Jezebel: Writers

The Late Show Adds Jena Friedman To Writing Staff

Whitney Jefferson — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:10:00 EDT

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Splitsider reports that the Late Show With David Letterman has hired local stand-up comic Jena Friedman, marking the first time in history that more than one woman has worked on the show's full-time writing staff. (The show's only other female writing staffer joined the team in 2009 — a time when there were no women on the staff, Letterman was amid a work-related sex scandal, and an ex-writer for the show told Vanity Fair it was a "hostile work environment.) You may recognize Jena from this faux Plan B commercial, her rejected American Girl dolls, or her spot-on parody of an NYT Wedding Vows video in which (below). Congrats, Jena! More »

Jennifer Egan Tells Young Writers To Ignore “Best Of” Lists

Lane Moore — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 13:23:00 EDT

While shooting a video about artists and their favorite places in Manhattan, author of A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan offered encouragement to young writers who feel excluded from "best of" lists. More »

26-Year-Old Writer Makes Millions On eBooks — But How, And Why?

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:20:00 EST

Amanda Hocking's story isn't just interesting because, at 26 years old, she's a millionaire from selling eBooks. Her tale is also fascinating because it remains a work in progress. Success brings new challenges, one of which is often defending that success. Something Hocking is having to do. More »

TGIF!

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:56:00 EST

[London, December 2. Image via Getty.]

Adderall Diaries Movie Promises Full Frontal Franco!

Jenna Sauers — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:50:00 EST

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James Franco will star in an adaptation of Stephen Elliott's The Adderall Diaries. And — this is important — Franco will be nude. If you haven't read this essay Elliott wrote for Tin House in like 2007, you should. More »

Read Edith Wharton's Surprisingly Steamy Erotica! [UPDATE: It's Potentially Quite Creepy!]

Anna North — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:43:00 EDT

Lapham's Quarterly has published an excerpt of erotica by Edith Wharton — and it's surprisingly racy. Check out the Wharton you didn't read in English class. More »

Huge Writer Savannah Dooley Talks Teen TV, Fat Camp & Queers

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:15:00 EDT

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What happened when 25-year-old Savannah Dooley — writer of ABC Family's weight-loss camp drama, Huge, and the daughter of My So-Called Life's Winnie Holzman — emailed us to say that Jezebel was her favorite blog? More »

Literary Critic Hates Vaginas, "Ghetto Volume"

Anna North — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:47:00 EDT

People are obviously reading too much these days. That must be why one critic felt the need to list the 15 writers (9 of them women) we should all stop reading right now. More »

Bestselling Chick-Lit Author Is Rich, Depressed, Human

Sadie Stein — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:30:00 EDT

The name "Marian Keyes" will be familiar to even the most casual chick-lit reader. Her stories of love, loss and friendship are phenomenally successful. Which is why her battle with depression has come as a shock to fans. More »

Why Being A Teen Phenom Isn't Necessarily Awesome

Anna North — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:20:00 EDT

Australian writer Steph Bowe got a book deal at fifteen, but felt like a failure for not publishing at thirteen or fourteen. Sounds insane — except that I can relate. More »

Drugs Of Choice For Literary Lions

Sadie Stein — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:30:06 EDT

Herewith, Lapham's Quarterly brings us a handy-dandy cheat-sheet the favored drugs and booze for literary icons, all in the pursuit of greatness. Carson McCullers' tipple of choice — hot tea and sherry — was especially ladylike. [Lapham's Quarterly] More »

Margaret Atwood Wraps Her Head Around Twitter

Anna North — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:30:00 EDT

"So what's it all about, this Twitter? Is it signaling, like telegraphs? Is it Zen poetry? [...] Let's just say it's communication, and communication is something human beings like to do." — Margaret Atwood. [Guardian] More »

Chambers Of Blood And Velvet: Subverting The Classics For Feminist Ends

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:00 EST

What do the Wicked Stepmother, Medea, Pandora and Lilith have in common? They're all badass bitches, and they're all getting a revamp. At least, if Lillian Slugocki's call for submissions works out the way she hopes it will. More »

Comedy Call-Out

Anna Holmes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST

"Look at the comments section of any Jezebel post...You see young women falling over themselves to get in their two cents about what they think is sexist and what isn't. I think that's great." -comedian/writer Julie Klausner, to Salon. [Salon] More »

Short Story

Sadie Stein — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:45:00 EST

"[Tillie] Olsen's tales show the shortchanged lives of gifted women from the working poor: unable to at once make a living, make art, and meet the needs of their families." [CSM, Image via TillieOlsen.net] More »

Saint Joan: Young Women And The Cult Of Didion

Sadie Stein — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST

A couple of years ago, my then-boyfriend wrote a piece of erotica about Joan Didion, which fact should go some ways towards explaining both why the relationship lasted as long as it did, and why we were ultimately incompatible: More »

"She could probably light a cigarette in a thunderstorm."

Jenna Sauers — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:40:00 EST

To go from modeling in the 1960s to writing a seminal study of L.A. gang culture in the 90s is uncommon. Léon Bing managed to fit in dating Ed Ruschka and living with Hollywood's leading coke dealer to boot. [NYTimes] More »

The Haunting Of Shirley Jackson

Sadie Stein — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EDT

Since it's both Halloween and the 50th anniversary of The Haunting of Hill House, it seems like a good time to pay our respects to a master of horror: More »

Margaret Atwood, In 140 Characters

Sadie Stein — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EDT

"Twitter isn't writing, it's signaling...It could be writing. In fact, I thought of doing something like John Cage's symphony that will be played over 100 years. You could put a word a day on to the 'twit', or 'tweet'?" [Reuters] More »

R.I.P. Norma Fox Mazer

Hortense Smith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:40:00 EDT

Sad news: Norma Fox Mazer, the author of several critically acclaimed books for children and young adults, including When She Was Good, Silver, and Newbery Honor Book After The Rain, has died at the age of 78. [PublishersWeekly] More »

Author Of Whore Found Dead

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EDT

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Quebec writer Nelly Arcan was found dead late last night. Arcan, author of Putain, an autobiographical novel about her life as a prostitute, was one of Canada's most important feminist writers. Police are investigating her death as a suicide. [CBC] More »

Is "Bitch Lit" The Cure For The Common Chick Lit Novel?

LatoyaPeterson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EDT

Sydney Zamora is a brash, calculating and unrepentant heroine who is quick to drop a suitor and curse him out as she extracts herself from the date. Is she the new prototype for chick lit characters? More »

'I'm The Only Feminist There Is – The Others Are All Out Of Step'

Sadie Stein — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:20:00 EDT

Fay Weldon is a grande dame of feminist literature - albeit a renegade one. She chose her choices - and does it make her less of an icon? More »

R.I.P. Karla Kuskin

Sadie Stein — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Karla Kuskin, the author of more than 50 books for children, including many books of verse and the classic The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, has died at 77. [NYT] More »

The (Sound) Waves

Katy Kelleher — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EDT

Via Feminist Law Professors comes this amazing clip of Virginia Woolf speaking as part of a BBC radio conference in 1937. It is the only known recording of Woolf's voice. Click through to listen. [FeministLawProfessors] More »

Female Writers Live Mad Men

Sadie Stein — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EDT

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The Mad Men blitz has included a wave of Twitter followers and sleek avatars, a rash of retro cocktails and a mass screening in Times Square. Not bad for a stealth women's show. More »

Is This Woman Actually "Mad"? Results Inconclusive, Fascinating

Sadie Stein — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:20:00 EDT

It seems we're not the only ones obsessed with professional oversharer, food-phobic, American-and-child-hater Liz Jones. Begins a tart profile in the Guardian, "Is Liz Jones mad? I'm not sure. She certainly looks a bit mad." But that's just for starters: More »

R.I.P. Judi Ann Mason

Sadie Stein — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Judi Ann Mason, a playwright and screenwriter, has died at 54. Mason started writing professionally at only 19 and, on shows like A Different World and Sanford, was one of the first female African-American sitcom writers. [NYT] More »

Figures Of Speech

Anna Holmes — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:10:00 EDT

[London, June 3. Image via Getty]

Awards

Katy Kelleher — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:40:00 EDT

Canadian writer Alice Munro has won the third Man Booker International Prize, which is awarded every two years to a living fiction writer for their entire body of work. "I am totally amazed and delighted," said Munro, 77, of the award. [BBC] More »

House Of Mirth

Sadie Stein — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:20:00 EDT

Trustees of the Mount, Edith Wharton's Massachusetts estate, have restructured the site's finances to reduce its multimillion-dollar debt. Measures include adding Mount-hosted festivals, writing workshops, and lecture series. Marrying well's not an option? [AP] More »

Flower Power

Sadie Stein — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:40:00 EDT

Eleanor Perenyi, whose Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden is a classic of gardening literature, has died at 91. Oh, and apparently she was also a baroness! [NYT] More »

R.I.P. Marilyn French

Sadie Stein — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Marilyn French, the activist writer who declared, "my goal in life is to change the entire social and economic structure of Western civilization, to make it a feminist world," has died at 79. [NYT] More »

Poetry In Motion

Sadie Stein — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Carol Ann Duffy has been named Britain's poet laureate. Duffy, the first woman to hold the post in its 341-year history, is known for a wide and varied body of modern poetry. [NYT] More »

Trade Secrets

Sadie Stein — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EDT

Curtis Sittenfeld: "For naming characters, I love the Social Security Administration's most popular baby names site." [New York Times] More »

We're Guessing She's Not Into Twitter?

Sadie Stein — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:30:00 EDT

Margaret Atwood: "It's like everyone's blogging about how they brushed their teeth this morning." [NYT] More »

A Room Of One's Own

Sadie Stein — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:20:00 EDT

"I go into a very happy state of mind when I'm vacuuming. I think some of my male colleagues, like Philip Roth and Don DeLillo, are completely denied this pleasure." - To Sunday's Times magazine. More »

Reporter Thinks He'll Be The One To Get Salinger To Break His Silence; Isn't

Sadie Stein — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:30:00 EDT

Of all the many inexplicable things on our little blue marble, these "pilgrimages" where people harass J.D. Salinger is one of the weirdest. More »

R.I.P. John Updike

Sadie Stein — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:55:00 EST

John Updike, the prolific, Pulitzer-winning writer, has died at 76. The cause was lung cancer. More »

R.I.P. John Mortimer

Sadie Stein — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:10:00 EST

John Mortimer, beloved writer and creator of the iconic barrister and eccentric Rumpole of the Bailey, has died at 85. Mortimer was also an outspoken advocate of free speech and human rights. Farewell! [IHT] More »