 Photo by J. Tomás López Writer, Editor, Teacher
To see some of the independent bookstores where readers have found or ordered Magpies, check out the Publications Page.
If you would like a signed copy, they are available from Miami's great Books & Books, 305-442-4408.  |
The latest...
"Islands" Workshop & Reading on Mount Desert Island, Maine
July 27th, along with poet Weslea Sidon, I'll be teaching a writing workshop at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library, Bernard, ME, 9:30 a.m. to noon. That evening Sidon & I will be reading from our work at the library, with a reception and signing. Events are free and open to the public. Using the overall theme of "Islands," the workshop will draw upon topics including history, memory, myth, nature, community, isolation, boundaries and journeys. The instructors will offer examples and exercises, discuss approaches to generating and developing your work, and provide information about resources for submitting work for publication. The workshop is suitable for those wanting to write fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. Anyone wishing to reserve a spot in the workshop should call the library. More info here. New short stories:
My short story, "Mary Anne's Tan," is featured in Fort Lauderdale Magazine (read it online here). Illustration for "Mary Anne's Tan," Fort Lauderdale Magazine 
"Dancing in the Dark" will appear in Trouble in the Heartland: Stories Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, to be published by Gutter Books in Fall 2014. (Part of the proceeds will benefit the Bob Woodruff Foundation.) Read more about the project, from editor Joe Clifford. (Draft cover by Chuck Regan of Zelmer Pulp.) 
"Morning Glories" will be in Fifteen Views of Miami from Burrow Press, a collection of lightly linked stories, due out in November. (Rumor has it there'll be a launch part & reading at Miami Book Fair International.) Fall 2014
I'll be among those teaching at the FGCU Sanibel Island Writers Conference, Nov. 6-9. To see more details about upcoming book group meetings, workshops, and conferences, please go to the Events page. Around the web
I was among those who took part in a discussion of "Submitting Etiquette" for The Review Review.
Geoffrey Philp interviewed me for his blog about the writing life and the class I'm teaching in Literary Journalism. Laura Valeri interviewed me for Bookslut. You can hear me reading my poem "Polylingual" at the start of this short slideshow about the WLRN and O Miami Poetry Festival "That's So Miami" project. Just follow this link and scroll down. Recent publications
My short story, "Conchology," was published in the Spring 2013 issue of Real South Magazine. An essay I wrote about the rise, fall, and rise again of Biscayne Boulevard appeared in the Spring issue of FORUM, the Florida Humanities Council magazine, in their series on writers' favorite places. left: Spring issue of FORUM, Florida Humanities Council Recent Events
In May 2014, I taught two workshops, "Crossing Paths: The Map of Opportunity in Story" and "The Measure of Change: The Short Story," at the Grub Street Muse & the Marketplace Conference in Boston, MA. Information here.
March 28 & 29th I read fiction and took part in a panel on Place and Crime Writing (with Vicki Hendricks and Mary Anna Evans) at the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers Conference in Fairhope, AL. On March 22nd, along with Margaret Cardillo and Jim Gustafson, I taught at the 2014 Florida Gulf Coast University Creative Writing Club MiniCon. My workshop was on "Using Fairy Tales and Myths to Develop and Add Depth to Stories." March 18th, I spoke about M.F.K. Fisher, ground-breaking food writer and memoirist, at the Miami Culinary Institute, as part of Miami Dade College's celebration of Women's History Month. The talk included a tasting of some of Fisher's dishes, prepared by the students of the MDC Culinary Institute. January 31st, I was part of the LitChat Literary Salon, held at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, but available to all via Twitter using the #litchat hashtag. The event kicks off with "Memoir as Message" at 1 PM, and my panel, "Publishing Pathways," was at 5:30, followed by a reception to celebrate the 5th anniversary of #LitChat, and the presentation of awards to Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books and to the Betsy's Writer's Room. Over New Year's, I talked about "Masquerade Plots," gave a reading, and took part in a panel on submitting your work to magazines and contests at the Hands On Literary Festival in New Orleans (which included a masquerade ball), Dec. 30, 2013-Jan. 1, 2014. Write ups on my talk and the conference here and here. December 8th, I spoke about "Jane Austen's Tips for Writers: What Fiction Writers Can Learn from Pride and Prejudice" at the Jane Austen Society of North America South Florida chapter's celebration of the 200th aniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, at Nova Southeastern University's Alvin Sherman Library. Full schedule and details here. You can see photos and posters from my adventures on the literary trail on the Scrapbook page. Magpies ~ Gold Medal, Florida Book Awards
Publishers Weekly says of Magpies: "Barrett portrays adult lives with minimal flourishes and a powerful command of setting. Florida is electric with the tension of "all that can happen"—hurricanes, sinkholes, and a boom-and-bust history. It becomes as eerie as it is richly imagined, whether stories take place in an Art Deco building or a gas station. One of the year's finer university press offerings..." In The Rumpus, Joseph Olshan writes: "Sentence for sentence, Barrett is a superb writer. Her work brims with original ideas, questions and philosophical musings, the product of a probing intelligence and a highly literate sensibility. But what separates her from many contemporary short fiction writers is her consummate story-telling ability." Chauncey Mabe asks "Why does Lynne Barrett hate me?" in his review. Melissa Slayton in the Apalachee Review says, "Fans of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad or Tony Earley’s Here We Are in Paradise will enjoy Lynne Barrett’s third collection of short stories, which won the Florida Book Awards Gold Medal for General Fiction. Barrett’s aesthetic blends a wry take on contemporary American culture with a unique awareness of the Florida landscape. Within this book, one is as likely to encounter an overwrought editor as a sink hole, a gossip columnist as a tropical depression....This collection is tightly crafted yet eclectic." Emma Trelles says Magpies is "an assemblage of delightfully strange stories" in her New Times list of best things about Miami. Featured in LitBridge, December 2012. The book launch at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL is described in this great blog by Geoffrey Philp. Magpies is published by Carnegie Mellon University Press and distributed via University Press of New England. For more about the book, see the Magpies page. And while there, learn about Sterling Mulbry, the artist whose painting is on the cover. Info about the Florida Book Awards here. WLRN Topical Currents Interview
You can hear my conversation with Ariel Gonzalez on WLRN's Topical Currents by going to the About Lynne page or download the full show's MP3 here.
Conversations around the web
"Angles of Belonging," my guest blog about having grown up in NJ, being a "Florida writer," and the many ways characters can connect to place, is at Lisa Romeo Writes.
Dena Santoro has written an appreciation of the (bad) girls in my short stories, at Like Fire. At The Writerly Life, Gerry Wilson and I discuss thinking about a story's edges and the ever-challenging issue of trying to get too many things done. Necee Regis interviewed me about Magpies (and compared reading the collection to eating Belgian chocolates) at Beyond the Margins. On Casey Pycior's blog, The Story is the Cure, we discussed, among other things, my story "Links" and unanticipated consequences of writing about the dot com world. Laura Richardson interviewed me about Magpies, plot, editing, and much more for Sliver of Stone Magazine. Angela Kelsey has done a four-part (they're short!) interview with me on her blog. Topics covered include how suspense is created in literary stories, and tips for writers. Teaching
I teach in the Creative Writing program in FIU's English Dept, and often speak at writers' conferences around the country. I'm immensely proud of my students, and you can read about some of their many achievements on my Teaching Page. I was honored to be chosen as one of the 2012 Florida International University Top Scholars, and to be featured in a full-page ad for the university in the Miami Herald. In 2011 I received an FIU Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentorship, and I previously received one for Excellence in Research. With FIU President Mark Rosenberg at the 2012 Top Scholars Reception, April 2012. Other projects:
As editor of Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash, I looked for very short prose works to explore the edges and overlaps between lyrical and narrative approaches. Fifty-four authors with connections to Florida contributed prose poetry, flash fiction, and flash nonfiction of no more than 305 words—a number representing the original South Florida area code.
More about the collection, and the radio contest it inspired, on the Works Edited page. "What Editors Want"
Glimmer Train republished "What Editors Want" in their Bulletin of Sept. 1, 2011. When The Review Review published "What Editors Want," an essay about the submission process, it "went viral." As editor Becky Tuch reported in their weekly newsletter: "Over at The Review Review, things have been more than a little insane. For one thing, Lynne Barrett's article... 'What Editors Want...' spread around the globe and back, earning us coverage in the L.A. Times and The New Yorker. Yeah, we were pretty excited."
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