From the editors of FREE INQUIRY magazine:

In our October/November 2007 issue, FREE INQUIRY featured “Dealing with Dying,” a selection of essays from readers describing their experiences with dying, death, and end-of-life rituals. This feature was very well-received, so in June/July 2010 we plan another such symposium in print. FREE INQUIRY solicits brief essays (or proposals for essays) from readers concerning secular humanist responses to:

serious, debilitating, or chronic illness;
caring for a seriously ill loved one or friend;
end-of-life phenomena; and
issues relating to physician aid in dying, assisted suicide, or other forms of beneficent euthanasia.

Essays or proposals are invited from persons suffering serious illness, who have recovered from serious illness, and from family members, loved ones, caregivers, and concerned professionals. Completed essays will be due no later than February 26, 2010, and may be submitted at any earlier time. If submitting a completed essay, total word count should ideally be shorter than 750 words and must not exceed 1,200 words. You may also write a brief proposal describing the essay you have in mind.

Send your essay or proposal to:

Donna Danford
FREE INQUIRY
P.O. Box 664
Amherst, NY 14226-0664

or e-mail:

ddanford-at-centerforinquiry.net

Essays submitted by mail must be accompanied by a file in rich text or Microsoft Word format on CD, diskette, or flash drive. Essays submitted by e-mail may be included in the body of the e-mail or attached as a file in rich text or Microsoft Word format. Please note, these special submission requirements apply only to this feature.

Unless otherwise specified, submissions become the property of the Council for Secular Humanism. Submissions will be accepted or rejected and may be published in print or online at the exclusive discretion of the editors. Sorry, FREE INQUIRY is unable to offer payment for submissions.

Canada Council for the Arts announced the finalists for the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Awards. The finalists include authors, illustrators and translators from ages 27 to 78. The English and French awards are in the categories of fiction, non‑fiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation. In total, 70 books are shortlisted.

Monica Hesse via journalgazette.net gives it a shot – but probably not enough for the Nobel naysayers.

According to Praveen Madan on the Huffington Post, Indie Bookstores:

Provide a Cultural Experience for Readers
Provide a Nurturing Environment for Lesser Known and Emerging Writers
Enable Positive Social Change in Local Communities

Where are your local indie bookstores? How about finding a few when you travel? Check out the NewPages Guide to Independent Bookstores – and please let us know if there are any you think we should add to our guide (denisehill-at-newpages-dot-com).

From David and Robin at Blue Cubicle Press:

Blue Cubicle Press announces the publication of our tenth hour of Overtime: “The Home Front” by Paul Silverman, a story of war, racism, and courage set in the kitchen of a Boston deli.

Paul lost his battle with depression this past August, which we discovered while preparing his story for print. You can read a little about Paul’s life in this article from The Boston Globe.

In honor of Paul’s passing, we’d like to offer his story for the cost of a first class stamp. Send us a stamp (no letter needed, we’ll know what it’s for), and we’ll send you a copy. You can also log on to our site and order a copy of “The Home Front” for a dollar (the extra money will help cover the PayPal fee).

For you teachers out there – or book clubbers – we’re offering 10 copies of Paul’s story for $5.00.

Blue Cubicle Press
P.O. Box 250382
Plano, TX 75025-0382

Press 53 has announced for a new anthology series called Press 53 Spotlight that will showcase five poets and three short story authors who are gaining recognition and building solid reputations through publication and awards but have yet to publish a book-length collection in that particular discipline. Press 53 Spotlight will debut in January 2010.

Founding editor Kevin Morgan Watson and poetry editor Tom Lombardo will co-edit the anthology. The featured writers were found by way of the Press 53 Open Awards, through the general submissions process at Press 53, and from reading print and electronic literary journals and magazines.

The selected poets for the inaugural issue of Press 53 Spotlight are:

Alexa Selph of Atlanta, GA
Austin Segrest of Birmingham, AL
Clinton B. Campbell of Beaufort, SC
Lisa Zerkle of Charlotte, NC
Malaika King Albrecht of Pinehurst, NC

The featured short story writers are:
Ray Morrison of Winston-Salem, NC
Shaindel Beers of Pendleton, OR
Taylor Brown of Asheville, NC

Eat Me Daily – besides being one of the greatest website names I’ve seen in a long time – is a website/blog “about food with a critical (and sometimes cynical) take on the culture at large, including media, books, cookbooks, art, design, celebrity, fashion, robots, and cookery.” It was this post that led me there in the first place: Food Writing in Magazines is Alive and Well. And a nod to Alimentum Journal: The Literature of Food for getting on the comment radar – let’s get the foodies to expand those literary horizons, shall we?

Alan Kaufman’s essay The Electronic Bookburning on The Evergreen Review addresses a number of issues on “the impact of Hi-Tech on Book Culture.” An essay from which every single line is integral and effective quoting nearly impossible, but, alas, if you are still resisting going to read it, here are a few lines that might take you there:

“One wonders why Nourrey cannot simply advise E- Book to go fuck itself…”
“The book is fast becoming the despised Jew of our culture.”
“I know many writers who do not see anything wrong in any of this…”
“Not since the advent of Christianity has the world witnessed so sweeping a change in the very fabric of human existence.”
“And its endgame is the disappearance of not just books but of all things human.”

While its “Holocaust as metaphor” may be strong for some, its position of resistance is a valid voice in this ongoing discussion.

Beyond Austerity; Facing Recession, Massive Reductions in Funding and Personnel-Librarians Plan for Fiscal Survival

Publisher: major, long established, in the library field

Editor: Carol Smallwood, MLS. Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook, American Library Association 2010; Librarians as Community Partners: An Outreach Handbook, American Library Association, 2010; Thinking Outside the Book, McFarland 2008. Some others are Peter Lang, Libraries Unlimited, Linworth, Scarecrow

Foreword: Dr. Ann Riedling, Associate Professor, University of South Florida; An Educator’s Guide to Information Literacy, Libraries Unlimited, 2007; Writing and Publishing: Contributor, The Librarian’s Handbook, American Library Association, 2010. A two-time Fulbright Scholar included in Contemporary Authors

Afterword: Dr. Loriene Roy, Professor in the School of Information, the University of Texas at Austin, Past President of the American Library Association, Director/ Founder, If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything Reading Club.
Contributor, Librarians as Community Partners: An Outreach Handbook, American Library Association, 2010

Articles sought by practicing academic, public, school, special librarians sharing their experiences on how librarians are handling the recession. Concise, how-to articles using bullets, headings, by librarians in the trenches using creativity and innovation

No previously published, simultaneously submitted material. One article sharing the range of your experience, 2100-2300 words total. If you must use citations, use MLA style faithfully. Articles welcomed by one librarian, or co-authored by two

Possible topics: creative staffing, financial planning, grant writing, community donations, sharing facilities, cooperative buying, maximizing the media, legislative participation, workshops for job hunters

The deadline for completed articles (Call #1) is November 30, 2009. Contributors will receive an agreement to sign before publication. Compensation: a complimentary copy, discount on additional copies

To avoid duplication, please e-mail up to three topics each clearly proposed with three separate short paragraphs by October 31 along with a 75-85 word bio beginning with: your name, library of employment, employment title, awards, publications, and career highlights. If co-authored, each of the two librarian-writers will need to send a separate bio. You will be contacted as soon as possible telling you which one (if any) of your topics will work, inviting you to e-mail your article; an invitation doesn’t guarantee acceptance. Please place AUSTERITY/your name on the subject line to: smallwood-at-tm.net

The Big Trip Up Yonder by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954, and, having fallen out of copyright, now reproduced on The Project Guttenberg. Includes an illustration by Kossin

Spanish author Angeles Caso has won the prestigious Premio Planeta, the second richest literature prize after the Nobel, for her novel about an African woman’s travails in Europe. The Asturian writer was awarded the prize late Thursday in Barcelona for her novel Contra el viento (Against The Wind) centered around a woman from the tiny African island nation of Cape Verde who emigrates to Portugal and then to Spain. Misfortune hounds her in Portugal and even after she leaves for Spain. Caso, born in 1959, is also a newspaper columnist. The prize comes with a cash award of 601,000 euros (895,096 dollars). (AP)

Assistant Professor in Creative Writing – Nonfiction University of Alabama. Prof. Michael Martone, Search Committee Chair, Assistant Professor (Creative Non-Fiction). Review begins Oct 15.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas invites applications for Assistant/Associate/Full Professor of English. Dr. Donald Revell, Search Committee Chair. Review begins Nov 16.

Delta College tenure-track Mainstream and Developmental Composition Instructor. Review begins Nov 1.

Saginaw Valley State University Assistant Professor of English-Creative Writing

University of Alabama Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in Fiction. Dr. Wendy Rawlings, Search Committee Chair, Assistant Professor (Fiction) Search. Review begins Oct 15.

The English Department of Eastern Michigan University invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Creative Writing. Review begins Nov 15.

The English Department at Rhodes College seeks a Fiction Writer to join the Department at the level of Assistant Professor (Tenure Track). Tina Barr, Chair, Search Committee, Department of English. Deadline Nov 6.

The English Department at St. Lawrence University invites applications for a one-year, visiting position in poetry. Mr. Pedro Ponce, Department of English. Review begins Nov 15.

Audio, manuscripts, and photos from Reckoning with Torture: Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror” are now available online at PEN.org. Listen to Don DeLillo, A.M. Homes, George Saunders, and others read from recently disclosed documents, legal memorandums, and first-hand accounts of government abuse.

Bye bye B. Dalton Bookstores – so much for infiltrating malls with books.

Human Like You

Having already captured Jane Austen in Bollywood (Bride & Prejudice), Emma is the next adaptation. Aisha will be co-produced by Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire), to be released in 2010.

From Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: “Do you know your online rights? Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? If so, this site is for you.”

Chilling Effects is a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law clinics.

[Mentioned on the Rachel Maddow Show.]

The Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine announced the five recipients of the 2009 Ruth Lilly Fellowships: Malachi Black, Eric Ekstrand, Chlo

Connoation Press: “For the undergrad section we are asking writing teachers around the world for their best and brightest new writers. Our hope is that the teacher will nominate the undergrad and work with the undergrad to compile a submission. For some new writers this will be their first submission process, and we gratefully welcome those writers.”

On October 24, Ray Bradbury will visit Every Picture Tells A Story, a gallery dedicated to the art of illustration and children’s literature, to sign copies of his book and giclee prints purchased on site.

The Rona Jaffe Foundation recognizes the special contributions women writers make to culture and society, with an emphasis on those in the early stages of their writing careers. The six 2009 winners have been singled out for excellence by the Foundation and will receive awards of $25,000 each: Krista Bremer, Vievee Francis, Janice N. Harrington, Lori Ostlund, Helen Phillips, and Heidy Steidlmayer.

A Devil’s Dictionary for the Twenty-First Century

Submission Deadline Extended to 1 December 2009

The Georgia Review continues to accept submissions for a planned special feature, “A Devil’s Dictionary for the Twenty-First Century” — an update of sorts of Ambrose Bierce’s brilliant satirical work The Devil’s Dictionary, published just about one hundred years ago.

Taking Bierce as a model, all writers are invited to send one or two original dictionary entries — maximum length, two hundred words each — for publication consideration; those writers who include with their submission a paid order for a new, renewed, or gift subscription to The Georgia Review ($30) may send up to six dictionary entries.

All entries will be considered for publication in our pages and/or on our website. All accepted authors will receive an honorarium and also will be eligible to receive “The Devil’s Due” in the amount of $500 for first place, $150 for second, and $100 for third.

A few representative entries from Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary:

Apologize, v. i. To lay the foundation for a future offence.

Bigot, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.

Defame, v. t. To lie about another. To tell the truth about another.

Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.

liberty, n. One of Imagination’s most precious possessions.

Novel, n. A short story padded . . .

peace, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

scribbler, n, A professional writer whose views are antagonistic to one’s own.

and, of course,

Editor, n. . . . a severely virtuous censor, but so charitable withal that he tolerates the virtues of others and the vices of himself; who flings about him the splintering lightning and sturdy thunders of admonition till he resembles a bunch of firecrackers petulantly uttering its mind at the tail of a dog; then straightway murmurs a mild, melodious lay, soft as the cooing of a donkey intoning its prayer to the evening star . . .

The English Department at Rhodes College seeks a Fiction Writer to join the Department at the level of Assistant Professor. Tina Barr, Chair, Search Committee, Department of English. Oct 15

The Texas Christian University Department of English invites applications for a tenure-track, assistant professor in creative writing with a specialization in poetry, contemporary literature, & creative nonfiction. Brad Lucas, Chair, Department of English. Nov 19

If you are, you should know it – some how, some way. NPR ran a brief story on the new FTC guides that bloggers who blog product endorsements must make such relationships known to their readers. Of course, how they do so is still a bit sketchy. And just to clarify – NewPages has never blogged for money. None of the “products” mentioned on the blog have ever paid for their placement there; any mention of them has been earnest sharing.

Also somewhat sketchy is whether or not reviewers are taking “payment” if they receive free books and then review them on their blogs, regardless of whether or not the review is favorable. This is pretty much the way of reviewing – either review writers request “review copies” at no cost or are sent unsolicited copies. Advanced Review Copies (ARCs) may help avoid this sketchy area altogether as they do not carry a sale price, and while some review publications accept only ARCs, here at NewPages, we rarely see ARCs, nor do they even exist for literary magazines.

Read the full FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

New Ohio Review, Fall 2009, features a section entitled: “Stories You May Have Missed: Fifteen Fiction Writers Reflect on Underappreciated Contemporary Stories.” In “presenting” a favorite story published between 1970 and 2000 that has not been given the attention it deserves, each writer gives an analytical/personal response reason for the selection. The stories themselves are not included, but source information for their publication is included. Writers and stories presented include:

Lydia Davis presents “Maggie May” by Lucia Berlin
Stuart Dybek presents “Bad Jews” by Gerald Shapiro
Carol Anshaw presents “Dog Heaven” by Stephanie Vaughn
Max Apple presents “The School” by Donald Barthelme
Alan Cheuse presents “In Kew Gardens” by Bernard Malamud
Erin McGraw presents “The Comedian” by John L’Heureux
Robert Cohen presents “The Moon In Its Flight” by Gilbert Sorrentino
Nicholas Delbanco presents “The Ebony Tower” by John Fowles
Lynne Sharon Schwartz presents “The Accompanist” by Anita Desai
Tracy Daugherty presents “Enough” by Alice McDermott
Steven Schwartz presents “In Miami, Last Winter” by James Kaplan
Andrea Barrett presents “The Remission” by Mavis Gallant
Francine Prose presents “Mlle. Dias de Corta” by Mavi Gallant
Jim Shepard presents “Helping” by Robert Stone
Rosellen Brown presents “Fenstad’s Mother” by Charles Baxter

Hilary Mantel wins The Man Booker Prize for Wolf Hall.

Special thanks to recent contributors to the NewPages Beer Fund!

Yes, in case you’re wondering, we are still drinking beer here at NewPages World Headquarters, and contributions of any size can be made by clicking the pint glass.

We are microbrew fans, and a favorite – Short’s Brewing from Bellaire, Michigan, has started bottling and shipping out around the state. Huma Lupa Licious is not only fun to say, but one of the sharpest IPAs we’ve ever tasted. It’s a house favorite, and now we can drink it without having to drive all the way up north to get it!

Additionally, I’ve started brewing again after a ten-year hiatus. That’s right – NewPages World Headquarters is now officially NewPages Brewing. Thanks to donations to the Blog Pint, readers have graciously helped to support this renewed hobby and old habit.

Saw Palm, University of South Florida’s online journal has announced their first issue in print available for purchase Winter 2009. The journal will feature content not available on their website.

*Previously posted as UF, not USF – thanks Eric for the correction.