From the newest issue of In These Times, “Kenya’s Indy Media” by Michelle: Chen reports on how bloggers, cartoonists and guerrilla radio activists rock the East African mediascape.

“Some youth are amplifying their voices through a video collective called Slum-TV, led by Kenya-based media activists. By documenting everyday struggles in Mathare—a densely populated slum in the capital Nairobi—the project enables young people to produce homegrown media and, through local public screenings, fosters community dialogue. Following the outbreak of the post-election violence, Slum-TV has focused on current recovery efforts that bring together activists from different ethnic groups…As an ear to the ground in their communities, grassroots media activists have sometimes been ahead of the news.”

Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts
Stanford Humanities Center

The Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts (SiCa) and the Stanford Humanities Center intend to offer one residential fellowship at Stanford for academic year 2008-09 to a practitioner who is also a writer, scholar, or critic pursuing a research project in the arts. This fellow will be the first in a pilot fellowship program bringing together the humanities and arts in a research and creative environment on Stanford campus.

The fellowship recipient will be in residence at the Stanford Humanities Center and will be part of an intellectual community of about 25 fellows working on projects in history, literature, philosophy, and other humanities fields. The fellow will be affiliated with one of the three SiCa centers: The Center for Arts, Science and Technology, The Center for Global Arts, and the Center for Humanities and the Arts.

This fellowship seeks to bridge the worlds of art practice, on the one hand, and writing and thinking about art, on the other. The successful applicant will be both an arts practitioner and a scholar or critic interested in entering into dialogue with scholars in a wide range of humanities disciplines.

Winners of the Glimmer Train Family Matters competition, a quarterly competition open to all writers, word count range 500-12,000, on the subject of family. Next deadline: April 30

First place: Carmiel Banasky of New York City wins $1200 for “Save.” Her story will be published in the Summer 2009 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Paul Michel of Seattle wins $500 for “Not the King of Prussia.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

Third place: Elizabeth Kadetsky of New York City wins $300 for “Dermagraphia.”

Rethinking the University: Labor, Knowledge, Value
April 11th – April 13th, 2008
A Conference at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

This conference has been collectively organized by graduate students to bring together thinkers from across the campus community and national academic community to address the “crisis” of the university as it had continually been transformed by neoliberal forces. The recent AFSCME strike at the University of Minnesota and other academic labor struggles continue to expose the university in crisis, yet we need to further develop both our intellectual and organizational capacities to effectively address these crises.

This conference will focus generally on questions of neoliberalization and corporatization of higher education and the casualization of academic labor, and questions of alternatives, including campus labor organizing, radical pedagogy, and other strategies of resistance.

Please see the conference program for more information.

Please note that this is a FREE and OPEN conference. Funding has been generously provided by many sponsors.

Japanese poetry endures in South Korea
International Herald Tribune
By Choe Sang-Hun
March 25, 2008

SEOUL: When Son Ho Yun published her poetry, South Korean writers denounced her as unpatriotic.

When Rhee Han Soo wrote his poems, he avoided discussing them with friends because he was certain he would get the same negative response.

Although they never met, Son and Rhee shared a passion for more than six decades: They each wrote traditional Japanese poetry in South Korea, where animosities rooted in Japan’s colonial rule still run deep and people of their generation considered such literary pursuits little short of sacrilegious.

“Here, people look up to you if you write poetry in English and publish it in America or England,” said Rhee, an 82-year-old retired dentist. “But if you write Japanese poems, they despise you or dismiss you as a fool.”

Read the rest here.

Grinnell College 2-year leave replacement position in English, with possible renewal for a third year, with a specialty in creative writing (fiction and possibly non-fiction) and the ability to teach departmental literature courses. Professor Erik Simpson, Chair, Department of English.

Central State University, Wilberforce, OH, Department of Humanities seeks to fill a full-time (tenure track) position in English at the assistant professor level, with a demonstrated commitment to helping students attain mastery of college composition and creative writing.

Mt. San Jacinto Community College District seeks a Learning Center Coordinator to coordinate and oversee activities in the Learning Center, a facility that houses a Writing Center, Learning Center, and Math Center. April 25

Director Borough of Manhattan Community College‘s Writing Center.

James Madison University seeks candidates for a 10-month full-time instructional faculty appointment in the University Writing Center (an element of Learning Resource Centers).

The Creative Writing Program at Princeton University is seeking distinguished writers for openings in fiction, poetry, translation, autobiography/biography. (PT/Lecturer/BA).

A Winning Argument
Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp’s “War Made Easy”
Reviewed by Michael Joshua Rowin
March 9, 2008

“Though the early to mid-aughts documentary boom has recently died down, it’s still difficult to believe there hasn’t been a serious nonfiction indictment of the collusion between the government and the media in selling the invasion of Iraq to the American public. This accounts for a somewhat shameful omission in the ever-growing Iraq War doc catalogue–the sheer amount of lies, distortions, and fear-mongering titillations on display in a typical CNN or Fox News broadcast circa 2002 (and today) would offer enough evidence on the sorry state of our national media for a book-length study, let alone a feature film. Columnist, critic, and antiwar notable Norman Solomon has now, remarkably, provided both: his 2005 volume “War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” has been adapted into an explosive, compact 73-minute documentary by filmmakers Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp. If a few years ago Solomon was a lonely voice in the wilderness, with this film he has a major stage from which to educate a potentially greater audience…”

Read the rest on indieWIRE.

Lambda Literary Awards

Over 80 judges – writers, journalists, booksellers, librarians, professors – chose 107 finalists in 21 categories, and the winners will be announced at the 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, Thursday, May 29, in West Hollywood, CA.

The complete list of finalists.

The complete list of nominated books.

Lambda Literary Foundation, the country’s leading organization for LGBT literature. Our mission is to celebrate LGBT literature and provide resources for writers, readers, booksellers, publishers, and librarians – the whole literary community.

Completely lifted from Jason Sanford’s blog:

Final days for Million Writers Award nominations
We’re nearing the deadline for reader and editor nominations for the 2008 Million Writers Award for best online short story. Remember, nominations need to be submitted by the end of the day on March 31st. Editor nominations can be made here, while reader nominations go on this page. As always, a big thanks goes to the Edit Red Writing Community for sponsoring the contest, which means there is a $300 prize for the overall winner.

On March 25, 2008, Bob Harris, on New York Times “Paper Cuts: A Blog About Books” posted his contribution, “Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing.”

Before listing his words and explaining their “deadliness” he comments: “Like all professions book reviewing has a lingo. Out of laziness, haste or a misguided effort to sound ‘literary,’ reviewers use some words with startling predictability. Each of these seven entries is a perfectly good word (well, maybe not eschew), but they crop up in book reviews with wearying regularity. To little avail, admonitions abound. ‘The best critics,’ Follett writes, ‘are those who use the plainest words and who make their taste rational by describing actions rather than by reporting or imputing feelings.'”

Better still, in the five days the post has been available, over 100 readers have commented with their own contributions to the list. Some offer explanations, some don’t need to. It’s a rollicking good read. Oh, wait, that’s on the list…

Poetry Foundation Director, Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute.

Kansas State University Department of English invites applications for a visiting assistant professor serving as a one-year replacement in fiction writing beginning August 10, 2008. Karin Westman, Head, Eng. Dept. April 14.

University of Missouri – St. Louis. The MFA Program at the University of Missouri St. Louis seeks a distinguished visiting fiction writer for the spring semester of 2009. Mary Troy, MFA Program Director. April 11.

Assistant Professor in Creative Writing and Contemporary Fiction and Theory
Institution: Pace University (Pleasantville, NY). April 15.

Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Hollins University, one-year leave replacement position for a writer with book publication in fiction or creative nonfiction and some publication in a second genre (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction), to teach multi-genre creative writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as possible literature courses. Ph.D. or creative writing master’s with scholarly content required. Open until filled.

Assistant Professors of English: Creative Writing-Fiction; Creative Writing-Fiction/Nonfiction, plus Composition; Creative Writing-Poetry. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Open until filled.

Assistant Professor of English, Central State University, Ohio, teach creative w, prose (fiction and creative nonfiction), as well as composition. Open until filled.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing -Fiction/Nonfiction/Composition. Eureka College, Illinois. Open until filled.

Assistant professor or instructor, one-year term position; specialty in journalism; M.A. Department fo English, Northern Michigan University. May 2.

OUTFEST
The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
July 10 – 21, 2008

“More than just a FILM FESTIVAL, it’s a full-on HAPPENING.” – Los Angeles Times

Outfest is the oldest continuous film festival in Southern California. Since its founding in 1982, Outfest has presented more than 4,200 films and videos for audiences of over half a million people.

The twentieth anniversary reissue of one of my graduate class texts has brought a surge of new discussion on an issue that never really quite found a quiet place for itself. Recently reviewed in The Nation (March 11, 2008), William Deresiewicz writes:

“Graff’s new preface reaffirms his belief that the answer to the mutual isolation of competing critical schools is to ‘teach the conflicts,’ but it doesn’t tell us what’s happened in the past twenty years (which happen to be the twenty years since I decided to go to graduate school). Broadly speaking, the past two decades have seen a move back toward historicism from the purely rhetorical realms of deconstruction: postcolonialism, New Historicism, cultural studies, history of the book. But the uniqueness of Graff’s study was its attempt to offer, in the words of its subtitle, an ‘institutional history,’ not merely a chronology of intellectual trends. What’s been going on there, at the more fundamental level of institutional structure and practice?”

Two points he mentions which make the commentary worth a look: “the profession’s intellectual agenda is being set by teenagers” and “the real story of academic literary criticism today is that the profession is, however slowly, dying.”

Graff, Round Two – Ding! Ding!

28th Annual
Napa Valley Writers’ Conference
July 27 – August 1, 2008

This year’s conference features fiction writers Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Ehud Havazelet, and Ann Packera, and poets Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Brenda Hillman, and Claudia Rankine, offering workshops, readings and lectures, all with the goal of helping writers develop their craft.

Postgraduate Writers’ Conference
Vermont College of Fine Arts
August 8-14, 2008

The annual Vermont College of Fine Arts of Union Institute & University’s Postgraduate Writers’ Conference is open to all experienced writers, with or without graduate degrees. The conference emphasizes process and craft through its unique program that includes intimate workshops limited to 5-7 participants, individual consultations with faculty workshop leaders, faculty and participant readings, issues forums and master classes, all in a community of writers who share meals, ideas, and social activities in scenic Vermont. Workshop manuscripts are sent out to all workshop participants in advance.

The Poetry Center of Chicago
Summer Residency

One poet will be awarded 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. In addition to housing, the Poet will receive a $1,000 stipend. The Poet is responsible for his/her own travel and meal expenses.

Submission deadline Friday, May 09, 2008. Applications and supporting materials must be received in office by 6 pm on Friday, May 09, 2008. Download application here.

Almonds
by Armando T. Zuniga
Featured poet in the inaugural issue of The Straitjackets

First we shake the trees
and almonds fall from the sky,
like hundreds of tan little hearts.
Kneeling down,
beneath the shade of the young tree,
I pick up earth and nuts from the ground,
carry good and bad in the palm of my hand,
foreman’s eyes peer upon me punitively.
I don’t want to do this forever .
Shaking and picking.
So early in the morning.
Within us workers,
tan, falling to the ground, good and bad,
there is a heart and feeling,
not to be shared beneath the trees,
beneath the foreman’s eyes,
until we pick ourselves up from the ground.

The Straitjackets publishes short stories, essays, political commentary, personal memoirs, poetry, book excerpts, etc. Next issue: Works By or About Women. Taking submissions until April 1.

Storyscape Journal‘s first issue hit the screen in February. Divided into the following categories: Truth; Untruth; We Don’t know and They Won’t Tell Us; and Stories without Words. Under “We Don’t Know” are two interesting bits – one a “found” story and the other an “overheard” story, and under “Stories without Words,” I found “The Blues” by Mike Lewis to be the most storyish image of them all. Although, Cameron McPherson’s environmentally unfriendly but intriguing video entry is probably the closest to Storyscape’s personal-ad style call for submissions: “Looking for slim blond straight-acting 18-24 year old hunk into bran muffins and bubble wrap.” I said closest, not exact. You have to see it for yourself.

Goldfarb Family Fellowship for Nonfiction Writers
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

A fully funded two-week residency to enable a nonfiction writer to concentrate solely on his or her creative work. This sponsored fellowship is provided through the generosity of former VCCA Board member Ronald Goldfarb, author and literary agent and is offered each year to one nonfiction writer during the fall scheduling period (October through January). Writers will be provided a private bedroom, separate studio, and three prepared meals a day. The application process is the same as the regular VCCA application process. Deadline May 15.

CCCC is seeking a new editor of College Composition and Communication. The term of the present editor will end in December 2009. Interested persons should send a letter of application to be received no later than June 2, 2008.

Letters should be accompanied by (1) a vita, (2) one published writing sample, and (3) a statement of vision, to include any suggestions for changing the journal as well as features of the journal to be continued. Do not send books, monographs, or other materials which cannot be easily copied for the Search Committee. Applicants are urged to consult with administrators on the question of time, resources, and other services that may be required. NCTE staff members are available to provide advice and assistance to all potential applicants in approaching administrators about institutional support and in explaining NCTE’s support for editors. The applicant appointed by the CCCC Executive Committee in November 2008 will effect a transition in 2009, preparing for his or her first issue in February 2010. The appointment term is five years. Applications or requests for information should be addressed to Kurt Austin, CCC Editor Search Committee, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096; (217) 328-3870, extension 3619; [email protected].

Glass: A Journal of Poetry
“Poetry that enacts the artistic and creative purity of glass.”
Volume One Issue One
March 1, 2008

Featuring Rane Arroyo, Anne Baldo, Tom Carson, Lisa Fay Coutley, Jeff Crouch, Lightsey Darst, Taylor Graham, John Grey, Peter Gunn, Adam Houle, Joseph Hutchison, Jackson Lassiter, Frederick Lord, David McCoy, Ryan McLellan, Amanda McQuade, Sally O’Quinn, Adam Penna, Kenneth Pobo, Joseph Reich, Celeste Snowber, Ray Succre, Daria Tavana, Allison Tobey, Carine Topal, Davide Trame, JR Walsh, Lenore Weiss, and Martin Willitts, Jr.

Glassis published three times a year, on the first of March, June, and December, and accepts submissions between September and May.

Second Annual Conversations and Connections
April 5, 2008
Washington, DC
Keynote: Author Mary Gaitskill

Get the connections and information you need to take your writing — and publishing —to the next level. Panelists in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children, making connections, using the web, marketing, and everything in between. Over 30 literary magazines represented. $45 registration fee includes the full day conference, plus face-to-face “speed dating” with literary magazine editors, a subscription to the lit mag of your choice, and a book by featured speakers.

The Malahat Review
2008 P. K. Page Founders’ Award for Poetry

Jeff Latosik of Toronto has won the P. K. Page Founders’ Award for Poetry for his poem “Cactus Love” which appeared in the Winter 2007 issue of The Malahat Review. Jeff Latosik’s poem was chosen by Gary Geddes.

The American Poetry Review announced the 2008 Honickman First Book Prize in Poetry winner: Matthew Dickman for his work All American Poem , selected by Tony Hoagland.

The Frost Place
A nonprofit educational center for poetry and the arts based at Robert Frost’s old homestead, which is owned by the town of Franconia, New Hampshire, offers an annual residency and numerous event throughout the year, including:

Frost Day
July 6, 2008, 2:00 pm

30th Anniversary
Festival and Conference of Poetry
July 27 – August 2, 2008

Young Poets Conference
April 25 – 27, 2008

Conference on Poetry and Teaching
June 30 – July 4, 2008

Frost Place Seminar
August 3 – 8, 2008

Harvard University Department of English & American Literature & Language is seeking a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer on Poetry and a Lecturer on Literary Nonfiction. James Engell, Chair, Department of English & American Literature & Language. March 24

The School of Arts & Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas invites applications for a tenure-track advanced Assistant or Associate Professor of Literary Studies: Creative Writing. Specialization in the following areas is desired: prose fiction, playwriting, &/or screenwriting. March 25

Bucknell University invites applications for a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor in Creative Writing (Fiction). Open until filled.

Houston Baptist University seeks Professor, Creative Writing (fiction, non-fiction, and freshman composition).

A look at L.A.’s independent bookstore scene
LA Times
March 9, 2008

Despite the pending demise of Dutton’s, special bookstores remain. Writers describe their favorites:

“Independent bookstores are not just treasure troves for writers and readers because of the shelves filled with books that may be out of print or published by small presses, like Milkweed; they are the literary writer’s champion and hand-seller and friend. The independent bookstores around the nation where I go to read now on a book tour are oases of knowledge and goodwill, with owners and staff who know my work and the work of writers I admire. They are great places to give readings, because of their loyal customers and their quirky environments. (In fact, when I read at Elliott Bay in Seattle, many years ago, it was the first time I’d ever seen coffee in a bookstore, and look how that works now.)” — Susan Straight

Read more from Susan Straight as well as Janet Fitch, Marisa Silver, Chris Abani, T. Jefferson Parker, Eric Lax, and Yxta Maya Murray on LA Times.