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NewPages Blog

At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Diaz On Wussies

“There aren’t enough tough guys in literature today. There aren’t any of those characters created by the likes of Ernest Hemingway. Now they are all a bunch of wussies. That’s why I wanted to introduce a tough, rugged character with this book. I want to bring edginess back to literature. My goal is to make literature thrilling, exciting and dangerous again.” Tony Diaz on his new book The Protesters Handbook

Bubble Bubble Boil and Brew

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 in Print

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.

KS Rives on Fogged Clarity

Fogged Clarity online arts review has several artists featured in their newest issue, but I found the work by KS Rives, After India, particularly compelling. She had been on a visit to India when she began this series: “The ideas for these pieces originated from my visions during meditation while staying at the ashram, and the drawings of them were done before returning to the states. These works were finished in Chicago, and are also greatly affected by the tumult that overtook my life upon reintroduction to the West. All of the materials found [in the artwork] were picked up off the litter-filled streets of Indian towns: Delhi, Amenebhad, Kochin, and Varanasi. The writings (on the back of each piece and journal-style on paper) serve to reflect both my time in India and life since coming home.”

21 Explores Contemporary Fiction

21: Journal of Contemporary and Innovative Fiction is a peer-reviewed, online critical journal exploring contemporary and innovative fiction: “We are interested in cutting edge fiction from the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, whether in the short story, the novel or hybrid forms; in print or hypertext. This includes all literature written in English or published as translation.”

Issue 1 (autumn/winter 2008/09) contains essays and articles on authors including J.G. Ballard, Anne Enright, A.M. Homes, Tim O’Brien, Annie Proulx, Jenefer Shute and Graham Swift written by Elizabeth Baines, Brian Baker, Kym Brindle, Alison Kelly,Paola Trimarco, Ursula Hurley, and Rob Spence interviews Charles Lambert, and Ailsa Cox writes on the Edge Hill Prize.

American Book Review Call for Submissions – Bad Books

From American Book Review:

Richard Ford once said that it takes as much effort to produce a bad book as a good book.

And as disheartening as that sounds, what Ford’s assertion might raise, and what most everyone who has attempted the task of a book-length work already knows, is the notion that effort alone does not ensure a book’s success, and that there are probably more ways for a good book to be overlooked than a bad book to never make it into print.

That said, what constitutes a bad book? Is it an overrated “good” book? Can an otherwise good author produce a “bad” book? Is the badness in style, in execution? Or is it in theme or outlook?

In the spirit of such focuses as 100 Best Last Lines of Novels and Why Teach Creative Writing? and the most recent Fiction’s Future, American Book Reviewseeks entries for consideration in an upcoming “Bad Books” focus. Whether it’s a novel, memoir, collection of poems, how-to or self-help book, select a book that you think belongs on the “Bad Books” list and accompany it with a two hundred and fifty word essay illustrating just what’s bad about it.

Submissions are due by Nov. 1, 2009

American Book Review
School of Arts & Sciences
University of Houston-Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, TX 77901
USA

Lynchburg College Residency

The Lynchburg College School of Humanities & Social Sciences announces the Thornton Writer Residency, a fourteen-week residency at Lynchburg College, including a stipend of $12,000, will be awarded for the Fall 2010 term to a fiction writer with at least one previously published book.

The residency also includes housing, some meals, and roundtrip travel expenses. The writer-in-residence will teach a weekly creative writing workshop, visit classes, and give a public reading.

Denison University seeks a tenure-track assistant professor in fiction writing; possible secondary interests may include playwriting, screenwriting, hypertext, graphic novels, or new media. Nov 13. MLA Interviews.

Submit a copy of a one book (will be returned), a c.v., a cover letter outlining evidence of successful teaching experience, and contact information for three references by October 15, 2009 (postmark deadline).

There is no entry fee.

These are the complete guidelines.

Lynchburg College
Thornton Writer Residency
c/o Joanna Turner
School of Humanities & Social Sciences
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24501

(434) 544-8820
(434) 544-8820

Allison Wilkins, contact

Narrative Prize Winner: Maude Newton

The 2009 Narrative Prize winner is Maud Newton for her story “When the Flock Changed”: “My mother was a preacher until the cops shut her down. Well, okay, she kept at it halfheartedly in our living room for a while, but the fire had wiped out not just her warehouse church, but her passion, her commitment, and deep down, her belief. Worse, her flock knew it and was slipping away.”

The $4,000 Narrative Prize is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

Jobs

The University of Dayton is accepting applications for the Herbert W. Martin Post-graduate Fellowship in Creative Writing, with possibility of renewal for a second year. Review begins Nov 6.

The Department of English at Ohio University tenure-track assistant professor in Creative Writing: Non-Fiction. Review begins Nov 6.

The Department of English and Modern Languages at Shepherd University seeks to fill a tenure-track position in Creative Writing, beginning in August 2010. Dr. Heidi M. Hanrahan, Department of English and Modern Languages. Oct 30 for full consideration.

The Department of English at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the assistant professor level in creative writing with an emphasis in creative nonfiction.Kimberly Garrett, Program Assistant Department of English. Nov 1

The Amherst College Creative Writing Program invites applications from fiction writers for the position of Visiting Writer, to begin July 2010. Nov 15

The Department of English and Philosophy, Murray State University seeks a Visiting Professor in Residence for the Nancy and Rayburn Watkins Endowed Professorship
in Creative Writing. This full-time, nine month, non-tenure track position begin August 2010. Nov 27 deadline.

In anticipation of future openings, Ashland University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing is accepting the submission of resumes by creative writing faculty in poetry and creative nonfiction for their low-residency MFA program. Stephen Haven, Director, MFA in Creative Writing.

The Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at the University of Houston is seeking to fill a tenure track or tenured position in poetry at a level to be determined by relevant experience & publications. J. Kastely, Director, Creative Writing Program, Dept. of English. Nov 1

The English Department at Western Kentucky University seeks applicants for Distinguished Visiting Professor in Creative Writing (Creative Nonfiction), Summer 2010. Dr. Dale Rigby,Department of English. Review begins Nov 2.

The Northern Kentucky University Department of English announces an open position for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English in Creative Writing. P. Andrew Miller, Search Committee Chair, Department of English

A Nod to Jesse

Jesse Glass, publisher, of Ahadada Books. We met him at AWP Chicago, 2009. He flew in from Japan to attend the conference and staff the publisher’s table at the book fair. I’ve never met anyone suffering from jet lag who was as energetic and humorous as this guy, and wholly passionate about books, publishing, meeting writers, and talking reading. His energies are as boundless as his compassion for words and people alike. He also runs a mean blog and is himself a damn fine poet. You can read his work and see/hear him read on the site.

Call for Support: Room 302 Books

From Roland Prevost (with collusions with curry):

john curry, certainly a world class poet living in our community, is presently facing almost certain eviction.

Stephen Brockwell alerted me of this precarious situation, by phone, and asked if I would get the word out, most recently at the TREE Reading Series on September 22, where we were able to scare up enough to cover one of his 5 months owed rent & save his telephone service.

curry’s been in constant production of his own and hundreds of others work since 1979. He’s mainly ineligible for grants. His bookstore is mainly an unused resource. His archive documenting the growth of avant-garde writing in Canada is one of the key collections in the country. Nicky Drumbolis has said: curry and his work are the best-kept secret in Canada.

Since time is of the essence, if curry is to avoid eviction, there are a few ways you can help:

Start to use his goddamn store!
Room 302 Books is the only bookstore in Canada ever to focus specifically on the avant-garde and overlooked outsiders, specializing in concrete/visual/sound poetries (mainly Canadian) with a stock of over 20,000 mainly rare titles, including elusive ephemera, and probably the only source of most of jwcurrys various imprints and titles (which number in the thousands). currys current lists finally focus on his own work as artist & publisher, virtually the first time everything that’s (still) available has been made commonly available. You can purchase bookstore IOUs (or set up an account) today in any amount for those who would like to do that.

Subscribe to Curvd H&z, curry’s serial imprint.
Donor subscriptions (please indicate) of $100 or more get the stash in a sampling of available titles from various of his imprints immediately, the remaining put on account for forthcoming titles.

Donate outright.
I would like to encourage you to donate something so as to keep this excellent bookstore, publisher, archive and artist alive, and at the same time help prevent curry’s eviction from his apartment. For those who would like to purchase bookstore IOUs, Id ask you to write (#302-880 Somerset Street West, Ottawa Canada K1R 6R7) or call him at (613) 233 0417. Please contribute as you can.

Reading Kafka Makes You Smarter

From Science Daily: Reading a book by Franz Kafka – or watching a film by director David Lynch – could make you smarter. “The idea is that when you’re exposed to a meaning threat –– something that fundamentally does not make sense –– your brain is going to respond by looking for some other kind of structure within your environment,” said Travis Proulx, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSB and co-author of the article. “And, it turns out, that structure can be completely unrelated to the meaning threat.”

My colleague watched Ace Ventura 2 with his daughter and swears it lowered his IQ. Can the same be said for some reading? Where’s that study?

Performance Poetry

One of my favorite lines of all time is delivered by Joan Cusack’s character Cyn in Working Girl (1988): “Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn’t make me Madonna. Never will.”

I feel the same way about the explosion of “performance poets” and “spoken word artists” thanks to the advent of YouTube. ‘Just because you have a poem and a video camera doesn’t make you a performance poet.’ At least there’s still hope you could become one, however. And for an great example of what it means to be a performance poet and spoken word artist in this digital age, check out Cassandra Tribe.

And, of course, there’s the indomitalbe Maggie Estep with one of my favorites: “I’m an Emotional Idiot.” For aspiring spoken word artists, she should be on your list.

New Lit on the Block :: Gigantic Sequins

Gigantic Sequins is a biannual not-for-profit literary-arts magazine that “especially likes to print artists and writers who are involved in other creative endeavors.” Staffing Gigantic Sequins are Kimberly Ann Southwick, Shereen Adel, Daniel Christensen, Paul Medina, and Kenneth Polonski. The publication welcomes individuals interested in becoming readers or interns to apply.

The first issue of Gigantic Sequins features works by Gleni Bartels, Evan Ross Burton, Johnny Chinnici, Ben Fama, Molly Finkelstein, Max Goransson, Alia Hamada, Peter Harren, shoney lamar, Jeff Laughlin, Chris Peck, Ryan Sanborn, Theadora Siranian, and Sophia Natasha Sunseri.

Reading periods for poetry, fiction, essays and visual art are March 1 – June 30 (Fall) and September 1 – December 31 (Spring).

Fellowships :: Black Mountain Institute

Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will offer from two to five nine-month fellowships for the academic year 2010–11 to published writers and public intellectuals. Applications will be available from the site on October 1, 2009 and must be postmarked by February 1, 2010. Current and past fellows (2007-2010) include Tom Bissell, Donna Hemans, Luljeta Lleshanaku, Lavonne Mueller, Judith Nies, Josip Novakovich, Timothy O’Grady, Mary Palevsky, and Robert Rosenberg.

Misfits and Other Heroes

A handsome former soap star, tired of his shallow, fat-free life, kidnaps a pastry chef to do his bidding. A woman, suddenly obsessed with the domestic arts, breaks into someone’s home and begins cooking and cleaning while they’re gone. We all have strange, fleeting impulses – Suzanne Burns’s characters act on them. Continue reading “Misfits and Other Heroes”

The Mysterious Life of the Heart

The 35 fiction pieces and 15 poems from The Sun magazine collected for this anthology deal with passion, longing, and romantic love. As editor Sy Safransky so aptly describes this work, “[It is] about the room upstairs at the end of the hall, shared by two lovers who’ve decided to stay – for a weekend or forever, no one can say. Sometimes they kiss, sometimes they bite. They dream they’re in heaven. They swear they’re in hell. That room.” This room is occupied by a range of men and women of various cultures, ages, and sexual persuasions, and, as with any and all relationships, the dynamics of each relationship portrayed here is as individual as its author could imagine. Continue reading “The Mysterious Life of the Heart”

Missing Her

Missing Her is a moving, elegant series of poems, or elegies, that examines loss on both a very public and a private level. Keelan’s topics include Mary after the birth of Jesus, the Vietnam War, September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and the death of her father. In “About Suffering They Were,” she writes, “There are no old poems, / Only new textbooks directing / The unprepared student to the painting / Behind the poem.” In Missing Her, we are all unprepared students, and Keelan leads us not merely to her poems but to the truths behind poetry. Continue reading “Missing Her”

Torched Verse Ends

Steven Schroeder and his brain like to wander. Whether physically through the landscapes of Colorado, or mentally through recollections of schadenfreude, Schroeder drags his rucksack of modern references behind him. String theory, Asimov, army-town life, thermodynamics – all pop up naturally in the course of his bizarre musings. Continue reading “Torched Verse Ends”

The Warmest Place of All

This children’s picture book follows Sophie’s search for the warmest place in her house after spending time outside playing in the snow. Ultimately, the warmest place is snuggled up next to her parents in their bed during the middle of the night. The story is light and sweet while the illustrations are delightful and fun. Altogether, a great book for bedtime. Continue reading “The Warmest Place of All”

Home Free

I loved this book! I think I fell in love with it the first time the main character, Lee, mentions Anne of Green Gables and her excitement about meeting a “real-life orphan,” Cassandra, who is moving in with a relative next door. Anne was my favorite character from children’s books when I was a kid. She felt like a real person to me – a friend, someone I wanted to meet, someone I wanted to be like, someone I was – dare I say it? – jealous of – exactly the way Lee feels. But being an orphan in real life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as Lee finds out when she becomes friends with Cassandra. Continue reading “Home Free”

New Lit on the Block :: Ambassador Poetry Project

Founding Editor Lori A. May introduces this new online publication: “The Ambassador Poetry Project aims to showcase poetic talent from and about Ontario and Michigan. While many of the works featured will naturally offer regional insights, inspirations, and experiences, the publication aims to encompass more than a ‘border town’ vibe. Just as the infamous bridge was created to link the two countries, The Ambassador Poetry Project aims to connect Canadian and American writers and readers who share a common fondness for poetry.”

The first issue includes cover art by C. Shier, poetry by John Jeffire, Mariela Griffor, Penn Kemp, Dana Ruzicka, ML Liebler, Laurence W. Thomas, Ken Meisel, Oliver Ho, Olga Klekner, Amy Stilgenbauer, Melinda LePere, Eric Torgersen, Heather Ann Schmidt, Randall R. Freisinger, Karen Calaiezzi, and visual works by Brita V. Brookes.

The Ambassador Poetry Project accepts submissions of poetry, poetry-related narratives, occasional regional book reviews, and artwork.

How to Read a Poem

Tupelo Press offers a number of free PDF Reader’s Companions for its poetry books – some written by the authors, some including additional materials such as interviews. These are not simple guides, but more like supplemental readers! In the reader’s companion to her book, Pslams , Carol Ann Davis includes two pages on “How to Read a Poem.” This is a bonus stand-alone for teachers and readers, coursing through a serious of questions, coming to this final one: “Let the questions go until there’s only one remaining: How does it make you feel?”

Jobs

The Dartmouth College Department of English seeks to hire a tenure-track assistant professor in creative nonfiction. Nov 2. English.department-at-dartmouth-dot-edu

The University of Connecticut English Department seeks a poet to serve as Assistant/Associate/Full Professor In Residence to begin fall 2010. Wayne Franklin, Head, Department of English, POET Search.

Western Michigan University invites applications for a tenure-track academic year position in English, Creative Writing (Fiction). Dr. Richard Utz, Chair, Department of English. Start date: Dec. 14,2009

The Creative Writing Program at the University of Oregon welcomes applications for a tenure-track Associate or Assistant Professor in Poetry. Karen J. Ford, Director, Creative Writing Program. Nov 15

Davidson College invites distinguished poets to apply for a one semester, non-renewable professorship, the McGee Professor of Creative Writing, for appointment either the fall of 2010 or the spring of 2011. Responsibilities: teach two poetry writing courses, offer one public reading, and advise two honors students; commitment to teaching excellence required. Qualifications: extensive high quality publications, significant awards and/or fellowships. $50,000 salary, furnished apartment. Send letter of application, c.v., a list of references, & copies of recent books to: Alan Michael Parker, Director of Creative Writing, Davidson College, Box 7010, Davidson, NC, 28035-7010.

The Iowa Review Design Contest

The Iowa Review will enter its 40th year of publication in 2010. To mark this milestone, they are holding a competition to redesign their cover. The new look will be implemented beginning with the April 2010 issue. The winning entry will receive $1,000, as well as acknowledgement in every issue in which the designer’s work is used. The new print design will be coordinated with the redesign of The Iowa Review’s website, which also will launch in April 2010. Full contest details here. Deadline: October 19

New Lit on the Block :: Wild Orchids

Wild Orchids is an annual journal “in which poets, theorists, and visual artists are invited to respond to the work of another in affective and other formally unexpected ways.” Each issue is centered on a single author with the first focussing on Herman Melville and including contributions from Kim Evans, Benjamin Friedlander, Alan Halsey, Donald Pease, Courtney Pfahl, Joyelle McSweeney, Jennifer Scappettone, Geraldine Monk, Chris Sylvester, Stacy Szymaszek, and Mark von Schlegell.

Wild Orchids is currently reading submissions for their second issue, which will take shape around the life and writing of NYC poet Hannah Weiner.nnual edition .

Wild Orchids is edited by Sean Reynolds and Robert Dewhurst, graduate students in the Poetics Program at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

NU Sends Mixed Message

Northwestern University has “reaffirmed its commitment to publishing and disseminating scholarly writing” in a nationwide search for a new director of the Press. This same commitment takes a different approach in the announcement that TriQuarterly Magazine “will be going online within the year.” Other communications besides the university’s PR machine would suggest that the funding for the print pubication has been cut and the shift to online is the only means of TriQuarterly‘s survival. A bit of a mixed message from NU.

New Editors at Versal

Versal, the internationally acclaimed literary annual published in Amsterdam, announces the start of its eighth reading period and welcomes four new editors to its team:

“Jennifer K. Dick, the author of Fluorescence (Univ. of Georgia Press, 2004) and Enclosures (Blazevox, 2007), joins the poetry team, along with Matthew Sadler, whose first chapbook is to be published with Flying Guillotine Press in Brooklyn. BJ Hollars is the newest member of the fiction team. He edited the recently released anthology You Must Be This Tall To Ride: Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story from Writer’s Digest Books. Finally, Shayna Schapp is Versal’s new assistant art editor. She teaches at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.”

Versal is currently accepting submissions of poetry, prose, and art for the eighth issue due out in May 2010.

New Lit on the Block :: New CollAge

Founded in 1970 at New College of Florida, New CollAge is a journal of new writing and visual art produced by a general editor alongside a staff of New College of Florida undergraduates who subscribe to the notion that a collage is an assemblage of different voices that merge to create new conversations. New CollAge is published annually with web exclusives throughout the year. The staff for this first issue (Spring 2009) of the “re-launching includes Founding Editor A. McA. Miller, Editor Alexis Orgera, and a full editorial staff.

New CollAge is available by subscription and single copy with select content available online and plans for Online Exclusives. Contributors to this first issue include: Rick Bursky, Sandy Florian, Emily Kendal Frey, Matt Hart, Melanie Hubbard, Hari Bhajan Khalsa, Jeffrey MacLachlan, Rob MacDonald, Sarah Maclay, Michael James Martin, A. McA. Miller, Stephany Prodromides, Virgil Renfroe, Jason Salek, Petery Jay Shippy, Eleanor Stanford, Justin Taylor, Kimberly Vorperian, and Dean Young.

New CollAge accepts unsolicited submissions of previously unpublished poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, artwork (especially that of the collage-inspired variety), and hybrids thereof from August-May each year for both their print issue and web exclusives.

Kseniya Simonova – Sand Animation

Sand artist, Kseniya Simonova, moved audiences to tears as she won Ukraine’s Got Talent with this performance of a series of pictures drawn on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Telegraph.co.uk has a text description of the performance.

Glimmer Train Contest Winners

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their July Very Short Fiction Award. This twice yearly competition is open to all writers for stories on any theme, with a word count not exceeding 3000. Their monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: J.P. Lacrampe (pictured) of San Francisco, CA, wins $1200 for “Farmers’ Market.” His story will be published in the Winter 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories, out in November 2010.

Second place: Stephanie Reents of Providence, RI, wins $500 for “The Indefinite Article Is a Different Story.”

Third place: James Scoles of Carbondale, IL, wins $300 for “To Cook an Egg Gently.”

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

Deadlines soon approaching!

Best Start: September 30

This competition is held quarterly and is open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 3000. Each submission should be an engaging, coherent narrative, but does not need to be a complete story, just an important part of a story in progress. Word count: under 1000. Click here for complete guidelines.

Fiction Open: September 30

This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories with a word count range between 2000-20,000. No theme restrictions. Click here for complete guidelines.

Layout Designer Wanted

The Cartier Street Review, a three-year-old literary magazine, is seeking someone creative who knows about poetry layout to do issue layouts only. This is an unpaid position combined with desirability of editorial responsibility based on staff choices. Send letter of interest to: Violetwrites-at-nyc.rr-dot-com