Reviewing 101: John Updike’s rules
Originally posted by John Freeman

Posted back in 2006 on Critical Mass: The blog of the national book critics circle board of directors, it was refreshing to re-read this and feel a sense of connection with our work here at NewPages in what we have always stood by as “fair reviews” with a commitment not to post “trash reviews.”

Posted on the Jewish Book Council blog by Naomi Firestone, where each finalist will be featured in upcoming blog posts.

The 2009 Sami Rohr Prize Fiction finalists:

Elisa Albert for The Book of Dahlia (Free Press)
Sana Krasikov for One More Year (Spiegel & Grau)
Anne Landsman for The Rowing Lesson (Soho Press)
Dalia Sofer for The Septembers of Shiraz (Ecco)
Anya Ulinich for Petropolis (Viking Penguin)

Washington Post to End Book World as Stand-Alone Section

Schwartz Bookshops to Close After 82 Years
By Evan Rytlewski
Express Milwaukee
Monday, January 19, 2009

Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, one of the largest and oldest independent chains in Wisconsin, survived the Great Depression but wasn’t able to overcome titanic changes in the retail sector, exacerbated by the current economic crisis. Following years of disappointing sales and a brutal 2008, after eight decades in business the chain will close its remaining four locations on March 31.

“Business has been rough for a number of years now,” said Schwartz President Carol Grossmeyer. “Then the market fell apart and it was such a dismal holiday season that we decided we really needed to end it in the first quarter of the year, that we weren’t going to make it beyond that.”

Read the rest here.

In addition to its submissions of non-fiction prose of many styles, Brevity has put out a special call for photographers and artists: “We are looking for artists and photographers who may want to be featured in future issues… the artwork does not attempt to illustrate the essays, but instead sits alongside the work with either no or merely a subtle connection. What we are looking for is distinctive, quality work.” Check out Brevity online for more information.

Publishers Weekly has long been the “bible” of the major book publishers and booksellers for*ever*… To see them laying off their editor and many others is yet another rattle down to the foundations of the publishing world.

University of Central Oklahoma Full-Time, One-Year Temporary, Non-Tenure-Track, Poet-in-Residence. Deadline March 1.

Hampshire College is extending its Poetry Writing Search with three important changes. The rank for this position, which was originally advertised at the Assistant level, is now open to applications from candidates at all levels. Second, the start date for this position will be fall, 2010 instead of fall, 2009. Finally, review of applications will resume on February 5, 2009, and on-campus candidate interviews will take place during March and April, 2009.

The U of Montana Department of English invites applications for a full-time, 2-year position in Poetry commencing August 2009 at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor. Prageeta Sharma, Director of Creative Writing. Deadline March 1.

In 2009, the International Writing Program (IWP), in cooperation with the Chinese Writers’ Association, is commencing a pilot exchange project, the Life of Discovery (LOD), between writers and artists from the United States and from the minority ethnic communities in the western regions of the People’s Republic of China. Five American and five Chinese writers and artists, all aged 25-40, will be invited to join two senior artists, one from each country, in a series of collaborative, bilingual projects, conducted first in Western China (over the course of sixteen days in mid-May, 2009) and continued and elaborated upon in the US (five to seven days at the end of September, 2009).

For more details on the exchange, the dates and proposed locations, visit University of Iowa’s IWP website.

Spindle, launched just over a year ago, has gone nine months without an update, but has just recently returned with some “fresh new NYC-flavored literary content”: poetry from the likes of Amanda Halkiotis, Lynn Patmalnee and Jon Sands, plus a new photo gallery from David King, and an inspiring (and timely!) essay from Peggy Landsman entitled “The Community Chorus”.

Horticulture, the oldest and most respected magazine for avid gardeners in North America, is pleased to announce the addition of poetry to its editorial features. Cave Canem fellow (and fellow gardener) Michelle Courtney Berry’s “What I Learned in the Garden” has been chosen as the debut poem, to appear in the April 2009 issue.

“For over 100 years, Horticulture has been dedicated to celebrating the passion of avid, influential gardeners, and there is an even longer history of poetry inspired by flowers and gardens — from William Blake to Louise Gl

New digital poetry from Jason Nelson: “I made this. You play this. We are enemies.“

The game is a sequel to last year’s “game, game, game and again game.”

The Fifth Annual New York Round Table Writers’ Conference
The New York Center for Independent Publishing
April 24-25, 2009
Keynote: Wally Lamb

In honor of Black History Month LSUS announces the 2009 First Annual Black Literature Read-In, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday, February 2, in the University Center Ballroom.

Students, faculty and community members will read aloud from selections of African American literature. Texts can include poetry, drama, speeches, music, novels, short stories and non-fiction essays. Personal text, prepared dramatic interpretations or selections at the event will be read. Featured dramatic performances will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Carol Rumens, witer for The Guardian.uk Books Blog section, has wasted no time in critiquing Elizabeth Alexander‘s inaugual poem, with the headline including her first criticims: “praise poem was way too prosy.” She goes on to give a clear assessment of the work in the tradition of praise poems, but also in the context of the event itself. Her overall view: good, but not as good as it could have been.

A recent article in the National Post calls its Candian readers to task for not being able to name six Candian authors. The headline reads: “Half of us can’t identify a Canadian writer. What can we do about it? The results of the poll were widely reported, but what do we do about the fact we don’t know our authors?” Following the release of the 2008 Canadian Books Readership Study, the response concerning Canadian writers that is most troubling to the industry: 46% of the 1,502 people polled last June could not name a single author when asked: “Please name some Canadian authors you have heard of.”

So, the U.S. may not be alone in its decline of book readership, although the article does mention that some respondents, while they knew the name of the books, didn’t know the name of the author. I guess it will be a worse state of concern when the response becomes, “What’s an author?”

I came across this article: “Is the South Still Special?” after just having finished a review of The Southeast Review. In TSR, three interviews with four southern writers – Clive Barker, Hal Crowther and Lee Smith, Daniel Woodrell – each include their own views on this very question. It’s interesting to see this very “localized” perspective from D.G. Martin, specifically looking at North Carolina’s contributions and whether or not NC is still the “leader” in Southern literature.

Victorian novels helped us evolve into better people, say psychologists

A “team of evolutionary psychologists, led by Joseph Carroll at the University of Missouri in St Louis, applied Darwin’s theory of evolution to literature by asking 500 academics to fill in questionnaires on characters from 201 classic Victorian novels. The respondents were asked to define characters as protagonists or antagonists, rate their personality traits, and comment on their emotional response to the characters.”

See a summary of the results on Guardian.co.uk

Liu Xiaobo: On Writing and Freedom of Expression in China

On December 8, 2008, authorities arrested prominent PEN Member Dr. Liu Xiaobo after he co-authored Charter 08, a manifesto calling for greater freedoms and democracy in China. He is being held on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” If convicted, Liu could be sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison.

Writer, dissident, and former president and current board member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, Liu Xiaobo can be viewed on a PEN video talking about writing and freedom of expression in China.

Assistant Professor in English (Creative Writing, Fiction/Non Fiction) Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA. Karen McIntyre, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences.

Johnson State College full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature to begin August 2009.

The University of Dubuque invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in the Department of English, beginning in August, 2009.

One-year appointment, beginning August 2009, for a creative writer who plans a career that involves college-level teaching, to teach three courses per semester, including Introduction to Creative Writing and an advanced course in the writer’s genre, as well as to assist with departmental writing activities. Mentorship for teaching and assistance in professional development provided. M.A., with a concentration in creative writing, M.F.A., or Ph.D. with creative dissertation, required. Teaching experience and literary magazine publications are essential. Competitive salary.
To apply, send letter of application, c.v., the names of three references, and a 5-10 page writing sample to Emerging Writer Lectureship, Department of English, Box 397, Gettysburg College, 300 N. Washington St., Gettysburg, PA 17325, postmarked by January 30, 2009. Electronic applications will not be accepted.

The Best and the Worst of Inaugural Speeches edited by Debra Hughes on Narrative.

Bravely done, C. Max Magee on The Millions blog has created a kind of annotated bibliography of the 2008 New Yorker fiction. The overarching theme identified? Those that focus on a kind of “surburban malaise (born out of “The Swimmer” and “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” among many others) and those that don’t.” Put that way, I’m tempted now to go back and read the very “New Yorker Fiction” I had long given up on as predictable and drab. Surburban malaise might be just what I needed to hear to appreciate it – some.

Wall Street bailout, car industry bailout, porn bailout – ? Government support for analog to digital media (aka TV) conversion? Wait a minute – where the heck was the bailout for literary publications when we’ve been bemoaning for years the steady decline in reading in this nation, and then the recent postal rate hikes that hammered the smaller subscription publications, and how about the ongoing independent bookstore closings (and now chain bookstore closings), and layoffs in the publishing business, and…and…?

Vitual Odyssey. It’s fun to see the wrong answers as much as the right ones, which then lead to further adventures.

From the blog Growing Great Writers from the Ground Up comes this unselfish advice for writers looking for new outlets and support resources:

Don’t Discount Yourself
Most of us writers come from humble backgrounds, which consist, more or less, of some training and a whole lot of heart. But in order for us to excel, we have to use the latter to increase — exponentially — the former. One way to train harder and smarter is to aggressively pursue fellowships.

What often stops us, however, is that humble background, which I call the Lowly Worm Complex. If you, too, suffer from I’m probably not good enough, get over it and start applying for the numerous creative writing fellowships.

The post goes on to look at why you should apply and some fellowship resources. A very generous post considering the competitive nature of fellowships. Proof positive that we are in this together and can look out for “our own.”

A Brief Interim of Sheer Possibility a conversation with Rachel Kushner on Littoral.

Rachel Kushner writes frequently for Artforum and coedits the literary, philosophy, and art journal Soft Targets, whose focus is political inquiry, poetry, and literature-in-translation. Her debut novel, Telex From Cuba, was nominated for the 2008 National Book Award.

In this interview, she speaks extensively about her connections with and political perceptions of Cuba, the focus of her novel, which takes place in Oriente Province and Havana, Cuba, during the 1950s.

Always fresh, every time I visit the Barrelhouse website, I can’t help but laugh out loud. (With them, not at them – or at least I’d like to think so.) Their latest: “Barrelhouse Invitational: Office Life Edition.”

Dave Housley, “One Fifth of the Barrelhouse Editorial Squadronand” writes: “we’re looking for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, whatever, about that wonderful, soul-sucking, red stapler obsessing world of the office. No entry fee or anything, and winners will be published in the special Office Life section of Barrelhouse 8, which will come out in June.”

But for full entertainment effect, you have to visit the site and view the accompanying pdf memo, or my favorite,the PowerPoint presentation, with its effective use of bullets, arrows, and inclusion of a clear and concise mission statement, timeline, and measurable and desired outcomes. For anyone who has ever worked in an office environment or with admin hierarchies, you can’t help but cringe and laugh at the same time.

A January 04, 2009 article by Alana Semuels in the Southern Oregon’s Mail Tribune, “Children’s literature has growth potential for e-books,” explores beyond the monetary gains by considering the learning losses:

[. . .] Kids are more likely than adults to interact with material on the Web, said Diane Naughton, vice president of marketing at HarperCollins Children’s Books. That publishing house has made 25,000 titles such as Lemony Snicket’s The Lump of Coal available digitally. Readers can browse them online or in some cases read them in full free.

There is some evidence that younger children learn less when they’re reading books in electronic form. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University, studied parents who read digital books with their children and found that young children don’t get meaning from what they’re reading when they’re playing with gadgets and distracted by all the bells and whistles of technology.

“We have to be careful that electronic media is not a substitute for hands-on,” she said.

Kids who spend too much time staring at screens instead of imagining fanciful stories in their heads or playing with friends miss out on hands-on creative play, an essential part of a child’s development, said Susan Linn, a psychologist and associate director of the media center at Boston’s Judge Baker Children’s Center.

“It’s a problem because it means they’re not exploring the world themselves,” she said.

Publishers counter that digital books can attract kids to titles they otherwise might not see.

In any case, with the publishing industry weak, digital books are unlikely to go away because they are generating revenue [. . .]

Read the full article here.

Anne E. Fernald, author of Virgina Woolf: Feminism and the Reader is looking to I want to feature some creative writers who will talk about Woolf’s influence, for good and ill, on their work, at the 19th Annual International Virginia Woolf Conference (June 4-7, 2009, Fordham University, Lincoln Center). She “especially wants those writers to not be all nice white women.” Click here for more information.

With the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature going to J. M. G. Le Cl