July Update
7 opportunities for writers and artists, lots of links, and a great Q&A for you this month!
I’m trying to have a slow summer but I don’t know if I’m succeeding. Somehow, it’s already almost August. I had grand plans at the beginning of the season: all simple things designed to ensure I didn’t let the season go by without enjoying it. But between the extreme heat, the thunderstorms and flash floods (and tornadoes?), the wildfire smoke, the especially bad tick season, and the produce parasite, it’s been kind of a weird summer so far!
But there is one thing I have been enjoying lately that’s helping it feel like summer: zucchini. We don’t have central air, and yet I have turned the oven on several times in the last week to make three different baked goods featuring zucchini and I have no regrets.
Thanks to farmers of The Garden State and our local farmers markets, it has been a delicious summer, even if it’s going by a little quicker than I’d hoped.
There’s a lot of great stuff to get to in this issue, so I’ll stop it there. Thanks for reading!
-Kerri
Thank you to everyone who stopped by to see me at Princeton Zine Fest. I had a great time meeting you or running into you and hanging out at the library all day!
Part of my trying to slow down and enjoy summer was that I didn’t reserve a vendor table at a single market for the rest of the season—a first for me since at least 2022, I think. If you’re looking to pick up any of our artist-designed products or my photo essay we put out as a zine earlier this year, you can find all of these items in our online shop. You can grab a copy of my book, New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State wherever books are sold, but I recommend buying from your favorite local indie, Bookshop.org, straight from the source at Rutgers University Press. Signed copies of the book are also available in our shop—for a limited time I’m also selling some hardcover/library edition copies for $30 (normally $50). Many of our products (and my book) are also available through independent retailers around the state, and as a reminder to anyone who owns a business: our products are available for wholesale (email me for a catalog) and New Jersey Fan Club is available through RUP and major book distributors.
Happy pub day to my friend Elizabeth Jannuzzi, who I met over a decade ago in a memoir writing class that mattered very deeply to me. Her memoir, Sober Mom, is out today. I feel so lucky that I got to spend so much time with Liz and her writing all those years ago, and it’s so exciting to see the culmination of all of her hard work out in the world! She is participating in several upcoming events, too.
Philadelphia magazine recently ran a series of articles about the Pine Barrens, accompanied by some very lovely photographs.
I was pleased to attend this reading put on by my pals over at Bury Me in New Jersey the other night at Howling Basset Books in Lambertville, and bummed I am going to miss the next one, on August 8. You should go!
Congratulations to Katie Runde, author of The Shore: her 2022 novel is in development for an HBO series! I loved The Shore and can’t wait to experience it in a new way. We were thrilled to get to talk to Katie about her book a few years ago for Jersey Collective Reads. Watch or listen to our conversation here!
Frenchtown Bookshop is hosting the Frenchtown Literary Festival, with events stretching into the fall. They have a really impressive lineup of great writers, and really affordable ticket prices, which include copies of books—don’t miss it!
This post, featuring gorgeous film photographs of two diners I have been to many times, stopped me in my tracks. Can’t wait to see more!
Anchor Rock Club is hosting the 2nd Annual Pine Barrens Folk Festival in Atlantic City on August 22nd, featuring bands, vendors, and quilts.
New Jersey author Chris Payne will be signing copies of his book, Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008, which heavily features the New Jersey music scene, at the Menlo Park Barnes and Noble on August 8 at 2:00 PM.
Michael Jasorka of Bombshell Comics has a new graphic novel coming out this summer: Flag Me Down: The Story of Wildwood’s Tramcar. It explores “the 75+ year-running history of the trackless train on America’s boardwalk—Wildwood, New Jersey.” Mike has also created comics about Wildwood’s Doo Wop motel architecture, a former haunted boardwalk attraction, and the once-popular boardwalk game Fascination, and I am obsessed with all of them!
Let’s hear from an interesting New Jerseyan! Interview has been lightly edited for space.
This month, I was very pleased to ask a few questions of siblings Jessie Ding, an attorney, and Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat and law student and recent Jeopardy! super champion. Collectively, they run an Instagram account called @attorneygeneraltsos, where they review General Tso’s dishes from various restaurants. You might also recognize Jamie from his recent run on Jeopardy! which was truly a delight to watch every day for several weeks.
You can watch Jamie on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, which premieres tomorrow. The season features celebrities playing for charity, and Jamie is partnered with Ben Affleck. He also has an upcoming appearance scheduled at the Mercer County Library on August 31st.
When I looked through the posts you’ve shared on @attorneygeneraltsos, there were a lot of New Jersey reviews and shoutouts to places like the Bent Spoon. Do you have go-to places you like to hit up when you’re visiting Jamie in New Jersey? Or any places on your radar for future visits and coverage on your Instagram account?
Jessie: I find Princeton to be utterly charming, so if I’m in New Jersey, I prefer to be there. I can be quite the creature of habit, which is why I return to the Bent Spoon whenever I can (but a different flavor each visit). I also try to go to Hoagie Haven every time, and I’m developing a taste for PJ’s Pancake House. In terms of Chinese food though, I think the joy of @attorneygeneraltsos is finding the hole-in-the-wall places, but if we’re with our mother, she usually has a Chinese place in mind. People like to joke the best Chinese restaurants are the ones that are rated 3.5 on Yelp. So I like taking a leap of faith and finding them that way. Reviews don’t matter (unless its ours).
How do you and Jamie divide the work of maintaining your shared Instagram account?
Jessie: Not to shatter the illusion for everybody, but Jamie does not have the password. He’s not very active on social media. Any time there’s an obnoxious Instagram story set to a Taylor Swift song, sorry, it is all me. During his run, I tried to make it very clear that it was me behind the account. But when we’re together, he helps me write the captions. I think if you pay close enough attention, you can tell when it’s not entirely my own voice.
Sometimes on Jeopardy!, contestants will say they’re “originally from” a place rather than name where they currently live. Was it an easy decision for you to want to say you were from New Jersey?
Jamie: It was quite easy to say that I was from New Jersey—I’ve spent most of my adult life here and tell people that I’m from New Jersey when I’m traveling out of state. It was not as easy to omit my Michigan background; however, I am horribly pedantic and cannot say in good conscience that I’m “originally from” Michigan, having been born elsewhere.
I lost count of how many there were exactly, but there were quite a few New Jersey-specific questions during your Jeopardy run, including even a Princeton-specific question. Were these just like all of the other questions for you, or did you feel any added pressure to answer those correctly?
Jamie: I definitely felt some extra pressure to answer correctly. With the Princeton question, I was very disappointed to be beaten on the buzzer, then very relieved when Xaque missed it. On another clue that referenced Lucy the Elephant, I felt like people would make fun of me if I didn’t respond, that I owed it to New Jersey (and to Lucy herself) to make an attempt. Then, of course, I missed it.1
Did you intentionally make some of your wagers so that your cumulative winnings included numbers that were also New Jersey area codes? (It happened with 609,000, which is Princeton’s area code, as well as 732,000.) Did you see a fun Easter egg opportunity and go for it in the moment, or did I, a person who tends to view everything through a New Jersey lens, just read way too much into this?
Jamie: The 609,000$ figure was absolutely intentional. (Thanks for noticing!) The 732,000$ was not, unfortunately. Maybe I can retain some of my stolen valor by saying that it was a subconscious decision. Overall, I love Easter egg wagers and bitterly rue the times when I forgot to make them or screwed up my arithmetic.
How has it been navigating your post-Jeopardy run media frenzy? You’ve been celebrated for your fashion sense as well as for your work with the state government. Do you prefer when the attention falls on one thing over another?
Jamie: It has been very fun, though I might be overscheduling myself. Different people have emphasized different aspects of me and my whole deal, which suits me perfectly. It’s cool to see the various things that people enjoyed about my run.
Princeton University Art Museum
Location: Princeton, NJ
I’d been to the Princeton University Art Museum a bunch of times over the years, but last weekend I finally made it out to the new iteration that opened last October after the museum was closed for a five year renovation. I was totally disoriented, because the entire building is completely different. But I was also blown away by how huge the museum is now, and how much breathing room the art has. I spent 45 minutes poking around and felt like I hardly made a dent in experiencing their collection. They had two exhibits of photographs that I thought were great, and they both run for several more months. While I can’t resist a gift shop, I usually can resist a tote bag, but in this case I could not: the bag pictured above ended up coming home with me. I should also mention that visiting the museum is completely free!
A short list of other things to do nearby
EAT & DRINK: Jammin’ Crepes (don’t skip the savory crepes), the bent spoon or Halo Pub for ice cream (whichever line is shorter, or try both!), Olives (I had a great breakfast burrito here), stock up on snacks from Maruichi Japanese Food & Deli.
SHOP: Miya, Labyrinth Books, Princeton Record Exchange.
EXPLORE: Whatever’s on view in Firestone Library’s exhibition spaces, catch a hockey game at the historic Hobey Baker Rink (seasonal), just wander around the campus—all of the University’s buildings are so beautiful.
Highlighting our locally-based independent retailer partners who carry our products!
Pine Barrens Post
Location: Sweetwater, NJ
I am dying to get down to Pine Barrens Post’s new brick and mortar location, which has been lovingly renovated and recently opened last month. The shop’s curation is really lovely, and I’m so pleased that they stock our Pine Barrens magnet and decks of Go Fish!
Flemington DIY is looking for a Printer in Residence, who will have daily access to their printing studio, exhibit their work on site, and receive a $300 stipend. More information available here.
Art House Gallery seeks artist submissions for their 25th anniversary exhibition titled Creation from Destruction. They are looking for work that “highlights creation itself as an act of renewal and a testament to the human capacity to transform pain into meaning and devastation into possibility.” Deadline: 8/1. Artwork sales are split 60% to the artist / 40% to Art House Productions.
Art629 seeks Asbury Park-themed art for their 4th annual exhibit held alongside the Sea Hear Now Music Festival. Deadline: 8/10. $25 submission fee. Sales 50%/50% split between the artist and gallery.
The Monmouth Museum is looking for artists for a group show called “Festival of Light: Contemporary South Asian & Diaspora Artists,” which will celebrate Diwali. Deadline: 8/22. Submission fee: $30. Work must be for sale, and the split is 70% to the artist and 30% to the museum.
Members of the Monmouth Museum (memberships start at $45/year) are invited to submit their work to BLOOM, a members-only juried exhibit of work “inspired by florals, gardens, landscapes, organic forms, changing seasons, hope, and new beginnings.” Deadline: 8/31.
New Jersey archives, libraries, and museums are invited to submit short films (up to 10 minutes) held in their collections for the second annual New Jersey Archival Film Festival, to be held on November 7, 2026 at Monmouth University. Submissions may include “documentaries, short films, performance recordings, home movies, and public service films,” and do not need to “relate directly to New Jersey; they may also reflect broader historical or cultural themes.” Films should be in a digital format, and digitization assistance is available. Deadline: 9/11.
The Summit Free Public Library and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey are looking for three artists to participate in a year-long residency for 2027. Selected artists will be provided “a dedicated workspace within the Summit Free Public Library to develop their artistic practice while inviting the public into their creative process.” Full information available here, but they are especially interested in artists who have a “meaningful connection to Summit or a thoughtful plan for engaging with the Summit community,” and preference will be given to artists whose work is in the following areas: “photography, book illustration, artwork incorporating natural materials, artwork exploring gardens and the natural environment.” Deadline: 9/28.2
I compile this monthly list of New Jersey artist and writer opportunities from sources including social media and organization websites. Unless explicitly stated, I am not involved in organizing these events and cannot answer questions about them! Please click through the links to find answers to your questions or for points of contact.
Feel free to send me anything you’re a part of or that you see, either via email or on Instagram! I prioritize sharing in-state opportunities that don’t charge submission fees, or that charge nominal fees or take fair commissions and directly support local arts & culture organizations.
Editor’s Note: I don’t think anyone should feel bad about not knowing this one, least of all Jamie! But everyone should go visit Lucy the Elephant!
I’m actually super into this as an idea and I hope more NJ libraries will offer opportunities like this!
Wow, the Jersey Collective is both a treasure trove of new information and a resource for anyone who needs help in wayfinding. Thank you for pulling this material together. Whenever my husband starts bragging about his home state of Maine, I remind him of New Jersey's beauty and its storied past, which for better and for worse are more accessible than Maine's. I think he's starting to get it, but I appreciate your providing me with even more evidence to throw at him!
Thank you for the shout-out, Kerri aka Jersey Collective! You were one of the first writers to show me that you can have an idea for a project and then just do it! I was so impressed with your follow-through that I knew I could do it too as long as I didn't give up. Plus, I can't believe there is a person out there who loves NJ more than me!