Join Black Mountain Institute for these free virtual events on writing and publishing. These events are open to everyone. Click on the registration buttons below to sign-up for each event.
March 18, 2024 at 12 p.m. Pacific
A Conversation with Catherine Lacey
Please join Black Mountain Institute for a discussion with author Catherine Lacey about their latest book, Biography of X. Catherine Lacey will be introduced and interviewed by writer Ucheoma Onwutuebe.
Catherine Lacey is the author of five books: Biography of X, Pew, The Answers, Nobody Is Ever Missing, and a short story collection, Certain American States. Her honors include the Brooklyn Book Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library. Based in Mexico, she is a fellow at the Cullman Center at the New York Public Library for 2023-24. Her debut work of nonfiction, The Möbius Book, is forthcoming from FSG, as well as a second short story collection, My Stalkers.
April 10, 2024 at 12 p.m. Pacific
How to Craft a Book Proposal with Nicole Chung, Amy Brady, and Tajja Isen
This virtual panel will bring together three nonfiction writers to discuss the craft of book proposals. It will cover subjects that include the sections and conventions of a book proposal, how the goals of the form are different from those of a manuscript, and the ways a project might (and will!) evolve between pitch and execution. Depending on the makeup of the panel, it may also touch on the questions of incorporating archival research, cultural criticism, and/or reporting into the proposal.
Nicole Chung is the author of A Living Remedy and All You Can Ever Know. A Living Remedy was named a Notable Book of 2023 by The New York Times and a Best Book of the Year by over a dozen other outlets, including Time, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, TODAY, and Electric Literature. Nicole’s 2018 debut All You Can Ever Know was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, a semifinalist for the PEN Open Book Award, and an Indies Choice Honor Book. Previously, she was the digital editorial director at Catapult, the managing editor of The Toast, and an editor at Hyphen magazine.
Amy Brady is the author of Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks–a Cool History of a Hot Commodity and coeditor of The World as We Knew It: Dispatches from a Changing Climate. Brady has made appearances on the BBC, NPR, and PBS and serves as executive director and publisher of Orion magazine. She holds a PhD in literature and American studies and has won writing and research awards from the National Science Foundation, the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, and the Library of Congress.
Tajja Isen is a writer, editor, and voice actor. Her first book, Some of My Best Friends, was published in 2022 and was named a Best Book of the Year by Electric Literature, The Globe and Mail, CBC Books, and Daily Hive. She is also the former editor-in-chief of Catapult magazine, and she has also edited for The Walrus (where she is currently a contributing writer) and Electric Literature.