The Story I Want To Tell: Explorations in the Art of Writing

by The Telling Room

Overview

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, Maine, dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers.

THE STORY I WANT TO TELL pairs the work of 20 aspiring young writers—including immigrants from war-ravaged countries—with original stories, essays, and poems from Richard Blanco, Richard Russo, Elizabeth Gilbert, Dave Eggers, Lily King, Jonathan Lethem, Bill Roorbach, Monica Wood, and other top writers in a call-and-response anthology.

The book’s supplemental materials make it a perfect tool for writers’ groups and writing teachers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780884484158
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/10/2014
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, Maine, dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers.

Richard Blanco, the 2013 inaugural poet, was "made in Cuba, assembled in Spain, and imported to the United States"—meaning that his mother, seven months pregnant, and the rest of the family arrived as exiles from Cuba to Madrid where he was born in 1968, before they emigrated to the United States, settling in Miami. Blanco is the author of four previous poetry collections including, most recently, Looking for the Gulf Motel, and is the winner of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award. He lives in Bethel, Maine.

Jonathan Lethem is the author of six novels, including the bestsellers The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He lives in Brooklyn and Maine.

Bill Roorbach (born August, 1953 Chicago, Illinois) is an American novelist, short story and nature writer, memoirist, journalist, blogger and critic. Roorbach has authored fiction and nonfiction works including Big Bend, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and the O. Henry Prize. Most recently he published the novel Life Among Giants.

Roorbach and his wife, painter Juliet Karelsen, have one daughter, Elysia Pearl

Ann Beattie has been included in four O. Henry Award Collections and in John Updike’s The Best American Short Stories of the Century. In 2000, she received the PEN/Malamud Award for achievement in the short story form. In 2005, she received the Rea Award for the Short Story. She and her husband, Lincoln Perry, live in Key West, Florida, and Charlottesville, Virginia, where she is Edgar Allan Poe Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION vii

ANOTEFORWRITINGINSTRUCTORS x

THEPAIRINGS

ALIMOHAMED,Hyenas 1

ELIZABETHGILBERT,Cheekbone

AMIRAALSAMMRAl,BreathingintheRain 7

RICHARDBLANCO,BurningintheRain

CHRISTINAMURRAY,Carrots 10

JONATHANLETHEM,Carrot-Spotting

COLIN SHEPARD, Wildernesses 14

BILLROORBACH,HeatRises

ELIASNASRAT,TheFateoftheTrees 19

BETSYSHOLL,ThatLeaflessTree

HASSANJEYLANI,ADayinThreeWorlds 23

CAMPBELLMCGRATH,NightandDay

JULIANMAYORQUIN,BottleJacking 31

GEORGESAUNDERS,GotoJail,AfterEightTimes,GoDirectlytoJail

RICHARDAKERA,IStartedtoExplain 39

RICHARDRUSSO,DrinkingWater

VASSILYMURANGIRA,SwimmingtoSafety 47

ANNBEATTIE,Drive-byAlligator

JANETMATHIESON,ASandwich/AnOlive 54

ARIMEIL,JammyBrightness

MAHADHILOWLE,TheTable 64

SUSANCONLEY,TheTable

DARCIESERFES,TheBump 68

LILYKING,Summer

NOAHWILLIAMS,HuntingintheDeepWoodsLEWIS ROBINSON, When DadRodePastMe 72

MICHÉERUNYAMBO,TwoTeethMONICAWOOD,HistoryLesson 77

EMILYHOLLYDAY,Cantaloupe 82

GIBSONFAY-LEBLANC,Self-Portrait,withDishRag

MISSOURIALICEWILLIAMS,ALittleSecret 86

MELISSACOLEMAN,GoddessofLiberation

FADUMOISSACK,ClimbingBarefootJAEDCOFFIN,TheCoconutTree 91

GRACEWHITED,BoxofHope 99

DAVEEGGERS,PulltheSled,Feedthe Fire

AQILASHARAFYAR,TheFaithfulDovesofMyFatherSARACORBETT,IThoughtICouldFixThings 110

ARUNAKENYI,ThePhotograph 120

MICHAELPATERNITI,WeAreTryingto

UnderstandWhatHappenedtoYouThere

INTERVIEWSWITHTHEWRITERS

WritersonWriting 128

OntheWritingProcess 145

OnthePublishingProcess 156

WRITINGPROMPTS 165

THECONTRIBUTORSACKNOWLEDGMENTS 173

ABOUTTHETELLINGROOMTELLINGROOMBOOKS 180

ROOMBOOKS 181

What People are Saying About This

Elizabeth Gilbert

I've had such joy working with The Telling Room—they are such a wonderful resource for talented young readers and writers from all over the world. It was a delight to be part of this project. —Elizabeth Gilbert

Jaed Coffin

Connecting with a young fellow writer made me obey the single most important rule of creativity: always begin again. —Jaed Coffin

Richard Russo

I had a blast working on this book. Where do I sign up for the next one? —Richard Russo

Kate Christensen

The Story I Want to Tell is a powerful and riveting anthology. The student stories and poems—some by young immigrants from places as diverse and far away as Iraq and Sudan, and others by kids from around the block—are intensely moving, original, and beautiful, and they all share a raw urgency whose power is augmented by the apt, personal, sensitive responses of the older, more acclaimed writers they're paired with. These twinnings of younger and older writers, a call and response, accrue a mesmerizing storytelling rhythm that made me wish the book were twice as long. —Kate Christensen, author, The Epicure's Lament and The Great Man (PEN/Faulkner Award)

Editorial Reviews

"I had a blast working on this book. Where do I sign up for the next one?"

Richard Russo

"I’ve had such joy working with The Telling Room—they are such a wonderful resource for talented young readers and writers from all over the world. It was a delight to be part of this project."

Elizabeth Gilbert

"Connecting with a young fellow writer made me obey the single most important rule of creativity: always begin again."

Jaed Coffin

"The Story I Want to Tell is a powerful and riveting anthology. The student stories and poems—some by young immigrants from places as diverse and far away as Iraq and Sudan, and others by kids from around the block—are intensely moving, original, and beautiful, and they all share a raw urgency whose power is augmented by the apt, personal, sensitive responses of the older, more acclaimed writers they’re paired with. These twinnings of younger and older writers, a call and response, accrue a mesmerizing storytelling rhythm that made me wish the book were twice as long."

Kate Christensen