Episode 13: How to Handle Rejection (with guest Claire Dederer)

“We’re sorry, your work does not suit our needs at this time.” These words are so common. Rejection is a difficult reality for most (all?) writers and artists. So how do we handle rejection? Can we use it to improve our work? What does it have to tell us and teach us? In this episode, we talk about a useful phrase in the face of rejection, Christie’s Southeast Asia Problem, and one of the poetry worlds’ best rejection letter writers. Then we’ll talk with memoirist and essayist Claire Dederer and ask her two questions: 1) How do you process rejection, especially when it’s a work that feels very personal? And 2) What have you learned from rejection? We’re interested in your feedback on these answers, too! 

Episode Notes:

Halcyon Poetry Prize

Christie’s article on mammography in Mother Jones

Christie’s report for the Pulitzer Center on Agent Orange in Vietnam

Colorado’s New Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre

Most Rejected Books of All Time

Claire Dederer (photo courtesy Claire Dederer)

Claire Dederer’s essay “What do we do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”

Claire Dederer’s essay “Eclipsed: In our two-writer household, my husband's literary star shines all too brightly”

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Tim Green’s Outstanding Rejection Letter

Dear Rosemerry— 

Thanks for sharing this. The subject matter is perfect for the series, but we receive over 100 poems every week, and I can only pick one (or occasionally two). This week I ended up choosing something else—check our website tomorrow morning to read it. 

This decision is, of course, no reflection on the importance of the event you were writing about, or of your response. It's great to read poets reacting in a meaningful way to current events, and very difficult to choose just one. 

I'm sorry that I can't reply individually, though many poems make me want to—reading all these every Saturday morning is a lot of work! We do have a closed Facebook group, where you can safely share your poems with each other, if you'd like—just join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/poetsrespond/

Anyway, don't hesitate to try again whenever you have another timely one—or to send general submissions any time. 

Best, 

Tim