News Around the Net

The "go-to" guy for inventive author websites.

The print version Washington Post Book World goes kaput. 

Self-publishing flourishes: "The point may soon come when there are more people who want to write books than there are people who want to read them."

Science fiction and fantasy writer extraordinaire, Neil Gaiman, shifts gears and wins the Newberry.

Washington teacher proclaims Twain, Lee, and Steinbeck are irrelevant in the age of Obama.

Good news for publishing: Orchises Press still going.

Sebastian Barry wins the 2008 Costa Prize.

Dark Horse and Jane Yolen feeling out the market for girls' comics.

Editors predict what we'll be reading in 2009.

Website of the Week - From the Fishouse

From the Fishouse is an audio archive showcasing emerging poets ("emerging" defined as poets with fewer than two books of poetry) reading their poetry and talking about writing. The goal is to give up-and-coming poets a wider audience, to provide the public with greater access to authors reading their own work, and to provide an educational resource to students and teachers of contemporary poetry. Check out their About page for more about their history, including where the fishy name comes from.

HFR is proud to see so many of our contributors from past issues featured on this very cool website, including Paul Guest, Ilya Kaminsky, Kazim Ali, Michael McGriff and Maria Hummel. Patrick Donnelly appears in our current issue. Listen to Elizabyth Hiscox and Oliver de la Paz, and then check out their printed work in our forthcoming issue, #44.

So You Want A Book Deal?

Michael Wiegers is looking for a reader's sensibility. That was his message to his audience of aspiring writers at Arizona State University on Monday. He spoke about choosing books for publication and his role as Executive Editor at Copper Canyon Press. Wiegers appeared casual at first, dressed in faded jeans and an old oxford shirt. But when he began to talk about publishing, he became animated, rummaging in stacks of books, papers, galleys and cover mock-ups.

Copper Canyon Press was founded 37 years ago as a letterpress operation. Later, says Wiegers, they moved to offset printing because more collectors than readers were buying books, but kept the approach of of care, economy, and respect for the written word the same. It has become one of the press's priorities to find new ways to get their books out into the world, into the hands of excited readers and lovers of poetry.

Writers looking to be published should consider small presses, he said. Small presses give more care and attention to writers. They can also do things that large commercial presses cannot. Wiegers talked about how the poet W.S. Merwin had come to Copper Canyon because his publisher was letting his back catalog go out of print. Non-profit publishers can keep inventory without being taxed on it, so they were able to handle the poet's catalog more to his satisfaction. Publishing (and selling) the work of renowned poets like Merwin, Ted Kooser and Pablo Neruda enables Copper Canyon to publish the work of lesser known and emerging writers.

As a writer looking to submit your manuscript, research can be key. Working with a small press means that only one or two people will be reading your work, so it's important to read the work of small presses to know what they publish and what kind of tone and voice are present in their catalog. You can check out Copper Canyon's online catalog here.

Publishers get connected to writers in many ways, through word-of-mouth, contests, submissions, research. It is how the editor connects with the work that really matters, says Wiegers. He described the excitement of finding a great book in the piles of manuscripts scattered around his office, the joy in making the phone call to a debut author.

Look for Copper Canyon to pop up again in the next month or so as we begin to highlight some of our favorite small presses.

HFR in Literary Death Match

For those of you attending this year's AWP conference in the Windy City: have we got a night of fun for you! Hayden's Ferry Review will be participating in the first ever Chicago-based Literary Death Match, an ongoing event (usually in New York or San Francisco) sponsored by Opium Magazine that regularly turns lit mags into friendly combatants. This year, HFR goes up against The Southeast Review, Hobart, Juked, Quick Fiction and the Dollar Store Reading Series.

A writer nominated by each journal will perform his/her most electric writing (for five minutes) before a huge audience and a panel of three all-star judges including Kevin Guilfoile (author of Cast of Shadows), Matt Herlihy (founder of Sweet Fancy Moses) and Mark Bazer ("The Interview Show"). After a pair of readings, the judges take turns spouting affectionate, off-the-wall commentary about each story, each focusing on one of the three categories: literary merit, performance, and intangibles. They then select their favorite two writers to advance to the finals.

For the finale, we trade in the show's literary sensibility for an absurdly comical climax to decide who takes home the Literary Death Match crown. Think of a Laser Tag Duel or a blindfolded money-grab where each bill features the face of literary giants like JD Salinger, Emily Dickinson and Truman Capote. It may sound like a circus--and that's half the point. Opium and the Literary Death Match have long been passionate about inspecting new and innovative ways to present text on the page and off of it.

HFR's reader is Gwendolyn Knapp, whose essay "Instead of the Rat Pack" appeared in issue #40, and who has promised to "bring it." You should bring "it" (your "self"), too.

What: Literary Death Match!
When: Wednesday, February 11, 6:15 (doors at 6:00)
Where: The Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia Ave., Chicago, IL
Cost: $5 (another $5 scores you the Opium Print of your choice--a $10 cover price)

A John Updike Remembrance

John Updike, author and chronicler of America in the twentieth century has died. An obiturary is online now at the New York Times.

In issue #3 of Hayden's Ferry Review (dated spring of 1988) Updike was interviewed by Dean Stover and T.M. McNally. When asked how he felt about how critics viewed his work, he replied this way:

"I've led in some ways a sheltered life. I've not been wounded in Italy like Hemingway and I've never fought marlin at sea. I'm a product of the nearly forty years of cold war. So naturally I've written about domestic, rather peacable matters, while trying always to elicit the violence and tension that does exist beneath the surface of even the most peace-seeming life. That is, I think I see human life as basically difficult and paradoxical. Just being a human animal puts us into a paradoxical and somewhat painful situation: we are a death forseeing animal and an animal of mental appetite; we have a Faustian side always wanting more or something else.

Anyway, I've never felt myself trivial. It's up to other people, I suppose, to see how important or relevant what I deliver is. Each writer has to sing his own song, has to deliver what struck him as worth telling."

He leaves behind a wealth of novels including the Rabbit series (Rabbit Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich, and Rabbit at Rest), books of poetry, criticism, and hundreds of short stories, a form that he practiced to mastery.

He will be missed.

Publishing Institutes and Certificate Programs

For those of us interesting in pursuing an editing career, whether we’re fresh out of college or looking for a career change, the large quantity of knowledge that you must have and the numerous skills you must posses in order to succeed in the field can seem daunting. Luckily there is a solution, albeit a relatively costly one, in the form of publishing institutes offered by first-rate universities. These programs often take place over the summer and vary from four to six weeks, and they offer an intense crash course in nearly everything you’ll need to know about publishing. As the website for the Columbia Publishing Course makes clear, these institutes provide the amount of information in just a few weeks that would take you a year or so on the job to accumulate.

These institutes are mostly geared to college students who have just graduated with their BA degrees, although adults already in the workplace are welcome to apply to some as well. Please note that the information below is a brief overview of the program, so please refer to the website for more detailed information. Also note that, while these Institutes are among the most popular, there are many more excellent programs available.

The University of Denver Publishing Institute
Current program dates: 07/12/09 – 08/07/09

About blurb from the website: “The Publishing Institute is an intensive, full-time, four-week, graduate-level course that devotes itself to all aspects of book publishing. The Institute offers a wealth of workshops and teaching sessions in editing, marketing, and production, conducted by leading experts from all areas of publishing. During the final week, the Institute provides career counseling sessions to assist students in finding positions in publishing.”

Application process: An application packet must consist of college transcripts, resume, personal statement, and at least two letters of recommendation. There is a non-refundable application fee of $50.00. Current deadline: March 23, 2009

Cost: $4275 for 2009

Housing: students will be placed in double occupancy rooms in the dorms on campus close to the lecture hall where the workshops will take place. Four students will be in a two bedroom suite with a shared kitchen and bath. The cost is approximately $1015 per student. You make cook in the room, but you must provide your own cooking and eating utensils.

Meals: There is a weekday luncheon option for $175 and a weekday three-meal-a-day plan for $455.

Financial aid: There is a small scholarship fund available, but you must present a statement of financial need, which may include documents to best illustrate your need. Federally funded aid is not available due to the short length of the course. Students are encouraged to obtain a direct-to-consumer loan if they require such aid.

Contact information (they will send you an information packet about the Publishing Institute if you are interested):
The Publishing Institute
University of Denver
2000 E Asbury Ave
Denver, Colorado 80208
Office: 303.871.2570
FAX: 303.871.2501
E-mail: pi-info@du.edu


Summer Publishing Institute at New York University – School of Continuing & Professional Studies
Current program dates: 05/31/09 – 07/10/09

About blurb from the website: “This highly regarded program immerses students in an intense, six-week study of book, magazine, and digital publishing. Combining workshops, strategy sessions, and presentations by some of the leading figures in publishing, this program introduces students to the editorial, marketing, creative, business, sales, and multimedia aspects of the industry.”

Application process: The application packet must include a completed application, two letters of recommendation, school transcripts, a resume/curriculum vitae, and a personal statement. There is a non-refundable application fee of $45.00. Current deadline: March 30, 2009

Cost: $4900 (exclusive of housing fee)

Housing: Housing fees are approximately $275 per week depending on location.

Meals: No meal plans provided

Financial aid: There is no financial aid available for this program

Contact information: An informational brochure is available online as a PDF download. E-mail your questions to pub.center@nyu.edu

Columbia Publishing Course at Columbia University
Current program dates: 06/14/09 – 07/24/09

About blurb from the website: “For almost sixty years, the course has been training young men and women for careers as editors, literary agents, publishers, designers, publicists, and more. Graduates can be found in every kind of job, at major magazines and publishing houses across the nation.

If you are considering a career in book, magazine, or electronic publishing, the Columbia Publishing Course will give you the tools and the training you need to succeed.”

Application process: The application packet must include a completed application form, a two-page personal statement, two letters of recommendation, and a certified college transcript. There is a $50.00 application fee. Current deadline: March 23, 2009

Cost: Tuition and Workshops: $4,400
Room and board: $2,590

Financial aid: Students that can demonstrate financial need can apply for scholarships. No other financial aid is available.

Contact information: An informational brochure is available online as a PDF download. Email the CPC at publishing@jrn.columbia.edu or you can contact director Lindy Hess at lah129@columbia.edu or assistant director Susan Caplan at sc2719@columbia.edu.

Address:
Columbia Publishing Course
The Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University
2950 Broadway, MC 3801
New York, NY 10027
Tel. [212] 854-1898

Editing Certificate Program – University of Chicago Graham School
Current program dates: 06/29/09 – 07/27/09
*** Note that these dates are for the summer program. There are several additional courses in editing and publishing that are available during the traditional Fall, Winter, or Spring semester dates.

About blurb from the website: “The Certificate in Editing is a focused sequence of courses designed to prepare the editor for the profession today. In addition to basic, intermediate, and advanced editing, the certificate curriculum offers students courses on the various new technologies that dramatically affect editing, from editing electronically to preparing text for the Internet.”

Cost: $925 for the Basic Manuscript Editing course

Financial aid: There is a 10% seminar discount per person if three or more people from the same organization register. Student loans are available.

Housing: All students are responsible for securing their own accommodations.

Contact information: E-mail questions about the program to s-medlock@uchicago.edu

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists

On Saturday night, The National Book Critics Circle announced 2008's finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. The fiction and poetry finalists are as follows:

Fiction

Roberto Bolaño, 2666, FSG
Marilynne Robinson, Home, FSG
Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project, Riverhead
M. Glenn Talyor, The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, West Virginia University Press
Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kittredge, Random House

Poetry
August Kleinzahler, Sleeping It Off in Rapid City, FSG
Juan Felipe Herrera, Half the World in Light, University of Arizona Press
Devin Johnston, Sources, Turtle Point Press
Pierre Martory, trans. by John Ashbery, The Landscapist, Sheep Meadow Press
Brenda Shaughnessy, Human Dark with Sugar, Copper Canyon Press

So, What's There to Do in Phoenix? (Lit-Wise)

From handwriting to book-in-hand: A tour of how the contemporary book is published. Michael Wiegers, Executive Editor of Copper Canyon Press, will be giving a unique talk on Monday, January 26 at 2:30 in the Language & Literature Building (Room 316) on ASU's main campus. It is free and open to the public. The talk he will be giving comes straight from the trenches—he is a first rate, first line literary editor hard at work in contemporary letters. He is the editor many writers, at least metaphorically, will be facing as they go out into the field. Here is a chance to listen to and ask questions of the voice on the other end of that submission.

Among the collections he has edited are award winning books by poets such as David Bottoms, CD Wright, W.S. Merwin, Ruth Stone, Ted Kooser, Arthur Sze, Norman Dubie, and Alberto Ríos as well as major works in translation and books by emerging authors. He serves as the poetry editor for Narrative Magazine, a web-based international literary journal. He is the editor of two anthologies, This Art and The Poet’s Child, and is co-editor, with Mónica de la Torre, of Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry. His book and magazine publication credits includes Connecting Lines: New Mexican Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Five Points, The Great River Review, and the Washington Post. He lives in Port Townsend, WA.

News Around the Net

BookExpo Canada may be cancelled this year, due to lack of interest.

Washington Post may be ceasing its Sunday extra Book World.

Irvine Welsh is auctioning off a part in his upcoming prequel to Trainspotting.

Narnia's White Witch and Neverland's Captain Hook have been voted the scariest villains in children's literature.

The Manchester Guardian has assumed the daunting task of listing the 1000 novels everyone must read.

Mystery writer Jack Higgins celebrates 50 years of writing. Don't we all wish we could be that lucky?

Virginia Woolf still has something to say on the art of reading.

Check-out girl's memoir a best-seller.

Salman Rushdie reflects on fatwa.

Writing Contest for Study Abroad

The University of New Orleans, the pioneer in writing programs abroad, is pleased to announce the fifth annual writing contest for study-abroad, Summer, 2009. This year the contest is co-sponsored by The Normal School, who will judge the entries and publish the winners. Full fee waivers, including housing allowance, will be granted to one writer each in the genres of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. Partial awards and honorable mentions may also be granted. Winners may attend any of UNO’s 2009 study-abroad writing programs:

-Writing Workshops in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
-Writing Workshops in Montpellier
-The Ezra Pound Center for Literature, Dorf Tirol, Italy

Guidelines (Please note that these are the complete guidelines. Queries are not necessary.)
Submission Deadline: January 31, 2009. Eligibility: Anyone writing in English who has not yet published a book of 45 pages or more in the genre of application, except faculty and administrators employed by the University of New Orleans. Entry Fee: An entry fee of $25 must be paid for each submission. Fees should be paid online at the Metro College payment module. Submission Format: Beginning this year, the submission process is entirely electronic. No paper manuscripts will be accepted. To submit your entry, go to the submission module on the UNO Press site. Note: The payment modules and submission modules are separate, so you must enter all your information on each site, separately. Multiple Submissions: Applicants may submit multiple applications in one or more genres, however each application must be complete with entry fee. Payment for multiple submissions may be made in aggregate at the payment and registration module, but each submission must be uploaded separately at the submission site. Submission Limits: Prose submissions should not exceed 4500 words (about 15 pages double spaced). Poetry submissions should not exceed 5 pages and may include a maximum of 3 poems. The submitted work must be unpublished at the time of submission, though it may be under consideration. The author's name may not appear anywhere in the work. Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments by email query only. Each applicant will be emailed a list of winners when the contest has been decided, around the end of March.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Recently, Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) announced the second annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA), an international competition seeking fresh new writing voices. One Grand Prize winner will receive a full publishing contract with Penguin including a $25,000 advance. Further information and official rules can be found at www.amazon.com/abna.

What is the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award?

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is an opportunity for emerging fiction writers to join a community of authors on Amazon.com, showcase their work and compete for a chance to get published. Sponsored in partnership with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award first launched in October 2007 and received more than 5,000 initial entries. In the inaugural contest, Amazon customers voted and named Bill Loehfelm the winner with his novel, “Fresh Kills.” Several of the other Top 10 finalists also received publishing deals with Penguin.

What is the grand prize?

A full publishing contract with Penguin to market and distribute the Grand Prize winner's winning manuscript as a published book, including promotion for the book on Amazon.com and a $25,000 advance.

How do interested authors enter?

Contest submission period begins February 2nd, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and ends February 8th, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time), or when the first 10,000 entries have been received, whichever is earlier.

How do interested authors get more information about the contest?

Visit www.amazon.com/abna to sign up to receive contest updates, get tips on how to enter, participate on the ABNA message boards as well as find full contest rules.

Unusual Calls for Submissions

Third-Person Story Contest
Narrative’s Third-Person Story Contest is open to all writers. For this contest we will be accepting short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 10,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. We are looking for works written either from a limited third-person or from an omniscient perspective. In either case, we are particularly interested in the distinction and tension that exist between the narrator’s perspective and that of the characters. The term perspective connotes an awareness of the true relationship that one thing bears to another; as a facet of point of view, perspective indicates a recognition of the cause-and-effect basis of human interactions and of the ways in which character influences fate. An accurate and nuanced use of point of view creates the illumination and drama that readers experience as pleasure, without the reader necessarily observing and thinking at all about the writer's use of point of view. To use Virginia Woolf’s phrase, a central transparency is created.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - FAWLT MAGAZINE
FAWLT magazine is an online, quarterly journal seeking short stories, poems, essays, and artwork that deal with human flaws. Each issue of the magazine focuses on a single, undesirable characteristic, exploring such issues as: who is affected by it, its impact on individuals, in which circumstance it can be especially bad (or actually good), and any other aspect of the flaw that that may be worth investigating. We seek previously unpublished prose, poetry, art, and photograph that incorporate these characteristics in funny or sobering ways. Ultimately Fawlt hopes to offer an entertaining look at human frailty and a serious consideration of some of our more unpleasant traits. Please do not send more than three prose pieces or five poems at a time. We have extended the deadline for submissions to our next issue, ARROGANCE to January 31, 2009. We're also considering submissions for APATHY.

Call for Stories From Disaster Healthcare Workers
Kaplan Publishing, the publisher of a broad range of educational and consumer books by and for nurses, physicians, paramedics, and other healthcare workers, is now accepting stories for a new and exciting anthology, To The Rescue: Stories from Healthcare Workers at the Scene of Disaster. About To The Rescue: Devastating fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters are ongoing concerns in every part of the world. The personal stories of people who go to the scene and interact with survivors will be of great interest to both the world community and to people who work in these fields. To The Rescue: Stories from Healthcare Workers at the Scene of Disaster is an anthology of stories by healthcare workers, from a variety of specialties, who have gone to the scenes of disasters, whether in their hometowns or across the world. Submissions can be sent via email or mail to: KaplanStories(at)live.com> (replace (at) with @)

Call for work on Flannery O'Connor
Shenandoah is pleased to announce the celebration of the journal’s 60th anniversary
with a special issue centering on the works of Flannery O’Connor. The editor seeks essays, poems, short stories, reviews, photographs and other artwork about, related to or in honor of the fiction and life of Ms. O’Connor. Any queries about particular submissions should be directed to . (replace (at) with @). Deadline: October 1, 2009. A prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the best O’Connor-related work published in the issue, which is planned for fall 2010.

Call for submissions from poetry editors of literary journals
Poetry South, an annual edited by the Valley Voices editors in the Mississippi Delta, is happy to announce a forthcoming special issue in 2009. Poetry South seeks submissions of poems by poetry editors of literary magazines on any topics. Poetry South pays one contributor's copy. Submissions by email are welcome with an attachment to poetrysouth01@gmail.com. Please also paste your submissions in the message box in case your attachment cannot be opened. We encourage double-sided manuscripts if you submit your work by mail. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope to guarantee a return of your manuscript. No previously published material or simultaneous submissions will be considered. Please send maximum of 5 poems, typed and single-spaced. The deadline for the receipt of submissions is March 30, 2009. Send submissions to The Editor, Poetry South, 14000 Hwy 82 W., #5032, Itta Bena, MS 38941-1400, USA.

A New Era Begins With Poetry

It's official. Barack Obama is our new president! Moments ago, it felt like the whole world breathed a collective sigh of relief. The next person to speak after President Obama's inauguration speech was poet Elizabeth Alexander, only the fourth poet to read at an inauguration in our country's history. Previous inaugural poets were Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, and Maya Angelou and Miller Williams at the inaugurations of William Jefferson Clinton. We second Alexander's reaction to the choice, "I hope that this portends well for the future of the arts in our everyday and civic life.”

For more on Alexander's poetry and her thoughts on the inauguration, see her website for links to articles and interviews.

The poem itself has not made it into print online or into recorded history on YouTube, but will be available as a chapbook through Alexander's publisher, Graywolf Press, in an initial print run of 100,000 copies starting on February 6. You can place an advanced order through their website.

Can't get enough of inaugural poetry? Check out other peoms by Suzan Lori-Parks, Gayle Danley, Nikki Giovanni and Calvin Trillin here.

The Distracted Writer

It's a malady with which every writer is well acquainted. Distraction. Whether it's writer's block or plain ol' lack of motivation, anyone who has tried to live by their pen has run up against this obstacle.

I'm just going to do the dishes first.
My car does need a tune-up.
Someone has to make dinner.
I just need this one little nap and then I'll be good to go.
Oh look, something shiny!

It's different for everyone, but the result is the same, not producing. Not producing, especially in this economic climate, is equivalent to being unemployed because not producing means having no product (duh!) and having no product means having nothing to sell and having nothing to sell means not getting paid. Not gluing yourself to your chair is commensurate with not showing up to work. Is that something you would do, just not show up? Of course not, so why do we think it's okay when we do it to ourselves? The reality is that it's not okay. Whether you write full-time or in conjunction with another job, it seems far too easy to put your writing tasks on the back burner, but nothing is more important than NOT doing that! We here at HFR have devised a list of ways to avoid distractions.

1. Make a space.
This doesn't have to be your own private library and you don't need a cherrywood writing desk from Robb&Stucky to get down to business. Think of your most comfortable place. Try and simulate that environment every time you sit down to write. Most importantly, be sure that the only thing you do in your space is writing. You sleep in your bed. You drive in your car. You watch TV on the couch. Write in your space, and only write.

2. Get everything you need before you sit down.
Need coffee? Need tea? Need music? Need silence? Take care of all of that before coming to your space. Make sure the temperature is right. Make sure you want for nothing.

3. Set boundaries
Unfortunately, this is probably the hardest one to live by. Sometimes our loved ones simply don't understand how important it is not to be interrupted at all while we're writing, not even for questions. If your space is a room, post your hours of operation outside and lay down the law that you're not to be disturbed during those times. If it's somewhere else, turn off your phone and set your IM status to "away." If these measures seem too cold or harsh, your loved ones are not the only ones who need to start taking your role as a writer more seriously.

4. Turn off your internet
The internet is the most insidious of all distractions because you don't even have to get up to use it. In fact, you should take it a step further and uninstall all those pre-loaded games too. You will survive even if you can't top your last score in Minesweeper or Solitaire (my personal demons) and your Facebook friends will not feel slighted in the least if you don't comment on their status as soon as it's posted. In fact, I can almost guarantee that they won't even notice.

5. Just sit down and write
No one can make you do it but you. Chances are, that kind of independence is part of what drew you to being a writer in the first place. Whether it's with a computer or a pen and paper, you are ultimately the only one responsible for approaching and completing the task at hand.

As writers, we tend to think of ourselves as artists and this is by no means untrue. But we're more than artists. We're entrepreneurs, too. It is our business to write and we have to treat it like one, which means clearing away the distractions and actually doing our job. For another perspective on distraction, check this out.

Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!

On January 19th, Poe turns 200. And gets a stamp. To show that his memory lives on at HFR and not just through the U.S. Postal Service, a poem by Brian Hayter from issue #34...

Thoughts on Tamerlane: Poe's Former Neighbor Speaks with a Biographer

Misery was a name for him,
a name that was given
as a prefix to every individual item:
miserylamp, miserymirror, miserybottle.

For him it was a game
that took the place of life,
knowing he would develop an ulcer
at twenty-three.

He used to say,
"Steel robots will rule this world."
No one knew what a robot was,
but it was Poe
and we all just agreed.

He used to call his fingers metacarpals
and refer to his other body parts
using technical names:

His sternum shifting upwards as he breathed,
his retinas scanning miserypages
in a miserybook.

One morning while I was raking leaves in the yard
he wandered into the street, drunker than sin,
and said,
"I have a headache, hold my trachea--"
snatched my arm
and with a cool look
in his eye
said,
"Like daggers in my fucking skull."

Website of the Week - Fresh Yarn

FRESH YARN calls itself the online salon for personal essays, and it's not kidding. Each month, the site offers six new essays from writers in varied fields -- television, film, journalism, fiction -- as well as directors, producers, artists, performers and personalities. The 52 archived installments provide hours of great reading. I laughed a lot, too. I like to laugh.

The site's creator, Hillary Carlip, explains: "As FRESH YARN'S birth-mother, host and editor, it is my pleasure to curate an interesting, diverse collection of work written by a variety of very cool contributors." Her mission? "To elevate the art form of the personal essay, and to promote the voices currently kicking it into higher gear. It is also to continue to build the community of listeners and readers who are the real reason this genre is coming to the fore."

Our advice? Go become part of the community. You can sign up for FRESH YARN emails here.

News Around the Net

Nelson DeMille reflects on being a novelist.

Priceless treasures from the now-closed Gotham Book Mart have been safely rescued. The collection includes 220,000 items, original texts from the 18th and 19th Century, and works by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.

Obama as writer.

Fiction reading has increased among adults. The NEA never thought they'd see the day!

Normally we try to steer clear of letting you know when another politician has signed for a book deal, but this one can't go unsaid. George W. Bush has writing plans. The real question is: Who wants to edit that work?

Jen Hadfield wins the T.S. Eliot prize for poetry

The Decameron and the Credit Crisis

Literary Mash-ups

A new list of 100 novels to read...

Literary obituaries: The Danish poet and Nobel favorite, Inger Christensen, is dead at 73. John Mortimer, the creator of Rumpole, dies at 85. W.D. Snodgrass dies at 83. Hortense Calisher dies at 97.

A Bookstore Autopsy

In a time when there is bad news and then more bad news for booksellers (today, Barnes & Noble announced downsizing at its corporate headquarters in New York, eliminating 100 jobs, 4% of its workforce there), it is hard to feel hopeful about the publishing industry, or certain about the future of your favorite independent bookstore. This post might not leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling (except in its exhortation that you keep shopping locally!), but an article from BusinessWeek might help by providing some analysis. "Autopsy of an Indie Bookseller" explores what happened to Cody's Books, the Berkely-based institution that shut down this past June after 52 years of as a hub for literary and political culture.

See also this slideshow, which shows the rise and fall of Cody's through pictures.

So, What's There to Do in Phoenix? (Lit-Wise)

The Poe Show This Saturday! January 17th, 7:30pm
All are invited to join in the celebration of Edgar Allen Poe’s 200th Birthday this Saturday, January 17th at the Mesa Arts Center! Do you like the poetically odd? The strange taking stage?? Even the hysterically dark and cleverly bizarre??? If so, you’ll love the eighth-annual Poe Show: A Party Like No Other!

The Poe Show features some of the best local talent in the Phoenix Performance Arts scene, such as Jeff Falk, Nightwolf, The Klute, Harry Zona, Sacred Om Dance Troupe and Birthday Girl. Ravage your eyes and ears with such performance-faring excursions as “The Telltale Sock”: a comedic interpretation of Poe's work, new short movies including those by K.P., Outro and Sharon Skinner’s “Nelsonettes”, plus dramatic readings of Poe’s writings from Robert X Planet. Read more about the acts here or buy your tickets here. And remember, it’s a fundraiser for Anthology, Inc., whose mission is to promote performance poetry and associated literary arts in the greater Phoenix community by providing opportunities for artists to perform their work and by making spoken word arts accessible to a diverse audience.

Story Prize Finalists Are Announced

The Story Prize, an annual award for books of short fiction in its fifth year, has just announced its three finalists for 2008. These three books were selected from among 73 story collections published by 56 different publishers or imprints. The winner will be awarded a $20,000 cash prize, and each of two runners-up will receive $5,000.


Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri. From Publisher's Weekly: "The gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents from their American-raised children—and that separates the children from India—remains Lahiri's subject for this follow-up to Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. In this set of eight stories, the results are again stunning."




Demons in the Spring by Joe Meno. From Publisher's Weekly: Spanning worlds, generations, cultures and environments, each of Meno's short stories in this stellar collection explores depression, loneliness and insanity in the world, while never quite offering a clear solution or glimmer of hope. Misery loves company, and Meno's assortment of off-center, morose characters fit seamlessly together.




Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolf. From Publisher's Weekly: Wolff's first story collection, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs (1981), was a major salvo in the short story renaissance that included Raymond Carver. The 10 spare, elegant new stories here, collected with 21 stories from Wolff's three previous collections, are as good as anything Wolff has done. In most, there is a moment of realization, less a startling epiphany than a distant, gradual ache of understanding, that changes how the character looks at the world.

Contributor Spotlight: Derek Sheffield

Straw for the Fire and the Writer’s Notebook

I thought I’d use this blog post to point you to a book unlike any other I’ve read. I first read it about 20 years ago, but it’s in my thinking now because the title popped up in Dennis O’Driscoll’s recent interview of Seamus Heaney. After Theodore Roethke died in 1963, David Wagoner combed through the 277 notebooks Roethke left. These notebooks contain bits of poetry, aphorisms, phrases, thoughts on teaching, philosophy, rough drafts, quotations—they contain anything that flitted through Roethke’s mind. Wagoner distilled the essence of these notebooks and the result is a book called Straw for the Fire (Doubleday, 1972).

Reading the book is a strange and exhilarating experience. There is no depth too deep and no height too high but this book touches it. It is lyrical, zany, vulgar, provocative, tender, inspiring. It is a model for my own notebook. Like Roethke, I seldom use the fragments I put down in my notebook, but I have faith that something happens in my imagination when I do take the time to jot down a phrase or two. It comforts me that all that kindling is ready if I ever need it. Here’s a very small sample of what you’ll find in this book:

If you can’t think, at least sing.

Living as if everything were slightly a-tilt.

The professor is supposed to know. I am not of that breed.

To write poetry: you have to be prepared to die.

Am I too old to write in paragraphs?

O Mother Mary, and what do I mean,
That poet’s fallen into the latrine,--
And no amount of grace or art
Can change what happens after that.

My courage kisses the ground.

I don’t know a thing except what I try to do.

And let me confess that this is my first ever blog. Thank you, Beth, for the invitation. It’s timely. I’ve enjoyed reading the other entries here at HFR. What’s more, I’ve recently found my work the subject of some blogs and I’m impressed at the level of discourse.

Derek Sheffield’s chapbook, A Revised Account of the West, won the Hazel Lipa Environmental Chapbook Award sponsored by Flyway at Iowa State University (2008). His full-length manuscript was a finalist for the 2008 Brittingham Prize and a semifinalist for the 2008 Walt Whitman Award. He teaches at Wenatchee Valley College. Derek's poem, "By The Word Play," appears in HFR issue #43.

The Responsible Memoirist

At the moment, Herman Rosenblat's apocryphal memoir Angel at the Fence is about as popular as it possibly could be and it's not even published. The hubbub surrounding the heartwarming Holocaust story proves that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Similar controversies have surfaced in the last decade and you can be sure they won't be the last. James Frey's Oprah-touched A Million Little Pieces and just about anything produced by JT Leroy, himself a fictional character as it turns out, are the ones that come to mind first. So the questions that have been whispered around but not addressed directly are these; "What is the harm in claiming a fictional story, though loosely informed by true events, is actually true? Does or should a memoirist have more ethical considerations than a novelist? To whom should a fraudulent memoirist be responsible?" I would not presume to say that I can answer any of these questions, but I would like to at least consider them.

What is the harm in claiming a fictional story is actually true?

A reader, any reader, is in a precarious, almost dangerous position. She is a slave to context. When an author claims that a story happened or it didn't, she has no choice but to take the apparent facts for granted. What different world this would be if stories by, say, Stephen King were purported to be true. No one would leave their homes! This is where bookstores come in handy. For our convenience, they have separated their titles into neat mega-sections of Fiction and Non-Fiction. So a reader knows the credulity of her purchase before she has even found the book she is looking for. Arguably, different amounts and kinds of emotional energy are tapped by a story depending on its veracity. It might be a terrifying book, but I can sleep at night without fearing that Pennywise will devour me in the darkness. Night, on the other hand, might make me lose faith in humanity for a time and then restore it back to me at the most unexpected moment. So when a reader picks up a memoir, she has prepared herself for a certain kind of investment before she reads the first line. She expects to connect with the experience of another living, breathing, and (more often than not) pitiable human being.

When a Holocaust survivor prepares herself to read Rosenblat's story under the pretext that it is a true story, there is a certain level of betrayal that accompanies the revelation that it is not. While considering another's experiences, a reader invariably considers herself and her own experiences. In the case when the reader makes a strong connection with the story--for example, when a victim of child prostitution or AIDS or violence against transgenderism reads JT Leroy's stories--the feeling of being emotionally exposed and exploited is certainly warranted. In Rosenblat's case, he really was in a concentration camp and his future wife did really live not too far from his situation, so the sense of betrayal is considerably less. He has not tried to use the suffering of others to cash in on that attention because they were sufferings he actually shared. He did distort the truth, however, in order to exploit his audience's statistically demonstrated love of fairy tale endings. At the most, his actions are reprehesible but he has done relatively little harm. It does make me wonder, though, why he did not first pitch the story as fictional and then claim later that it was loosely based on his own experiences. That would have sky-rocketed him to being the darling of the reading world!

Does or should a memoirist have more ethical considerations than a novelist?

The question of ethics has always been a sticky subject when applied to writers. As long as an author does not claim a work that is not actually hers most audiences can forgive just about any trespass. This is, of course, only a common denominator between many different schools of thought. Among countless different beliefs, there are many who believe authors of both fiction and non-fiction have an obligation to be moral guideposts for their readers (which necessarily raises the question "Whose morals?"). Then there are those who subscribe to the belief that all writers have political agendas and then still others who follow the ideal of "art for art's sake." There are disagreements between these schools of thought that are not likely to be reconciled any time soon, but each can more or less agree that plagiarism is a no-no on a career ending scale. So to ask whether one kind of writer has more considerations than another is getting into pretty murky territory.

Social experiments aside, the most likely reason to say a story is true when it is not is to make money. Making money is not a bad thing in itself, but when a product is sold under false or exaggerated pretenses you go from being a liar, which harms mostly only the self, to a thief, which harms mostly other people. There's even a legal term for it, it's called false advertising. In this respect, a memoirist does turn out to have more to consider than a novelist, if only of a legal nature. Oh what wicked webs we weave when first we practice to deceive!

To whom should a fraudulent memoirist be responsible?

Unfortunately, it seems that people like Rosenblat, Frey, and Leroy seem only to prosper when a scandal is discovered concerning their work. With their names forever in the spotlight, consumers decide they need to read the work to see what all the fuss is about (think The Producers). The most they seem to suffer is a wag of the finger and a few well-known strangers telling them how despicable their lies have been. In a free society, like the one we're supposed to have, an individual is ultimately responsible to herself but that hardly satisfies the blood lust of those who have been personally offended or betrayed by the fraud committed. Rosenblat might be able to escape with his life, but should we set Leroy among real AIDS victims or Frey in the midst of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts and reformed criminals? Perhaps that would be a most just punishment that would fit their crime. Since they have done no bodily harm to any of their victims, the response can not be bodily either. They (Rosenblat to a much lesser extent than the other two) have violated the dignity of people who have suffered real tragedies and continue to suffer them on a daily basis. They should have to look those people in the eye and explain why they lied the way they did to millions of people and said it was true.

News Around the Net

Hemingway's Cuban archives have been opened to scholars.

Will the ever-absent J.D. Salinger ever break his silence?

E-books are becoming more popular.

The owner of Book Soup, Glenn Goldman, dies at 58.

Publishers are going lean.

A conversation on the (re)emerging poet.

The self-publishing world consolidates further.

While Israel and Hammas are blowing one another to kingdom come, while countless Americans are losing their jobs and their homes every day, while more and more American businesses are being bought by foreign companies and U.S. jobs are increasingly outsourced, while Banks and Corporations are getting "Get of Jail Free" cards at the same time that normal citizens are being all but thrown to the wolves, while education has been dying from the pedagogical brilliance of the Bush administration, while the very traditional industry of literature (in my opinion the backbone of any society) seems to be singing its swansong...Ann Coulter castigates Michelle Obama for her Jackie O.-esque style in her new book Guilty. Really?

Sylvia Plath's only play to be staged in London.

Yes, Tolkein is still publishing.

Jack Torrance, of Stephen King's The Shining, has finally gotten his novel published. But not by King.

The line between book and sculpture has now been blurred.

Surviving publishing's storm of the century.

Website of the Week - LOCUSPOINT

Are you a poet moving to a new city? Are you into "local flavor"? Are you a student of geography and verse? Do you like to compare where you live to where other people live, poetically? Do you like to click on interactive maps? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions - or if you simply love to read good poems - head on over to LOCUSPOINT: The Place of Poetry. Started by Charles Jensen in 2006, this website was created to be both a community-centered approach to literary publishing, and a resource for poets to find and learn about each other.

Each edition of LOCUSPOINT is built on a set of cities or regions. Guest Editors in each location are tasked with locating poetry community within their areas to whatever extent or degree they experience it by selecting seven poets whose work they want to highlight. Each poet contributes five pages of poetry to the city. The Guest Editor writes an introduction to his or her selections to comment on the poetry scene where they live. Poets seeking community can come to LOCUSPOINT and make connections—find services, publishers, poets, editors, classes, community centers, and so forth.

Cities featured on LOCUSPOINT include Washington DC, Phoenix, Dallas, Madison, Seattle, Chicago and St. Louis, and new ones are being researched and added. Look soon for Atlanta, Los Angeles, Bloomington, New Haven and more.

HFR's Issue 43 is Out!

HFR's new issue is here! Copies are out to contributors, and are on their way to subscribers. If you'd like to get your hot little hands on one, send us an email at HFR@asu.edu. The issue features fiction from Al Masarik, Susan Hasler, Lindsay Sproul and Peter Grimes; poetry from Ray Gonzalez, Eamon Grennan, Lynne Potts, and lots more; visual art from Joann Brennan and Jeff Whetstone; and translations from the Spanish, Ukranian, French, Japanese and German. We'll have our website updated soon with content from the issue. In the meantime, enjoy our cover art by Netherlands-based artist Levi van Veluw whose photos are self-portraits, drawn and photographed by himself: a one-man-process. These two photos are from his series called 'Landscapes,' which "reinterprets the traditional landscape painting, removing plots of grass, clusters of trees, babbling brooks from their intimate 2 dimensional formats and transposing them onto the 3 dimensional contours of his own face. Thus a fresh twist is given to the obsession inherent in the romantic landscape of recreating the world and simultaneously being part of it." You can check out more of his work on his website.

Unusual Calls for Submissions

The 2009 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize with guest judge Ann Patchett
The winning submission selected by Ann Patchett will be read as part of the Selected Shorts performance at Symphony Space on May 20, 2009. The story will be recorded for possible later broadcast as part of the public radio series. The winner will receive $1000. Story requirements: Submit a single short story that contains a surprise. Your story must have a title. Your story must be no more than three double-spaced typed pages in length (we recommend 12pt., Times New Roman font.) Your name and contact information must appear on the first page. Include page numbers. One entry per person. More here.

Call for Submissions: Umbrella
Umbrella, the "supremely rereadable electronic journal" currently celebrating its second anniversary, is now reading for our spring issue, online March 1st, 2009. In addition to reading works of a general nature, our theme for the Winter edition will be "weird scenarios, the wondrous-strange," poems of deep imagination that work around strange premises. Deadline: February 15, 2009.

Call for submissions: New Plains Review
The New Plains Review seeks writing on the theme of Service for its spring issue. We interpret "service" broadly: military and community service, school service requirements, jury duty, all forms of volunteering, religious services, food service, customer service, serving a subpoena, etc. We're interested in poetry, fiction, essays and creative nonfiction that is thoughtful and compelling, and we'll reprint previously published work (provided the author controls the copyright). New Plains will also run a "letters" column of short, informal pieces relating experiences of "service." The editors are looking for detail, honesty and brevity in these letters. Deadline is February 17, 2009. Submit by email (as a Word attachment) to Executive Editor Douglas Goetsch at doug@janestreet.org or send hard copies to NEW PLAINS REVIEW, Submissions, Box 184, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 73034. Please put email, phone and postal contact on the first page of your submission.

Mutating the Signature
Qarrtsiluni is accepting submissions of collaborative work for its first issue of 2009, "Mutating the Signature," with guest editors Dana Guthrie Martin and Nathan Moore. The deadline is Jan. 15, and the issue will run from January through March.

Switched-on Gutenberg, a poetry magazine online since 1995, announces its newest issue: Science and Technology.
For our next issue, we are looking for poems on the theme: Gains and Losses. Are we just getting old, or are the swings wilder, the stakes higher? Gambling, love, economics - is it all reckoned by a balance sheet? Submissions for the next issue: Will ONLY be taken from December 1, 2008 to March 1, 2009.

"Moms Gone Mad" Poetry, Prose, and Visual Art Contest for new Mamapalooza Magazine
Call for submissions, on the topic "Moms Gone Mad," of poetry, prose (creative nonfiction or fiction) and visual art (photographs, drawings, paintings). Winners will receive publication in the premiere issue of Mamapalooza Magazine, official arts publication of the Mamapalooza Festival, to be published May 2009. Additionally, one Outstanding Prose piece, Outstanding Poem, and Outstanding Visual Art piece will each win a prize package of Mamapalooza merchandise and goodies. Editors Marjorie Tesser and Alana Ruben Free. Deadline 1/31. $10 entry fee. Full guidelines here.

Outrider Press' Literary Anthology/Contest Guidelines Sponsored by Outrider Press in affiliation with TallGrass Writers Guild
Working title: Fearsome Fascinations. We interpret broadly; can mean fascination with the paranormal as well as snakes and spiders, and dangerous/extreme sports, addictions and the allure of Forbidden Fruit: Bad Boys, Vamps, flirty married bosses, vices, etc. Especially interested in poetry. Previously published material and simultaneous submissions OK. $1000 in cash prizes for First ($500 each for poetry and prose) as determined by the judge, tentatively scheduled to be Diane Williams. Also: 2nd and 3rd places, and Hon. Mention.

News Around the Net

Harold Pinter dies at 78.

Introducing, Amazon's Author Stores, where you can find everything by a single author.

The notoriously fraudulent Angel at the Fence is canceled.

Newbery Medal is increasingly less diverse.

The journals of Susan Sontag have been released.

Apparently, soon-to-be ex-President Bush reads about two books a week. But that's according to Karl Rove...decide for yourself.

Terry Pratchett (a fantasy novelists) has been knighted.