G. B. Harrison, and "The Story of Italian Literature," by Edmund G. Gardner, are new volumes in the Things to Know series published by Harper & Brothers. "Balzac (La Prodigieuse Vie d'Honore de Balzac,)" by Rene Benjamin, translated by J. F. Scanlan, is published by A. A. Knopf. "Upton Sinclair: A Study in Social Protest," by Floyd Dell, is one of the first books in the Murray Hill Biographies published by the George H. Doran Company. "Carlyle at His Zenith (1848-1853)," by David A. Wilson (E. P. Dutton & Co.), treats of Carlyle's visit to Germany and his writing the biography of Frederick the Great. The Johns Hopkins University Press has published "Flaubert's Youth," by Lewis Piaget Shanks. "An Outline of Contemporary Drama," by Thomas H. Dickinson, is published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. "The Actor in Dickens," by J. B. Van Amerongen (D. Appleton & Co.), is a study of the histrionic and dramatic elements in the novelist's life and works. Literary Articles in Periodicals JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. Edgar Lee Masters. Century for October. DISRAELII. A Biography. André Maurois. Forum for October. PESSIMISM AND DEPRESSIMISM. J. B. Priestly. Forum for October. THE DECLINE OF ILLUSTRATION. Thomas Craven. American Mercury for October. PRINCES OF THE PRESS. Raymond S. Tomkins. American Mercury for October. JOURNALISM AS BIG BUSINESS. Silas Bent. Plain Talk for October. A CONFESSION WRITER CONFESSES. Don Knowlton. Plain Talk for October. WHY AMERICA BUYS ENGLAND'S BOOKS. A. S. W. Rosenbach. Atlantic Monthly for October. ANTICIPATING THE NORGE A FORGOTTEN JULES VERNE ("A.D. 2,000," by Alvarado M. Fuller). MY REMINISCENCES OF TOLSTOY. Ivan Bunin. THE EDUCATION OF WILLIAM JAMES. Charles K. Trueblood. Dial for October. THE SUPERNATURAL OF GEORGE SAND. With frontispiece portrait. Maximilian Rudwin. Open Court for September. WHAT HOPE FOR THE AMERICAN CRITIC? John Farrar. Independent for September 24. NEPHEWS OF UNCLE REMUS. Wallace Thurman. Independent for September 24. EMERSON, A REDISCOVERED MODERN. Percy H. Boynton. Independent for September 24. WHEN THE "LADY'S BOOK" WAS YOUNG. F. L. Smith, Jr. Independent for September 24. A "Versatility" Prize Contest The Contest Prizes Rules In order to prove the versatility of our readers in writing various brief prose and verse forms, so much in demand in current magazines and newspapers, THE WRITER offers a series of prizes for the best contribution received each month in any one of the following: The Brief Familiar Essay (500-1000 words) The Informal Personal Sketch (300-600 words) The Tabloid Book Review (50-100 words) The Humorous or Satirical Sketch (100-300 words) The Sonnet (14 lines) The Rondeau (13 lines) The Triolet (8 lines) Humorous Verse (not more than 20 lines; not free verse) Examples of various suggested verse forms are given on the following page. $25.00 for the best prose or verse contribution each month, for January, February, and March, 1928. A subscription (new or renewal) to THE WRITER for each contribution published. $50.00 will be awarded as a Final Prize at the end of the contest, April 1, 1928, to the writer who has shown general excellence in both verse and prose writing in the forms outlined above. 1. Each manuscript must be sign- 2. There is no limit to the number 3. Manuscripts received before the 5th of each month will be considered for inclusion in the following issue: i. e. manuscripts received before December 5 will be considered for the January issue. All manuscripts, whether printed or not, will be considered for the Final Prize to be awarded at the close of the contest April 1, 1928. 4. All entries accompanied by a stamped return envelope will be returned at the close of the contest April 1, 1928. The contest is now open to everyone and all readers of THE WRITER are cordially urged to participate. Entries for the January contest must be received by December 5. A famous example of the rondeau in serious vein is John McCrae's “In Flander's Field." Dead The Sonnet W. V. M. even he. They told me, and that day Somehow my dreams went wailing, lost in space, Finding the beggared earth a homeless place. Then, as Death's violence to that vital clay Slipped from my heart (as, Heaven be thanked, it may), I saw his passing had but served to trace A subtler line in life's mysterious face: He is more friendly since he went away. Grief is the treasure of his own: but I Who only touched his garment's hem, draw near And find in him increasingly my part, Fall into step, bespeak his company! Living, the nearest claim them; but the dear Great dead belong to any humble heart. - Karle Wilson Baker: "Blue Smoke." The Triolet A little kiss when no one sees, How sweet amid the birds and bees Nor is it wrong, the world agrees, If taken with sobriety. A little kiss when no one sees, - Samuel Minturn Peck: "Under the Rose." Suggested topics for Humorous or Satirical Sketches: Hocum and Bunk Artists The Greatest Nuisance I Know A Page from My Book of Bores A Nomination for the Hall of Infamy Space does not allow for quotations of examples of brief prose articles, but a specimen of the Brief Familiar Essay appears on page 277 of this issue, and a specimen of the Informal Personal Sketch will appear in the December WRITER. FREE LANCING FOR FORTY MAGAZINES By Edward Mott Woolley This is a narrative of writing for a living, not a discussion of high literary values nor a treatise on English. It is a story of a writer in action, battering on a congested editorial market. . A plain, true account of thirty years in the thick of writing for a living The purpose of this work is to chronicle the realism of the writing vocation, along with some of its romance; but my immediate inspiration is the arrival at a memorable mile-post in my life - a point where I can reckon at least a thousand of my published special articles and fiction stories, done for newspapers, magazines and periodicals in general. From the Foreword. There is practical help and inspiration in this book for every writer. $3.00 THE FREE-LANCE WRITER'S HANDBOOK Among the thirty-six contributors of chapters to this book, seven are editors, or managing editors, of general periodicals and special magazines of the writing craft and publishing trade, including the editors of The Bookman, The Writer, The Saturday Review of Literature, Life, and The Publisher's Weekly. Fourteen are successful shortstory writers; five are well-known novelists. Included also are the dean of American playwright-producers, the best known publicity counsel, two college teachers of creative writing, a well-known war correspondent, advertising copy-writers and free-lance journalists, a radio broadcaster, an interviewer, a photographer, a specialist in juveniles, a scenario-writer, and experts in every conceivable special type of writing. The MAGAZINE MARKET DIRECTORY includes American periodicals which purchase material from free-lance writers, book publishers, syndicates, manufacturers of greeting cards, and addresses of magazine reviewing media. 400 pages, 434" x 9", red silk cloth, $5.00 AT ALL BOOKSELLERS, or from THE WRITER'S BOOK SHELF, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. I enclose........... (cash, check, or money order). Please send □ THE FREE LANCE WRITER'S HANDBOOK ($5.00 postpaid) □ FREE LANCING FOR FORTY MAGAZINES ($3.00 postpaid) |