The latest edition of Hamilton Arts & Letters features the work of NewPages reviewer Sima Rabinowitz. She is doubly honored to have her series “Sima Rabinowitz Writes the Collected Poems of Federico Garc

Tales For Sale: Longtime Local Business Burien Books Is On The Market

McSweeney’s will soon be coming out with The Believer‘s annual Film Issue, “complete this year with a DVD of short films by none other than Karpo Godina, hero of 1960s Yugoslavian “Black Wave” Cinema—and also including Elif Batuman on screenplays by Nabokov, Churchill, and Sartre; Brian T. Edwards watching Shrek in Tehran; Hilton Als on Buddy Ebsen; Ross Simonini v. Harmony Korine; David Mamet’s cartoon film treatments; Avatar jokes; Tron; angry British shrubbery; vérité sheep; and more.”

As founder-owner Sarah Bedell retires, Bookworm, an independent bookstore that’s been a fixture in West Hartford since 1973, will close by the end of this month.

John King Used Books, located at 901 West Lafayette Boulevard, Detroit, MI, is the subject of a recent photo essay by LAWRENCEcreative. While I often will be sure I have a list of indie and used bookstores to check out while visiting cities, John King Used Books is the kind of place you make the destination of your visit. Unassuming from the outside, it’s like stepping into an alternative universe when you walk through the doors – and one where book people (especially collectors) feel incredibly at home.

As LAWRENCEcreative writes:

“No matter what type of book you may be looking for the next time, it is my suggestion that you forego the trip to Borders or Barnes & Noble, and take a trip to see this place. Upon walking in, and after you have picked your jaw up off the floor, be sure to introduce yourself at the front desk and ask for a map to the 4 floors of adventure. Or, as I have done numerous times, just wander. Let yourself get lost between the shelves and discover something you never knew existed. Find a dark corner with enough light and open up that copy of T.H. White’s ‘Sword in the Stone’, and get away from all the economy bullshit of our daily lives. It will reenergize your soul.”

The Arts Writers Grant Program issues awards for articles, blogs, books, new and alternative media, and short-form writing. It aims to support the broad spectrum of writing on contemporary visual art, from general-audience criticism to academic scholarship. Through all its grants, regardless of topic or category type, the Arts Writers Grant Program strives to honor and encourage writing about art. Deadline April 26, 2010.

Check out this FRESH batch of literary magazines reviews:

Agni
Atlanta Review
Barn Owl Review
Beloit Poetry Journal
Cincinnati Review
Colorado Review
Conjunctions
Grain
Habitus
Magnapoets
Mare Nostrum
NANO Fiction
New England Review
On the Premises
PEN America
Per Contra
PMS PoemMemoirStory
Rattle
Southeast Review
South Loop Review
Straylight
upstreet

In his Wasington Post article, The case against banning the word ‘retard’, Christopher M. Fairman begins: “Does the word ‘retard’ have less than three weeks to live?”

Great resource: OnFiction: An Online Magazine on the Psychology of Fiction.

Raymond A. Mar, Assistant Professor of Psychology at York University and contributor to OnFiction to comments on “the blurring boundaries between fiction and nonfiction.” The post includes a YouTube animation video from This American Life. Read his post here: Lights, Camera, Fiction.

The University of Nebraska Press has received a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The award will be used to support publication of translated works in 2010 and 2011. Among the titles the grant will help support are a short story collection by J. M. G. Le Cl

Prairie Schooner Managing Editor James Engelhardt takes Patrick Gillespie (Let Poetry Die) to task on several issues: “Patrick Gillespie has some interesting takes on the state of poetry. He’s a thoughtful guy, and the article he’s written is interesting, but I kept disagreeing with the piece. I want to sort out some of my reactions, and I thought it might be useful to share those reactions here.” These States of Poetry – Jump in!

Workspace is a studio residency program for emerging visual artists and writers focused on the creative process. Residents receive free studio space in Lower Manhattan for nine months, a modest one-time stipend (depending on funding), access to a community of peers, professional development in the form of weekly group and individual meetings with arts and literary professionals called Salon Evenings, and exposure to new audiences through presence on LMCC’s website and public programs like the final Open Studio Weekend. Deadline March 25.

Continuing their Ten Best Series, The Guardian UK‘s John Mullan picks the Ten Best Pair of Glasses in Literature.

Allen Ginsberg Movie Howl

Tennessee Williams Movie The Loss of A Diamond Teardrop

In six panels.

“…there’s a difference between writing for oneself and writing for an audience—and that’s a difference that most POD services do their best to obscure.” Wherefore Print on Demand? by Marc Schuster, guest post on The Nervous Breakdown. [via SB]

Tereska Torres hates the fact that her most famous work is considered an erotic classic. So, at 89, she’s going to rewrite it.

A total of five Joyce Fellows from the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) will be selected to participate in this program in 2010. Fellows will receive stipends of $3,000 to support their attendance at the 2010 Americans for the Arts 50th Anniversary Summit/Annual Convention, 2010 National Arts Marketing Project Conference, and 2011 Arts Advocacy Day. In addition, fellows will have special opportunities to meet field leaders, connect with mentors, and receive individualized career coaching. Must be an emerging leader (Americans for the Arts defines an emerging leader as someone who is under 35 years of age). Deadline March 1, 2010.

The Center for the Art of Translation is a San Francisco-based non profit promoting international literature and translation through programs in publishing, education, and public events. The Center is currently seeking an experienced Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager for our TWO LINES publications program, which includes the annual TWO LINES World Writing in Translation anthology and the World Library series of regional anthologies. The Two Lines Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager will provide the editorial and artistic vision for TWO LINES publications and curate the Center’s Lit&Lunch event series, manage TWO LINES staff and volunteers, and will represent TWO LINES externally and in strategic internal discussions and decisions. This position reports to the Executive Director. The ideal candidate will have at least five years experience of publishing/editorial work, familiarity with international literature and literature in translation, will have significant management and arts administration experience, and will share enthusiasm and passion for the Center’s mission. The Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager must be able to manage staff and multiple projects from inception to completion with minimal direction or oversight, including setting and managing milestones for the project within a set timeline. This position will also coordinate shifting priorities, provide regular reports to the Executive Director, and work effectively both leading and working on a team.

Responsibilities include the following:

EDITORIAL: Oversee artistic vision, editorial planning and production of all publications, including selecting guest editors, regions and/or languages for World Library, soliciting and evaluating monographs for publication, cultivating contacts within the publishing and translation fields, evaluating annual anthology submissions, and editing and proofreading introductions and translations. Provide editorial support on periodic grant writing and fundraising materials.

LITERARY PROGRAMMING: Curate Lit&Lunch series and other events, including event programming and annual publication party planning, act as artistic spokesperson at all Center events, coordinate translation workshops and other collaborative events and pursue partnerships and collaborations with publishers, translators, and cultural institutions.

MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION: Manage TWO LINES staff, volunteers, guest editors, translators, language readers, and copyeditors and act as program representative in staff and executive management meetings. Ensure tasks are coordinated, schedules and budgets are maintained, and provide biweekly reports to management. The Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager will also develop a process to build TWO LINES supporters in the literary and translation communities. Assist with research to identify potential grants and donors.

PRODUCTION: Oversee the production of all TWO LINES titles, including the production timeline, submissions guidelines and production procedures, submission processing, copyright permissions, final proofreading and editing, and book design.

DISTRIBUTION, MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS: Oversee distribution of all publications and provide feedback and support to marketing staff to develop and implement marketing and public relations plans for publications. Inform Development Director of any potential funding leads or creative fundraising ideas. Seek opportunities to raise awareness of and interest in TWO LINES publications, promote the Center and build connections with other translation and literary organizations, act as a representative of the Center and lead discussions and/or presentations at literary events, forums and conferences (3-5 per year).

Qualifications
• Strong background (5+ years) in book publishing, particularly in a management role
• Experience as a literary translator, editor of translation, or director of a literary center
• Excellent team building skills and the ability to both lead and be a part of a team
• Able to offer contacts within the publishing and translation industries
• Enthusiasm and passion for the Center’s mission
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including editing and proofreading
• Strong organizational sense with a sharp eye for detail
• Ability to prioritize and follow up on activities in a timely manner
• Energetic and a good team player, flexible and willing to learn
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, familiarity with the Mac environment and excellent analytical skills
• Experience with FileMaker Pro a plus

This is a full-time position with an initial probationary period. The Center is an equal opportunity employer and offers generous vacation package, retirement plan and benefit stipend. Our office is located South of Market near public transportation. To apply, please email [email protected] with a resume and cover letter addressed to:

Erin Branagan
Acting Executive Director
Center for the Art of Translation
35 Stillman St., Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94107
Web: www.catranslation.org
How to Apply:
To apply, please email twolinesresume-at-yahoo-dot-com with a resume and cover letter addressed to:

Erin Branagan
Acting Executive Director
Center for the Art of Translation
35 Stillman St., Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94107

Creative Writing Programs – MA, MFA, PhD
This directory of university creative writing programs includes creative writing graduate degree programs. It is still being updated, and we’d appreciate hearing from you if you know of programs not yet listed. Whenever possible, links lead directly to the home page for the creative writing program.

Park University has a position open for a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in English. Cherie Smith, Human Resource Services. March 1

Wayne State University tenure track Instructor/Assistant Professor, Creative Writing (tenure track) Department of Language and Literature.

Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction) for the Department of English & Philosophy at Murray State University. Full-time, non-tenure track position to begin August 2010. March 5

Brandeis University English Department seeks a poet with a distinguished publication record and teaching experience for a half-time appointment (2 workshops per year, 1 per semester) as Ziskind Poet in Residence in the Creative Writing Major of the English Department to begin Fall 2010. First consideration Feb 5.

Pending budgetary approval, Creighton University’s English department seeks to fill a tenure-track, entry-level Assistant Professor position in Creative Writing (area open).

Taunton Press of Newton, CT currently has several openings:

Assistant Editor – Books
Associate Editor – Fine Cooking
Customer Sales/Service Representative
Director of Creative Marketing Services
Director, Product Development & Market Innovation
Senior Acquisitions Editor – Books

River Rock School in Montpelier, Vermont, is looking for LEGOs: “We are in need of many, many LEGOs for our summer LEGO camp. Check out our website to learn more about us. No LEGO collection is too big or too small. A small bag of 50 or 100 LEGOs would be greatly appreciated. Please call 802-223-4700 for details (or email [email protected]), or to arrange pick up of your donation (locally). Or mail them to River Rock School, 252 N. Main St., Montpelier, VT 05602. Many thanks!”

Hey Oscar Wilde – It’s Clobberin’ Time! is an “extension of a personal art collection of various artists interpreting their favourite literary figure/author/character.” [via Jacket Copy]

The Norman Mailer Writers Colony is accepting applications for the Second Annual Norman Mailer Writers Colony Fellowships at Provincetown, MA.

Fiction and non-fiction writers can apply for a 28-day residency in Provincetown, Massachusetts, near Mailer’s home beginning July 5, 2010. Seven Fellows will be selected. In addition, as many as 66 applicants will be offered scholarships to one week writing workshops in Provincetown during May, June, August and September, 2010.

Applications must be received by March 13, 2009.

The 2010 American Indian Youth Services Literature Awards, presented by the American Library Association, have selected the following recipients:

Best Picture Book – A Coyote Solstice Tale, written by Thomas King and illustrated by Gary Clement, published by Groundwood Books, 2009.

Best Middle School Book – Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer, with photographs by Katherine Fogden, published by the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in association with Council Oak Books, 2008.

Best Young Adult Book – Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me: A Novel by Lurline Wailana McGregor and published by Kamehameha Publishing, 2008.

The storySouth Million Writers Award is now open. Readers and editors can nominate their favorite online story, with the deadline for nominations being February 28, 2010. Donations for prize money are also being accepted, with final winners selected by reader votes, making this a true community of readers award.

Check out the NewPages February Book Reviews (Ed. Gina Myers):

Easter Rabbit, Fiction by Joseph Young
Review by John Madera

Shot, Poetry by Christine Hume
Review by Marthe Reed

The River Flows North, Novel by Graciela Limon
Review by Christina Hall

Tsim Tsum, Poetry by Sabrina Orah Mark
Review by Roy Wang

Catch Light, Poetry by Sarah O’Brien
Review by Gina Myers

The Bigness of the World, Fiction by Lori Ostlund
Review by Laura Pryor

Dangerous Places, Fiction by Perry Glasser
Review by Alex Myers

Death at Solstice: A Gloria Damasco Mystery, Novel by Lucha Corpi
Review by Elizabeth Townsend

The Open Book in Greenville, SC, will be closing its doors next month after 40 years in business. The economy and changes in the book business – big box stores and digital readers – are what owner Duff Bruce cites in his reasons. “I’ve loved books, loved putting books in people’s hands over the years,” Bruce said.

The Glen Carbon Centennial Library, IL, has been named the “Best Small Library in America” for 2010 by Library Journal. At a time when all libraries, big and small, are stuggling to survive, John Berry looks at what makes this library thrive.

Writers Beware has updated its Thumbs Down Agency List: “a list of the currently active literary agencies about which Writer Beware has received the largest number of complaints over the years, or which, based on documentation we’ve collected, we consider to pose the most significant hazard for writers.” Writers Bewared outlines “abusive practices” which guides the selection of those listed.