Writers Gary Shteyngart and Tea Obreht inspire the aspiring

March 28, 2012, by

We talk about a lot of things in writing programs (dead grandmas, childhood traumas, broken hearts of every stripe) but we rarely talk about literary success. We rarely discuss the mechanics of publishing a book, how book deals are made and paid, how to market oneself as an emerging writer, or just the business world of publishing in general—which might be why, when one of us hears of the kind of early success met by Téa Obreht or of the early and then continued success met by Gary Shteyngart, we bristle. I’m about two months away from turning 30, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t partially disappointed that my first book won’t have come out in my twenties, as it did for both Obreht and Shteyngart, and legions of other writers whose youth is a cause célèbre. Continue reading

Books, movies, videos, oh my!

March 21, 2012, by

In the age of YouTube and other video hosting sites, it’s easier than ever to watch movie previews. These previews give you a feel for the film, its cinematography, its characters, and its plot. This idea of video based previews is now seeping into the literary world.

Gary Shteyngart, who is appearing as part of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series on March 26th with Orange Prize winner Téa Obreht, has some of the funniest book promo videos around for his novel Super Sad True Love Story. We had to share them.

This video has James Franco in it, who was a student of Gary’s at Columbia.  Other literary notables featured are Mary Gaitskill, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Jay McInerney. It doesn’t tell you what the book is about, but definitely gives you a glimpse into Shteyngart’s wacky sense of humor. Click here to watch the Super Sad True Love Story promo video.  Continue reading

New Works by Inprint Faculty

March 14, 2012, by

Most of Houston is on spring break, but at this time of year we begin lining up our summer 2012 Inprint Writers Workshop. We are grateful and inspired by the number of Houstonians that value creative writing and sign up for these workshops. Their popularity continues to grow and demand is far surpassing supply, which of course we are thrilled about. But truth be told, we cannot take the credit for this ourselves. The real success of these workshops proceeds from the talented instructors that teach them. Our workshops instructors are amazing people, some of the city’s top writers, and they are receiving national acclaim for their talent. Luckily for us, these writers are not reclusive luddites. You will see a few of them around Houston this week.  Continue reading

Swerving with Prufer

March 9, 2012, by

Every once in a while you are lucky enough to find a book that is not only a great story, but a book that rocks your world. It changes the way you think, expands your world view, and makes you question what you have previously assumed. We hear Kevin Prufer is one of those lucky people; he can’t stop talking about The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt, winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction. We asked Kevin to share his find with us.

Inprint: The ideas in The Swerve are complex, fascinating, and timely. Can you briefly break them down for a lay person?

Kevin Prufer: Sure!  I’m a lay person myself, right? Continue reading

An Open Book is now open

March 5, 2012, by

Welcome to Inprint’s new blog An Open Book. For close to three decades Inprint has been lucky enough to provide Houston with readings, writing workshops, fellowships for emerging writers at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, and much more. We’ve witnessed other literary initiatives take root and flourish, and we’ve seen Houston develop into a great city for readers and writers. So much is happening in Houston’s literary scene, we can barely keep up ourselves.

Not only is there exciting local news, but Houston’s literary community has a synergistic relationship with national literary events and trends. We’re influenced by what is happening nationally, but Houston writers and our events are having a direct impact on shaping the global literary scene too, and that is something we are very proud of. We are part of it, not just a result of it. Continue reading