Here’s the set-up for John Rember’s MFA In a Box–A Why to Write Book, just $9.99 on Kindle:

John’s latest book explores the relationship between the writer and love, grief, place, family, race and violence.

MFA in a Box is a Silver Winner in the Writing/Creative Process category for the 2011 Nautilus Book Awards, is a Finalist for the 2011 Midwest Book Awards (Reference category), and has been short listed for the Grand Prize of the 2011 Eric Hoffer Book Award.

Nautilus Book Awards, Silver Winner – Writing/Creative Process Category –Nautilus Book Awards, May 14, 2011

Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Short List, and 1st Runner Up – Reference Category –Eric Hoffer Award, May 12, 2011

Midwest Book Awards, Finalist – Reference Category –Midwest Independent Publishers Association, May 12, 2011

From the reviewers:

Drawing on Gilgamesh, the Book of Job, the myth of Orpheus, his own life, and the lives of Ezra Pound and Jack Henry Abbott, with a little James Hillman thrown in, Rember (Traplines) argues that the only reason to write is to tell the truth about the soul-less, life-denying, nature-destroying culture we inhabit.   Rember’s effort often reads like a cross between self-help manual (face the darkness!) and a teacher’s cri de coeur (go deeper; don’t make me read another puerile story!).   –  Publisher’s Weekly

“Rember’s MFA in a Box: A Why to Write Book is more than an advice book with a catchy title. What makes it different than the many, many books about writing on the market today is the way Rember engages his readers in some of the issues every writer faces–writing about place, about family, about grief–not as problems to be overcome but as issues to be understood.” –Jeff Baker, Book Editor, The (Portland) Oregonian, January 3, 2011

“Witty, audacious, and wise, John Rember’s MFA in a Box is a unique and valuable book that addresses the subject–and the life experience–of Creative Writing from both a practical perspective and in a manner so highly personable you’ll read it like a memoir–and want to meet the author. Rember has the storyteller’s magic. You’ll be enthralled. And walk away a more astute and vibrant writer.” –Robin Metz, author of Unbidden Angel, winner of the Rainer Maria Rilke International Poetry Award, and Director of the Program in Creative Writing at Knox College, January 1, 2011

“John Rember’s MFA in a Box should be on every writer’s bookshelf, right next to On Writing by Stephen King and other great books on the art and craft of creative writing.” — Randy Richardson, President, Chicago Writers Association — (chicagowrites.org), January 2011

 

Visit Amazon’s John Rember Page

John Rember is a fourth-generation Idahoan. Recurring themes in his writing include the meaning of place, the impact of tourism on the West, and the weirdness of everyday life.

MFA in a Box: A Why to Write Book is his latest book. His memoir Traplines: Coming Home to Sawtooth Valley(Vintage: 2004) was named the 2003 Idaho Book of the Year by the Idaho Library Association.

He has two collections of short stories, Cheerleaders from Gomorrah: Tales from the Lycra Archipelago(Confluence: 1994) and Coyote in the Mountains (Limberlost: 1989), as well as numerous articles and columns in magazines and newspapers, including Travel and Leisure, Wildlife Conservation, High Desert Journal, andThe Huffington Post.

He has been a professor of writing for many years, most recently as a core faculty member of the Pacific University MFA program (Forest Grove, Oregon). He is Writer-at-Large at The College of Idaho in Caldwell.

John lives in the Sawtooth Valley of Central Idaho.