Posted by on May 14th, 2012
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The Nebraska Writers Collective and the Seven Doctors Project

team up for a night of poetry!

May 17, 5-8pm

Come hear the Seven Doctors and enjoy appetizers and entertainment

at the Side Door Lounge (3530 Leavenworth Street)

We’re raising money to help with NWC programs.  Poets on Loan and the Louder Than a Bomb: Omaha Youth Poetry Festival help get students, teachers, and poets excited for poetry.  Your donations at the door or online (at http://newriters.org/news/) help keep it all going.  $20 per person suggested.

Spread the word!

A Mystery Poem

Posted by on February 16th, 2012
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Today we have a host poet who’s come anonymously to present his work.

Enjoy, and if you have any thoughts about the mystery author or the poem itself, feel free to leave a comment!

 

I met a man today
His wife here with tubes and hoses
They’ve been married sixty three years

His short quiet steps full of concern
She in the awful robe, ashy face, on the monitor
A 1920’s wedding in the farm town, stiff collars-broad hats

He stands by her room sharing his sixty three
Complaining of full pain-here, a little there, she said
Off they rode, behind the horse, past the milo and the wells

He strokes her cheek, kisses her cheek
She holds his hand, white fingers entwined
Each wanting sixty three more
Of children and dust and loss
And love

About the Author:

I’m an attending physician in the Department of Psychiatry.  I can’t tell you more now.  We’re going to play a little game.  No names for now please!

The Seven Doctors Project: Session Six

Posted by on January 23rd, 2012
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It is my pleasure to welcome back longtime members of the Seven Doctors Project—and to greet and welcome new participants, as we chirp back and forth via e-mail and they tell me a little about their writing interests and goals. The fact that mid-career physicians and many others, including administrators and scientists and researchers, are drawn to practice creative writing and immerse themselves in a two-month intensive writing workshop, continues to intrigue me.

The Seven Doctors Project, which debuted in spring 2008, is the basis of my PhD thesis. Over 20 members of the UNMC community, most of them physicians, are 7DP alumni. Three of them (so far) have had works accepted for publication. Virtually all of them report the project gave them a boost. They gained more energy at home and at work, many of them say. It was fun to be an apprentice again…and fulfilling to be part of a supportive and serious-minded community of readers and writers.

For a couple participants, the project served as a kind of “intervention,” allowing them the needed opportunity to consider, in their writing and in their interactions with instructors and project participants, and even work through challenging issues they face on and off the job.

The sixth session of the project begins on February 2nd. Our teaching cohort, three fellow area writers and creative writing instructors and two UNMC physicians, Lydia Kang and Bud Shaw, who recently had works accepted for publication, met last week to discuss the project. We are eager to get started!

Spurred mostly by word of mouth, through the newly formed Humanities Council and elsewhere, over a dozen participants (so far) have signed up. We aim to introduce—or reintroduce, after partial or extended hiatus—participants to writing and reading poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. Among other outcomes, the 7DP proves there is a sincere yearning for creative expression among physicians and others.

When I’m asked why I do the project—and I can be pretty bold—I say, “It’s simple; we are giving our participants their imaginations back.” While I admire and depend on the technical skill of physicians, not to mention their dedication to working long hours to help their patients and sometimes save their lives, I also realize, now more than ever, the importance of imaginative play.

Meeting each of our participants where he or she is and leading them forward is our goal. Along the way, some of them begin to aim to join a larger community, published writers. I am hopeful that the 7DP provides for all of our participants a grounding on aesthetic principles and some training in the craft of writing.

In addition to the genuine thrill of discovering and inventing, once again, poems and stories that surprise and move us!

Steve Langan is the author of three collections of poems, Freezing, Notes on Exile and Other Poems, and Meet Me at the Happy Bar. He holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received the James Michener Fellowship, and he teaches in the University of Nebraska MFA in Writing program. Contact Langan at 402.659.6343 and slangan60@gmail.com

Resources for publication: Medical Humanities

Posted by on January 2nd, 2012
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Happy New Year!

We begin this year on the Humanities blog with a list, of course. But first, a little background.

My first narrative, non-fiction piece was written in the middle of the night after a long day of work. I’d just seen a young man suffering from terminal cancer during a Palliative Care consultation and was haunted by the experience. After a few hours of writing, I uploaded my draft to the author’s submission page at the Annals of Internal Medicine, and clicked send.

I was lucky, very lucky. It was accepted, which set the bar artificially low for me. (Click here to read an excerpt.) In the coming years, I submitted other pieces of non-fiction and poetry, racking up a nice list of rejections (the necessary accoutrements for any writer!). After a lot of work (and work shopping via the Seven Doctors Project), I did manage to publish in several other journals.

There exists a wealth of journals out there willing to review your creative work, and hopefully publish it. The following is a list of places to consider, if you want to submit narrative non-fiction, humanities-related fiction, poetry, artwork and photography.

Annals of Internal Medicine: publishes narrative non-fiction pieces from the physican’s perspective (“On Being A Doctor”) and patient (“On Being A Patient”). Also accepts photography for the cover (“Personae”),  history of medicine pieces, and poetry.

JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association): “A Piece of My Mind” is a feature for medical vignettes. They also publish poetry as well.

New England Journal Of Medicine: In the “Perspective” section, NEJM publishes pieces on the intersection of medicine and society. “Occasional Notes” are for more personal pieces of writing.  They also publish photographs throughout the journal.

JGIM(Journal of General Internal Medicine): In their “Materia Medica” section, JGIM publishes personal essays, short stories, and poetry. “Text and Context” are for excerpts from literature/poetry accompanied by an essay.

CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal): CMAJ has a robust online and print Humanities section. They accept fiction, narrative non-fiction, poetry, photography, and illustrations.

Hektoen International: HI is an online humanities journal. They publish illustrations, photography, narrative fiction and non-fiction, essays and scholarly articles.

Hospital Drive: University of Virginia journal of humanities and literature. They accept poetry, prose, artwork and audiofile submissions.

Bellevue Literary Review: Publishes prose and poetry related to the theme of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body.

Lancet: Holds the annual Wakely Prize for an essay on the topic of health and healthcare. Submissions are usually due by October.

The Abaton: This Des Moines University online journal accepts poetry, prose, essays, photography and artwork. Also holds the annual Selzer Prize.

The Examined Life: A Literary Journal of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine: They accept fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

American Journal of Nursing: Publishes works of narrative non-fiction, essays, photography and artwork. Though it doesn’t say on the submission guidelines, I believe they accept poetry as well.

Yale Journal for the Humanities in Medicine: Accepts poetry, prose and book reviews, see submission guidelines.

Touch-The Journal of Healing: Accepts poetry, prose, artwork/graphics related to health, healing, spirituality and gender issues. See submission guidelines.

Medical Humanities (BMJ): Accepts short pieces of poetry and prose, as well as book film and art reviews to round out their academic humanities journal.

I’m sure there are many other places to submit, so feel free to add to the list in the comments section.

Have a wonderful (and creative) New Year!

Lydia Kang, MD
Dr. Kang has been writing since 2006. Her narrative medical essays and poetry have been published in JAMA, JGIM, the Annals of Internal Medicine, CMAJ, and upcoming in Hektoen International. Her first novel, a light young adult science fiction story, will be published in 2013 by Dial/Penguin.

 

 


 

Humanities Resources

Posted by on December 26th, 2011
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By Virginia Aita, PhD MSN

Medical Humanities resources are abundant for those interested in writing, teaching or just enjoying the materials that are available.  Three resources are listed below.

One of the richest repositories of literature and arts is known as the New York University Literature, Arts and Medicine Database located at:

http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Main?action=new

This database contains literature, information about authors, and a reading room for those interested in the intersection of literature and medicine. A similar collection of works of arts, information about the artists, and a viewing room for those interested in the intersection of art and medicine is available.  In addition there is information about the performing arts and films.  There is also a very useful search function on the site.

Another resource with a wealth of medical humanities materials is from the University of Pittsburg located at http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Main?action=new

This research resource makes available a collection of materials in the history of medicine and lists recent dissertations written by students studying medical history and the humanities. The site also lists databases in the history of medicine and offers a collection of full length videos dealing with the history of medicine.  Special Collections features as well as educational lectures concerning the history of medicine are also available on this site.

A resource closer to home is located on the Nebraska Humanities Council site at http://www.nebraskahumanities.org/links/links.htm

This site lists “favorite links” that include many literary, historical or other humanities works, events, and opportunities having to do with Nebraska’s literary heritage, culture, and plains history.  The Nebraska Humanities Council (NHC) site should be a first stop in the search for works and activities featuring the humanities. The NHC helps fund many humanities events in the state which are listed in the news and calendar feature of the website.