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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!

Happy National Punctuation Day.

Why is punctuation important Jeff Rubin the Punctuation Man and founder of National Punctuation Day explains that without punctuation you would not be able to express your feelings in writing not to mention know when to pause or stop or ask a question or yell at someone and without punctuation you would not be able to separate independent clauses and show an example of how a business lost millions because of an errant comma so dont forget the most important punctuation mark $$$$$$ OK so a dollar signs isnt a punctuation mark but its important dont you agree

(Editor’s note: Without punctuation, you also can’t show that you have quoted material directly from another source.)

Essays on Craft on Brevity Online

A cool feature on Breavity Magazine – great for teachers – “Essays on the Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction.” Newest additions include “Tiny Masters: An Artful Trick to Writing the Personal Essay” by Sherry Simpson, and “On Bridging the Distance Between Therapist and Theorist” by Barrie Jean Borich. Three years of articles are archived and availbe on the site (about a dozen), as well as a link to the blog You Gotta Teach This Essay: A blog for those who teach the essay form.

Want to contribute to this feature? Brevity is accepting submissions of craft essays, author Q&A or podcast interview for upcoming issue of Brevity. See the site for more details.

Audiobooks :: Mistakes to Avoid

Read Me a Story, Brad Pitt
When audiobook casting goes terribly wrong.
By Nate DiMeo
Slate Magazine
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

“…Audiobooks can be spectacular. But too many fine books are still being turned into bad audiobooks; worse still, their producers are making the same mistakes over and over. What follows are the three most common pitfalls—and how to avoid them.”

An insightful article for those interested in making this still-lasting medium for readers/listeners (esp. with easy access to downloads). I know I still enjoy listening to books when I walk, most recently working my way through A Long Way Gone read by author Ishmael Beah. It doesn’t always work to have authors read their own books, just like not every poet is great at public readings, but when you can find the right combination of reader (whether author or not) and text, audiobooks are their own literary magic.

Read the article here.

Questions to Ask an MFA Program

Posted on Spalding Universities MFA website – of course with their answers – but a helpful list of questions for those new to the pursuit of MFA programs. Not only are the questions important to ask, but so is being able to compare answers and make the right choice for yourself – for this major investment of both time and money. You might very well be able to find the answers on program websites, but if not, making a contact with the program director or faculty in the program with your questions will help them to know what’s important to prospective students. Check out NewPages to Creative Writing Programs in the US to start – or add to – your research. If you don’t see a program listed there, let us know!

Narrative Story of the Week

From Narrative Magazine: “We love finding and promoting well-written stories from talented writers. Each week a notable story is selected and featured prominently in the Story of the Week column on our Home Page. An announcement of each new Story of the Week goes out to our readers, and the story is eligible for selection as one of the annual Top Five Stories of the Week. The story is also permanently available in our Archive. We accept fiction and nonfiction manuscripts up to 10,000 words in length, from both published and unpublished writers. We would love to see your stories.”

Currently in the story archives are works by Elizabeth Bloom Albert, Tom Grimes, Yuvi Zalkow, and Heather Brittain Bergstrom.

There will also be a “Poem of the Week” feature open for submissions soon!

Darwin and the Church of England

Charles Darwin to receive apology from the Church of England for rejecting evolution
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
Telegraph.co.uk
September 14, 2008

The Church of England is to apologise to Charles Darwin for its initial rejection of his theories, nearly 150 years after he published his most famous work.

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin’s ideas. It will call “anti-evolutionary fervour” an “indictment” on the Church”.

The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin’s views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching.

The apology, which has been written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church’s director of mission and public affairs, says that Christians, in their response to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo’s astronomy in the 17th century.

“The statement will read: Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of ‘faith seeking understanding’ and hope that makes some amends.”

***

Additionally, The Church of England has developed a new section of its website at to mark the approaching bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth in 1809, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859.

Village Voice Fellowship

The Village Voice is taking applications for the fall 2008 Mary Wright Minority Fellowship. The Mary Wright fellowship is a fulltime, three-month writing job with the Voice that provides an opportunity to work alongside veteran Voice journalists. For recent college graduates with impressive clip files who can demonstrate that they have unique story ideas, excellent writing skills and a desire to do non-intuitive, deeply reported stories about New York City.

Art Exhibit :: WOMAN

WOMAN
a group exhibit
Tuesday, 2 September – Tuesday, 7 October, 2008
FusionArts Museum
57 Stanton Street
Lower East Side of NYC.

Today’s popular culture has created a climate where there is scant recognition or respect for female modesty or achievement that isn’t coupled with sex appeal. Being “sexy” is the ultimate accolade, trumping intelligence, character and all other accomplishments by a woman during the various stages of her life.

Popular culture has created a climate in which women are valued more for their appearance than for their contributions to society, forcing women of all ages to become willing, active and conscious participants in a tawdry, tarty, and very cartoon-like version of female sexuality.

“WOMAN” FusionArts Museum’s first group exhibit by female artists examines this new female imperative with the assistance of the Roman poet Ovid who said: “What one beholds of a woman is the least part of her,” reminding us that women are more than their Manolo Blahnik pumps.

Gallery hours are: Sundays, Tuesdays – Fridays from 12 Noon to 6 PM.

Opening reception for the artists: Sunday, 7 September, 2008 / 7 pm – 9 pm

More About Less Reading

Online Literacy Is a Lesser Kind
Slow reading counterbalances Web skimming
By Mark Bauerlein
The Chronicle of Higher Educaiton
September 19, 2008

“…Those and other trials by Nielsen amount to an important research project that helps explain one of the great disappointments of education in our time. I mean the huge investment schools have made in technology, and the meager returns such funds have earned. Ever since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, money has poured into public-school classrooms. At the same time, colleges have raced to out-technologize one another. But while enthusiasm swells, e-bills are passed, smart classrooms multiply, and students cheer — the results keep coming back negative.”

2008 Neustadt Prize Winner Announced

New Zealand author Patricia Grace has been awarded the 2008 Neustadt International Prize for Literature at the University of Oklahoma. Grace is the fourth woman to win the prestigious prize, which is given every two years by OU and its magazine World Literature Today.

She has written six novels, five short-story collections and a number of children’s books since the mid-1970s. Her works often describe the everyday life and traditions of Maoris, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Grace received $50,000, a silver eagle feather and a certificate at a ceremony yesterday on campus.

Jobs :: Various

Pending budgetary approval, the English department at the University of Colorado Denver seeks applications for a tenure-track position in creative writing, specialization in poetry. Search committee chairL Dr. Jake York. Initial screening of applications will commence on October 1, 2008.

Northwest Missouri State University seeks to hire a tenure-track assistant professor of English, specializing in creative writing: fiction, with a secondary interest in creative nonfiction, to teach at the beginning, intermediate, & advanced levels, as well as general education classes. Dr. Michael Hobbs, Chair, Department of English. Screening will begin November 1 & will continue until position is filled.

Emory University two-year Creative Writing Fellowship in fiction in lively undergraduate English/Creative Writing Program, beginning fall 2009. Load 2-1, all workshops; $26,000 salary, and health benefits. November 14, 2008 deadline.

Ohio State University Department of English invites applications for a tenure-eligible assistant professor or an early associate professor in creative writing. Valerie Lee, Chair, Department of English. Review of applications will begin on November 3 & continue until the position is filled.

University of Wyoming English Department invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in nonfiction to join the MFA faculty, appointment to begin in Fall 2009. Beth Loffreda, Director, MFA in Creative Writing. Review of applications will begin November 1.

University of Missouri English Department seeks applications from senior poets for the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature & Writing. Patricia Okker, Chair, English Department. Review of applications will begin November 14 & will continue until the position is filled.

Susquehanna University Creative Writing: Assistant Professor of English & Creative Writing, concentration in fiction. Gary Fincke, Director, Writers Institute.

New Mexico State University Assistant Professor of Creative Writing – Poetry. Dr. M

CFS :: Tattoos & Poetry

Well, here’s a unique call for submissions: Holly Rose Review is looking for poetry and tattoo photos for its premier issue due up in December. For now it’s a blog site, but will have a website for the actual publication. Believe it or not, Editor Theresa Edwards says it has been difficult getting any tattoo photo submissions. Seriously? Alright ye poets, give a shout out to your neighborhood tattoo artists and get them in on this. More poetry is also welcome, Theresa says, so you can do your part there as well.

Anti – June 2008

Anti-(poetry) is a poetry journal that flouts the rules of poetry by saying they search for poems that are contrary to traditional standards and different than other journals and current conventions in the genre – and to be sure they have an anarchist’s glee about them in the modes of expression they utilize. They publish two full issues a year while featuring different poets every two weeks. Continue reading “Anti – June 2008”

The Aurorean – Spring/Summer 2008

The poems in this issue of The Aurorean focus on the outdoor wonders experienced in spring and summer, giving various perspectives on the natural beauty of these two seasons. This issue is a testament to The Aurorean’s goal that their poems inspire, uplift, and are meditational. Continue reading “The Aurorean – Spring/Summer 2008”

Crazyhorse – Spring 2008

The editors of Crazyhorse give the stories and poems they’ve selected for their most recent issue room to breathe. Often, they print only a handful of lines of verse on the magazine’s generously margined pages. All that space invites the reader to savor the writing, much of which is vivid and haunting. Continue reading “Crazyhorse – Spring 2008”

decomP – 2008

decomP magazine, a publisher of prose, poetry and art since its inception in 2004, has published an ambitious collection featuring the work of a diverse range of poets, often highlighting the appeal in their focus on the narratives of the common American and their experiences, whether they be spiritual, satirical, political or emotional import. Continue reading “decomP – 2008”

The Laurel Review – Winter 2008

The Winter 2008 issue of The Laurel Review is filled with poetry and fiction interested in examining the way thoughtful people try to reconcile themselves with nature while maintaining a special humanity. The poems and stories are imbued with a grounded, tactile love of flora and fauna, gentle breezes and warming sunlight to which we can all relate. Continue reading “The Laurel Review – Winter 2008”

Michigan Quarterly Review – Summer 2008

You know you’re in store for quality fiction and poetry when you pick up a copy of Michigan Quarterly Review. Jane Gillette’s wonderful story “Divine Afflatus” combines two seemingly disparate narratives – one featuring a poetry professor who continues to mourn the loss of his son, and a modern-day housewife who has too much time on her hands. The two narratives merge in a climactic moment for both characters. Equally good was John Allman’s story, “Waiting for Z,” in which the protagonist waits for his wife to come back from a whirlwind trip around the world. Both stories are exemplars of realistic narrative fiction at its best. Continue reading “Michigan Quarterly Review – Summer 2008”

The Midwest Quarterly – Summer 2008

The Midwest Quarterly (“a journal of contemporary thought”) is an unpretentious academic review that also includes a selection of poetry. This issue’s articles are scholarly, but quite readable, not overly burdened with jargon or theoretical constructs that try one’s patience, as so much overly formal academic writing tends to do. Continue reading “The Midwest Quarterly – Summer 2008”

New York Tyrant – Number 1

Two of the most frequent complaints about the state of contemporary literature are the woeful lack of readers and the abysmal quality of writing available for the oh-so-few readers who are out there. Obviously, these two generalizations are just that, and literary magazines like New York Tyrant serve as a counterpoint to the creeping edge of Literary Apocalypse. This, the third issue, is now sold out. People are reading. And the quality and range of the writing is staggering. Continue reading “New York Tyrant – Number 1”

Salamander – 2008

At one point in Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Road, the main character laments how he’s forgetting things’ names: “Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true.” The work in this issue of Salamander reacts against this amnesia, knowing that loss in specifics results in loss of meaning. As Jennifer Barber, the editor, says, “[These pieces] restore the essential questions about what we live through, what we imagine, and what we tell, answering Rilke’s call to ‘Speak and bear witness.’” Through Salamander’s focus on life’s details, it does just that. Continue reading “Salamander – 2008”

Spinning Jenny – 2007

“Imagination has a heavy appetite / for destruction. Whose red weather / gathers names, makes do / with the least momentous stuff.” Ashley McWater’s poem, “Defending,” sums up Spinning Jenny’s editorial vision: imagination as destruction in the sense of destroying expectations, shattering tired patterns, un-doing traditional formulas, un-making the routine and predictable, and creating something new. Continue reading “Spinning Jenny – 2007”

Superstition Review – Spring 2008

Superstition Review is not just another journal of interviews, art, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. This creation is a unique collaboration between an all-star team of professional writers/professors and the Arizona State University student community of writers. In this first issue, although there is gluttony of writing selections for you choose from (mostly from professors), you are not left bored, fatigued or searching for your lucky rabbits foot to take you into uncharted and more creative territories in whatever genre you choose to read from first. Continue reading “Superstition Review – Spring 2008”

Versal – 2008

Versal Six is published by wordsinhere in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and features poetry and prose written originally in English, as well as work translated into English from a variety of languages, and artwork, including reproductions of drawings, photographs, and paintings, as well as sculpture and ceramics. The journal is handsomely designed and produced – the quality of the paper and printing is exceptional. This issue includes work by writers from the Netherlands, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Morocco, Australia, Romania, Wales, England, Germany, China, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. It is worth noting that many of the writers who appear in Versal Six have extensive international experience, having studied and worked in as many as a half dozen different countries. Continue reading “Versal – 2008”

Whitefish Review – 2008

“Our goal is to add a new voice to the increasingly sprawling network of artists and writers in the interior American West and beyond, wrap it up in mountain culture, and do it even though it doesn’t make sense for a lot of reasons,” explains editor Brian Schott in this journal from Montana. One of the journal’s most appealing aspects for readers, and most useful for writers, is to publish excerpts of forthcoming and unpublished full-length works: passages from a new book of creative nonfiction by writer and filmmaker Annick Smith, Crossing the Plains with Bruno; excerpts from a new work of nonfiction, Why I Came West, by Rick Bass, whose work here is preceded by a brief interview; and a segment from an unpublished novel by J.R. Satterfield Jr. titled Soon You Will Cry. I am looking forward especially to Smith’s book on Bruno, her Labrador retriever, and also to Why I Came West. Bass is at his best, I think, when he brings together his considerable talent for storytelling with his keen observations of place and the social conditions that inform it. Continue reading “Whitefish Review – 2008”

Keyhole Magazine – Spring 2008

Keyhole 3 opens with Shellie Zacharia’s story “Stitch,” where the narrator obsesses over whether her sewing instructor may in fact be a girl from grade school whose stitches she touched on a school bus dare. The story contains the swirl of emotions that a moment from the past often evokes: the anxiety about whether that is the same person, and whether that person remembers that one moment of cruelty you indulged at their expense, the need to defend one’s childhood self, and, ultimately, the remorse and the desire to let the past be the past, hoping that the scar of that one act healed quickly and vanished. Continue reading “Keyhole Magazine – Spring 2008”

A Sixth Hitchiker’s Guide? Uh-oh…

Eoin Colfer to write sixth Hitchhiker’s Guide book
Guardian.uk

“Douglas Adams’s increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy is to be extended to six titles, after Adams’s widow Jane Belson sanctioned a project which will see children’s author Eoin Colfer taking up the story.”[Read the rest here]

I feel a storm brewing among Hitchiker fans…

Teachers Parents Students Young Writers

Please check out the Young Authors Guide on NewPages.com.

This is guide where young authors (as defined by each publication) can find places to publish their writing. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather is a select list of childrens, teen, and early college-age publications in print as well as online that have open submissions with guidelines, an editorial selection process, and a regular print cycle. Some publish only young authors, some publish all ages for young audiences. For more specific submission guidelines, visit the publication’s website.

Also included in this guide are contests for young writers. These are carefully selected for quality and sensitivity to not wanting young writers to be taken advantage of (with promises of publication and high entry fees). Almost all are no-cost entry with some awarding scholarship money.

This is not a paid-for page or an advertising page in any way. It is a page I have put together as a resource to encourage young writers in their interest.

If you know of other publications or contests that could be added to this list, please e-mail me with information: denisehill-at-newpages.com

New Generation Nigerian Literature

Literature Prize, it’s new writers’ turn
By Gregory Austin Nwakunor
Excerpted from Guardian Newspaper

The new generation of Nigerian writers has never had it so good. Since 2004, when the Nigerian Literature Prize was instituted, this is the first time a new writer will mount the podium to receive the country’s most prized literary award.

Only last Thursday, September 4, after months of intensive scrutiny by eminent judges, the Nigeria Prize for Literature committee announced a shortlist of two books, Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow and Jude Dibia’s Unbridled, as potential winners of this year’s Prize.

Both Kaine and Dibia are not only new writers, they were equally born in the 70s. If one of them emerges winner of this year’s award, he or she will walk away with a $50,000 prize money, an increase from last year’s $30,000. [read the rest]

Poe Home Updated

Just in time of the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, his Philadelphia home is getting a new look. The house is located a few blocks from downtown Philadelphia, where Poe lived for about 18 months in the early 1840s.

The current exhibits in the home are 30 years old, and interpretive program specialist Mary Jenkins says it’s time for a change. Jenkins says visitors will see Poe’s influence on world literature and on popular culture.

The home will close December 1 and reopen January 17. The Edgar Allan Poe Museum, only blocks from the historic home “boasts the world’s finest collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s manuscripts, letters, first editions, memorabilia and personal belongings.” It remains open to visitors and includes a complete online source of information, works by Poe, educational resources, and Poe “products” – such as books, t-shirts, and – you guessed it – drinking glasses.

Little Blue Books :: Zines that Shaped a Nation

The Henry Ford of Literature
By Rolf Potts
The Believer, September 2008

How one nearly forgotten 1920s publisher’s “Little Blue Books” created an inexpensive mail-order information superhighway that paved the way for the sexual revolution, influenced the feminist and civil rights movements, and foreshadowed the age of information.

“When Emanuel Haldeman-Julius drowned in his backyard swimming pool, on July 31, 1951, he was popularly regarded as a has-been, even in his adopted hometown of Girard, Kansas. Denounced as a communist in national newspapers and investigated by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, he had recently lost a federal tax evasion lawsuit and was facing time in jail. Amid the cold war atmosphere of the time, schoolchildren around Girard whispered that Haldeman-Julius had actually been assassinated for being a Soviet spy; adults speculated that his death was a suicide—though the only note he left behind contained a silly joke meant for his wife.” [read the rest]

The Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University, maintains an online index of all the Little Blue Books published in The E. Haldeman-Julius Collection.

Mad Men Screensavers

Mad Men fans, get your retro screensavers from Dyna Moe (real name?), a designer and illustrator living in New York. You can check out her full line of work, blood, sweat and tears on her website: Nobody’s Sweetheart.

I did start watching Mad Men this season, catching up on all of last season’s shows in a week. I’m not sure I’m going to stick with it, though. It’s a fairly dark show, in a very sad and miserable way. As much as I like the advertising angle, some of the characters, and all that is retro about the show, there is such a pervasive hopelessness about the storyline that holds no appeal for me. I’m not looking for Disney here, but maybe something in between.

Nairobi Literary Seminar 12.08

Summer Literary Seminars Kenya is now accepting applications for the 2008 program, December 13-28 in Nairobi and Lamu. SLS produces a blended program of workshops, lectures and unique cultural experiences, and has hosted faculty such as Dave Eggers, George Saunders, Padgett Powell, Denis Johnson, Jayne Anne Phillips, and Binyavanga Wainaina. Academic credit is available through Concordia University. See a list of program activities here.

50 Days of Poetry Politic

Poetry Politic: A Blog in 50 Days provides daily political poetry news — from September 15th through November 4th, 2008 — brought to readers “by the citizens at Wave Books.” Thus far on the site “Dream Occupation,” a poem by J.W. Marshall and Muriel Rukeyser’s FBI File – no kidding – the whole thing as a PDF download – as well as links to some of the original works cited in the document. Much more chilling to view than I had at first thought it would be. Certainly a blog worth watching to steel us through these 50 days.

NewPages Updates :: Listings :: September 2008

The following are recent additions/changes to NewPages Guides:

Print and Online Literary Magazines
Monday Night – poetry, prose
P-QUEUE – prose poetry hybrid
Bent Pin Quarterly – poetry, flash fiction, essays, creative nonfiction, one act plays
Blue Unicorn – poetry
Black Robert Journal – essays, poetry, fiction, vispo, art, photography

Publishers
Effing Press – poetry
Lost Roads Publishing (updated URL)
Black Heron Press – literary fiction

Contest Winners :: Glimmer Train Family Matters

Glimmer Train announces the three winning stories of our July Family Matters competition:

First place: Nellie Hermann of Brooklyn, NY, wins $1,200 for “Can We Let the Baby Go?”. Her story will be published in the Winter 2010 issue of Glimmer Train Stories, out in November 2009.

Second place: Stephanie Freele of Healdsburg, CA, wins $500 for “Us Hungarians”. Her story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing her prize to $700.

Third place: Rolf Yngve, of Coronado, CA, wins $300 for “Going Back for His Brother”. His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here. This quarterly competition is open to all writers for stories about family (word count range is 1,200-12,000). Submissions may be sent for the October Family Matters using the Glimmer Train online submissions system at www.glimmertrain.org.

Also: Fiction Open contest (deadline soon approaching! September 30)

Glimmer Train hosts this contest four times a year, and first place is $2,000 plus publication in the journal. It’s open to all writers and all themes, with a word count range of 2,000-20,000. Click here for complete guidelines.

Intelligent Digital Literature?

Can intelligent literature survive in the digital age?
The Independent
September 14, 2008

“Is the paper-and-ink book heading the way of the papyrus scroll? Can serious literature survive in the brave new world of web downloads, e-books and ever-shortening attention spans?”

In addition to John Walsh’s commentary on the subject, several experts are called upon to predict the future in “What’s the word?”: Clare Alexander (agent), Sue Thomas (new-media lecturer), Tracy Chevalier (author), Santiago de la Mora (google-guy), Richard Ovenden (librarian), Jeremy Ettinghausen (publisher), Chris Meade (digital convert), and Andrew Cowan (teacher).

Name Your Essetial Biopunk Pick

Toward a list of essential readings in biopunk fiction
From Enter the Octopus
September 13, 2008

Enter the Octopus has invited readers to add their “essential biopunk” pick to the list already started on the site. Not sure what that means? According to ETO:

“Biopunk is a subcategory of futuristic science fiction characterized by an emphasis on the plasticity of the flesh, genetic modification and self-determination, a blurring of the lines between human, post-human and animal hybrids, and the utilization of biological/genetic technologies to manipulate the external environment and body for reasons both practical – security, hazard mitigation – and aesthetic. The biopunk environment may be dystopian or utopian depending on the ways in which these technologies may be utilizied. While biopunk fiction may also incorporate other science fiction and technological elements – artificial intelligence, cyber-enhancements, alien contact – most of the problems and solutions posed by the narrative will find their origin in humanity’s dabbling in genetic and biological technology.”

Read the rest on ETO.

[via Gerry Canavan]

Jobs :: Various

Comp/Creative Writing: Illinois Valley Community College, located in North Central Illinois, anticipates filling this position to begin January 2009. Glenna Jones, Director of Human Resources.

The Department of English at Salisbury University is accepting applications for the tenure-track position of Assistant Professor in creative writing specializing in fiction. November 17, 2008.

The English Department of Bowling Green State University seeks applicants for the Arts & Sciences Distinguished Visiting Writer. The successful candidate will be in residence spring 2010; teach one workshop in our BFA program and one workshop in our MFA program; give a reading and a lecture; and advise theses. Dr. Kristine L. Blair. Screening of applicants will begin March 16, 2009 and continue until the position is filled.

The School of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas invites applications for a tenure track position, rank open, in Creative Writing, with an emphasis on prose fiction.

The College of Idaho announces a tenure-track position in environmental literature and creative writing (non-fiction prose) at the Assistant Professor level to begin fall 2009. Application review will begin on November 1.

The Washington College Department of English seeks to hire a tenure-track Assistant Professor with specialization in creative writing (poetry). Dr. Kathryn Moncrief, Chair, English. Applications must be received by Nov. 1, 2008 for full consideration.

University of Central Oklahoma: Teach First-Year Composition classes and serve as Executive Editor of New Plains Review; qualified applicants may teach occasional Creative Writing classes, as needed by the department. Dr. David Macey, English department Chair.

Marshall University tenure-track position; rank open. Ph.D. in Creative Writing required at time of appointment; strong record of creative publication; teaching experience; primary area in creative non-fiction with secondary emphasis in fiction or poetry or literature or screen writing. Donna Spindel, Interim Chair English.

Iowa State University Assistant Professor of English in creative writing. Tenure-track. Beginning August 2009. Accomplished writer in one genre with the ability to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in a second genre for the newly-formed MFA program in Creative Writing and Environment. Interviews with selected candidates may be conducted at the AWP Conference in Chicago (2009). Apply online by November 1, 2008.

San Jose State University, California: Creative Writing – Fiction/Non Fiction. John Engell, Chair, Department of English & Comparative Literarture.

Central Michigan University, Creative Writing: Fiction. Tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of English. Dr. Marcy Taylor, Chair, Department of English Language and Literature. Screening of applications will begin on October 20, 2008, and continue until filled.

Texas State University MFA program invites applications for a tenure-track position in poetry writing. Prof. Tom Grimes, Chair, Poetry Search Committee, Department of English,

Reginald Shepherd

Reginald Shepherd, born 1963, died September 11, 2008.

From his own blog: Shepherd is the editor of The Iowa Anthology of New American Poetries (University of Iowa Press, 2004) and of Lyric Postmodernisms (Counterpath Press, 2008). He is the author of: Fata Morgana (2007), winner of the Silver Medal of the 2007 Florida Book Awards, Otherhood (2003), a finalist for the 2004 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Wrong (1999), Angel, Interrupted (1996), and Some Are Drowning (1994), winner of the 1993 Associated Writing Programs’ Award in Poetry (all University of Pittsburgh Press). Shepherd’s work has appeared in four editions of The Best American Poetry and two Pushcart Prize anthologies, as well as in such journals as American Poetry Review, Conjunctions, The Kenyon Review, The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, and The Yale Review. It has also been widely anthologized. He is also the author of Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry (Poets on Poetry Series, University of Michigan Press). Shepherd has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the Florida Arts Council, and the Guggenheim Foundation, among other awards and honors.

Shepherd was also a regular contributor to The Poetry Foundation’s blog, Harriet.

David Foster Wallace

Writer David Foster Wallace found dead
Marion Ettlinger
Los Angeles Times
September 14, 2008

David Foster Wallace, the novelist, essayist and humorist best known for his 1996 novel “Infinite Jest,” was found dead Friday night at his home in Claremont, according to the Claremont Police Department. He was 46.

Jackie Morales, a records clerk at the department, said Wallace’s wife called police at 9:30 p.m. Friday saying she had returned home to find that her husband had hanged himself.

Wallace, who had taught creative writing at Pomona College since 2002, was on leave this semester…[read the rest here]

Man Booker Prize Finalists

“The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlist was announced Tuesday September 9. Two first-time novelists, Aravind Adiga and Steve Toltz, survived the cull of the longlist from thirteen novels to just six. Pevious winners of the Booker Prize, John Berger and Salman Rushdie, failed to make this year’s shortlist and Sebastian Barry is the only novelist shortlisted for this year’s prize to have been previously shortlisted (in 2005).

“Linda Grant, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000 and longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002, is the only female author to make the shortlist of six. She is joined by Philip Hensher, longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002 and a Booker judge in 2001, and the widely-acclaimed Indian writer Amitav Ghosh.”

The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlisted novels are:

Aravind Adiga The White Tiger (Atlantic)
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008 will be announced October 14.

Job :: Poetry Foundation Web Editor

Editor and Online Program Manager, Poetryfoundation.org
The deadline for applications is September 25, 2008.

Job Description
The role of editor of poetryfoundation.org includes the following responsibilities:

Provide editorial direction to staff editors, producers, and consultants in order to publish the site’s frequently updated content. This includes acquiring and approving all articles and other content such as feature articles, podcasts, and other audio and visual features.

Work with other Foundation program senior managers to publish online content and information from all program areas at the Foundation.

Develop marketing plans and campaigns to promote the website as needed.

Direct the process by which poems and other materials about poets and poetry are added to the site’s archive. This includes supervising the permissions process for all published content.

Collaborate with other editors at the Foundation on poetry issues and judging of awards as necessary.

The role of online program manager includes the following responsibilities:

Manage the technical staff and consultants who design and develop the site’s user interface to ensure the quality of the user experience.

Manage technical consultants, including developers, usability experts, and hosting providers, to ensure the security and performance of the underlying technical infrastructure.

Develop and execute plans to steadily increase traffic to the site, including managing the process for gathering and reporting web traffic data, search results, and web traffic marketing plans, and establishing partnerships with other websites important to the mission of the Foundation.

Qualifications

Extensive background and familiarity with contemporary poetry

Extensive experience with managing editorial processes, including web publishing processes.

Strong knowledge of web technology and web design

Substantial project management experience

B.A. degree or greater in English literature or computer-related studies

Digital Art Weeks

The DIGITAL ART WEEKS program is concerned with the application of digital technology in the arts. Consisting of symposium, workshops and performances, the Digital Art Weeks program offers insight into current research and innovations in art and technology as well as illustrating resulting synergies in a series of performances during the Digital Art Weeks Festival each year, making artists aware of impulses in technology and scientists aware of the possibilities of application of technology in the arts.

New Lit on the Block :: In the Mist

In the Mist is and online outdoor literary magazine for women and by women. The work is meant to “inspire you to seek adventure whether it is in your garden, on horseback, or while climbing glaciers”; or, as Thoreau put it: “Live the life you imagined.” Ange Tysdal is the editor (you may know her also from Marginalia), and Mark Todd the poetry editor.

The first issue includes fiction by Rachel Bell, Lucia Cockrell and Emma Larkins, non-fiction by Sarah Coury, Holly Marie Garrell, Andrea M. Jones, Olga Pavlinova Olenich, Jill Paris, Gabrielle Sierra, poetry by Kristin Berkey-Abbott, Laurie Wagner Buyer, Jenn Campbell, Melissa Carroll, Anne Hasenstab, Ginger Knowlton, Peggy Landsman, Arlene L. Mandell, Martha Meltzer, Caroline Misner, Sheila Nickerson, Mary Rohrer-Dann, Emma Sovich, Ann Walters, and photos/art by Diane Elayne Dees, Erica Lynn Johnson, Diane Parisella-Katris, Christel M. Ruddy, Donna Vorreyer.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!
In the Mist is seeking submissions from women who play, or write about playing, in the mist. Send poetry, fiction, nonfiction, photography, and artwork about being outside. Interested in anything from doing yoga in the park to walking your dog to bombing down the Anasazi Descent in Durango, Colorado or sailing from California to Hawaii in a kayak with outriggers. See website for more information.

From Page to Stage :: Writing Aloud

Writing Aloud

History
Founding program director David Sanders established Writing Aloud in 1999 to present diverse voices in contemporary fiction by the region’s best writers, read on stage by professional actors. Writing Aloud quickly established itself as the region’s premiere reading series and has attracted sold-out audiences, has been featured in special broadcasts on WHYY-FM public radio.

The 2007-2008 season featured writing by Carol F. Dixon, Vashti Bandy, JB Traino, Tally Brennan, Thaddeus Rutkowski, Jennifer Williamson, Harry Humes, Julia MacDonell, William Hoffman, Maggie Fay, R.A. Lopata, Jacob M. Appel, Randall Brown, Alix Ohlin, and many more.

Submissions
Produced by InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia, Writing Aloud is a reading series that presents contemporary short fiction read on stage by professional actors. Writers featured in the series are from Pennsylvania and the greater Philadelphia area, or have a strong Philadelphia connection. Selected stories are read before a live audience at InterAct Theatre.

Internships/Volunteer
InterAct offers a variety of internships both during the summer and during the academic year, covering all areas of production, development, and administration. All internships at InterAct have a modest component of general company work, including but not limited to helping with mailings, general office work, and phone answering. In addition, there are several ways to get involved with the company as a volunteer.

Digital Media Writing/Performance :: Interrupt 10.08

Interrupt
October 17-19, 2008
Rhode Island

Interrupt is a festival celebrating writing and performance in digital media, busting onto the scene in Providence, Rhode Island. Events are hosted by Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design. The festival is continuing in the tradition of Brown’s E-Fest, but is expanding/augmenting it, and also streamlining into Pixilerations.

Participating artists will share work that in some way addresses the theme of the festival: Interrupt. In computing, an interrupt is a command sent to the processor to get its attention, and indicates a need for change. We understand “interruption” as a useful metaphor for imagining the role of digital arts practices in contemporary society. The festival is being organized with the aim of showcasing arts practices hybridized not only by digital mediation, but by a spectrum of cultural practices including electronic poetry, information design, net art, video art, interactive music, and performance art.

William Carlos Williams Symposium 9.20

On September 17, 2005, several thousand people attended a day-long William Carlos Williams Symposium honoring Rutherford’s native son on the anniversary of his birth. Sponsored by the newly-formed William Carlos Williams Poetry Symposium (WCWPS), this was the first celebration of the Pulitzer Prize winning poet in his hometown in 22 years, and featured the premiere of a double-screen documentary on WCW and his family, an award-winning slide presentation and bus tour of historic WCW sites in Rutherford, and the first full-length performance of a Williams play in Rutherford. Since 2005, the non-profit WCWPS has held annual events honoring Williams. This year it will host a gala celebration of the poet’s 125th birthday on September 20 and 21, 2008, at the Williams Center, with related activities at the Rutherford Library and Meadowlands Museum.

Books :: Poets for Palestine

Poets For Palestine was published to unite a diverse range of poets, spoken word artists, and hip-hop artists who have used their words to elevate the consciousness of humanity. Sixty years after the dispossession of the Palestinian people, this anthology presents forty-eight poems alongside original works by Palestinian artists. All proceeds from the sale of this collection will go toward funding future cultural projects that highlight Arab artistry in the United States.