The Daily Rumpus
Get Overly Personal Emails
From Stephen Elliott
That uneasiness even tech-savvy readers feel about e-books—what about the smell of binding glue? the sound of turning pages?—demonstrates how even if we accept digital readers, we still love the heft and texture of an old-fashioned paper book.
If you’re interested in creating that heft and feel yourself, you’ll find no better event than the Night Writer Society’s seminar on bookmaking, this Friday at 7:30 in San Francisco.
...moreThe Night Writer Society, a new and mysterious group of writers based out of 826 Valencia is hosting its first event on February 5th featuring Larry Smith, creator of SMITH Magazine and the six-word memoir.
Participants will spend the evening honing the craft of the six-word memoir.
...more
In August, we donated $2 from every new Letters For Kids subscription to our favorite non-profit tutoring center, 826. We’re doing the same thing throughout September, the end of which is fast approaching.
826 started in San Francisco with a pirate supply store at 826 Valencia.
...moreThe third annual 826 Valencia Write-a-thon is this coming weekend, Sunday, August 26.
Grab your pens and pencils, computer, or typewriter and head down to 826 for a full day of inspired, 826-powered writing. The event is a fundraiser for 826 Valencia’s free student programs and works not unlike any other walk — or mara — thons you may or may not have participated in: You gather pledges from friends and family and write until your brain or arms fall asleep, or until 8:26 PM.
...moreThis Friday, August 26th is 8/26 day and your favorite youth literacy nonprofit, 826 Valencia is celebrating with a second annual Write-a-thon!
It’s a marathon of writing and it’s happening all day, from noon until 8:26 pm. If you register by emailing writeathon@826valencia.org, you can sponsor/be sponsored and write the day away, whilst raising money for youth literacy.
...more“People talk about accountability, measurements, tenure, test scores and pay for performance. These questions are worthy of debate, but are secondary to recruiting and training teachers and treating them fairly. There is no silver bullet that will fix every last school in America, but until we solve the problem of teacher turnover, we don’t have a chance.”
Dave Eggers and Nínive Calegari, cofounders of 826 Valencia, wrote an op-ed on the dire state of the teaching profession as evidenced by their dwindling salaries, high professional turnover and the need to recruit the next generation of teachers.
...more
What’s better than going for a ride in Neko Case’s car? Winning it in a raffle, of course.
And if that raffle benefits a good cause? Well, that’s one very thoughtful Mercury Cougar.
...moreThis week, Do You Love Me Now? (The Rumpus does), 826 Valencia’s Spelling Bee for Cheaters, all you can eat pancakes, and Will Franken hosts The Grand Opening of a New Baby.
Monday 2/14: Spend Valentine’s Day with your beloved Rumpus-folk at Do You Love Me Now?
...more
Fashion Week in New York has come to a close. And so therefore must our week-long run of literary fashionables.
We end our series with The Performing Artist and The Humanitarian. Miranda July and Dave Eggers are both noted for being torchbearers of their generation, a generation for the members of which one career, along one well-defined path, is not enough.
...moreLongtime 826 Valencia volunteers Nicki and Ryan Moore are ready and willing to travel to Sudan this summer to assist in the opening of a new secondary school in Marial Bai, Sudan, but they need your help! The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation will provide for volunteers once they are in Sudan, but each volunteer must provide their own airfare.
...more
Hot off the presses is a new book by kids titled Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country. Students of non-profit writing center 826 Valencia have