NewPages Blog

In catching up on my RSS feeds, I just now learned of the passing of Nuala O’Faolain. I am saddened to hear of this loss to us all, most especially those closest to her. I only learned of her work a few years ago while listening to the Diane Rehm show on NPR. I was absolutely fascinated with O’Faolain’s discussion of her memoir, Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman. As can happen with Rehm’s interviews, their discussion went off onto many other topics, including O’Faolain’s views on relationships and her lack of belief in any kind of afterlife. Her candid assuredness and openess in discussing these topic with Rehm led me to go out and gather as much of her writing as I could find. My respect of her grew through these as well as her staunch journalism work; and of her decision to travel during her last months of life, I find it in keeping with the fortitude of her character I will forever admire.

Nuala O’Faolain, 68; Irish journalist, wrote memoir ‘Are You Somebody?’
By Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2008

Nuala O’Faolain, the Irish journalist and author whose 1996 memoir, “Are You Somebody?,” captured international attention for its soul-searching candor, died May 9 in a Dublin hospice of complications from lung cancer, according to news reports from Ireland. She was 68.

O’Faolain, a resident of Barrtra in County Clare, Ireland, with homes in Dublin and New York City, recently announced that she had inoperable lung cancer and she had turned down the option of chemotherapy, choosing instead to travel in Europe until she had to be hospitalized.

She wrote about everyday events in a way that touched on basic human realities. For one column she visited the intensive care unit of a maternity ward where the fragile newborns didn’t cry. They couldn’t, she wrote, because they were sedated.

She often covered political and social issues from her outspoken, feminist perspective. In general, however, she was known to be unpredictable in her views, with a gentle sense of humor.

O’Faolain’s bestselling memoir began as an idea for a book-length collection of her columns. She started writing an introduction that grew into several hundred pages of intensely personal autobiography. The memoir’s subtitle, “The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman,” suggests the change in direction.

“I had to answer the question nobody had asked: Where do my opinions come from?” O’Faolain said of her purpose for writing a memoir, in a 2001 New York Times interview. “The answer was simple. Ideology had nothing to do with it. My opinions come from my life.”

[Read the rest on LA Times.]

Originally published in print from October 1993-April 2002 by Andy Fogle with the help of Chris Saywer (author of the zine Ingin the Ooh), 5th Gear dedicated itself to publishing a variety of poetic forms. When Saywer moved, the magazine took a hit in production quality and Fogle hung it up for four years. Now it’s back with the help of Adam Parez and Mark Fitzgerald.

The publication now runs five-poem monthly installments. Fogle notes on the site that they started in January, but only March and April are currently archived online. “In this new format, in addition to poetry, we envision publishing reviews, essays, fiction, and artwork. However, at present, we are only accepting unsolicited poetry; for now, submissions for all other genres are by invitation only.”

Although the publication is online, only paper submissions are accepted. The upshot is the response: “We reply in 3-12 weeks, and comment fairly often; if we like your work, don’t be surprised if that commentary is pretty detailed/specific.”

Additionally, Fogle puts this call out on the site: “I’d also like to reach out to any poets previously published in 5th Gear and old MFA pals. If you have fond memories (or even just decent ones; I fear there are also a few nightmares) of this magazine, just drop me a line at the Schenectady box; I’d love to see your work again.”

For more information, swing by 5th Gear.

Matt Bell reads (a lot). Matt Bell writes (a lot). Matt Bell drinks beer (no comment – but we’ll take donations for Matt as well). This was enough to get Matt Bell started writing reviews with NewPages a year or so ago. But this wasn’t enough for Matt. He wanted more, and as we weren’t the least bit abashed in taking advantage of that energy, crowned him Book Review Editor.

As editor, Matt is large and in charge of the section: recruiting and screening prospective reviewers, managing content, and reading for first edit. He does this in addition to keeping up with his own writing, having published numerous short stories and now working on his first novel, as well as maintaining a bill-paying job and a personal life in there somewhere that includes his wife, Jessica.

I don’t know how he does it, but given the immediate ramp-up of the book reviews, and the positive feedback we’ve received thus far, it is definitely working. I asked Matt to explain what he sees as the role of book reviews for NewPages readers, and his role as a reviewer as well as editor:

“When I write my own reviews, my goals are to promote good writing, to explain why I think a book is worth the reader’s time, and to dive in critically to try and expose some of what makes the book work. In editing other people’s reviews, the goals are similar: I want to bring out the strengths in each reviewer’s own style and to help them write as strongly and as clearly as possible.

“Overall, I want the NewPages book review section to be a place that is unapologetically enthusiastic about books, especially the great work coming out of the smaller presses. Every day I read news stories about declining readerships, the death of the short story, the relegation of poetry to academia, and I can’t help but disagree. I think this is a great time to be a reader. There are so many good writers out there, and it’s our job to keep giving those people the critical attention their work deserves.

“I truly believe that fiction in general and the short story in particular is in as good a shape today as it has ever been. Perhaps its commercial potential has diminished, but its artistic potential is off the charts. I’m less personally knowledgeable about the state of poetry, but I think excellent writing is being done there as well, at least judging from some of the reviews we’ve published lately and the enthusiasm of those reviewers.”

Matt Bell lives in Ann Arbor, MI. His fiction has appeared in magazines such as Barrelhouse, Juked, Caketrain, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and is upcoming in No Colony and Hobart. He can be found online at www.mdbell.com.

If you are a reader/writer interested in reviewing for NewPages, contact Matt Bell (newpages.matt-at-gmail.com) for book reviews and/or Denise Hill (denisehill-at-newpages.com) for literary magazine reviews.

If you want to know about having your book or lit mag reviewed on NewPages, please see our FAQ page.

Bibliocracy Radio is hosted by Santa Monica Review editor Andrew Tonkovich, Bibliocracy is a weekly literary arts program featuring readings and discussions with writers. Recent guests include: Al Young, Judith Freeman, Daniel Olivas, Reyna Grande, Michael Jaime-Becerra, Toni Mirosevich, Terese Svoboda, Katha Pollitt, Diane Lefer.

First Book has teamed up with Cheerios and John Lithgow to present this year’s Cheerios Book Donation Challenge, which gives readers the chance to determine where Cheerios will donate 100,000 new books by Lithgow to children across the country. For every question answered correctly, readers can vote for the state they’d like to receive new books for children in need. The top 5 vote-getting states will each receive 20,000 new books for local children! Votes can be cast from now until Sunday, June 15!

I tried the “quiz” – questions are taken from books promoted through Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program (with Simon & Schuster). For each question I got correct, I was able to pick which state I wanted to receive the books. I went through about 15 questions and, not having read the books, got 11 questions correct. It would be good encouragement for kids to have them read at least some of the books in advance and see if they could answer the questions for those books. I don’t know if there’s a cap on the number of questions – but wrong answers don’t stop you from continuing.

Organizations that want to be considered to receive free books can sign up on the First Book website.

The University of Georgia’s Georgia Review Wins General Excellence Award and Six Others in 2008 GAMMA Awards Competition

The Georgia Review, the University of Georgia’s nationally renowned quarterly journal of arts and letters, earned seven honors, including four golds, at the Magazine Association of the Southeast’s 2008 GAMMA Awards. Chief among the wins was the General Excellence award for publications with less than one million dollars in revenue.

Other gold awards for UGA’s standout publication were as follows: Best Feature, for “‘The Commerce Between Us’: Correspondence from the Archives, 1977-2000 (Spring 2007 issue); Best Profile, for “Annabel Before the War: Only What I See” by Joy Passanante (Summer 2007); and Best Photography, for “3-D” by Thomas Allen (Spring 2007). “Pursuing the Great Bad Novelist” (Fall 2007), the first-ever publication by Laura Sewell Matter, earned a silver award in the Essays category.

Read the full press release here.

The Absinthe Festival of New European Film and Writing hosted by Oakland University, Friday May 9-10 was a great cultural getaway. Close to home, we made a mini-vacation of it and caught Eamonn Wall and Valzhyna Mort reading on Friday night.

I’ve not heard of Eamonn Wall before, and I am grateful for the introduction to his works. Combined with strong, rooted imagery, a number of his works read like stories and were easy to follow for an oral reading, but I kept feeling that I wanted to go right back and read to myself what I had just heard in order to more fully absorb it. Refuge at DeSoto Bend, his newest collection published by Salmon Press, includes a section of poems on the Wexford Container Tragedy, a piece of history from 2001 I vaguely recalled – thirteen immigrants seeking asylum found in a crate that was misrouted before being brought to Wexford, Ireland. Eight of them had died. Eamonn’s treatment of this tragedy creates a historical retelling as well as emotional reliving of the event, but also attempts some sense of respectful remembrance.

Valzhyna Mort followed, and began in dramatic fashion by reading the first poem of her collection Factory of Tears (Copper Canyon Press) in Belarusian, then in English. She remarked on the nature of translation, that, because of cultural differences, “some things you just never get,” but how she also enjoyed translation “so much better than writing.” She continued reading from her collection, interspersed with commentary about her work. She remarked on some poems and their interpretations. For example, the poem “Men” readers often think is a love poem. “It’s not,” Mort clarified. “It’s a hate poem.”

In an interesting discussion of “A Poem About White Apples,” Mort reflected on the nature of translation by telling about one of her readings when she spoke with the sign interpreter. Before reading the poem, Mort explains that white apples are a common fruit in her native country, and that the poem is a reflection on that first moment when she truly felt displaced. How she craved the taste and texture of this specific fruit that could not be found in the U.S. At that previous reading, the sign interpreter had thanked her for this explanation, because having read the poem, he was going to interpret the apples as “breasts.” Mort said, “It’s just about apples.” I and others in the audience laughed at this story, but were brought up abruptly when she said, “And it’s a sad poem.” Then read on.

Much of her reading is this way; as you might think to relax and feel warmth in any moment, it is suddenly pulled up short, and the language – heavily metaphoric and imagistic – in her creations have a repeated pummeling effect on your core. It reminded me of how a little cartoon hero might seem so unassuming visually, but in punching its opponent, sends the villain flying through the air to smash through several brick walls, leaving the outline of the helpless body. Poem after poem, line after line of her work caught me, threw me, held me up against that wall before letting me drop down. It is exhausting poetry to read/hear, but of such allure that once is never enough. I bought her book so I could experience these feelings again and again.

It was curious that she mentioned several times that this or that poem might be “lighter” than the others, and read one saying that it would be a funny poem. She seemed almost apologetic that her poems did not bring laughter to the audience. Do we expect poets to make us laugh? I wondered. I have quickly come not to expect that from her poems, and am grateful for what they do deliver in terms of my responses to them. I don’t need to be made to laugh. Other emotional responses are just as important for me as a reader, and often times much more lasting.

Saturday brought the German film Yella , the Romanian film How I Spent the End of the World, both of which I would recommend to viewers, and a reading by Polish poet Piotr Sommer. Sommer’s works were a contrast to the previous evening’s readings. His works are short, almost hard to listen to because they go so quickly and were so condensed in their language and imagery. Several times, I wanted to say, “Would you read that one again?” but not because I wasn’t listening. I just needed a second chance to take it all in.

A Q&A followed his reading, and I asked, “What do you think is lost in translation and what do you think is gained in translation?” His being not only a writer whose works are translated, but a translator himself, he seemed to first beg off the question by saying, “I’m not good at aphorisms.” Confessing it would be easier to look at specific examples to make more direct analysis, he did offer the generalized observation that if it is a good poem, well written, that for the purpose of translations, nothing really will be lost, and that which is may not be that important to the culture of the language into which it is translated. He went on with some raised interest to speak of how much can be gained in the translation, how translated works can become something new of their own. Not necessarily completely different from the original piece, but each working on its own plane, parallel to one another.

There were more events at the festival, including a reading by translators Doris Runey, Marilynn Rashid, and Keith Taylor, a screening of the Russian film The Island, and numerous short films by Oakland University students. Unfortunately, we were not able to take in all the festival had to offer, but with such a strong start, I hope that Absinthe is able to offer this opportunity again next year. Kudos to Dwyane D. Hayes, Jessica Bomarito and all the Absinthe and UO folks who made this a very well organized and memorable event.

Tommy Hollenstein: Tracking Art
By Sam Maddox
New Mobility, April 2008

“Tommy Hollenstein’s artwork is colorful and chaotic yet infused with the optimism and transformative drama that define the Southern California experience. Tommy is a native Angelino ex-surfer boy who sports a mini-Mohawk bleach job and a tanned and mellow Valley boy manner. He’s been getting lots of traction, so to speak, with his work. He paints by joystick — that is, with the tires of his power wheelchair — rolling through paint spilled on the floor, or with a dab of color coated on the tires to layer colors toward a unique, complex whole. He calls it a sort of ‘action painting.'”

Read the rest and see several more images of Hollenstein and his art on New Mobility.

The Nancy Book
By Joe Brainard
Published by Siglio Press

The world has in Joe Brainard a semi-secret maverick hero who will win new friends indefinitely one by one.–Peter Schjeldahl

From 1963 to 1978 Joe Brainard created more than one hundred works of art that appropriated the classic comic strip character Nancy and sent her into an astonishing variety of spaces, all electrified by the incongruity of her presence. The Nancy Book collects more than fifty of these images for the first time and features collaborations with luminary poets Bill Berkson, Ted Berrigan, Robert Creeley, Frank Lima, Frank O’Hara, Ron Padgett and James Schuyler, as well as original essays by Ron Padgett and Ann Lauterbach.

Also available are limited editions, which include a hand-pulled photo-lithograph housed in a foil-stamped portfolio and slipcased with the trade edition. The edition is 100, numbered and stamped by the Estate of Joe Brainard.

Kartika Review publishes literary fiction, poetry, and essays that endeavor to expand and enhance the mainstream perception of Asian American creative writing. The journal also publishes book reviews, author interviews, and artwork relevant to the Asian Diaspora or authored by individuals of Asian descent. Kartika plans to sponsor readings, panel discussions, writing contests, and other creative activities for the Asian American community in both New York City and the Bay Area.

Downloadable e-Book versions in PDF format are always free of charge and in addition, they will publish a print anthology of the best works every three issues. The print publication will be available for purchase online or through participating bookstores.

As a quarterly journal, they release issues in March, June, September, and December. Submissions by electronic mail year-round. Sim/subs accepted.