Billy the Blogging Poet welcomes us – year five – to vote for the 2010 Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere. Voting closes April 20 – midnight.

2009 Book Prizes Winners:

•Biography: Linda Gordon, Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits (W.W. Norton & Co.)

•Current Interest: Dave Eggers, Zeitoun (McSweeney’s Books)

•Fiction: Rafael Yglesias, A Happy Marriage (Scribner)

•Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction: Philipp Meyer, American Rust (Spiegel & Grau)

•Graphic Novel: David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)

•History: Kevin Starr, Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance 1950 – 1963 (Oxford University Press)

•Mystery/Thriller: Stuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast (SOHO Press)

•Poetry: Brenda Hillman, Practical Water (Wesleyan University Press)

•Science and Technology: Graham Farmelo, The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom (Basic Books/Perseus Book Group)

•Young Adult Literature: Elizabeth Partridge, Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don’t You Grow Weary (Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Group)

•Robert Kirsch Award: Evan S. Connell

•Innovator’s Award: Dave Eggers

The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Runner carried me through many a mile in my life: “Novelist Alan Sillitoe has died at the age of 82, his family said. The Nottingham-born writer, whose novels marked him out as one of the Angry Young Men of British fiction who emerged in the 1950s, died at Charing Cross Hospital in London…”

In case you missed it: Bob Edwards Weekend, April 24-25, 2010, features two interviews of interest to writers and readers, and is part one of a three-part series, so stay tuned!

“Publishing industry visionary Richard Nash, will kick off our series on The Future of Book Publishing. Nash is the former publisher of the independent Soft Skull Press and founder of the new social publishing house Cursor.”

“Peter Brantley is the director of the Bookserver Project at the Internet Archive. As part of our series on the publishing industry, Bob talks with Brantley about the effects of technology on the future of reading, writing, and selling books.”

The program is available for download.

As noted by John Mullan of The Guardian.

Take the quiz.

Princeton University Library has awarded its undergraduate Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prizes.

Beard of Bees shares their celebration of the sonnet in this pdf book: ” These sonnets were presented on the evening of September 2d, 2009 at the RecRoom (Reconstruction Room, for long) the amazing Chicago reading series founded by Eric Cressley, Erin Teegarden, and Della Watson.”

From Stephen Knezovich, Associate Editor / Mentoring Director, Creative Nonfiction:

Recently, the NY Times’ Paper Cuts blog ran an interesting piece about whether or not a blog could rise to the level of literature (http://tiny.cc/thr48). Their answer, ultimately, was no, but the editors at Creative Nonfiction are trying to remove this “less-than” tag many ascribe to the form. For the past three years we’ve been featuring blog posts in our publications, and we are currently seeking narrative blog posts to reprint in our next issue (#39: Summer Reading; forthcoming July 2010).

Though it would be great if you passed word along to New Pages’ readers, what we’d really love are nominations from folks, like yourself and the other NP contributors, who are truly plugged into the online literary community, and we hope that you will send us your suggestions.

What we’re looking for: Vibrant new voices with interesting, true stories to tell. Posts must be able to stand alone, 2000 words or fewer, and posted between November 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Deadline for nominations is 12 pm EST, Monday, April 26, 2010.

To nominate a blog post or for more info, go here: http://www.creativenonfiction.org/blog/blog_nomination.html

[Pass it on Bloggers.}

Submissions are being sought for an anthology about writing and publishing by women with family publication experience. Possible subjects: markets; using life experience; networking; unique issues women must overcome; formal education; queries and proposals; conference participation; self-publishing; teaching tips. Family in creative nonfiction, poetry, short stories, novels.

Practical, concise, how-to articles with bullets/headings have proven the most helpful to readers. Please avoid writing too much about “me” and concentrate on what will help the reader. No previously published, co-written, or simultaneously submitted material.

Foreword by Supriya Bhatnagar, Director of Publications, Editor of The Writer’s Chronicle, Association of Writers & Writing Programs, George Mason University.

Afterword by Dr. Amy Hudock, co-founder of Literary Mama, an on-line literary magazine chosen by Writers Digest as one of the 101 Best Web Sites for Writers.

Co-Editor Colleen S. Harris is a 2010 Pushcart Prize nominee. Her book of poetry, God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark Press, 2009), was a finalist for the Black Lawrence Book Award; These Terrible Sacraments, is forthcoming in 2011. Colleen has a MFA degree in writing and has appeared in The Louisville Review, Wisconsin Review, River Styx, and Adirondack Review, among others. She’s included in Library Journal; and Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages.

Co-Editor Carol Smallwood is a 2009 National Federation of State Poetry Societies award winner included in Who’s Who of American Women who has appeared in Michigan Feminist Studies, The Writer’s Chronicle, The Detroit News. She’s included in Best New Writing in Prose 2009. Her 23rd book is Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook (American Library Association, 2010). A chapter of newly published Lily’s Odyssey was short listed for the Eric Hoffer Prose Award.

Please send 3-4 possible topics you would like to contribute each described in a few sentences and a 65-75 word bio using the format like the bio’s above. Please send by May 24, 2010 using FAMILY/your last name on the subject line to [email protected]. You’ll receive a Go-Ahead and guidelines if your topics haven’t been taken. Contributors will be asked to contribute a total of 1900-2100 words. You may contribute one article 1900-2100 words or contribute two articles that combined equal 1900-2100 words. Those included in the anthology will receive a complimentary copy as compensation.

New Directions Publishing offers an “exclusive brand-new, never-before-published poem” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti Entitled “At Sea,” – inscribed for Paublo Neurada – the poem begins: “The sea through the trees / distant / shining. . .”

Waldorf College seeks a full-time Assistant Professor of English to teach writing and direct first-year composition. A Ph.D. in composition / rhetoric is preferred, though a terminal degree in a closely-related field will be considered with extensive teaching experience and an evidenced passion for teaching first-year students. Responsibilities include directing the first-year composition sequence and (possibly) the campus writing center, as well as teaching developmental writing and composition. A secondary interest in introduction to literature, global literature, advanced composition, writing center tutor training, English secondary education, or online teaching is preferred. The position carries a 4/4 load, with release time depending on duties. Evidence of superior teaching is essential. Position begins August 2010. Review of applications continues until position is filled.

More information about Waldorf College can be obtained at www.waldorf.edu.

Application by persons in under-represented groups is particularly encouraged.

Send letter of application addressing the qualifications above, a current vita, teaching philosophy, teaching evaluation summaries (if available), three letters of recommendation, and copies of graduate transcripts to Dr. Robert Alsop, VPAA, Waldorf College, 106 S. Sixth Street, Forest City, IA 50436 or via e-mail to [email protected].

Rowan University Instructor/Assistant Professor, Creative Writing, Full-Time Temporary. May 1

The English Department of Bowling Green State University seeks strong applicants for the College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Visiting Writer. June 14

Teacher & Program Coordinator in Writing for UW-Madison Continuing Studies. Work in a team environment teaching and creating online and in-person workshops. May 7

The Liberal Arts Department at D’Youville College is seeking an Assistant Professor of English beginning August 2010. Linda Moretti, Office of Human Resources. May 1

McNeese State University‘s Department of English and Foreign Languages and the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing seek an Assistant/Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing, Fiction. Amy Fleury, Department of English and Foreign Languages. April 21

The University of Wisconsin-Marathon County and the University of Wisconsin Colleges English Department invite applications for a position as full-time lecturer. Charlene Schmidt. May 16

The NPR news story on Pulitzer Prize fiction winner Paul Harding.

Call for Submissions: Ohio Childhood Poems
Extended Deadline – August 1

Poems of place and on characters might be especially welcomed for this collection. Name the people, places, brands, businesses, landmarks, institutions, locations that impacted your life as a child and your life as a poet. The collection will be edited by Robert Miltner of Kent State University and published by Pudding House Publications in Columbus, Ohio.

With over 500 submissions from 75+ online journals and presses, Sundress Press has completed their fourth year of culling works for the Best of the Net Anthology.

BECA: Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art is now accepting exhibition proposal summaries from both professionally affiliated and independent curators. Proposal summaries are being reviewed for consideration with regards to the exhibition planning for the months May – December 2010. Exhibitions will be held at the temporary home of BECA ICAD located at 527 St. Joseph Street, New Orleans, LA across from the Contemporary Arts Center.

In Mr. Secino’s class, students said the book was valuable as a way of understanding history. “It reminds you that this (slavery) actually happened,” said Mariana Z. Peltier.

“It’s hard to believe that the Land of the Free was treating human beings like that,” said Conor E. Shea.

Idaresit O. Uko said the fact that Tom and Huck were, it turns out, trying to hide a slave who was already freed, is a metaphor for how the country was trying to keep blacks enslaved even after the Civil War.

Jonathan H. Sokolowski said the book reminds readers that, “You need to keep knowledge of the past so that you can move forward.”

Read the full story on Worcester’s telegram.com.

New highway signs will mark Guthrie, Kentucky as the birthplace of literary figure Robert Penn Warren.

The role of a simple ‘thank you’ in the greater scope of gratitude – including plenty of literary references. Of course, a beer can be just as nice, and only a click away…

“Everything and Nothing: The iconic writer and activist, Alice Walker, on the similarities between Tibet and Palestine, womanism versus feminism, and Carl Jung.”

Offering full online content, Beltway Poetry’s Literary Organizations Issue (11.2) is the fourth in a series of special issues documenting the rich literary history of Washington, DC. This issue celebrates groups and organizations (spanning from 1881 to the present) that have nurtured writers in the region, providing important places to gather, workshop, publish, learn, and read. The issue features:

Sarah Browning on DC Poets Against the War
Regie Cabico on DC Slam
Grace Cavalieri on “The Poet & The Poem”
Zachary Elkin on DC Scores
Julie R. Enszer on The Furies
Danielle Evennou on mothertongue
Sunil Freeman on The Writer’s Center
Brian Gilmore on Drum & Spear Bookstore
Gray Jacobik on The Capital Hill Poetry Group
Alan King on Karibu Books
Martin G. Murray on the Washington Friends of Walt Whitman
Kim Roberts on Bethel Literary and Historical Society
Kim Roberts on DC Poetry Anthologies
The Washington Post on Some of Us Press

Oxford University Press Higher Ed. Editorial Fall Internship, New York. April 26

Oxford University Press Editorial Assistant, New York.

The Committee on Creative Writing at the University of Chicago is accepting applications for a 3 year, renewable, lectureship (posting 00306). The effective date for this teaching appointment will be July 1, 2010.

The English Department of the State University of New York, College at Plattsburgh invites applications for a full-time tenure track Assistant Professor position in Creative Writing to begin Fall 2010. Materials received by April 12, 2010 will be guaranteed full consideration.

Lincoln Memorial University invites applications for the position of Writer-In-Residence.

The University of Cincinnati Department of English & Comparative Literature invites applications for a visiting position for the 2010-11 academic year. May 1

The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology offers three Writer-in-Residencies. April 9

The English Program at Penn State Altoona is taking applications for a one-semester teaching residency in fiction writing. Emerging Writer Residency, Dr. Thomas Liszka. May 17