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At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Colorado Review – Fall/Winter 2009

Great short fiction exists! This issue of Colorado Review confirms it. Volume 36, Number 3 features three extremely good short stories, including the magazine’s annual Nelligan Prize winner, Angela Mitchell, whose first-ever published story, “Animal Lovers,” is both unpredictable and reasonable, by which I mean credible, realistic, and emotionally compelling. Mitchell has an ear for natural and believable dialogue, a great sense of timing, and casual, but carefully composed prose that is readable, but not incidental. Continue reading “Colorado Review – Fall/Winter 2009”

Conjunctions – 2009

There are so many stars in this issue one almost needs sunglasses to get through the Table of Contents. Reading the work, one sees that these bright names (Francine Prose, William H. Gass, Peter Gizzi, Maureen Howard, Cole Swensen, Nathaniel Mackey, Ann Lauterbach, Rachel Plau DuPlessis) deserve their shiny reputations. Some of their work conforms to the issue’s theme, “Not Even Past: Hybrid Histories,” described by editor Bradford Morrow as “works in which past moments in history play a centralizing role.” Other work is categorized simply as “new.” Continue reading “Conjunctions – 2009”

Grain – Fall 2009

I know I sound like a broken record, but I can’t say it enough. I just don’t think there is a magazine published on this side of the border that can compare with the Canadian magazines. Grain is published in Saskatchewan and like the many marvelous literary journals produced across the vast and exquisite land to my north, it is exceptionally good. The theme of this issue is “Conversation,” which I understand to mean dialogue, relationship(s), images that reverberate and connect, and language in the service of vision, understanding, and meaningfulness. Editor Sylvia Legris traces the word’s roots to “the act of living with” or to keep company. Grain is all this and more. Continue reading “Grain – Fall 2009”

Habitus – 2009

This journal, by choosing a different international city with a substantial Jewish population for each issue, examines the effects of Jewish culture on its surroundings as well as its own evolution. In the Moscow issue, the brooding Russian presence digs deep into the Jewish cultural consciousness. Themes of loneliness, death, estrangement, emigration, and abandonment permeate much of the writing. However, hope and redemption also lurk. The journal itself is book-sized, with a brilliant night photograph of Moscow on the cover, and is less than 200 pages. Continue reading “Habitus – 2009”

Magnapoets – January 2010

Short and sweet is probably the most appropriate description of Magnapoets, a biannual literary journal out of Ontario, Canada. The 8×10, saddle-stapled journal features four essays on poetry, six pages of Free Verse and Form poetry, six pages of Haiku and Senryu, and six pages of Tanka.

Continue reading “Magnapoets – January 2010”

Mare Nostrum – June 2006 – May 2008

In this volume of Mare Nostrum, poems, prose, translation, and reviews are inspired by the traveling exhibit, to Seattle, of Florentine art restored after a 1966 flood. Each piece here is lively and deserving of praise, and has a prominent sense of belonging within these pages. The reader gets a glimpse of this in editor Kevin Craft’s foreword. To wit, “Seeing them restored was like witnessing the first gleam of the Renaissance all over again – the emergence, literally, of perspective as a compositional axiom, of naturalism in the fine shades of feeling etched into each attentive figure.” And, like art itself, the pieces here are both alluringly ambiguous, and wrought with imagination that begs to be understood. Continue reading “Mare Nostrum – June 2006 – May 2008”

NANO Fiction – 2009

As the average attention span continues to decrease and the printed page is replaced by the teeny tiny screen, practitioners of flash fiction seem poised to take advantage of this evolution. The editors of NANO Fiction take the idea one step further. While many flash fiction narratives extend into the several hundreds of words, the stories in this volume are far shorter. The great struggle for the writer is to increase the potency of their narratives as the word count decreases. Continue reading “NANO Fiction – 2009”

New England Review – 2009

In these oh-so-unsettled times, I like to have something I can rely on. New England Review never lets me down. I know the quality of the writing will always be strong, serious, sophisticated, and that there will always be something unexpected, fresh without trying to impress. This issue lives up to the task – a good portion of the issue is devoted to an essay by the late critic and editor Ted Solotaroff (1928-2008), along with brief reflections of Solotaroff by more than a dozen and a half writers, editors, and literary colleagues. These remembrances are preceded by a long excerpt from Solotaroff’s, “The Literary Scene Changes,” an unfinished, unpublished memoir (his third). I enjoyed very much these personal recollections from Philip Roth, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Robert Stone, Robert Cohen, Hilma Wolitzer, Gerald Stern, Bobbie Ann Mason, Georges Borchardt, Gerald Howard, James Lasdun, Jill Schoolman, Russell Banks, Anton Shammas, Hy Enzer, Irene Skolnick, Douglas Unger, Allegra Goodman, Ehud Havazelet, and Max Apple. The diversity of ages, genres, and types of relationships to Solotaroff makes this little collection of tributes all the more appealing. Continue reading “New England Review – 2009”

On the Premises – November 2009

This literary magazine holds a contest every four months with a theme. The contest is free to enter but has a number of prizes, the first prize being $140. This is obviously a great bargain, and consequently, the editors receive plenty of entries. I don’t know of another deal like this on the internet. Continue reading “On the Premises – November 2009”

Per Contra – Fall 2009

This lit mag is generally considered to be one of the better on the web at the present time. They state rather proudly that they have received a special mention in the 2007 Pushcart Prize anthology, along with two Best of Web anthology awards, and a top ten Million Writers Award – pretty good stuff. In reading their latest collection of fiction and poetry, it is easy to see why. Continue reading “Per Contra – Fall 2009”

PMS poemmemoirstory – 2009

Never has PMS been so delightful! PMS PoemMemoirStory is a journal of women’s writing, full of energy, life, color, politics, love, and verve. Issue number nine combines 40 pages of poetry, 47 pages of memoir, and 41 pages of fiction—all well-crafted and all high-quality. Continue reading “PMS poemmemoirstory – 2009”

Rattle – Winter 2009

This issue features more than four dozen poems in a general section, the work of Rattle Poetry Prize Winner Lynne Knight and ten honorable mention recipients, the work of 30 poets in a special “Tribute to the Sonnet,” and lengthy interviews by editor Alan Fox with Alice Fulton and Molly Peacock (Fulton and Peacock in the same issue! Too good to be true!). It’s hard not to be curious about nearly two-hundred pages of poems that begin, as this issue does, with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s oh-so-American-current-preoccupation: Continue reading “Rattle – Winter 2009”

The Southeast Review – 2009

The editors of The Southeast Review like to present the familiar in unusual form. This attitude is made clear with the playful front cover photograph depicting a baseball player with index finger extended at an umpire who was apparently in the wrong. Bat in hand, posture aggressive, the ballplayer clearly won’t tolerate an unfair call. The twist: the ballplayer is a woman, apparently a member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League’s Fort Wayne Daisies. The fiction, poems and nonfiction in The Southeast Review play by the rules, but reserve the right to imbue them with a slightly askew tone. Continue reading “The Southeast Review – 2009”

South Loop Review – 2009

South Loop Review, a journal of creative nonfiction and art/photography published by Columbia College in Chicago, “publishes essays in lyric and experimental form.” The editors prefer “non-linear narratives and blended genres…montage and illustrated essays, as well as narrative photography.” While a good deal of the work in Volume 11 is considerably more traditional in both form and style than this description, there are a number of provocative “non-linear” and “blended” efforts. Continue reading “South Loop Review – 2009”

Straylight – 2009

This edition of Straylight has everything: a life-like horror strike that comes on like lightning; a story that asks you to suspend your disbelief (and you willingly do); an amusing take on a bridge’s history; a travelogue of sorts; and a doppelganger in a poem. It gives the publication a sense of completeness rarely found in literary magazines. It made it, quite truly, a joy to read, and an honor to review. Continue reading “Straylight – 2009”

Calyx Poetry Prize Winner

The newest issue of Calyx: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women features “How to Become the Oracle” by Linda Strever, the winner of the 2009 Lois Cranstron Memorial Poetry Prize. Readers of the publication can also go online and offer feedback as to which works by genre they enjoyed best and provide comments for improving the publication. Nice!

New Lit on the Block :: Elder Mountain

Missouri State University-West Plains has published Volume I of its new journal, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies. Published by the Department of English and edited by Dr. Craig Albin, Elder Mountain is a juried journal that seeks to explore all aspects of the Ozarks through literature, scholarship, and the visual arts.

The inaugural issue features poetry by Andrea Hollander Budy, JaneHoogestraat, Matt Brennan, Dave Malone, Gary Guinn, Billy Clem, fiction Katie Estill, Jo Van Arkel, Ryan Stone, nonfiction by Marideth Sisco, Zachary Michael Jack, Kristine Somerville, Jan Roddy, Matt Meacham, Art Home, and visual art by Gary Kolb and Barbara Williams.

Elder Mountain accepts “Ozark-oriented” short stories, poems, creative nonfiction, and visual art. Submissions will be considered for volume III.

Joyce Fellows for Emerging Leaders

A total of five Joyce Fellows from the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) will be selected to participate in this program in 2010. Fellows will receive stipends of $3,000 to support their attendance at the 2010 Americans for the Arts 50th Anniversary Summit/Annual Convention, 2010 National Arts Marketing Project Conference, and 2011 Arts Advocacy Day. In addition, fellows will have special opportunities to meet field leaders, connect with mentors, and receive individualized career coaching. Must be an emerging leader (Americans for the Arts defines an emerging leader as someone who is under 35 years of age). Deadline March 1, 2010.

Recognizing Women Writers

Writers, Plain and Simple: Women make up 80% of the fiction reading audience in this country. So why, Guernica‘s guest fiction editor Claire Messud asks, are women authors so frequently left off the best-of lists, and left out of prestigious book prizes? An enjoinder to think again, and to read these seven emerging stars of world fiction.

Job :: Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager

The Center for the Art of Translation is a San Francisco-based non profit promoting international literature and translation through programs in publishing, education, and public events. The Center is currently seeking an experienced Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager for our TWO LINES publications program, which includes the annual TWO LINES World Writing in Translation anthology and the World Library series of regional anthologies. The Two Lines Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager will provide the editorial and artistic vision for TWO LINES publications and curate the Center’s Lit&Lunch event series, manage TWO LINES staff and volunteers, and will represent TWO LINES externally and in strategic internal discussions and decisions. This position reports to the Executive Director. The ideal candidate will have at least five years experience of publishing/editorial work, familiarity with international literature and literature in translation, will have significant management and arts administration experience, and will share enthusiasm and passion for the Center’s mission. The Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager must be able to manage staff and multiple projects from inception to completion with minimal direction or oversight, including setting and managing milestones for the project within a set timeline. This position will also coordinate shifting priorities, provide regular reports to the Executive Director, and work effectively both leading and working on a team.

Responsibilities include the following:

EDITORIAL: Oversee artistic vision, editorial planning and production of all publications, including selecting guest editors, regions and/or languages for World Library, soliciting and evaluating monographs for publication, cultivating contacts within the publishing and translation fields, evaluating annual anthology submissions, and editing and proofreading introductions and translations. Provide editorial support on periodic grant writing and fundraising materials.

LITERARY PROGRAMMING: Curate Lit&Lunch series and other events, including event programming and annual publication party planning, act as artistic spokesperson at all Center events, coordinate translation workshops and other collaborative events and pursue partnerships and collaborations with publishers, translators, and cultural institutions.

MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION: Manage TWO LINES staff, volunteers, guest editors, translators, language readers, and copyeditors and act as program representative in staff and executive management meetings. Ensure tasks are coordinated, schedules and budgets are maintained, and provide biweekly reports to management. The Senior Editor & Literary Programs Manager will also develop a process to build TWO LINES supporters in the literary and translation communities. Assist with research to identify potential grants and donors.

PRODUCTION: Oversee the production of all TWO LINES titles, including the production timeline, submissions guidelines and production procedures, submission processing, copyright permissions, final proofreading and editing, and book design.

DISTRIBUTION, MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS: Oversee distribution of all publications and provide feedback and support to marketing staff to develop and implement marketing and public relations plans for publications. Inform Development Director of any potential funding leads or creative fundraising ideas. Seek opportunities to raise awareness of and interest in TWO LINES publications, promote the Center and build connections with other translation and literary organizations, act as a representative of the Center and lead discussions and/or presentations at literary events, forums and conferences (3-5 per year).

Qualifications
• Strong background (5+ years) in book publishing, particularly in a management role
• Experience as a literary translator, editor of translation, or director of a literary center
• Excellent team building skills and the ability to both lead and be a part of a team
• Able to offer contacts within the publishing and translation industries
• Enthusiasm and passion for the Center’s mission
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including editing and proofreading
• Strong organizational sense with a sharp eye for detail
• Ability to prioritize and follow up on activities in a timely manner
• Energetic and a good team player, flexible and willing to learn
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, familiarity with the Mac environment and excellent analytical skills
• Experience with FileMaker Pro a plus

This is a full-time position with an initial probationary period. The Center is an equal opportunity employer and offers generous vacation package, retirement plan and benefit stipend. Our office is located South of Market near public transportation. To apply, please email [email protected] with a resume and cover letter addressed to:

Erin Branagan
Acting Executive Director
Center for the Art of Translation
35 Stillman St., Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94107
Web: www.catranslation.org
How to Apply:
To apply, please email twolinesresume-at-yahoo-dot-com with a resume and cover letter addressed to:

Erin Branagan
Acting Executive Director
Center for the Art of Translation
35 Stillman St., Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94107

NewPages Guide to Creative Writing Programs

Creative Writing Programs – MA, MFA, PhD
This directory of university creative writing programs includes creative writing graduate degree programs. It is still being updated, and we’d appreciate hearing from you if you know of programs not yet listed. Whenever possible, links lead directly to the home page for the creative writing program.

Litmus Press Book Deal

In February and March of 2010, Litmus Press is celebrating some early titles with an Author Spotlight & Book Sale. Every two weeks they will highlight two authors & offer their books for $10 each or 2 for $18. The first Spotlight (February 1st-15th) is on Keith Waldrop (The House Seen from Nowhere) and Mark Tardi (Euclid Shudders).

New Lit on the Block :: Booth

Booth is a national literary magazine, sponsored by the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at Butler University. Each monthly issue features a piece of prose, a handful of poems, and some kind of “bonus feature.” The power source behind booth includes Butler graduate students, MFA Fellows, and adjunct faculty working in collaboration. Current staff includes: Robert Stapleton, Katie Rauk, Bryan Furuness, Alessandra Lynch, Gautam Rao, Jim Walker, and a large handful of readers.

The current issue of Booth, available as a PDF, includes works by Erica Plouffe Lazure, John Gallaher, Mab Graves, Brian Buckbee, C.J. Hribal, and Jonathan Lethem. Submissions are open for art, poetry, prose, lists, and literary comics. The editors welcome submissions by both emerging voices and established writers.

New Lit on the Block :: The Broadsider

The Broadsider is an annual magazine of limited edition, numbered and signed poetry broadsides. All poems selected for publication are solicited. The editors choose previously published poems only and publish the individual broadsides from January thru November of each year. In December, a limited number of complete sets of all broadsides are compiled into two issues and offered for sale: a Limited Edition Issue (numbered and signed), and a Regular Issue (unsigned). Each issue contains a minimum of 20 or a maximum of 30 series broadsides.

The Broadsider, Volume 1, Series 1-30 features the works of Paul Fericano, Angelica Jochim, Cielle Tewksbury, Klipschutz, Dan Gerber, Ann Menebroker, Barry Spacks, Ellen Bass, AD Winans, Joyce Odam, Edward Field, Robert Bly, Joyce La Mers, B.L. Kenned, Wanda Colemanm Hugh Fox, leah angstman, Irene McKinney, Carol DeCanio, Roger Langton, Gerald Locklin, Laurel Speer, Ron Koertge, Lyn Lifshin, Penelope Rosemont, Perie Longo, and Ligi.

Pictured: “Phone Booth” by Carol Decanio, The Broadsider: Volume One, Series Twenty-Two. Regular Issue.

Long Live the Slush Pile

Seth Fischer on The Rumpus responds to WSJ’s article on the death of the slushpile: A Necessarily Incomplete But Hopefully Helpful List That Proves The Slush Pile Has a Pulse – includes a short list of “mags that writers have reported are good about actually reading and publishing from the slush pile” and reader comments.

Jobs

Park University has a position open for a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in English. Cherie Smith, Human Resource Services. March 1

Wayne State University tenure track Instructor/Assistant Professor, Creative Writing (tenure track) Department of Language and Literature.

Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction) for the Department of English & Philosophy at Murray State University. Full-time, non-tenure track position to begin August 2010. March 5

Brandeis University English Department seeks a poet with a distinguished publication record and teaching experience for a half-time appointment (2 workshops per year, 1 per semester) as Ziskind Poet in Residence in the Creative Writing Major of the English Department to begin Fall 2010. First consideration Feb 5.

Pending budgetary approval, Creighton University’s English department seeks to fill a tenure-track, entry-level Assistant Professor position in Creative Writing (area open).

Taunton Press of Newton, CT currently has several openings:

Assistant Editor – Books
Associate Editor – Fine Cooking
Customer Sales/Service Representative
Director of Creative Marketing Services
Director, Product Development & Market Innovation
Senior Acquisitions Editor – Books

Got Legos to Share?

River Rock School in Montpelier, Vermont, is looking for LEGOs: “We are in need of many, many LEGOs for our summer LEGO camp. Check out our website to learn more about us. No LEGO collection is too big or too small. A small bag of 50 or 100 LEGOs would be greatly appreciated. Please call 802-223-4700 for details (or email [email protected]), or to arrange pick up of your donation (locally). Or mail them to River Rock School, 252 N. Main St., Montpelier, VT 05602. Many thanks!”

Celebrity Houses, Celebrity Politics – Antioch Review

The newest edition of Antioch Review couldn’t be more timely, with its focus on “Celebrity Houses.” The issue opens with an essay by Daniel Harris, who takes readers into the newest realm of “celebrityhood – politicians as celebrity.” The issue includes a several essay on France “all of which praise it, its citizens, an the French way of life,” and includes a look at their celebrities and politicians in turn.

Norman Mailer Writers Colony Fellowships

The Norman Mailer Writers Colony is accepting applications for the Second Annual Norman Mailer Writers Colony Fellowships at Provincetown, MA.

Fiction and non-fiction writers can apply for a 28-day residency in Provincetown, Massachusetts, near Mailer’s home beginning July 5, 2010. Seven Fellows will be selected. In addition, as many as 66 applicants will be offered scholarships to one week writing workshops in Provincetown during May, June, August and September, 2010.

Applications must be received by March 13, 2009.

Outrage – In Theatres May 8th

Academy Award nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) delivers a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. Outrage boldly reveals the hidden lives of some of our nation’s most powerful policymakers, details the harm they’ve inflicted on millions of Americans, and examines the media’s complicity in keeping their secrets.

American Indian Youth Services Literature Awards

The 2010 American Indian Youth Services Literature Awards, presented by the American Library Association, have selected the following recipients:

Best Picture Book – A Coyote Solstice Tale, written by Thomas King and illustrated by Gary Clement, published by Groundwood Books, 2009.

Best Middle School Book – Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer, with photographs by Katherine Fogden, published by the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in association with Council Oak Books, 2008.

Best Young Adult Book – Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me: A Novel by Lurline Wailana McGregor and published by Kamehameha Publishing, 2008.

Book :: Kamchatka

Kamchatka: Wilderness at the Edge: “Astoundingly beautiful book on one of the most special wilderness and cultural areas on the planet – Kamchatka. This peninsula hangs into the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean off the very eastern end of Russia. It is home to the world’s highest diversity of salmon with huge runs up wild rivers; large populations of brown bear; traditional reindeer-herding cultures; Krontosky Nature Reserve and its Valley of Geysers (a World Heritage Area); and much more.” Available exclusively from Wild Foundation; proceeds from the book to benefit the foundation.

By Igor Shpilenok and Patricio Robles Gil
Edited by nature writer Laura Williams
Full color, 121 pages, 7.5″ square, hard cover, in hard-case gift box.
ISBN 978-1-56373-187-0

storySouth Million Writers Award

The storySouth Million Writers Award is now open. Readers and editors can nominate their favorite online story, with the deadline for nominations being February 28, 2010. Donations for prize money are also being accepted, with final winners selected by reader votes, making this a true community of readers award.

February 2010 Book Reviews

Check out the NewPages February Book Reviews (Ed. Gina Myers):

Easter Rabbit, Fiction by Joseph Young
Review by John Madera

Shot, Poetry by Christine Hume
Review by Marthe Reed

The River Flows North, Novel by Graciela Limon
Review by Christina Hall

Tsim Tsum, Poetry by Sabrina Orah Mark
Review by Roy Wang

Catch Light, Poetry by Sarah O’Brien
Review by Gina Myers

The Bigness of the World, Fiction by Lori Ostlund
Review by Laura Pryor

Dangerous Places, Fiction by Perry Glasser
Review by Alex Myers

Death at Solstice: A Gloria Damasco Mystery, Novel by Lucha Corpi
Review by Elizabeth Townsend

Closings :: The Open Book, SC

The Open Book in Greenville, SC, will be closing its doors next month after 40 years in business. The economy and changes in the book business – big box stores and digital readers – are what owner Duff Bruce cites in his reasons. “I’ve loved books, loved putting books in people’s hands over the years,” Bruce said.

Thumbs Down Agency List

Writers Beware has updated its Thumbs Down Agency List: “a list of the currently active literary agencies about which Writer Beware has received the largest number of complaints over the years, or which, based on documentation we’ve collected, we consider to pose the most significant hazard for writers.” Writers Bewared outlines “abusive practices” which guides the selection of those listed.

CFS :: Lit Mag Editors

From Seth Horton Co-editor Best of the West: New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri, an annual anthology of short fiction that is set in the West. “We are currently considering work published between fall 2009-fall 2010. If you are an editor of a literary journal and would like us to consider any of the stories that you (will) have published during this time, please send a complimentary subscription to Best of the West, 824 W. 28th Street, Richmond, VA 23225. Feel free to contact the editor with any questions that you may have at bestofthewesteditor_at_hotmail_dot_com.”

New Lit on the Block :: Buzzard Picnic

In her Editor’s Note, Abby Holcomb writes: “Technological advances have certainly expanded our worldviews, yet they have also managed to diminish our attention spans and cheapen our appreciation of art. Much like Marx described the alienation of the worker from the fruits of his labor, James might identify the disconnect that certain technologies have created between an artist and his art and that art and its audience. This debut issue of Buzzard Picnic will deal thematically with the matter of alienation in all its manifestations.”

Featured in this inaugural issue is an interview with Hannah Tinti, “Bibliophilia,” an essay by Lauren Avirom, a review of E.L. Doctorow’s Homer and Langley by Shelley Huntington, fiction by Ingrid Wenzler, Dominic Preziosi, and Steve Duno, and poetry by Mather Schneider and Gary Leising.

Edited by Abby Holcomb and Lauren Avirom, with web designer Jason Thompson, Buzzard Picnic is open for submissions of short fiction, memoir, essay, criticism, book and story reviews, and author interviews; relevant comic strips, art and/or design will be considered for publication.