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Comics :: The Secret Life of Nancy

The Nancy Book
By Joe Brainard
Published by Siglio Press

The world has in Joe Brainard a semi-secret maverick hero who will win new friends indefinitely one by one.–Peter Schjeldahl

From 1963 to 1978 Joe Brainard created more than one hundred works of art that appropriated the classic comic strip character Nancy and sent her into an astonishing variety of spaces, all electrified by the incongruity of her presence. The Nancy Book collects more than fifty of these images for the first time and features collaborations with luminary poets Bill Berkson, Ted Berrigan, Robert Creeley, Frank Lima, Frank O’Hara, Ron Padgett and James Schuyler, as well as original essays by Ron Padgett and Ann Lauterbach.

Also available are limited editions, which include a hand-pulled photo-lithograph housed in a foil-stamped portfolio and slipcased with the trade edition. The edition is 100, numbered and stamped by the Estate of Joe Brainard.

New Lit on the WebBlock :: Kartika Review

Kartika Review publishes literary fiction, poetry, and essays that endeavor to expand and enhance the mainstream perception of Asian American creative writing. The journal also publishes book reviews, author interviews, and artwork relevant to the Asian Diaspora or authored by individuals of Asian descent. Kartika plans to sponsor readings, panel discussions, writing contests, and other creative activities for the Asian American community in both New York City and the Bay Area.

Downloadable e-Book versions in PDF format are always free of charge and in addition, they will publish a print anthology of the best works every three issues. The print publication will be available for purchase online or through participating bookstores.

As a quarterly journal, they release issues in March, June, September, and December. Submissions by electronic mail year-round. Sim/subs accepted.

The Dzanc Prize :: More than Money

THE DZANC PRIZE

The Dzanc Prize provides monetary aid in the sum of $5,000, to a writer of literary fiction. All writers applying for the Dzanc Prize must have a work-in-progress they can submit for review, and present the judges with a Community Service Program they can facilitate. Such programs may include anything deemed “educational” in relation to writing. Examples would include: working with HIV patients to help them write their stories; doing a series of workshops at a drop-in youth homeless center; running writing programs in inner-city schools; or working with older citizens looking to write their memoirs. All community programs under the Dzanc Prize must run for a full year.

Last year, Dzanc Books awarded the inaugural Dzanc Prize to Laura van den Berg. Laura is currently in the middle of a series of workshops she’s running in the New England prison system. At the end of Laura’s year, an anthology of work by the prisoners she is teaching will be compiled and published by Dzanc. Laura’s story collection, What the World Will Look Like When All of the Water is Gone, will also be published by Dzanc Books in fall 2009.

Submissions accepted from now through November 1, 2008.

See Dzanc Books website for more information.

New Lit on the Block :: Southern California Review


Southern California Review, formerly known as the Southern California Anthology, is the literary journal of the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. It has been publishing fiction and poetry since 1982 and now also accepts submissions of creative nonfiction, plays, and screenplays. Printed every October and April with original cover artwork, every issue contains new, emerging, and established authors.

Unsolicited manuscripts are read year-round; response time for submissions is three to six months. Sim/subs accepted. No queries required.

The inagural issue – Volume 1 Number 1, Spring 2008 – was released late April under Editor-in-Chief Annlee Ellingson, and features:

Cover art by Amber Arseneau
Fiction by Gary Fincke, Judith Freeman, and Michael Buckley
Poetry by Richard Foerster, Bonnie Louise Barrett, Susanna Rich, Jennifer Jean, Daniel Polikoff, Moira Mageson, and Paul Brancato
Nonfiction by Christopher Buckley
Stageplay by Lee Wochner
An Interview with Nathan Englander
And prize-winners in One-Act Play – Kristna Sisco Romero, and Poetry – Elisabeth Murawski, CB Follett, Leonard Kress.

SCR is also holding a fiction contest, deadline August 31, 2008, and a poetry contest, deadline December 31, 2008.

Jobs :: Various

East Los Angeles College English Department seeks applicants for a tenure-track position in English.

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey seeks applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Literature for their Literature Program to start September 2008. Dr. Robert Gregg, Dean of Arts & Humanities.

American University Department of Literature in the College of Arts & Sciences
invites applications for a one-year, full-time temporary assistant professor in Creative Writing/Fiction for the 2008-09 academic year to teach upper-level & graduate courses in fiction writing as well as in General Education courses. Jonathan Loesberg, Chair, Department of Literature. May 15.

Saint Louis University, a Jesuit Catholic institution dedicated to student learning, research, healthcare, and service, seeks applications for a Assistant Professor of English specializing in Creative Writing. Professor Sara van den Berg.

Books :: Victorian Women’s Relationships

Between Women
Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England
by Sharon Marcus

Women in Victorian England wore jewelry made from each other’s hair and wrote poems celebrating decades of friendship. They pored over magazines that described the dangerous pleasures of corporal punishment. A few had sexual relationships with each other, exchanged rings and vows, willed each other property, and lived together in long-term partnerships described as marriages. But, as Sharon Marcus shows, these women were not seen as gender outlaws. Their desires were fanned by consumer culture, and their friendships and unions were accepted and even encouraged by family, society, and church. Far from being sexless angels defined only by male desires, Victorian women openly enjoyed looking at and even dominating other women. Their friendships helped realize the ideal of companionate love between men and women celebrated by novels, and their unions influenced politicians and social thinkers to reform marriage law.

Through a close examination of literature, memoirs, letters, domestic magazines, and political debates, Marcus reveals how relationships between women were a crucial component of femininity. Deeply researched, powerfully argued, and filled with original readings of familiar and surprising sources, Between Women overturns everything we thought we knew about Victorian women and the history of marriage and family life. It offers a new paradigm for theorizing gender and sexuality–not just in the Victorian period, but in our own.

Sharon Marcus is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

*Thanks to Bronte Blog for noting this book.

Online Lit Mags :: Hello?!

Sponsored or not, I would appreciate knowing when you post new issues online. NewPages has a Magazine Stand on which we update our readers about new publications received, including Online Literary Mags. Since we can’t really “receive” new online mags through traditional mail, all you have to do is drop me a note when you post new issues: [email protected]. Of course, sponsor mags get 50 or so words to describe their publication (sponsors please send me this!), but all others get at least a link. C’mon – don’t be shy! Let our readers know you want to be read!

Finalists Announced :: Tupelo Press

Best of luck to finalists and semifinalists of the Tupelo Press 2008 Snowbound Chapbook Award. They anticipate announcing the winner this May.

Finalists:
Lisa Beskin – Belchertown, MA, Shadow Globe
Remica Bingham – Norfolk, VA, The Body Speaks
Deb Casey – Eugene, OR, Spit & Purr, What Shines: A Several Sisters Chapbook
John de Stefano – New York, NY, From: Critical Opalescence and the Blueness of Sky
Mary Molinary – Memphis, TN, The Book of 8:38
Jamie O’Halloran – Los Angeles, CA, The Visible Woman
Howard Robertson – Eugene, OR, Three Odes to Gaia
Robin Beth Schaer – New York, NY, Almost Tiger
Suzume Shi – New London, CT, Ao
Jacob Shores-Arguello – Fayetteville, AR, John Barleycorn Must Die
John Surowiecki – Amston, CT, Mr. Niedzwiedzki’s Pink House
Janet Sylvester – Kittery, ME, The Unbinding
Stacey Waite – Pittsburgh, PA, the lake has no saint

Semifinalists:
Hadara Bar-Nadav – Kansas City, MO, Fable of Flesh
Colin Cheney – Brooklyn, NY, Here There Be Monsters
Mark Conway – Avon, MN, Dreaming Man, Face Down
John de Stefano – New York, NY, From: Three-Body Problems
Joanne Diaz – Chicago, IL, Violin
Jennifer Kwon Dobbs – Astoria, NY, Mongrel Angels
Matthew Hittinger – Astoria, NY, Spectacular Reflection
Christina Hutchins – Albany, CA, Dark Creek
M. Smith Janson – Florence, MA, Letter Written in this Life, Mailed from the Next
Jesse Lee Kercheval – Madison, WI, My Life as a Silent Movie
Sandra Kohler – Dorchester, MA, Final Summer
Gary Copeland Lilley – Swannanoa, NC, Wade In Da Wahtuh
Matthew Lippman – Claverack, NY, Moses
Mike Maniquiz – Clovis, CA, Cooking Frutti Di Mare on This Early Evening Before the Night Falls on Kentucky Hillsides
Mary Helen Molinary – Memphis, TN, This Book of Sun
Rusty Morrison – Richmond, CA, Insolence
Teresa Pfeifer – Chicopee, MA, Little Matryoshka
Joseph Radke – Milwaukee, WI, A Source of Reasons
Boyer Rickel – Tucson, AZ, reliquary
Reginald Shepherd – Pensacola, FL, Photos of the Fallen World: Poems
Page Hill Starzinger – New York, NY, Black Tongue
Barry Sternleib – Richmond, MA, Winter Crows
Jonathan Weinert – Concord, MA, Charged Particles

A First! :: First Book on eBay

From Kyle Zimmer, President, First Book:

First Book is joining forces with eBay Foundation, the charitable arm of eBay Inc., for Community Gives – an online fundraising campaign designed to engage the eBay Community in supporting First Book’s mission to provide new books to the children who need them most.

First Book is one of only three organizations eBay Foundation has chosen to support, based on input from the eBay Community. The campaign kicked off on Monday with a $1 million grant split evenly among First Book, Best Friends Animal Society and Oxfam. In addition, to encourage participation eBay Foundation will give an extra dollar to First Book for every person who donates.

Funds generated will support First Book’s to reach and provide brand new books and educational resources to tens of thousands more Recipient Groups nationwide.

New to U.S. :: The Drawbridge, London

Alice Waugh, Commissioning Editor of The Drawbridge, London, wrote recently to give us the heads up that their publication will be jumping the pond to make its way to the U.S. later this year. She writes:

“The Drawbridge is an independent quarterly magazine, established in 2006 with the aim of delivering wit, thought and reflection. It takes the form of a full-colour broadsheet newspaper. It has attracted written contributions from Isabel Allende, J.G. Ballard, John Berger, Hugo Chavez, Tishani Doshi, Terry Eagleton, Eric Hobsbawm, Christopher Ondaatje, DBC Pierre, David Rieff, Slavoj Zizek and many others, including a number of emerging writers, along with a wide array of top photography and drawing from renowned image-makers including Edward Burtynsky, Paul Fryer, Robert Polidori, David Shrigley and Joel Sternfeld. Each issue has a theme. Earlier topics include Failure, Freedom, Risk, and Memory. Our next issue, on Rage is published in May.”

We’ll look forward to seeing this one hit the stands!

Awards :: storySouth Million Writers Award

From Jason Sanford, editor, storySouth:

“The Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2007 have now been released. The preliminary judges picked 164 notable stories, more than in any of the awards from the previous four years. This growth appears to have come in selections from the many new online magazines which have popped up in the last year, proving that online literature is still in an amazing growth period.

“The MWA award for best overall online publication goes to Blackbird for having seven of their stories selected as notable stories of the year. The MWA for best publisher of novella-length fiction goes to Jim Baen’s Universe, while the award for best new online magazine or journal goes to Farrago’s Wainscot (with runner ups being Wheelhouse Magazine and Coyote Wild).”

The top ten stories will be released in late May, at which time public vote for best overall story will begin.

Alimentum Menu Poems Succeed a Second Year!

Dinner, and a Side of Poetry
by Desiree Cooper
April 26, 2008

From Weekend America: “Alimentum, a literary journal all about food, chose to celebrate the month with food poetry. For the second year in a row, they distributed a menu of poems to New York City restaurants and cafes. We visited some of the eateries to see what people thought about getting their meal with a side of verse.”

The audio includes interviews with a number of menu poem readers, some relating their own stories of poetry in their lives, some responding to the idea of menu poems, and some reading the poems from the menus. Several poems are available on the WA website, as well as images of the menu broadside. Lucky New Yokers! Well done Alimentum!

Ontario Review Retires after 34 Years

Posted on Crossing the Border: Joyce Carol Oates News and Opinion
March 14, 2008 by Randy Souther

“With the passing of its editor, Raymond J. Smith, Ontario Review itself will cease publication with the forthcoming Spring 2008 issue. Smith began Ontario Review in 1974 in Windsor, Ontario, with his wife Joyce Carol Oates as associate editor; the Review later moved with its editors to Princeton, NJ…” Read the rest here.

I’m an Author, He’s an Author, She’s an Author…

Wouldn’t you like to be an Author too?

Rachel Donadio’s essay in the Sunday New York Times Book Review, You’re an Author? Me Too! explores this very phenomenon – or is it pestilence – of book “publishing.” Beginning with what we all know by now – U.S.ers are reading less, yet, “In 2007, a whopping 400,000 books were published or distributed in the United States, up from 300,000 in 2006, according to the industry tracker Bowker, which attributed the sharp rise to the number of print-on-demand books and reprints of out-of-print titles.”

And at the same time our nation is reading less, there are more writers in the U.S. than at any other time in our history, and credentialed MFA programs kicking out an exponentially growing number of these. Additionally, Donadio notes that for as little as $3.50 a copy, “authors” can have their books printed and distributed through Amazon, and Borders is no in the fray, offering print packages starting at $300, with the “premium package,” which includes some actual editorial work, starting at $500.

While Donadio discusses the role of the writing programs as the “democratizer” of the talent pool, Gabriel Zaid, critic and author of “So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in the Age of Abundance,” says: “Everyone now can afford to preach in the desert.”

Good? Bad? Hard as writers, publishers – and readers – to be indifferent on this topic.

Read the full article here.

Jobs :: Various

The Scripps College Writing Program seeks two distinguished visiting writers to fill the Mary Routt Chair of Writing, one during the spring semester of 2009 and the other during the spring semester of 2010. Kimberly Drake, Director of the Writing Program, May 1.

John Carroll University Department of English announces a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing position, for one year with possible renewal for up to three years, depending upon need & funding. Rev. Dr. Francis X. Ryan, SJ, Chair, Department of English.

Seton Hall University English Department invites applications for a one-year, Visiting Professor position in Creative Writing specializing in Poetry to begin September 2008. May 12.

The Poetry Center of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will award a month-long poetry residency with housing. This residency is open to poets who have published no more than one book of poetry, not including self-published work. Submission deadline Friday, May 09, 2008.

CLMP Annual Lit Mag Marathon Weekend

CLMP’s 9th Annual Lit Mag Marathon Weekend
New York City
June 14-15

“The Magathon” Reading at NYPL
Date/Time: Saturday, June 14th (4 pm to 6:30 pm)
Location: NYPL main branch, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street
This annual marathon reading features 15-20 editors, reading short selections from recent issues. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity to bring our varied and vibrant literary publications to the beautiful New York Public Library.

9th Annual Literary Magazine Fair
Date/Time: Sunday, June 15th (12pm to 5pm)
Location: Housing Works Used Book Café, 126 Crosby Street

Awards & Readings :: Georgia Review in NYC

From David Ingle, Assistant Editor, The Georgia Review:

We’re headed up next week to attend the National Magazine Awards, where we’ve been named as a finalist in the General Excellence category for mags with a circulation of less that 100,000. Our litmag brethren Virginia Quarterly Review are also nominated in the same category, along with 3 other non-lit publications. The awards are Thursday, May 1st, at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

In conjunction with that, we’re putting on 3 great readings in NYC — two in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn — featuring a nice mix of well-known writers and newcomers, all of whom have published in GR. Here are the basics on those:

Monday, 4/28, a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Stephen Dunn and acclaimed nonfiction writer Barbara Hurd. The Dactyl Foundation, 64 Grand Street, 8pm. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by The Georgia Review, the University of Georgia Press, and W.W. Norton & Company.

Tuesday, 4/29, “A (Peach) Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Four Writers from the Pages of The Georgia Review,” featuring D. Foy, Rene Houtrides, Anna Solomon, and Craig Morgan Teicher. Music by Athens, Georgia’s own Brian Connell. Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn. 8pm. Free and open to the public.

Friday, 5/2, “The Writer’s Studio of New York Celebrates The Georgia Review” with readings by two-time National Book Critic’s Circle prize-winning poet Albert Goldbarth, Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Levine, and up-and-coming fiction writer Anna Solomon. Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, 7pm. $5 suggested donation.

Tip o’ the Pint

My thanks to those who have recently supported the NewPages beer fund. I am coming to the end of the school year, which means a) no more papers to read for three months; b) more time to blog; c) the need for more beer. In case you didn’t know already, the blog does run on beer, so if you like it (and you like other features on the site that are announced on the blog), don’t be afraid to show your appreciation by making a donation! Any amount is welcome. Sunday is beer and burger day at my favorite bar, so $1.50 will buy me a pint. I’ll take care of the tip. Cheers!

Awards :: Glimmmer Train Short Fiction Contest Winners

Glimmer Train has selected the three winning stories of the February Very Short Fiction competition! This competition is held twice a year for short stories under 3000 words in length:

First place: Cynthia Gregory of Concord, CA wins $1200 for “Melting at Both Ends.” Her story will be published in the Summer 2009 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Michael Schiavone of Gloucester, MA, wins $500 for “Ghost Pain.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

Third place: Linda Stansberry of Honeydew, CA, wins $300 for “Home for Good.”

The May Short Story Award for New Writers is now open. Authors are eligible whose fiction has not appeared in a publication with a circulation greater than 5000. Send stories up to 12,000 words using the online submissions system at www.glimmertrain.org.

Get with TED :: Amy Tan Did!

TED
Technology, Entertainment, Design
This week on TED.com, novelist Amy Tan takes the TED audience on a funny, thoughtful walk through her head, in search of the germs of creativity. Watch this master storyteller tell her own story – she sets fire to the TED Commandments in the first minute, and rolls from there. Also look for Brian Greene, a master storyteller in his own right, as he explains string theory to you (really!). And check out a talk from last week that is packed with insight and inspiration: Dr. Ernest Madu, talking about the creative tactics he uses to bring good health care to poor communities in Jamaica.

Homer on Display

The Antikenmuseum in Basel, Switzerland is currently housing an exhibit highlighting “Homer’s impact on art and culture.” In addition to a nine-meter-tall replica of the Trojan horse, a few installments noted in Hanns Neuerbourg’s AP article:

“On view are magnificent Greek and Roman amphorae and vases depicting dramatic scenes of Homer’s two epics…Coins, statuettes, fragments of text excerpts on Egyptian papyrus and other artifacts on view also stress the dominant effect of Homer’s epics on Western culture since antiquity.

“The paintings on display make up only a small fraction of the vast imagery influenced by the ancient poetry. They range from copies of Roman frescoes to canvases by German pop artist Sigmar Polke and by Cy Twombly, a key figure in American abstract expressionism. The catalogue lists many others from Rembrandt to Picasso.

“In a special room, visitors can see a 2006 video installation by American filmmaker Peter Rose, titled Odysseus on Ithaca. The 2004 movie Troy, starring Brad Pitt and Peter O’Toole, is loosely based on Homer’s epics.”

Read the full article here, and visit the museum’s site dedicated to the Homer Exhibit.

Fiction :: Amy Brill

Something So Nice for Nobody
by Amy Brill
Guernica
April 2008

Last year sucked for everybody, except maybe Jackie, who found true happiness with Carlene. He moved out just after Labor Day, leaving a bunch of stuff behind and promising to help me out with rent until I could figure things out. I’ll hold my breath for your help, I told him. And if you don’t come and get your crap out of here it’s all going in the dumpster, I swear. Then I slammed down the phone and went outside to smoke. My neighbor Ray was out on the stoop. He didn’t look quite like himself, either.

Everything all right, Ray? I called over, and when he looked back at me his eyes were filling up.

Mag and I lost a son today, he said. I went down my steps and crossed over to his side of the railing…

Read the rest on Guernica.

Jobs :: Various

The Humanities Division of Lewis-Clark State College seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts. April 30 (priority).

Grand Valley State University Visiting Professor, Department of Writing. Dan Royer, Chair, Department of Writing. May 1.

The Department of English at University of Central Oklahoma seeks a temporary, one-year appointment for a Poet in Residence. Teaching responsibilities include undergraduate & graduate poetry-writing courses. Dr. J. David Macey, Chairperson, Department of English. May 15.

The English Department at the University of Memphis is accepting applications for a one-year (possibly renewable) non-tenure track instructor/administrator. April 30.

Can “Serious” Lit Survive in China?

Literati: Serious literature marginalized in China
April 17, 2008
Posted on China View

The article begins: “Should literature address more social issues, or should it get closer to the writer’s own heart and focus on one’s own experiences?” and goes on to discuss the shift in literature, reporting and reading in Chinese culture.

“Xu Chunping, editor of Literature Journal, maintains that Chinese culture as a whole is moving in the direction of entertainment. There are new genres like “cellphone literature, online literature and movie fiction” that did not exist before. “Literature as we know it gets purer and contends with only the ultimate issues, and new literature tends to provide solace rather than soul-searching capabilities.” She faults the mainstream media for the decline. “Belles-lettres are shriveling to an elitist enclave,” she laments.”

Read the rest on China View.

Interview :: Ursula K. Le Guin

Breaking into the Spell
An interview with Ursula K. Le Guin
By Alexander Chee for Guernica
February 2008

Ursula LeGuin speaks from beyond the genre ghetto in about her new book Lavinia and the perils of writing against realism.

Chee writes in the introduction: “I was interested in finding the Le Guin whose insistence on a career as a woman of letters, in the broadest sense, has led her to become something of American literature’s pirate queen, living on the edge of the Pacific in a house with a view from her desk of Mt. St. Helen…On the eve of the novel’s release, Ursula K. Le Guin answers some questions about war, witches, realism and teaching herself to write as a woman.”

Read the interview on Guenica.

What is Going on in Arizona?!

Plan targets anti-Western lessons
Some fear loss of diversity in lawmaker’s education proposal
By Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic
April 17, 2008

Arizona public schools would be barred from any teachings considered counter to democracy or Western civilization under a proposal endorsed Wednesday by a legislative panel.

Additionally, the measure would prohibit students of the state’s universities and community colleges from forming groups based in whole or part on the race of their members, such as the Black Business Students Association at Arizona State University or Native Americans United at Northern Arizona University. Those groups would be forbidden from operating on campus.

The brainchild of Rep. Russell Pearce, the measure appeared as an amendment to Senate Bill 1108, which originally would have made minor changes to the state’s Homeland Security advisory councils. The House Appropriations Committee approved the new proposal on a 9-6 vote.

Read the rest here.

Festival :: New Directions 4.29-5.4

Festival of International Literature
“Public Lives/Private Lives “
April 29 – May 4, 2008
New York
A Celebration of World Literature: 170 writers, 51 countries, 82 events. Endless possibilities!

Please join New Directions authors and translators as well as Umberto Eco, Peter Esterhazy, Nuruddin Farah, Ian McEwan, Catherine Millet, Ma Jian, Mario Vargas Llosa, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Ondaatje, Annie Proulx, A.B. Yehoshua, and many more for six days of exciting literary exchange featuring conversations, panel discussions, readings, film screenings, a translation slam and a cabaret night! PEN World Voices festival brings together a stellar line-up of international and U.S. writers, from the most distinguished names to the freshest new voices, to mine the rich and timely theme: “Public Lives/Private Lives.” Where do we draw the lines between our private and public selves; how do we express identity in the face of cultural differences, political oppression, and war; and when must we tell private stories for the public good? Authors also talk about books that changed their life, writing sex, and tell old-fashioned stories with The Moth. Do not miss this unique celebration of international literature coming to venues across New York City and the satellite cities of Albany, Rochester and Boston. To view a complete schedule of events, go to: http://www.pen.org/festival.

Share Food Writings on Alimentum

Alimentum Journal, the only literary review all about food, invites you to share your food writings: “We’d love for you to post short pieces of your food thoughts on our new website Bulletin Board. We’re looking for menupoems and secret food confessions. 250 words tops. Post for the world to read (and possibly comment upon) and and for Alimentum Editors to peruse.”

Writers :: Take a Cartoon Caption Break

The Humor Times runs a monthly Cartoon Caption Contest. They provide the cartoon, you provide the caption. Winners receive a subscription to the magazine or you can opt for IMAX tickets to use in Sacramento. It’s worth a laugh to check out winners from the previous month, as well as good cross-genre writing practice!

New Journal :: Conclave

Conclave is an annual print journal that focuses on character-driven writing in short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and prose poems; also black and white photographs, and excerpts from plays: monologues, scenes, single acts, or one-act plays. Conclave seeks writing that centers around well-crafted characters—complex and authentic: like Leopold Bloom, Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Hamlet, Miss Havisham, Hannibal Lecter, Hester Prynne, and others.

Support Poetry in Schools

Special Tupelo Press Limited Edition Hardcovers Support Poetry in the Schools

Tupelo Press kicked off its Poetry in the Schools fundraising initiative with a series of limited edition hardcover books. The following recent releases are available in numbered, signed editions for $100. There are only 100 copies of each hardcover.

Dismal Rock by Davis McCombs
Psalm by Carol Ann Davis
Spill by Michael Chitwood

Inflorescence by Sarah Hannah is also available in a numbered limited edition hardcover (of 200) for $100.

Proceeds from the sales of these special releases go to support Tupelo’s Poetry in the Schools program, which will bring poets into grammar schools and high schools across the country to deliver the joy and wonder of poetry to a nation of school children who have suffered under tremendous cuts to their arts budgets.

You may order through the Tupelo Press website or by calling directly, 802-366-8185.

New Address :: Cadillac Cicatrix on the Move

From Benjamin Spencer, Executive Editor of Cadillac Cicatrix:

www.CADILLACCICATRIX.com is now www.CADILLACCICATRIX.org. This new address is live as of MARCH 29 2008. In honor of our new address, we are having a housewarming party. Designed around our second-annual April Tribute to Poetry, we will host 30 days of poetry and art, featuring 30 national poets and 5 NY photographers. Just look for the PoetryTribute icon on the home page.

If you are encouraged by our effort, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our submissions guidelines are available online and we welcome queries about potential projects – writing and art, video and sound, film and movies.

Jobs :: Various

Seton Hall University English Department one-year, Visiting Professor position in Creative Writing specializing in Poetry to begin September 2008. May 12, 2008.

SUNY Potsdam’s English and Communication Department is seeking applications for an Assistant Professor of English. This is a tenure-track position with primary responsibilities in teaching Creative Writing – Poetry. April 14, 2008.

Visiting Assistant Professor in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts Lewis-Clark State College. May 15 (priority April 30), 2008.

Take a Walk Down Library Lane

A recent exchange made me consider not only just how important libraries are now in my life, but how much they have been a part of my whole life. It got me to thinking about such things as my earliest visits to the library – and how I still remember getting my very first library card (I was patron #2952), summer book clubs, exploring the “Michigan Room” and discovering old copper photo negatives, graduating from the J-section of Laura Ingalls Wilder and “horsey books” to reading Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Melville’s Moby Dick in the “adult” stacks, and so much more. With the public library only four blocks from my childhood home, I spent a great deal of time there, year round, and later had one of my first paying jobs as a Library Page – shelving books, fixing them, putting the cards back in returned book pockets.

It’s no wonder I would end up living now only one block away from a library, but in a town that has struggled for support to keep it open. For one year, the library was completely shut down, voters having not passed a mileage vote to continue operational funding. The next year, the vote passed, 51% to 49%. A meager victory, but a victory nonetheless. Unfortunately, the library had to re-open under shortened hours and is not open when I have time to visit it. But this does not upset me. On the contrary, it makes me see all the more the point to an open library isn’t always about how it serves the individual, but what it provides to the community as a whole. An open library with limited hours is wholly more desirable than a closed library. Each day, it is helping create precious memories for many more new patrons who, I can only hope, will be the “Yes” votes of the future.

Residency :: Atlantic Center for the Arts 5.23

Atlantic Center for the Arts
2008 Master Artists-in-Residence Program
October 13 – November 2, 2008
Application Deadline: May 23, 2008

Since 1982, Atlantic Center’s residency program has provided artists from all artistic disciplines with spaces to live, work, and collaborate during three-week residencies. Located just four miles from the east coast beaches of central Florida, the pine and palmetto wooded environment contains award-winning studios that include a resource library, painting studio, sculpture studio, music studio, dance studio, black box theater, writer’s studio, and digital computer lab. Each residency session includes three master artists of different disciplines. The master artists each personally select a group of associates – talented, emerging artists – through an application process administered by ACA. During the residency, artists participate in informal sessions with their group, collaborate on projects, and work independently on their own projects. The relaxed atmosphere and unstructured program provide considerable time for artistic regeneration and creation. Atlantic Center for the Arts provides housing (private room/bath with work desk), weekday meals (provided by ACA chef) and 24 hour access to shared studio space. Financial Aid is available to qualified applicants.

Kid-Safe Space for Podcasts

Kid-Cast
This site invites kids to create their own podcasts as well as allowing adults to post kid-appropriate casts (and no doubt, the kids helped with the process). Each podcast is “age-rated” and reviewed before being posted. Some of the casts are adults reading stories or “lessons” for kids, while others created by kids include discussions of discrimination, global warming, and book reviews. It’s amazing to hear the professionalism of some of these kids. Check it out!

The Kid-Cast.com
“Kid-Cast.com is a site dedicated to helping kids get their message out to the world. Our goals aren’t to tell kids how or what they should Podcast, but to give them a place to do it. It’s a place we want adults (parents, guardians, and teachers) to know is a safe place for their kids to spend time creating their Podcasts to have them posted. We’re serious about kid’s and your safety, so we take as many precautions as we can to make this a healthy place for kid’s material to be posted. We don’t want to rule the world of podcasting, we want the kids to do it!”

Free Books Anyone?

17 Ways to Get Free Books
From the Frugal Panda Blog

“You can never have too many books, so we are delighted to share with you some ways to get them for free. From children’s books to technical books, there are numerous resources that offer literature for free. Some of the following sites offer actual printed books, while others feature electronic books (aka ‘ebooks’).”

A great list with descriptions of each resource. Thank FP!

C. D. Picks G. C. for Dorset Prize

From the Tupelo Press Newsletter: 2007 Dorset Prize Winner Announced

Tupelo Press is delighted to announce that C. D. Wright has selected G.C. Waldrep of Lewisburg, PA winner of the 2007 Dorset Prize for his outstanding manuscript Archicembalo. He will receive $10,000, and his book will be published in 2009 and distributed internationally by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Small Press Distribution, and Tupelo Press.

In addition to the Dorset Prize winner, Tupelo Press will offer publishing contracts to Marc Gaba of Sacred Heart, Philippines for his manuscript Have, and to Martha Zweig of Hardwick, VT for hers, Monkey Lightning. Our congratulations to G.C. Waldrep, Marc Gaba, Martha Zweig, and to all of the finalists.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who entered their work. Without your support of Tupelo Press, we simply could not do what we do.

For list of finalists, you can visit the Tupelo Press website.

Three Cartoons from One Neti Pot

Alright, so I had a sinus congestion for over three weeks, and it was getting painful. I didn’t want to take antibiotics, so I go to Dr. Google and search “nasal passages.” I want to see an image and identify where I might be having problems. Up pops an intriguing if not nearly revolting image of some bearded guy with thick, black-rimmed glasses shoving a neti pot a bit too far up his nose. It’s a YouTube link. How can I resist?

I’m not going to tell you what he does with his neti, suffice it to say, it’s not something I would ever do with mine! More to the point, the guy in the video is Drew, artist of the cartoons Toothpaste for Dinner and Married to the Sea, among others. His site also has a link to another now personal favorite of mine: Natalie Dee. Their comics are updated daily and can be added via application to your Facebook account.

natalie dee
nataliedee.com

Residencies :: Lynchberg College

Lynchburg College
Thornton Writer Residency

“Two 14 week residencies, including stipends of $12,000 each, at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia are awarded annually to a fiction writer for the Fall term and a poet for the Spring term. Creative nonfiction writers, screenwriters, playwrights, and mixed-genre writers will also be considered either term. The writer-in-residence will teach a three-credit writing workshop, present a public reading, and visit a small number of classes. The residency includes housing, some meals, and round trip travel expenses. To apply, applicants should submit a cover letter, a published book(returned upon completion of review), evidence of successful teaching, a curriculum vita, and names and contact information for three references by May 15th for the Fall term and July 15th for the Spring term. There is no entry fee.”

If there are questions, please call 434-544-8267. Send complete applications to Thornton Writer Residency, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lynchburg College, 1501 Lakeside Drive, Lynchburg, Virginia 24501. Attn: Ms. Patty Irwin.

See Your Poem in Dance

Dancing Poetry Festival
Artists Embassy International
September 27, 2008
Noon – 4:00 p.m.
San Francisco’s Florence Gould Theater
California Palace of the Legion of Honor Art Museum

The Dancing Poetry Festival and Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company are sponsored by Artists Embassy International, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting intercultural understanding and peace through the universal language of the arts, founded in 1951.

Each year the DP holds a poetry contest. The winners receive a cash prize as well as having their works performed at the DPF. Deadline: Pmk May 15 Previous winners poems and photos are on the DP site.

Poetry Across the U.S.

National Poetry Month brings us many wonderful resources. If you’re not familiar with the Poetry Map on Poets.org, check it out. Better still, make it a point to visit your state and help keep this map active and up to date:

“The National Poetry Map was launched during National Poetry Month in 2003 in the hopes of fostering local poetry communities. Relaunched in 2007, the Map has been updated with more photos, links, and dynamic content. You can also make suggestions for features and additions to state pages by sending an email to [email protected].”

Jobs :: Various

New York Post seeking a motivated journalist to help edit and coordinate book reviews and commentary pieces as well as writing short essays. Experience as a reporter (politics especially) required. E-mail a short cover letter and resume under the subject line “Editing job” to [email protected]; no phone calls please. May 6, 2008

University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Creative Writing is seeking a Visiting Assistant Professor specializing in Creative Nonfiction for academic year 2008-09. Apply online by April 25, 2008.

McNeese State University Associate Professor of English in the Department of English and Foreign Languages: This is a full-time, 9 month, tenure-track, unclassified appointment. The appointment begins in August 2008. Dr. Jacob Blevins, Search Chair. April 18, 2008.

Director, The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Director, Writing Center, Casper College, Wyoming. April 22, 2008.

Director, Writing Center, Loras College, Iowa.

Spindle Award :: Liz Dolan

Spindle is proud to announce that Liz Dolan’s poem, “The House that Ruth Built”, has been chosen as the winner of the 2008 “Play Ball” writing contest by judges Guy LeCharles Gonzalez and Fish Vargas.

A Pushcart Prize nominee in poetry, fiction and non-fiction, Liz Dolan was born, braised and bronzed in The Bronx.

Ms. Dolan will receive a $50 honorarium and her poem will be featured in the “Play Ball” issue which will be published on Tuesday, April 8th at www.spindlezine.com, along with 5 honorable mentions from the contest and a selection of new and previously published content.

Spindle congratulates Ms. Dolan for her excellent work and thanks all of the contributors who entered the contest.

Internship :: Floricanto Press

Floricanto Press offers university students online editing internships. These are unpaid internships for credits on the title page upon publication as full editor or co-editor of the titles under their purview. This internship involves co-editing manuscripts accepted for publication, working closely with our editors and authors, preparing compelling descriptions for the review media, finalizing manuscripts for printing. This opportunity provides the prospective intern with the opportunity to build from campus–without ever setting foot on our premises or commuting–a solid resume in preparation for graduate school, professional schools, or doctoral programs. Internships are 10 months, Sept. – June.

New Journal :: LBJ

The LBJ: Avian Life, Literary Arts

“The LBJ is a biannual publication dedicated to birds and creative writing. Its title is drawn from the acronym for “little brown job,” used by birders to describe those difficult-to-identify species, such as many sparrows. While there are popular magazines (Audubon), scientific journals (The Auk), and other newsletters about birds, The LBJ is a uniquely literary venue, publishing new creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, narrative scholarship, and literary journalism of the feathered variety. In its pages, The LBJ hopes to encourage an appreciation and practice of environmental literature, and increasing collaboration between scientists, conservationists, and artists. It seeks innovative creative writing and literary reportage—the best writing about birds to be found.”

Submissions Deadline for inaugural Summer 2008 Issue: May 15
The Sparrow Poetry and Prose Prize: Deadline Pmk May 15 (date inclusive)