Indiana Writers and Writing - The Newer Stuff

 Some items found while researching a possible essay on Raintree County. 

A Flame Called Indiana An Anthology of Contemporary Hoosier Writing by Doug Paul Case is a forthcoming book from IU Press. I notice Michael Martone will be one of the featured writers. I consider Martone to be the Indiana writer of today (that he seems to have been around 40 years should not be held against him), so this bodes well for this book.

A Flame Called Indiana features 65 writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have all had the pleasure of being Hoosiers at one time or another. Curated by the Indiana University Bloomington creative writing department, this diverse anthology features everything from the immigrant experience to the Indianapolis 500 to science fiction. Altogether, the work stands testament to the vibrancy and creativity of this Midwest state.

What seems particularly interesting to me is The Fens at Mounds State Park, by Chuck Wagner.

For more Indiana University Press, follow this link. 

From 2016, and The Indianapolis Star: Step aside, Vonnegut, current Indiana authors have something to say:

“Not Like the Rest of Us: An Anthology of Contemporary Indiana Writers,” published by the Indiana Writers Center, honors the state’s rich literary tradition. Executive Director Barbara Shoup said the center wanted writers who had some strong connections to Indiana, whether through upbringing or current residence. Nearly 80 writers have their work published in the collection. Some are experienced veterans, while others are up-and-coming.

Notes on Bootstraps and Coattails is a 2016 post on the IU Press blog by Carrie Latimer, and is a bit sharp in its tone:

Let's lower that bar. For the purposes of this post, I'll define an emerging writer as anyone serious enough to be working on a book-length project but has not yet published one.

A lot of Hoosiers fall under this designation. How do I know? I've seen them at the IU Writers' Conference, at the Gathering of Writers sponsored by the Writers Center of Indiana, at the Steel Pen Writers' Conference up in the region. I see them in the Butler MFA program in creative writing that grows every year. Empirical evidence abounds.

Why should you care about emerging writers? This is the talent pool, people. If you care about literature and you care about our state (and because you're reading a post on the IU Press blog, I'll assume that you do), then you should care deeply about nurturing this group that is writing the next generation of stories and poems and novels.

The problem is that we don't care. We don't nurture. What we do, in this state, is grab onto the coattails of front-runners.

A few years ago, I was at an Indiana Authors Award reception, where I watched John Green take home the top prize, which came with $10,000. Nothing against John Green—he seems like a deeply decent human and I am glad to count him as a Hoosier—but I walked away thinking, Why give him that award? Who did that help?

Part of the award's stated goal is to "[attract] greater attention to 'home-grown' literary greats," but did anyone really think they could do that for Green? The idea that the award would raise the profile of the guy who wrote the bestselling The Fault in Our Stars is laughable.

Being somewhat interested in the subject as a writer and a Hoosier, I do agree with the writer of this post:

So why do we keep throwing ourselves at these frontrunners? My suspicion is that it has less to do with raising their profile, and much more to do with raising our own. Our state is taking selfies with Vonnegut and Green so that everyone will know we're with them. Later we'll probably drop their names loudly at the hotel bar. Which is actually kind of pathetic. Come on, Indiana. Show a little self-esteem.  

But what would happen if we invested those literary dollars where they would actually make a difference?

As I mentioned earlier, time is the most important resource for a writer—and money can buy time in the form of childcare, or a retreat, or to allow someone to go from full-time to part-time employment. Money can pay for schooling or mentoring to hasten an emerging writer's development. Sometimes, it turns out, you can actually throw money at a problem. 

Next Indiana Bookshelf encourages discussion about the present and future of Indiana -  Raintree County is on the list, and so are Vonnegut's letters.

The Official YouTube Channel for the Indiana Writers Center. (Although the latest entry is a year old)

sch 12/17/22