NewPages Blog

Copper Canyon Press offers an “Advice to Poets” page on their website in response to writers seeking the advice of this publishing guru. The page links to several articles, including: “Becoming a Poet: One Step at a Time” by John Haines; “Advice to Young Poets: How to Make It out of the Slush Pile of Submissions” and “The Don’t and Dos of Cover Letters” by editor Eleanor Hamilton; and “Thirty-two Statements About Writing Poetry” by Marvin Bell. Take it from the pros. It’s free.

“Photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about inclusion before he had his son Samuel seven years ago. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Habib’s documentary film Including Samuel examines the educational and social inclusion of youth with disabilities as a civil rights issue.

“Including Samuel is built on the efforts of Dan Habib and his family to include Samuel, 7, in all facets of school and community. Including Samuel also features four other families with varied inclusion experiences, plus interviews with dozens of teachers, young people, parents and disability rights experts.”

The New York Quarterly has added a unique new feature to their website:NYQ Poets, a searchable database of poets and poems that have appeared in issues of NYQ. Poets whose works have appeared can add their own information to their page, including: photo, announcements, biography, links, audio, video, books and more.

Readers can search poets and poems by name, or browse the full database by leaving search fields blank or entering only a letter (although, avoid the “back” button on your browser – some glitch takes you back to an error page). NYQ links the poem to an order page for the issue in which the work appears. Limited “classic” back issues can be ordered, or digital reprints through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Powell’s Books.

He Has Tried in His Way to Be Free
By Sarah Hampson
Sambhala Sun
November 2007

And to a remarkable extent, Leonard Cohen is succeeding. Sarah Hampson had a rare opportunity to spend an afternoon with the famed singer and poet. He’s got the wisdom of age but he’s still the essence of cool—the perfect reflection of his years of Zen.

[. . .] It is often said that Cohen is hard to define. There’s Cohen, the son of a prominent Montreal clothier and the grandson of a Jewish scholar. Cohen, the law-school dropout. Cohen, the novelist, the poet, the songwriter. Cohen, the sexual bad boy who becomes a monk.

But he disagrees. “I always felt it was of one piece. I never felt I was going off on a tangent. Mainly because I think we develop images of ourselves quite early on, and certainly one of the images I had of myself came from reading Chinese poetry at a very young age. There was a kind of solitary figure in some of those poems by Li Po and Tu Fu. A monk sitting by a stream. There was a notion of solitude, a notion of deep appreciation for personal relationships, friendships, not just love, not just sensual or erotic or the love of a man or a woman, but a deep longing to experience and to describe friendship and loss and the consequences of distance. So those images in those poems had their effect, and thirty years later, I found myself in robes and a shaved head sitting in a meditation hall. It just seemed completely natural,” he says in a quiet manner [. . .]

Read the rest on Shambhala Sun.

The editors of Crazyhorse are pleased to announce the 2008 Crazyhorse Prize Winners (prize entry deadline of Dec. 20, 2007).

Crazyhorse Fiction Prize
Judged by Ha Jin

Fiction Winner: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
for the story “Pertussis”

Fiction finalists: Roy Kesey, Marjorie Celona, Cathryn Alpert, Rachel Cassandra, Devon Code.

Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize
Judged by Billy Collins

Poetry Winner: Jeff Walker
for the poem “Itchy Is As Scratchy Does”

Poetry finalists: Alexis Orgera, Jordan Windholz, Claire Millikin, Michael Robins, J. Mae Barizo, Elizabeth Marzoni, Xu Smith, Christopher Howell, Juliet Patterson, Tobey Kaplan.

The two prize winners will each receive $2,000 and the winning story and poem will be published in Crazyhorse Number 74, due out Nov. 1, 2008.

Beloit Poetry Journal
Poet’s Forum
As of June 1, the BPJ site will host a blog. Each month one poet with work in the current issue will post a reflection on that work and invite your questions and comments. The Poet’s Forum poets for the summer issue are:

June 1-30, Erin Malone
July 1-31, Paul Gibbons
August 1-31, John Hodgen

From BPJ: “We hope the forum fosters lively dialogue that strengthens the poetry community the BPJ has contributed to for almost sixty years.” No doubt.

(And might I just say, that IS a lovely zebra you have…)

4th Annual
Reading the World
June 2008 (and beyond!)

RTW grew out of a series of informal meetings of booksellers and publishers as a way of introducing American readers to more international authors. As Goethe said back in 1827, “Left to itself every literature will exhaust its vitality if it is not refreshed by the interest and contributions of a foreign one.”

This belief that international literature plays a vital role in book culture is one that is shared by all the publishers and booksellers involved in Reading the World. Twenty-five works of literature have been selected to represent a broad range of cultures, from Portugal to Lebanon, from China to Switzerland, from Chile to Japan.

The publishers include: Archipelago; Dalkey Archive; Eccom; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Knopf; New Directions; New York Review Books; Other Press; Picador; Columbia University; Copper Canyon; Europa; Graywolf; and Grove.

Starting in June, Words Without Borders will be relaunching its Reading the World Book Clubs, featuring reading guides and moderated discussions of several of the RTW titles.

The web site also includes a list of participating bookstores and a bookstore sign-up form.

[Text from the RTW web introduction by: Karl Pohrt, Shaman Drum Bookshop; Chad W. Post, Open Letter/University of Rochester; Jeff Seroy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.]

Teens and Computers
by Donna S. Bast
2007; 148pp
ISBN 978-1-4196-7075-6

Given my interest in technology and education, I couldn’t resist getting a copy of this book, Teens and Computers: What’s a Parent to Do? A Basic Guide to Social Networking, Instant Messaging, Chat, Email, Computer Set-up and More. I’m a sucker for anything that touts “and more.” Of course, my real agenda in getting this book was to see just how teens were treated. I’ve listened to numerous speakers and read countless efforts by authors to help parents get “in tune” with their teen, and most come off as “us vs. them” masked behind a lot of ageist humor, which only serves to further divide the parent/teen relationship.

Let me further disclaim – I have never raised a teenager. But I work with troubled teens, and I know a lot about what parents do to screw kids up. Donna S. Bast, the author of this book, will not allow that to happen with what she has written here.

Trying to learn hip new technology, I’ve also read several ______ for Dummies books (like for Second Life – I’m STILL not off Welcome Island – Second Life Guantanamo…). The problem with those books: They’re too stupid. Bast’s approach is directed to parents who have some clue about what is out there, and perhaps even use some of the technologies themselves, but don’t quite get how kids use the technologies like oxygen. Bast is able to tap into the realm of how critical these technologies are to teens and their social identities (HUGELY important to teens), and how parents can better work with their teens and technology instead of against both.

The book starts with “What are my Teenagers Doing on the Computer?” and covers IM/Text, chat, blogs, email [old school for teens now!], MySpace, Facebook, Xanga and video portals. Every chapter gives the basics of the technology, its attraction for teens, how new users can access it, what cautions should be heeded, and how to talk with your teen about these concerns.

It’s not until the second part of the book that Bast gets into “Limits for Computer Usage.” But these have been discussed throughout, not so much as taking total control, but how to negotiate responsible usage with your teen. Still, her chapters on “Should I Control…” and “What are the Rules and Consequences…” provide insightful and patiently scripted suggestions. What I think gives Bast the greatest edge in this writing is that she is a computer geek, through and through (her business is Miz Fix-IT Tech). She likes technology and doesn’t want to see it get a bad rap in this parent/teen struggle.

But, the absolute best part of Bast’s book, which I have NEVER seen discussed in any other “how to deal with your teen and technology” forum is the chapter “What Should I Know about Plagiarism and Copyright?” Finally! Thank you Bast! This chapter puts some responsibility on the parents, who are working with their children on homework, to be sure that what their kids write is authentic and not “copy and paste” from the web. She also covers downloading and pirating of music and software. As an educator, this chapter alone (and the appendix on plagiarism) is one I wish every parent of a teen would read and put to use in working with their young scholars.

The rest of the book is devoted to basic computer and Internet education, including computer terms, useful sites, buying a laptop, MORE on plagiarism, and the “dark side” of the Internet. Rather than starting with this material, I like that Bast ends with it. This allows those who need more “basics” to get it, without those who don’t need it feeling as though the book isn’t for them when they open up to the first couple of chapters. Very well planned in terms of delivery of content.

The only drawback to this book that I can see is that it is self-published (available via Amazon and Borders). The double-edged sword. Sure, it’s out there, and I imagine Bast sells them at talks and trainings, but this book would better serve a much wider audience of readers – parents and teachers alike – that could be reached with, say, an academic publisher’s marketing plan. Hello? Scholastic?

Winners of the 2008 Iowa Review Awards
May 29, 2008

Nonfiction
First Prize
Nancy Geyer for “Where the Children Are”
Runner-up
Alexis Nelson

Poetry
First Prize
Dave Snyder for “Bamboo Poem”
Runners-up
Mary Austin Speaker, Stephen Gibson

Fiction
First Prize
Andrew Mortazavi for “Stop Six, Ft. Worth”
Runner-up
Jacob M. Appel

Prague Writers’ Festival 2008
June 1 – 5, 2008

In 2008, the Prague Writers’ Festival celebrates its eighteenth anniversary. The Festival is one of Europe’s leading cultural events, through its unique mix of world-class authors, international media coverage and live broadcasts on the internet. The Festival is co-sponsored by the City of Prague and the Guardian, which presents the Festival through its book pages.

The Festival dates from Keats House, London 1980, when with “Index on Censorship” through the Helsinki Accords we brought vital authors from Central and Eastern Europe to the attention of the public. As Herzen noted: “Fish were born to fly, yet everywhere they swim.” Fortunately in 1991, we could fly east and bring outstanding authors to Prague. In 1997, the Festival became a Czech cultural foundation.

Festival Authors and Moderators
Tariq Ali, Homero Aridjis, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Slavenka Drakulić, Graeme Gibson, Natalia Gorbanevskaya, Jiří Gruša, Siri Hustvedt, Paul Kahn, Ivan Klíma, Petr Král, Günter Kunert, Antonín J. Liehm, Arnošt Lustig, Michael March, Michael McClure, Dimitris Nollas, Jiří Pehe, Igor Pomerantsev, Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke, Elena Schwarz, Ludvík Vaculík, Gary Younge

“The New Criterion, now co-edited by the art critic Hilton Kramer and Roger Kimball, was founded in 1982 by Mr. Kramer and the pianist and music critic Samuel Lipman. A monthly review of the arts and intellectual life . . . Serious, but not academic . . . a staunch defender of the values of high culture, an articulate scourge of artistic mediocrity and intellectual mendacity wherever they are found. . .”

The May 2008 issue includes a special feature on eduction, with online content providing limtied content access (subscribers have full access). The following

Articles
Introduction: What was a Liberal education? by Roger Kimball
An introduction to our special issue on education.

The New Learning that Failed by Victor Davis Hanson
On the value of classical learning.

The Age of Educational Romanticism by Charles Murray
On requiring every child to be above average.

Poems
The Old Story by William Logan

The Fossil-Finder by David Sanders

Some Kind of Happiness by Charles Martin

The Other Osprey by Molly McQuade

Art
Gallery Chronicle by James Panero
On “John Dubrow: Paintings” at Lori Bookstein Fine Art, “Wayne Thiebaud: The Figure” at Allan Stone Gallery, “Gregory Crewdson” at Luhring Augustine, and “Lois Dodd: Landscapes and Structures, a Survey Exhibition” at Alexandre Gallery.