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NewPages Blog

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!

Writers Institute :: New York State

New York State Summer Writers Institute
2-wk or 4-wk sessions
June-July 2009

The New York State Writers Institute, established in 1984 by award-winning novelist William Kennedy at the University at Albany, SUNY, announces its 21st annual summer program. Under the joint auspices of Skidmore College and the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, the summer program is held on the campus of Skidmore College and will feature creative writing workshops in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Students may enroll for two weeks or for the entire four-week session. The Institute offers courses for undergraduate and graduate credit and may be taken on a non-credit basis as well. A Senior Fiction Fellow reads entire student novels or extensive works in progress and meets with students on a tutorial basis.

New Lit on the Block :: The Ne’er-Do-Well

Backed by Sheila Ashdown, who moonlights as an employee of Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, The Ne’er-Do-Well publishes fiction and non-fiction. This first issue includes works by Laura Bogart, Ryan Davidson, Jon Lasser, Keith Rosson, Allan Shapiro, Ricardo Perin, and cover art by Dan Miller.

Magazine as Muse :: The New Quarterly

In its last issue (108 – reviewed here on NP), The New Quarterly introduced a new feature: “Magazine as Muse,” in which writers are asked to tell about magazines that have influenced them. In this issue Billeh Nickerson and Mark Callahan take the opportunity to discuss their “muses.”

How many magazines have made the plea to those who submit to read their publication and, better yet, subscribe to it? And how many times at conferences have I heard speakers charge writers with the same – support your lit mags! This new feature in TNQ provides a much more creative approach: show readers the influence of publications on writers.

It would be nice to see similarly styled features of “role modeling” included in more publications!

New Lit on the Block :: The Readheaded Stepchild

The online poetry magazine The Redheaded Stepchild only accepts poems that have been rejected by other magazines. Editors Malaika King Albrecht and Deborah Blakely, who have each seen their share of accpetance and rejection, say: “We are open to a wide variety of poetry and hold no allegiance to any particular style or school.” But don’t even think that this is a publication without standards: “regrettably even we reject 85% of our submissions.”

The inaugural issue of rejects who have found a home include: Mark DeCarteret, Elizabeth Kerlikowske, Wendy Taylor Carlisle, Richard Garcia, Maggie Glover, Thomas P. Levy, Lucia Galloway, Jessy Randall, Daniel M. Shapiro, Kit Loney, Dorine Jennette, Howie Good, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Susan Yount, Sergio Ortiz, and Susan Rich.

And TRS is kind enough to thank the rejecting publications on “The List.”

Submissions are now being accepted through February for the Spring 2009 issue. C’mon, who among you doesn’t have something to send in?

Jobs :: Various

University of Montevallo Assistant or Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing. The Department of English & Foreign Languages invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professorship in creative writing (fiction). Jim Murphy, Chair, Creative Writing Search Committee.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is seeking to hire a qualified instructional faculty member for creative writing and literature. Dr. Henry W. Spaulding II Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean.

NewPages at AWP

Yes, we will be in Chicago this year!

We’re tabled in Southwest Hall – #624.

We don’t really plan to be at the table much this year, as we will be attending sessions and hitting the floor to say hello to as many of our friends as possible. But do feel free to stop by, say hello, leave a card, a postcard, a book, a lit mag, a beer, etc.

We’ll be sharing a table with Jessica Powers of Catalyst Press Books.

Iowa Review Awards

The Iowa Review, Winter 2008/09, features Winners of the 2008 Iowa Review Awards:

Nonfiction: Nancy Geyer for “Where the Children Are”
Poetry: Dave Snyder for “Bamboo Poem”
Fiction: Andrew Mortazavi for “Stop Six, Ft. Worth”

IR also announced a tie for the Tim McGinnis Award for 2008 for “the most unusually pleasing and unexpected work of the year” : Jim Barnes (“Five Villanelles,” Spring 2008) and Ron Carlson (“Victory at Sea,” in this current issue).

IR makes several works from their most current issue available online.

Glen Workshop

The Glen Workshop in Santa Fe
Fully Human: Art and the Religious Sense
July 26 – August 2, 2009

“The Glen Workshop, sponsored by Image journal, is an innovative and enriching program, combining the best elements of a workshop, an arts festival, and a conference. Add to this the intimate setting at St. John’s College and the rich cultural, spiritual, and natural resources of northern New Mexico and the result is an unforgettable experience. Daily classes are taught by nationally known authors and artists, and are small enough to allow the faculty to give close attention to each participant—to beginners as well as those advanced in their craft. The seminar class is for artists and non-artists alike, a forum to explore the workshop theme in more depth through discussion and hands-on collaborative art making.”

MQR :: Emma’s Father – Dementia?

The newest issue of Michigan Quarterly Review (under the new editorial guidance of Jonathan Freedman, University of Michigan Professor of English and American Culture) includes an article by Margaret Morganroth Gullette: “Annals of Caregiving: Does Emma Woodhouse’s Father Suffer from ‘Dementia’?” For Austen fans, this is a compelling analysis, ready for controversy: “Some readers may deny that Mr. Woodhouse has any form of cognitive impairment, veering back to the simplicities of the ‘polite old man’ characterizations and ignoring the tender manipulations of his caregivers that I have tried to put into relief. Many of us may be diminished in our capacity to connect his condition with our contemporary contest…one of the old people Americans fear most – even, sometimes when they are our own relatives.”

New Lit on the Block :: The Ampersand

Hailing from St. Petersburg, Florida, The Ampersand is held together by editors Jason Cook, Bruce Bostick, and Meghan Kelly. The debut issue features fiction by G.K Wuori, Myfanwy Collins, Matt DeBenedictis, Jason Jordan, Will Lasky, Joseph Riippi, & more. Poetry by Shane Seeley, Julie Yi, diego baez, J. Bradley, Sarah Moon, and “a full brigade of talented, frothy-mouthed poets.” Cover art by Alejandro Sanchez.

Haiku Festival and Contest

The Seventh Annual ukiaHaiku Festival is an afternoon devoted to the Haiku form of poetry. Keynote speaker: Theresa Whitehill

Sunday, April 26, 2009
2 pm to 4 pm at the City Conference Center
200 School Street in Ukiah, California

The festival will also include awards for their Haiku contest, which is a no-fee contest for all age groups *except* the Contemporary Adult Category (3/$5). Deadline March 13

Working with Teen Writers

A great model for others to follow or in which to get involved, the Pongo Publishing Teen Writing Project is a volunteer, nonprofit effort with Seattle teens who are in jail, on the streets, or in other ways leading difficult lives. Pongo helps these young people express themselves through poetry and other forms of writing and publish annual anthologies of their work.

PONGO FUN FACTS:
*This is Pongo’s 14th year.
*Pongo currently has two projects, one at juvenile detention in Seattle and one at the state psychiatric hospital for children in Tacoma.
*Pongo currently has 11 volunteers.
*Pongo has collected 286 surveys from our writers over the last three years, and one-third have previously not written at all or have previously written just a little.
*On the surverys, 100% said they enjoyed writing, 99% said they were proud of their writing, 66% said they wrote about things they don’t normally talk about, 91% said they plan to write in the future when life is difficult.
*Since 2000, Pongo has worked with over 4,000 teens (including 1,800 in individual sessions).
*Pongo has published close to 500 teens in 12 poetry books.
*Pongo has given away 11,800 of our poetry books to youth, agencies, judges, libraries, and others.

Ecotone’s Contribution to Evolution

Ecotone‘s latest issue is a whopping 430 pages – a double issue – in celebration of the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species. The editorial alone (“Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkeys) is worth the issue price, in reading how David Gessner once taught a course called “When Thoreau Met Darwin.”

The issue includes winners of the 2008 Ecotone Evoluntion Contest, judeged by Jennifer Ackerman:

First Prize: Emily Taylor for her short story “Beginning”
Second Prize: Kathryn Miles for her essay “Dog Is Our Copilot
Third Prize: Lynn Pederson for her poem “On Reading about the Illness adn Death of Darwin’s Daughter Annie

And a shout out to Jennifer Sinor for her essay, “The Certainty of Spinning,” and for Birkerts fans (me!), he’s here too, with the nonfiction piece, “The Points of Sail.”

Tin House Summer Writers Workshop

Tin House
Summer Writers Workshop ’09
Reed College, Portland, OR
July 12 – 19, 20089

One-week writing intesnive: workshops, readings, seminars, panels in fiction, non-fiction, poetry.

Faculty and Guests:
Dorothy Allison, Steve Almond, Aimee Bender, Lan Samantha Chang, Charles D’Ambrosio, Anthony Doerr, Stephen Elliott, Ron Hansen, Ehud Havazelet, Ann Hood, Marie Howe, Walter Kirn, D.A. Powell, Jim Shepard, Karen Shepard, David Shields, Kevin Young

Editors and Agents:
Julie Barer, Betsy Lerner, Lee Montgomery,Brenda Shaughnessy, Rob Spillman, Denise Shannon

2009 Mission Creek Festival

The Mission Creek Festival returns to Iowa City, Iowa for its fourth year. Taking place from April 1st – 4th, this four-day annual celebration takes over the venues and art spaces in downtown Iowa City, providing an easily navigated nexus of music, literature, and visual art. The festival remains dedicated to inspiring and building our artistic community through the exposure of both underground and renowned artists.

Confirmed bands include: GZA/Genius (of Wu-Tang Clan) performing Liquid Swordz, The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Fruit Bats, Headlights, Bowerbirds, The Tallest, Man on Earth, Simon Joyner, El Paso Hot Button, Caleb Engstrom, Fulton Lights, Golden Birds, and Pieta Brown

Confirmed readers include: Edmund White, Charlie D’Ambrosio, Steven Kuusisto, Forklift: Ohio, Andrew Milward, Mark Leidner, Steve Hanson, with more to come!

Confirmed film: Copyright Criminals – a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod

Updike’s Rules for Reviews

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.”

2009 Sami Rohr Prize Fiction Finalists Announced

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)

Global Slums Exhibit

The Places We Live by Jonas Bendiksen includes an online exhibit of sounds and images of slums in Caracas – Venezula; Kibera, Nairobi – Kenya; Jakarta – Indonesia; and Dharavi, Mumbai – India. After the stunning introduction, you can click on each country for further images as well as several “houses” to visit. For each visit, there is audio and an interactive image that can be viewed using your mouse.

“The year 2008 has witnessed a major shift in the way people across the world live: for the first time in human history more people live in cities than in rural areas. This triumph of the urban, however, does not entirely represent progress, as the number of people living in urban slums—often in abject conditions—will soon exceed one billion.”

The Places We Live is also a traveling exhibit and available as a book, with signed copies at the Magnum Photo store.

Please

The epigraph from Prince Rogers Nelson (“The beautiful ones always smash the picture”) provides a succinct introduction to the territory Brown mines throughout Please; namely, the intersection of violence and desire. For those who may not recognize his full given name, Prince Rogers Nelson is better known simply as Prince (a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As…). It should come as no surprise, given the choice of epigraph, that music is one of the book’s central motifs. Continue reading “Please”

The Madwoman of Bethlehem

Don’t let the title or shadowy sepia cover fool you; this is not your typical Middle Eastern novel: sad, dark, slow, un-relatable. There are no silent, dark-clad, wise old women or handsome, ruthless, old-fashioned, but still socially respectable young men. The plot isn’t made slow by verbally artistic renditions of the dusty scenery or groups of loyal women milling around the well. The tone is not sad in a “you’ll-never-know-what-it’s-like, feel-sorry-for-the-lot-of-us, but-our-life-is-beautiful,” distant kind of way. Continue reading “The Madwoman of Bethlehem”

Some Place Quite Unknown

Celia, a teacher, writer, and mother in her fifties, undergoes psychoanalysis after nearly being killed by a passing taxi. Finding that she has bottled away years of painful memories, she obsessively engages in her work with Dr. Daniels, to whom she pours out stories and dreams about her mother who committed suicide, her relationship with various members of her extended family, and longing for her grown son who lives across the country. Continue reading “Some Place Quite Unknown”

Why the Long Face?

Ron MacLean, author of the 2004 novel Blue Winnetka Skies, surges forward with his new collection of short stories, Why the Long Face? The collection’s witty, and at times wry, take on the ordinary stuff of life works to subtly reveal the extraordinary nature hidden in even the most common events. Continue reading “Why the Long Face?”

State of the Union

The word “politics” comes from the Latin politicus and means, according to Merriam-Webster, “of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of government.” It’s the conduct of government – George Bush’s government – that concerns most of the 50 poets collected here. Some are famous; some are new. All are accomplished and impassioned. Continue reading “State of the Union”

On a Day Like This

On a seemingly ordinary day, Andreas decides to change the course of his life. He’s empty, worn out and sick of life’s routines, but he’s also learned that he may have cancer. Almost immediately, Andreas decides to quit his job, sell his Parisian apartment of 20 years and return to his hometown in Switzerland to visit, and perhaps act upon, an unrequited love. Continue reading “On a Day Like This”

Inventing the Real

The logic behind the 2×2 series, published by the Feminist Press, goes something like this: selected works by two authors (one male, one female) dealing with a similar theme or subject are juxtaposed in a single book. The blurb on the back of the jacket puts it this way: “Love. Death. Conflict. Civilization and its discontents. Do women and men tackle these enduring themes differently? [2×2] matches short works by great women and men writers and lets you be the judge.” Continue reading “Inventing the Real”

A Nod to Nester

Thanks to Daniel Nester for mentioning NewPages as a “best online portal” in The Library Journal‘s January installment of The Magazine Rack. Magazines mentioned in this column include Cave Wall, Bateau, 1913, The Lumberyard, Caketrain, Alimentum, Habitus, Chautauqua, Atlas, and Greatest Uncommon Denominator.

aaaarrrrrggghhhhhhhhh…..

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.

Brevity Seeks Photographers and Artists

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.

Jobs :: Various

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.

Awards :: Glimmer Train New Writers :: January 2009

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories of their November Short Story Award for New Writers competition.

First place: Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig of Austin, TX, wins $1200 for “Monkeys of the Sea”. Her story will be published in the Spring 2010 issue of Glimmer Train Stories, out in February 2010.

Second place: Stephen McCabe of Oshkosh, WI, wins $500 for “The Net of Blue Angels”.

Third place: Marco Fernando Navarro of Flushing, NY, wins $300 for “Enough”.

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here. This competition is held twice a year and is open to any writer who has not had fiction appear in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5000. Click here for guidelines.

Also: Family Matters competition (deadline soon approaching! January 31)

Glimmer Train hosts this competition quarterly for stories about family, and first place brings $1200 plus publication in the journal. It’s open to all writers, and the word count range is 500-12,000. Click here for guidelines.

Writer Exchange :: China

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.

Back on the Spindle

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 Seeks Poetry

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

Awards :: Anderbo

2008 Anderbo Poetry Prize

Winner
Kathleen M. Kelley for her poems “The Waiting Room” & “My Real Mother”
She receives: $500 cash
Publication on anderbo.com

2008 Anderbo Poetry Prize Poems of Distinction
“Fugitive Memory” by Penelope Scambly Schott
“Graal” by Carol Quinn
“What Your Life Did While You Were Away” by Leslie Vryenhoek

A New Writers’ Residency

Writers in The Heartland is now taking applications for its inaugural season. Writers in the Heartland is a writing colony for creative writers in all genres. The colony is located in Gilman, Illinois, approximately 2 hours south of Chicago. It is located on a beautiful 30-acre wooded site with lakes and walking paths. A limited number of one-week residencies are available for September 18-25 and October 3-10. Lodging and food are included.

Applications must be received by April 15, 2009, to be considered. Decisions will be announced by July 1st.