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Peace Corps Writer Award

PEACE CORPS WRITERS announced that In An Uncharted Country by Clifford Garstang (South Korea 1976–78) has won the 2010 Maria Thomas Fiction Award for the outstanding fiction book published by a Peace Corps writer during 2009. In An Uncharted Country showcases ordinary men and women in and around Rugglesville, Virginia, as they struggle to find places and identities in their families and the community. This collection of short stories is Garstang’s first published book, and it has also won the Independent Publisher’s IPPY Gold Medal this year for Best Fiction in the Mid Atlantic. Garstang currently edits Prime Number Magazine.

Podcasts :: New Letters on the Air

New Letters on the Air features more than 1000 half-hour audio interviews and readings by many of the greatest poets, fiction writers, essayists, and playwrights of the past 30 years. The weekly series and its archives are available live on PBS stations, on the site via free weekly podcast, or on CD or cassette (purchase details on site).

New Letters on the Air has recently broadcast shows featuring Robert Pinsky, Demetria Martinez, Beth Ann Fennelly, Hilda Raz, Clancy Martin, Maria Finn, Tobias Wolf, Martha Serpas, C. Dale Young, Michael Chabon and Kathleen Norris.

For more audio and video programs visit NewPages Guide to Podcasts, Videos, and Audio Programs from literary magazines, book publishers, alternative magazines, universities and bloggers. Includes poetry readings, lectures, author interviews, academic forums and news casts. If you know of sites that would be relevant for our readers, please e-mail info to: denisehill-at-newpages.com

New Lit on the Block :: Bird Fly Good

Bird Fly Good is a small press and poetry journal with the aim “to foster communities of poetry, starting with Austin, Texas.” Run in DIY batches of 150 issues, Bird Fly Good publishes only solicited work at this time and is available through their website. The first issue features works by Sarah Blake, Kate Greenstreet, Hoa Nguyen, Elisa McCool, Eileen Myles, Christopher Perez, Dale Smith, and Cindy St. John.

What Counts as Previously Published?

The editors at Verse Wisconsin take on the issue of “previously published” or not when a writer submits a poem that has been published on the writer’s personal blog or website. Some publications (most notably in my encounters – online journals) count personal blog/website postings as “previously published.” Others do not consider it “published” unless it has gone through an outside (of yourself) editorial process. Verse Wisconsin‘s position after much consideration and consultation: “We will accept poems that have appeared on the poet’s OWN blog or website (only), with an understanding that upon acceptance, the poet will remove the accepted poem from their own site for the duration of the VW issue, print or online, their poem appears in. After the issue is past, poets are free to publish the poem again on their blog, with a credit to VW listed and hopefully a link to the issue in our archives.” Solution? Well, it’s one approach.

Poetry Digest – Just Eat It

With their own quirky backstory, Chrissy Williams and Swithun Cooper are the editors of Poetry Digest, “a compact biodegradable and/or edible literary magazine of new and existing poems.” Taking the form (based on their online images) of cakes and cupcakes, Poetry Digest accepts poetry for publication in their “issues” – and though there are no length limits on submissions, “given the limitations of the small cake format, short poems will be given preference over longer works.”

Passings :: Ron Offen

Ronald (Ron) Charles Offen, 79, of Glenview, Illinois, died on August 9th in Glenview. The cause of death was cancer.

Ron was born October 2, 1930 in Chicago to Charles Offen and Ellen Shirreffs Offen. He graduated from Austin High School, received an A.A. from Wright College and an M.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. In the 1970s and 1980s he lived in Southern California and was delighted to return to the Chicago area in 2001.

He was divorced from his first wife, Sharon Nealy; his second wife, Rosine Brueckner Franke, died in 2001. He is survived by his third wife, Beverly Kahling Offen, his sister, Pam (Charles) Veley, his children, Eric (Diane) Offen and Deirdre (Don) Junta, Michele Offen and Darren (Beatriz) Offen, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Ron held many jobs, from taxi driver to insurance investigator to middle school library assistant. But the force that gave his life meaning was always the written word; he was an author, a poet, playwright, editor, and theater producer.

In 1989, after a bout with cancer, he thought about how important poetry had been to him and how much it had given him. To give something back to poetry and poets, he started the magazine Free Lunch, with the commitment to give all serious poets in the U.S. a free subscription and also to comment on all work submitted to him. Free Lunch has published many of the best-known contemporary American poets. In 2009, due to his illness, publication of the magazine ceased.

Ron loved his wife, his children, his many friends, poetry, trees, the color orange, playing the trumpet and the piano, cookies, contemporary art and architecture, WFMT, caring for his collection of house plants, books, turtles, jazz, Bach and Chopin, swimming, the Midwest, and evenings at home.

There will no funeral services. A memorial celebration will be scheduled.

Ron’s papers are archived in Special Collections at the University of Chicago. Memorial donations may be made to the University of Chicago with an indication that they are intended for support of Special Collections. Send to Judy Lindsey, Director of Development, University of Chicago Library, 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.

[Text provide by Beverly Offen.]

Mid-American Review Contest Winners

The latest double issue of Mid-American Review (v30 – 1&2) celebrates the 30th anniversary of the publication with and Featured Poet Tony Trigilio. Included within the whopping 400+ pages are winners and select finalists of the following contests:

Jill Haberkern, winner of Mid-American Review’s Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award
Editors’ Choice – Nick Kocz and Jeffrey Martin

Kimberly Davis, winner of the James Wright Poetry Award
Editor’s Choice – Casey Thayer and Gretchen Steele Pratt

Alan Michael Parker winner the Fineline Competition for Prose Poems, Short-Shorts, and Anything In-Between
Editors’ Choice – Kelli Boyles, Jaime Brunton, Ashley Davidson, Cherie Hunter Day, Richard Garcia, Ian Golding, Nina Mamikunian, Alan Michael Parker, and Jennie Thompson

Also included in this issue are the 2009 AWP Intro Journals Awards – Kayla Skarbakka and David Lumpkin.

New Lit & More on the Block :: Storychord

Every other Monday, Storychord.com features one story, one image, and a one-song “soundtrack” – each by a different underexposed, talented up-and-comer. All issues are thoughtfully curated by Sarah Lynn Knowles (SARAHSPY, The Furnace Review).

Currently available on the site are:

Written works by Katharine Tillman, Dan Lopez, Miles Klee, Duncan Birmingham, David Fishkind, Amanda McCarty, Amanda Kimmerly, Greg Turner, Tao Lin

Artwork by Soo Im Lee, Anna Moller, Mike Dote,Sarah Fletcher, Omar Bakry, Nika States, Crystal Barbre, Ericka Bailie-Byrne, Helena Kvarnstr

OneWord Online Writing Exercise

OneWord is an online writing prompt that provides user with – yes – one word on which they have 60 seconds to write. The site advises against word definitions and writing about freaking out because you don’t know what the word means. Instead, they say to write whatever the word “inspires” and that the point to the exercise is to “learn to flow.” Over 4000 members access the site and sign-up is free. Anyone who visits the site can see the word and be given the timed screen on which to write without having to sign up – so you can check it out before committing to sharing your writing. For those who do share and/or want to read, you can see posts by other members. OneWord is a self-monitored community of writers, and has announced the publication of 365 Days: A Year in the Life of OneWord.com. OneWord also includes a call-in podcast and has just begun a video series.

WHR Tackles Literary Hybrid

The newest issue of Western Humanities Review (v64.2 – not yet posted on their website as of this blog post) features Hybrid/Collborative Work. Even the Editors’ Note, which addresses the topic “What is Hybrid Work?” is a “Collaborative on a Conversation about Hybridity.” In in, the editors discuss the history of hybrid work as a genre, set forth a working definition of hybrid as a literary form, and discuss the benefits of hybrid as an alternative to conventional forms. The editors’ also suggest moving away from rigid definitions of hybrid, which would allow us to “see hybrids everywhere, including critics’ discussion of ‘genre authenticity’ and “standards we have deemed ‘genre normative’.” An interesting and worthwhile editorial discussion for those interested in the issue of literary hybrids, and an volume of contributions to the discussion worth seeking out. If not for this, then definitely for the artwork by Kate MacDowell which graces the front and back covers as well as several pieces within.

High Chair – Philippines Poetry Journal

Publishing since 2000, High Chair is a nonprofit small press that aims to promote genuine interest in poetry in the Philippines. The editor/s of the journal solicit work directly from poets, and also welcome unsolicitied poetry and prose submissions. High Chair online poetry journal publishes poetry, essays, interviews, book reviews and a section titled “Free Association.”

Until October 13, issue editors Kristine Domingo and Allan Popa invite interested writers to submit poems, essays, and reviews for possible inclusion in the 13th issue, which will be released in November this year. High Chair accepts works in Filipino and English.

New Lit on the Block :: Psychic Meatloaf

Edited by George McKim, Psychic Meatloaf publishes artwork and “free-verse and experimental poetry that is quirky and imaginative.” Every three months Psychic Meatloaf will e-publish the journal as a free downloadable pdf file and also self-publish the journal in print, which will be available for purchase.

The first issue includes works from Felino A. Soriano, Gillian Prew, Philip Dacey, Maria Bennett, David McLean, Sam Schild, Amylia Grace, Robert Lietz, Bill Wolak, William Doreski, P.A.Levy, Michael Salcman, Amy Spraque, Howie Good, brian prince, Jory Mickelson, Heather Cox, Steve Mitchell, Serena M. Tome, J. P. Dancing Bear, Mark DeCarteret, Martha Clarkson, Michael McAloran, Mira Martin-Parker, justin wade thompson, Chuck Augello, Helen White, John Swain, Ashley Bovan, Rob Spiegel, Flower Conroy, Nicole Dahlke, Erik Hill, James Duncan, Gale Acuff, Monique Roussel, James W. Hritz, Tobi Cogswell, and Jeffrey Alfier.

Psychic Meatloaf is open for sumbissions and accepts up to six poems and up to three artwork images per submission.

Monologues! Get Your Monologues Here!

Editor-in-Chief [Sir] Tristram Stjohn Bexindale-Webb along with a staff that is a bit difficult to identify for certain other than Irish/American playwright and prose writer K.D. Halpin, have created a blog publication of monologues – The Good Ear Review: A Dramatists Literary Journal. Accepting submissions of “comedy, drama, and all the complexities in between” from both new and established writers, The Good Ear Review hopes to attract writers just as much as readers who will share in the idea that “monologues that are not only enjoyable to watch and/or listen to, but equally enjoyable to read. And read again.”

Currently featured on the site are monologues by Erin Austin, Claire Balfour, Andrew Biss, Kyle Bradstreet, Laura Camaione, Daragh Carville, Con Chapman, John Clancy, Doug Dolcino, John Hadden, K.D. Halpin, Alistair Hewitt, Eric Holmes, Penny Brandt Jackson, Jonathan Joy, Wayne Paul Mattingly, John McCann, Joshua Mikel, Robert Michael Morris, Benjamin Adair Murphy, LaTonia Phipps, Donald Steele, Dwight Watson, and Michael Weems.

New Lit on the Block :: Devil’s Lake

Devil’s Lake is published twice annually at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a massive literary powerhouse masthead: Seth Abramson(Senior Editor), Lauren Berry (Senior Editor), Brittany Cavallaro (Editor in Chief), Kai Carlson-Wee (Design Editor/Assistant Fiction Editor), Louisa Diodato (Managing Editor and Webmaster), Josh Kalscheur (Poetry Editor), Christopher Mohar (Fiction Editor), Jacques J. Rancourt (Poetry Editor), Nancy Reddy (Review/Interview Editor), and Michael Sheehan (Fiction Editor). Devil’s Lake accepts submissions of poetry and prose online via Submissions Manager.

The inaugural Spring issue of Devil’s Lake includes:

Prose by Lucy Corin, Brian Evenson, John Holliday, PR Griffis, Andrew Malan Milward, and Ander Monson

Poetry by Erinn Batykefer, Brian Christian, Karin Gottshall, Anna Journey, Karyna McGlynn, Courtney Queeney, Martha Serpas, Alison Stine, Jeffrey Thomson, William Wright, and Mark Wunderlich

Granta on Mark Twain

The newest issue of Granta (111) is themed “Going Back” and features an excerpt from Mark Twain’s never before published and forthcoming autobiography. Twain himself barred anyone from publishing the text until 100 years after his death. This fall, the University of California will release Volume 1 of Twain’s text. “The Farm” is available to read in the issue, and online at Granta, Benjamin Griffin writes on editing the autobiography (A Voice from the Vault) and Malcolm Jones offers his commentary, “Where do we put Mark Twain?” – on trying to place a literary great. Several other links to Twain-related sites and projects are also included, as well as images from Twain’s original text.

Writers Houses

Newly launched labor of love by A. N. Devers, The Writers’ Houses database is designed to be a field guide to deceased writers’ homes, searchable by author, city, state, and country. TWH hopes “to document all writers’ houses open to the public in the world.” Ambitious, and in need of help from writers and editors who can contribute to the blog and field guide. THANK YOU A.N. Devers!

Additionally, there are limited edition screenprint art posters of several writers’ houses available through M + E.

New Lit on the Block :: Tidal Basin Review

New online, the Tidal Basin Review editorial team includes: Tori Arthur, Fiction & Non-Fiction Editor; Marlene Hawthrone-Thomas, Photography Editor; Fred Joiner, Poetry Editor; Truth Thomas, Poetry Editor; Melanie Henderson, Managing Editor, Randall Horton, Editor-in-Chief.

The mission of TBR is “to provide a space for inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to the creative arts. We expressively and fiscally support artists who represent the rich American landscape by publishing high-quality, well-crafted literature, visual and media art through our annual contest, readings, and print and online journals. Our vision is to amplify the voice of the human experience through art that is intimate, engaging, and audacious. We seek work that propels the present artistic landscape.”

TBR accepts general submissions August 1 – February 28/29 of each year. TBR also has a call out for poetry sequences – ” a single poem with multiple parts, or a single poem amounting to no fewer than 8 pages and no greater than 15 pages of poetry.” See the Series Poems CFS for more details.

The TBR Official Blog features Editorial Book Reviews, Special Notices and Calls, and the Basin Blog includes a Monthly Featured Writer.

Summer 2010 Contributors
Lisa Alvarado, Lou Amyx, Beebe Barksdale-Bruner, Sarah Browning, Christine Celise, Martha Collins, Jasmon Drain, Jennifer Flescher, Gretchen Fletcher, Reginald Flood, Andy Fogle, Derrick Harriell, Kim Coleman Foote, Brian Gilmore, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Ricardo Guthrie, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Hannah Larrabee, Moira Linehan, Tamara J. Madison, Ernesto Mercer, James O’Brien, Coco Owen, Adrian S. Potter, Joseph Ross, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Cris Staubach, Keli Stewart, Cinnamon Stuckey, Truth Thomas, Phillip B. Williams.

Spring 2010 Contributors
Abdul Ali, Sherisse Alvarez, Jordan Antonucci, Salvatore Attardo, KB Ballentine, Holly Bass, Tara Betts, Sheila Black, Antoinette Brim, Derrick Weston Brown, Sarah Browning, Jeremy Byars, Edward Byrne, Ching-In Chen, Michela A. Costello, Yago Cura, T.M. De Vos, William Doreski, Janet Engle, Lynn H. Fox, Rebecca Fremo, Regan Good, Laura Hartmark, Julie Iromuanya, Bonnie Jones, Pierre Joris, Jacqueline Jules, Douglas Kearney, Alan King, Cole Lavalais, Gene McCormick, Cathy McGuire, Stephen Mead, Tony Medina, David Mills, Gregg Mosson, Min Jung Oh, Willie Perdomo, Chrissy Rikkers, Kim Roberts, Jeff Streeby, Hillary Stringer, Cinnamon Stuckey, Qiana Towns, and Sam Truitt.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Creative Kids and to Hanging Loose for sending me copies to share with a group of gifted and talented students I taught last week in the workshop, “Publishing a Literary Magazine.” The magazines were great examples of the kinds of magazines young authors can find to read as well at to which they can submit their writing. The young readers/writers were thrilled to know that such publications “just for them” exist.

Anthologize This!

Anthologize is a free, open-source, plugin that transforms WordPress 3.0 into a platform for publishing electronic texts. Grab posts from your WordPress blog, import feeds from external sites, or create new content directly within Anthologize. Then outline, order, and edit your work, crafting it into a single volume for export in several formats, including—in this release—PDF, ePUB, TEI. Anthologize is a project of One Week/One Tool, a project of the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This page of ‘case uses’ includes a list of suggested uses for Anthologize, including turning class blogs into an anthology at the end of the semeter or school year.

What is Christian Publishing?

In Relief‘s current issue (V4 I1), Christopher Fisher debuts his first issue as editor by taking on where Relief – a journal of Christian literary expression – “fits in the scheme of contemporary publishing.” And, he writes, “I think of singing and razor wire.” Fisher discusses what Christian publishing has become, and how he recognizes the purely business aspect of the demarcation of what is Christian publishing, but also the perils of such segregation, the “ghettoization of religion.” His editorial, available in full online, is an insightful and provacative commentary on the subject matter. If you’ve been dismissive of “Christian” or religious lit mags in this past, this may well get you to reconsider.

Two Years of The Write Place at the Write Time

Celebrating its second year of publication, The Write Place At the Write Time is an online literary publication which features fiction, poetry, “Our Stories” – non-fiction, a Writers’ Craft Box of writing essays and resources from professionals in the field, an Exploration of Theme page, Archives of past issues, A Writers’ Contest, fine artwork from artists whose backgrounds include having done work for The New York Times,

Editor-in-Chief Nicole M. Bouchard writes: “Our two-year anniversary issue is up and we encourage new and seasoned writers to send in submissions for the next issue, benefit from resources we provide, read the current issue and enjoy themselves. It’s a supportive writers’ environment dedicated to artistic expression, learning and living the written word. We are a quarterly publication and our writers range from previously unpublished to having written for The New York Times, Newsweek, HBO and Business Week, and they come from all over the US and Europe.”

New Lit on the Block :: Sliver of Stone

Under the guidance of Founding Editor M.J. Fievre, Sliver of Stone is a bi-annual, online literary magazine dedicated to the publication of work from both emerging and established poets, writers, and visual artists from all parts of the globe. Other hands on deck for Sliver of Stone, “the talented progeny of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University in Miami, Florida” include: Corey Ginsberg,nonfiction editor; Fabienne S. Josaphat, fiction editor; Marina Pruna, Laura Richardson, Patricia Warman, poetry editors; Holly Mayes, art editor; and Abigail Sedaris, webmaster.

Issue One contributors include: Alan Britt, Alex Alderete, Andrea Askowitz, Andrew Abbott, Changming Yuan, Chloe Nimue Clark, Denise Duhamel , Ernest Williamson III, Gabriela Suarez, Jennifer Hearn, Jessica Barrog, Joe Clifford, John Dufresne, John Riley, John Solensten, Jon Page, Jonathan P. Escoffery, Julia Meylor Simpson, Kim Barnes, Laura Merleau, Mary Christine Delea, Nicholas Garnett, Peter Borrebach, Rae Spencer, Robert E. Wood, Roxanne Hoffman, Russ Hicks, Russell Reece, Samantha Knapp, Sherry O’Keefe , T.J. Beitelman, Terry Sanville, Tim Curtis, Whitney Scott, and Yia Lee.

Sliver of Stone accepts fiction, creative nonfiction, essays (3,500 words or less); poetry, any form or genre (No more than 5 poems); and visual art. The deadline for the next issue is October 31.

Prism Queer Comics Grant

Every year, Prism awards a significant Queer Press Grant to assist in the publication and promotion of LGBT comics. The grant is funded by donors who are either creators who want to help others just starting out, or fans who want to see more LGBT creators get published. The grant of approximately $2,000 will be awarded to an LGBT cartoonist who is self-publishing a comic book with queer characters and/or themes. Entries are judged first and foremost by artistic merit, followed by concerns such as financial need, proposal presentation, and contribution to the LGBT community. Deadline September 15, 2010.

Novel Excerpt :: Leora Skolkin-Smith

In “The Fragile Mistress,” it’s the summer of 1963 on the Israeli-Jordanian border. A fourteen-year-old American girl is believed to be to be dead, killed by a sniper. The Fragile Mistress is a unpublished excerpt from the novel, Edges, by Leora Skolkin-Smith. The novel, originally published by Grace Paley in 2005, has since been re-titled and expanded for the feature film, The Fragile Mistress, currently in pre-production with Triboro Pictures. It will be shot on location in Jerusalem, Jordan, and New York, and directed by Michael Gunther. Read the excerpt in the latest issue of Guernica, online.

Books :: Teaching Poetry

Poets on Teaching: “In response to a lack of source works for wide-ranging approaches to teaching poetry, award-winning poet Joshua Marie Wilkinson has gathered ninety-nine micro-essays for poets, critics, and scholars who teach and for students who wish to learn about the many ways poets think about how a poem comes alive from within—and beyond—a classroom. Not narrowly concerned with how to read poetry or how to write poetry, by virtue of their central concern with teaching poetry, the essays in this fresh and innovative volume address both reading and writing and give teachers and students useful tools for the classroom and beyond.” [University of Iowa Press / 1-58729-904-6 or 978-1-58729-904-9]

Work for Guernica

Guernica, an online magazine of arts and politics, has several different opportunities available: Special Events Coordinator, Accountant, Blog Intern, Publishing Intern, Editorial Interns.

Online Post Graduate Fiction Workshops

Shannon Cain (Tupelo Press, recipient of the Pushcart Prize, the O. Henry Prize, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts) will be leading online post-graduate workshops in fiction along with guest authors/co-leaders Robin Black, Laura van den Berg, and Josh Weil. Workshops are six weeks in length, non-synchronous, and organized in a bulletin board format. (You can browe a sample workshop on the website.) Each week, three participants post their stories for review and commentary by Shannon and the group. In the final half of the workshop, particpants will be joined by a guest co-leader. Each participant will have the opportunity to have one story or chapter workshopped by the guest leader. Workshop size is limited to nine participants.

On Blurbology

“So when publishing people look at the lineup of testimonials on the back of a new hardcover, they don’t see hints as to what the book they’re holding might be like. Instead, they see evidence of who the author knows, the influence of his or her agent, and which MFA program in creative writing he or she attended. In other words, blurbs are a product of all the stuff people claim to hate about publishing: its cliquishness and insularity . . . It stands to reason that, if many blurbs are bestowed for extraliterary reasons like friendship or professional collegiality, then many of them are insincere.” Laura Miller, Beware of Blurbs, Salon.com

Audio :: Les & Bi Women’s Erotic Fiction

Newly added to the NewPages Guide to Podcasts, Video, Audio: The BlogTalkRadio program Readings in Les and Bi Women’s Erotic Fiction hosted Lara Zielinsky, a bisexual author of mature adult content lesbian and bi-women’s fiction, romance and erotica. Every other week she shares excerpts and interviews with authors and others involved in the writing and publication of lesbian and bisexual women’s fiction.

Check out the NewPages Guide to Podcasts, Video, Audio for this and many other great literary resources. Know of a one we should consider listing? Drop me a line: denisehill[at]newpages[dot]com

A Word a Day

Founded in 1994 by Anu Garg, while a graduate student in computer science, A.Word.A.Day (AWAD) is a daily electronic publication from the wordserver at Wordsmith.Org. AWAD includes a vocabulary word, its definition, pronunciation information with audio clip, etymology, usage example, quotation, and other interesting tidbits about words to subscribers every day. You can think of it as a word trek where we explore strange new words. Words are usually selected around a theme every week. At last check, more than 900,000 people in at least 200 countries receive AWAD daily. There is no charge to sign up for AWAD.

Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers :: August 2010

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their Short Story Award for New Writers. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5000. The next Short Story Award competition will take place in August. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: Olufunke Grace Bankole, of El Cerrito, CA, wins $1200 for “26 Bones.” Her story will be published in the Fall 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories. [Photo credit: Cheryl Mazak.]

Second place: Joseph Vastano, of Austin, TX, wins $500 for “Entirely Different Places.”

Third place: Natalia Cortes Chaffin of Las Vegas, NV, wins $300 for “The Pig Roast.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

2010 New Millennium Contest Winners

New Millennium Writings has announced the winners of their 2010 poetry, fiction, short-short fiction and nonfiction contest as:

Pamela Uschuk of Bayfield, Co, has captured the $1,000 Poetry Award for her poem, “Shostakovich: Five Pieces.”

BK Loren of Lafayette, Co, took the $1,000 Fiction Prize for her story “Cerberus Sleeps.”

Norma Shainin of Mt. Vernon, Washington, was awarded the $1,000 Short-Short Fiction Prize for her story “The Famous Writer.”

Amy Andrews of Rochester, NY, earned the $1,000 Nonfiction Prize with her creative nonfiction essay, “hide and seek.”

Their works are scheduled to appear in the next issue of NMW, due out this winter, and also at www.newmillenniumwritings.com.

Books :: Writing and Publishing

Carol Smallwood has been quietly creating a name for herself over the years, and I say quietly for a couple of reasons. First, she’s a librarian! With both an MLS and an MA, she has focused her writing on resources for librarians. But I also say quietly because she has edited a couple of phenom publications, taking the back seat to the subject matter, as great editors do. Her latest collection is one not to be missed by any writer who is interested in learning more about publishing venues. That’s right: I said Writer. Not just Librarians.

The book is Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook (ALA Editions 2010), but any non-librarian writer who passes this book by because of that subtitle is making a huge mistake. This book is chock full of some of the most practical, hands-on, I’ve-lived-this advice from writers about the most wide array of publishing venues I have ever read in a single collection. There are 46 contributors to this collection, condensed into less than 200 pages. This is my kind of “guide” – it gets directly to the nitty-gritty of each individual topic in 92 (yes, you read me right) essays.

Granted, some of the topics covered are Librarian-specific, such as “MLS, MFA: The Working Librarian Pursuing a Degree in Creative Writing” (Colleen S. Harris), “Partners: Helping Your Hometown Paper Promote the Local Library” (Beth Nieman), and “Children’s Librarians! Use Your Skills to Fill Your Collection Gaps” (Margaret Read MacDonald). Although, I did find the information insightful and even helpful as someone who works closely with librarians to help promote events, build collections, etc. But there are plenty more contributions that seem library-specific, like “Blogging: Writing Op-Eds” (Michale Dudley) and “The Poet-Librarian: Writing and Submitting Your Work” (Colleen S. Harris) that make consideration for the role/career of librarian, but could just as easily be applicable to anyone with any other career. Specifically for librarians, however, is insight in how to participate in these publishing venues either as part of the job to help promote the library/collections, or as a separate activity and the politics of keeping your writing life clear from that of public or institutional jobs and the overreaching restrictions those sometimes have.

The breadth of topics in this collection is most astounding. It’s not just a something-for-everyone collection, it’s an a-lot-for-anyone collection. For librarians who want to do ANY kind of writing, this book is a no-brainer to get, read, and keep in your personal resource library. For others – anyone interested in writing to publish, this is a resource to take a look at. There are plenty of other “publishing” resources out there – but in my recent research for a college-level course in professional writing, finding a book as comprehensive in voices and topics as this one is RARE. I wouldn’t pass up using this as a resource with students interested in publishing. For students? Heck, for anyone trying to step into and make sense of where to get started or different directions to take in publishing.

Here’s just an outline of the content:

Part 1 – Why Write

Part 2 – Education of a Writer
Getting Started
Writing with Others
Revise, Revise, Revise
Lessons From Publishing

Part 3 – Finding Your Niche in Print
Books
Newsletters and Newspapers
Reviewing
Magazines and Professional Journals
Essays
Textbook Writing
Children’s Literature
Writing on Specific Subjects

Part 4 Finding Your Niche Online

Part 5 Maximizing Opportunities

For a more detailed outline of content, visit the publisher’s website: Writing and Publishing

Telling the Story Behind Storytelling Totem Poles

The current issue of Whispering Wind (V39 N2 I271) features the article “Totems at Sitka National Historical Park Sitka, Alaska” by Scott Jensen that is worth seeking out to read and share with others. This is a thorough exploration of the history of the totem pole in the Northwest Territory, and includes numerous, clearly referenced photos. Jensen’s writing is well researched and documented and provides a solid historical understanding of the role of the totem pole in Native American storytelling.

NewPages Updates :: July 28, 2010

Publications and Publishers newly added to NewPages website:


The NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines

The Meadowland Review – poetry, fiction, photography
Mused – poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, artwork, photography
Survivor Chronicles – poetry, fiction, non-fiction
Melusine – poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art
Status Hat! – fiction, creative non-fiction, articles, poetry, music
Stirfry – poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction artwork, photography
Spiral Orb – poetry
Kritya – poetry, essays
Assembly
The Fine Line – poetry, fiction, artwork
Suspense Magazine mystery, horror, thriller
Cousin Corrine’s Reminders – writing, comics, photography
EOAGH – poetry, prose, articles
Lavender Review – poetry, art
The Country Dog Review – poetry
The Asian American Literary Review – poetry, fiction, nonfiction
James Dickey Review – poetry, fiction, nonfiction

The NewPages Big List of Alternative Magazines

The Point – essays, reviews, symposium on arts and culture
GAY (alt)

Independent Publishers & University Presses

Bona Fide Books – poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels
Cooper Dillon Books – poetry, chapbooks
Dedalus Books – fiction, nonfiction, translations
Paraguas Books – fiction, nonfiction, children’s, Spanish language
Sasquatch Books – cookbooks, gardening, travel
Other Press (updated link)
8th House Publishing (Canada)
Hub City Press – poetry, fiction, nonfiction, regional, art
Monkey Puzzle Press – poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid works, essays, chapbooks
Mutual Publishing – fiction, nonfiction, Hawaii
Narrow House – poetry, fiction
Shearsman Books (UK) – poetry
Skysill Press (UK) – poetry

New Podcast on the Block :: Red Lion Square

With the staff of Amy Watkins, Host/Co-Editor, Jae Newman, Co-Editor, Shawna Mills, Artist, and Alex Copeland, Music/Technical Consultant – Red Lion Square is a free weekly podcast (archived monthly) of “contemporary poetry intended for a general audience.”

The podcasts are short (the ones I sampled were 8-12 min.) with a pleasant mix of transitional music, intros, different poets reading, and a segment called “the after party,” which might be music, interviews, or in the case of Episode 6, a visit to the Audubon Park Community Market to hear Poetry by Flashlight from Thomas Birchmire. The sound quality varies as some portions seem to be recorded by the writers themselves (tinny, in some cases) and most likely sent in, but what is recorded “in house” is top quality. Of course, the after party may allow the setting to lend its charm to the recording, but in the episodes I sampled, I had no trouble understanding the poet/musicians.

Cuurent contributors include: Thomas Birchmire, Therese L. Broderick, Mark Russell Brown, Debra Kang Dean, Teneice Durrant Delgado, Stacia M. Fleegal, Kenneth P. Gurney, Marci Rae Johnson, Erin Keane, Karen Kelsay, Russ Kesler, Steve Kronen, Richard Newman, Daniel Romo, Jesse Jay Ross, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, Andy Trevathan, Matthew Vetter, Jonathan Weinert, and Johnathon Williams.

Red Lion Square is open for submissions: “looking for smart, accessible poems that sound great out loud. We believe there is a difference between easy poems and accessible poems and that a good reading of a good poem can turn on a person’s interest in poetry. We want those poems.” Writers can submit written works to be read, or read their own poems and send in quality recordings in wav or mp3 format along with written submissions.