Category Archives: Assignments
Assignment 6: 10 Markets for Travel Writers and Essayists
There are plenty of high-profile, often paying markets for travel writers beyond National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, and the other big glossies. The following 10 publications and websites are not all travel-specific, but then, travel writing is not always travel-specific, either. Consider the angles of your experience – it may be that a creative nonfiction [...]
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Assignment 5 Part 2: Finding Your Story
1. Matador Trips A search for “Fez” on Matador Trips reveals that, although the city has been referenced in one or two other articles (a piece on food in Morocco is the only one in which it plays a largeish role), the site has never done a Fez feature. I also notice that a number [...]
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Assignment 5: Writer Bio
Three bios: the first adheres (ish) to the “30 words or fewer” guideline in the assignment; the second is ever-so-slightly longer. The third is the bio for this blog (copied and pasted below) – much longer and in first person, and not something that would be published, but as it’s what an editor might see [...]
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Fez Revisited [Personal Essay]
I. The day starts with a call to prayer. On the edge of morning I lie awake; in the night we have cast aside our blankets, and now we are naked atop the bed, sweating, unmoving. Through the open window I can see the Merenid Tombs. From here they look tiny, but I have stood [...]
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My Hometown in 500 Words
The rats are in the walls again. I can hear them at night; the rhythms of their feet permeate my dreams. In the morning we discuss what’s to be done about it. I point out that at least they’re not in the cars, eating the wires, as they’ve been known to do before. My father [...]
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An Abstract Guide to Assimilation: How to Make a Home in a Foreign Country (REVISED)
It’s not always easy to adapt to life in a foreign country. Differences in culture, language, geography, and history can make the experience intensely lonely, though the rewards are sweet. Because the transition is mostly mental, here are 5 abstract but proven tips to help you on the way to feeling fully assimilated, wherever you [...]
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An Oxford Love Story
See, my son time here turns into space - Richard Wagner, Parsifal (1882) Almost three years on, and every morning starts with a sleepy intimacy. The warmth of skin on skin is comforting when it’s so cold outside, and even in early May the house has a chill. Today is a grey day, with a [...]
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An Abstract Guide to Assimilation: How to Make a Home in a Foreign Country
It’s not always easy to adapt to life in a foreign country. Differences in culture, language, geography, and history can make the experience intensely lonely, though the rewards are sweet. Because the transition is mostly mental, here are 5 abstract but proven tips to help you on the way to feeling fully assimilated, wherever you [...]
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Assignment 7: Expenses, Income, and the Logistics of Following a Dream