Website of the Week: Kickstarter.com

It's hard trying to make it as a writer. There's no denying it. The starving artist stereotype wasn't just pulled out of thin air. We writers need money to fund our work and pursue our careers (and survive). That's where Kickstarter comes in.

Kickstarter is a way for individual artists to crowd-source funding for their work. In exchange, the donors are rewarded with copies of the artists' work. The catch with Kickstarter is this: it's all or nothing. That means if the artist doesn't reach his or her funding goal, then the artist gets nothing (and the donors' cards aren't charged!). Tens of thousands of people have contributed so far and millions of dollars have been raised for all kinds of different artistic projects. And don't worry, the artists retain 100% ownership and control over their work. So start fundraising!

And if you're in a generous mood, Elizabeth Hoover (past HFR contributor) is looking to raise some funds for her residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She's already over halfway there and there are still 28 days to go! Check out her project here (or the video below) to experience Kickstarter for yourself and support this talented poet.

SANTA LITERARY ALERT

You have roughly 11 hours from the time stamp on this post to join the literary Secret Santa put on by HTML GIANT.  Sign up and exchange with other like minded folks the joys of the holiday season and the fruits of the excellent small and independent presses and magazines.   I will see you there.  

Website of the Week: Three Percent

Part of the University of Rochester and affiliated with its translation press Open Letter, Three Percent is a site devoted to what is new and valuable in translation. The name of the site comes from the fact that only three percent of all works published in America are works in translation, a staggeringly low amount in the University's opinion. The website's job is to advocate for translation of world literature and be guide to some of the best examples out there.

It's a good time to be looking at translation. Most American lit-heads were at least somewhat chastened when we were singled out last year - by no less than someone who helps choose the Nobel Prize - that Americans do not read enough of the rest of the world's literature. It does give you pause. Reading only Americans makes no more sense than only reading Texans or Pennsylvanians. Where would the short story be without Chekhov? Where would poetry be without Wislawa Szymborska ? Where would we be without Magic Realism? Scolding from the Nobel aside, there is a lot we may be missing. Give Three Percent a look, and make sure you're not coming out on the short end of the stick.

Ten Reasons to Read Short Stories

1. Because you don’t have the time. Many people say this in reply when asked about their reading. But this is a reason to read. A short story can help you make use of time that would otherwise be wasted. You can consume a flash fiction story while waiting for the elevator, read an entire William Trevor masterpiece in the time it takes the pizza to arrive at your home. I read Lee K. Abbot’s’s “Living Alone in Iota” while waiting silently for the jury to convict me of felony vandalism after I spray painted “John Updike is God” on the town’s water tower. (My defense was that it was a civic improvement). Although I was fined $1300 and had to perform community service, I still considered it a good day.

2. Because they don’t have the time. Once you decide to engage a short story, it doesn’t waste the promise of that engagement. A good short story has a first sentence that will smack you right across the intellect. The first line of Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” once gave me a concussion. Then the short one-two’s of his sentences didn’t let up until I reached the end. A short story is all meat, no fat. A short story can’t waste time getting to the point, it is the point.

3. Because it’s subversive. What people won’t say in polite company they will read. I was once thrown out of a restaurant for quoting from Mary Gaitskill’s Bad Behavior. A.M. Homes is another writer that transgresses beyond our comfortable borders into territory that you won’t see on TV or at the movies.

4. Because it’s trendsetting. Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain” and Steven Millhauser’s “Eisenheim the Illusionist” are just two of the stories that were later turned into the movies that everybody watched. Find the trends instead of following them. More and more filmmakers are moving toward the short story as the source for film. I read a story by Chuck Palahniuk in the now defunct magazine Story years before Fight Club came out and I was feeling bad about my repressed aggression and soulless mercantilism way before the rest of you.

5. Because it may be better than the novel. Even the New York Times thinks so.

6. Because it’s experimental. Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective story with the "Purloined Letter." Authors like Robert Coover and Donald Bartheleme challenged form in the 20^th century, and the work ethic in short fiction towards innovation has never ceased with collections like Lorrie Moore’s Self-Help, and in stories like Miranda July’s 'This Person". The only innovations you’ll find on television right now are what C-List celebrity will be dancing with the stars next. Come see where real art that won’t insult your intelligence.

7. Because you want to write. You want a future in prose. You want to be the next John Cheever. Okay, maybe without the alchoholism and the sexuality issues. Except how can you be John Cheever (Or Eudora Welty) if you don’t know what territory has been already been crossed by them? Or what territory has been crossed by any writer? Reading everything may seem like an impossible proposition, but reading nothing is an even worse one. Read as much as you can so your writing can be informed by the techniques of the masters. Yes, I hear you, you want to be an individual, to write what has not been written before. You may be a secret genius, but you’re keeping secrets from yourself unless you read.

8. Because you are a Patriot. The United States has produced some of the greatest practitioners of the short story. The only other countries that may be giving us any competition are the Russians and the French. So really it’s just like watching figure skating again. Just substitute ‘Amiee Bender’s name for ‘Sasha Cohen’, and ‘story’ for ‘quadruple axle’ as in: “Go Amiee, you do that sentence. My god, that was the most awesome story I’ve ever seen in the creative part of the program.” Now that George Bush is no longer president and his planned invasion of Canada has been put on hold, we will not be adding Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro to our ranks, but we have placed Jim Harrison, Tom McGuane and Richard Ford at strategic points along the northern border. Celebrate America. Read a story.

9. Because short fiction is about you. Short stories are immediate and relevant to all of us and how we live our lives. For a while I adopted Chekhov’s ‘The Lady with the Lapdog’ as my guide to life. I hung out by the dog run to check out the owners of Pomeranians to see if I could find a Russian lady to have an affair that would be tragic and poignant, but then I realized I was taking things too literally. Short stories examine lives with the scope we give our own lives every day: Choice by choice by choice. Every short story revolves around a choice of a character: Love, death, friendship, grief, happiness, fear are all examined minutely. A short story gives life in heartbeats.

10. Because language is the most complex code ever invented and yet it is the one we all understand. Simply put, you will find things in stories you wouldn’t find in any other media.When William Shatner thrust his elbows into his armpits and made that face, he was trying to tell us how he felt. But I never got it. I thought he was just constipated. But a story reveals in language.The nuance of language, its ability to reveal interiors as well as exteriors in characters, to set scene wherever the author can conceive, and to dictate whatever action to the characters strike his fancy.That is the power of language, and in prose it is the short story that carries this power in it’s most distilled form. Time for a shot straight up.

In genre-al

I admit it, I wondered whether taking a poetry class would be a good idea. Even though the instructor had a great reputation, I write mostly prose, and the idea of many months devoted to writing something else, and picking up words in another way was...unsettling. Prose is what I’ve studied, and it’s where I feel like I know what I am doing. I plan on spending the rest of my life trying to write better sentences. But to write words but abandon the sentence? That seemed like running with the bulls or wing-walking: I’ve enjoyed other people doing it, but never thought to try it myself.

But the cross-training is proving beneficial. I think about nouns and verbs more, and less about prepositions and adverbs. My ability to use metaphor is stronger, and I have a deeper understanding of words for words sake.

I may not be alone. Crossing genres may be the new black in writing. The prototype from the 20^th century is the already dearly missed John Updike. In addition to his novels, his reputation as a short story writer was equally large, and he was known as an insightful critic and also wrote poetry. But cross-genre artists today are more in the vein of Neil Gaiman, (comic book writing, short stories, novels radio plays and screenplays) or like Miranda July (short-story, performance artist, filmmaker).

Writing is writing. We all work in words, so loosen up, read the sections in that literary journal you skipped. And then this week, try to get beyond the boundaries that you have with your writing. Make some comics, write a short film. Don’t get stuck in one genre. Then tell us what you did.

Individual Artist Development Workshops

In addition to this valuable workshop, The Arizona Commission on the Arts has lots of helpful information on its website, including how to apply for the individual artist grants they award.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts is pleased to announce a unique offering for Individual Artists. Creative Capital Foundation will return to Arizona to conduct skills-building workshops in the fall of 2008. CREATIVE CAPITAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS aim to help artists break patterns of crisis management and increase satisfaction in their art practices and careers.

CREATIVE CAPITAL ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS
The One-Day Workshop is an intensive immersion workshop that focuses on Strategic Planning and PR/Marketing topics. In addition to lecture presentations, participants are given interactive exercises and the opportunity to meet with Creative Capital leaders in smaller work groups. The participants will receive handbooks, workbooks and/or handouts, which provide practical information, and exercises on the specific topic areas. The One-day Workshop can accommodate 50 artists. To register, please contact Arizona Commission on the Arts Program Associate, Jason Taylor, at 602-771-6502. To secure your spot in this valuable workshop, send payment of $50 via check made out to the Arizona Commission on the Arts, attn: Creative Capital One-Day. Your participation will be confirmed upon receipt of your payment.

What: Creative Capital One-Day Workshop
Where: Pima Community College Downtown Campus, 1255 North Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85709-3000
When: Thursday, October 16, 2008, 9:30am-5:30pm
Who should attend: Individual Artists in all disciplines pursuing a life and career as an artist
How much: $50, payable by check, made out to the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Light breakfast, catered lunch, beverages and afternoon snacks will be provided. Deadline to submit payment: Friday, October 10, 2008. CALL NOW TO REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP! 602-771-6502