Home » NewPages Blog » Page 291

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!

Lit Fest :: Saints and Sinners 5.8-11.08

Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
May 8 – 11, 2008
New Orleans

This event was a new initiative designed as an innovative way to reach the community with information about HIV/AIDS, particularly disseminating prevention messages via the writers, thinkers and spokes-people of the GLBT community. It was also formed to bring the GLBT literary community together to celebrate the literary arts.

The “Saints and Sinners” LGBT literary festival presents panel discussions and master classes around literary topics to provide a forum for authors and editors to talk about their work for the benefit of emerging writers and the enjoyment of fans of LGBT literature.

For 2008, Dorothy Allison, Mark Doty, Jewelle Gomez, Jim Grimsley, Aaron Hamburger, Stephen McCauley, Val McDermid, Tim Miller, Michelle Tea, and Elizabeth Whitney will join participants in the French Quarter for a weekend of literary revelry.

AWP 2008 :: Some First Notes

AWP was a blast, and I’m exhausted. My *poor* students had to put up with my slacking coherence and lagging memory of what I had assigned last week and what was due today, so class lectures started with the outcome of the Superbowl, the bowl ads, and the cost of burgers and beer in New York.

As for AWP – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love it.

I know – trust me I know – it has its faults, for exhibitors working the bookfair as well as for attendees. That said, I am absolutely supercharged from my weekend of contact with some of the nicest, most generous and brilliant people in the publishing industry, education, and writing community. A bit gushing? Maybe. Heartfelt? Yes.

Four years ago, when Casey and I hit the floor at AWP, hardly anyone we talked with knew about NewPages, and those who did had to roll their eyes upward and search their mental files first. There are some folks who have supported us from start to now, and those who have jumped on board along the way. We couldn’t be what we are now without their supportive encouragement and guidance.

This year, our third year of having a table presence at the bookfair, and my first year presenting on a panel, NewPages “got alotta love” from the constant stream of people passing by. “Oh, I love you guys!” “NewPages is great!” “You’re my homepage!” (The web equivalent to being the main “homie,” I think.) What a great connection it is for us to meet our fans and supporters, whose comments about what they like and what they’d like to see made better really do help guide our work here. And, still, there were just as many folks who didn’t know us who got schooled at AWP. I hope they will follow through and stop by for visit after visit.

My favorite part of AWP was being able to walk the floor and finally meet Face2Face with all of the people I know online and via e-mail – some for the first time, some renewing connections from AWPs past. We meet and in the frenzy that is the book fair floor, we bemoan the exhibitor situation, console one another on the state of reading and publishing in this day and age, shake fists at the postal hikes that are killing the small publications, and then make plans to meet again online to work on changing the literary world. And, as we have, so we will continue. There is so much to be done on the backs of those that have gone before us, we will continue, and I can only hope the new generation of writers, so timid about claiming themselves “writers,” will join with us in our efforts and sally forth – in whatever form that may mean for us and them and the next generation while still respecting those that have passed the torch – the rolled publication lit afire.

There’s much more to be reported on our attendance at AWP – and as soon as our missing luggage makes its way here, I will sort through all the wonderful materials and magazines, books and photos I gathered. Stay posted, and I will do the same!

Workshop :: The Kenyon Review in Italy 5.08

The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop
Vitorchiano, Italy
May 26 – June 2, 2008

David Lynn, editor of The Kenyon Review, takes the unique model of the KR Writers Workshop—where real writing is accomplished—and translates it to Italy. Join David, along with KR’s poetry editor, David Baker, and Rebecca McClanahan for eight fabulous days in a medieval village an hour north of Rome. Combine work and pleasure—and bring a partner or special friend along.

Workshops include:

Fiction – The Art of the Short Story with David Lynn
Poetry – A Window on Poetry Outside with David Baker
Non-fiction – Shaping Memory: People, Places, and Real Life Stories with Rebecca McClanahan

Workshop :: Kenyon Review in Ohio 6.08

The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop
“It’s a bit like boot camp (without the yelling and obstacle courses) for serious writers. Intensely creative, pushing you beyond what you thought you were capable of achieving—you eat, sleep, drink, breathe writing. And all around you are your fellow writers and instructors, cheering you on, encouraging you, word by word. Workshops are held for three hours each morning, focusing on writing exercises, reading and critiquing work, and talking about writing technique. The afternoons allow private time for reading and writing. Evenings are spent with public readings from instructors, visiting writers, and workshop participants.”

Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest for writers under the age of thirty, Alice Hoffman, final judge. Submissions 1200 words or less. Deadline February 1st-February 15th. No entry fee.

The Kenyon Review will publish the winning short story, and the author will be awarded a scholarship to attend the 2008 Writers Workshop, June 14th to the 21st, in beautiful Gambier, Ohio.

Film :: Global Documentary Series

Human Stories. Global Issues. Wide Angle.

WIDE ANGLE was created in 2001 as a response to the lack of in-depth international news coverage in the United States. Six years later, WIDE ANGLE is the only program exclusively dedicated to international current affairs documentaries. For each broadcast, producers and journalists from around the globe report on an event, issue or trend through the eyes of the people who are living it day to day. In its first six seasons, WIDE ANGLE traveled to more than 50 countries to explore the forces that are shaping the world today, presenting global stories on a human scale and offering Americans uncommon and invaluable insight into today’s interconnected world.

WIDE ANGLE is anchored by former CNN International, ITN and BBC journalist Daljit Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal introduces the featured documentary by putting it in the context of the news of the day, and follows up with a hard-hitting one-on-one interview with a foreign policy expert, administration official, legislative leader, author or journalist who provides context and critical perspective on how global issues connect to American concerns and U.S. foreign policy.

WIDE ANGLE is a production of WNET/Thirteen and airs Tuesdays from July through September at 9 p.m. on most PBS stations nationwide. Check our TV Schedule to find out when WIDE ANGLE is broadcasting in your area.

Submissions :: Ecotone

Ecotone , the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s national literary journal, has recently launched an online companion, which is currently seeking submissions for its current series, “Addiction as Ecotone.”

“We’re interested in exploring addictions (particularly their beginnings and, in some cases, their resolutions) as an ecotone—a transitional place separating past and present, reality and fantasy. We thus invite you to submit literary expressions you have related to this idea. Full submission guidelines here.”

Additionally, in Spring 2009, Ecotone will publish a special issue celebrating the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species. We are now accepting submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for the Ecotone Evolution Contest, which will creatively reflect the subject of evolution.

The reading period is October 15, 2007 – April 15, 2008. One Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,000 honorarium, a limited-edition chapbook of the winning manuscript, and publication in Ecotone’s Spring 2009 “evolution” issue. Two runners-up will receive chapbooks of their manuscripts and publication in Ecotone. The contest entry fee is $15 per manuscript. Full contest guidelines here.

AWP Report Friday

NewPages is fully enjoying AWP 2008! It’s absolutely crazy here from the moment we hit the floor until the moment our heads hit the pillows at night. We are basking in all the favorable comments the site receives from readers, and we also appreciate hearing how we can make NewPages better, better, better.

My special thanks to those who say they appreciate the blog. I am working the floor here to get an even more steady stream of news and events to post, so keep visiting the site and let others know about us.

A few fans stopping by even said they wanted to know how they could “support” NewPaqes. Well, while here at AWP, we’ve found our beer fund dwindling. If you like what you find on NewPages, and you appreciate the site, we don’t holler out alert colors to scare you into donating. Bottom line: We like beer. It really keeps us going. So, click the pint link in the upper right corner, and let us know how much you love us. No amount of beer-fund love is too small, since our tastes range from Stroh’s to Chimay.

And I haven’t heard yet, but I’m still hoping “Michael” is going to be ponying up soon!

Books :: WriteGirl

Lines of Velocity
Words That Move From WriteGirl
WriteGirl Publications

“The 6th Anthology is a wondrous and diverse collection – stories, poems, songs, musings, rants and essays – showcasing the unique and eclectic female voices of new and accomplished writers from WriteGirl. These girls and women speak freely and share openly on everything from the intensity of a teenager’s bad day to the exhilaration of finding love in urban Los Angeles. Touching on both personal and universal themes in response to the many worlds they live in, the WriteGirls invite you to spend some time exploring their words that move! Includes writing experiments from monthly workshops of the WriteGirl season.”

WriteGirl is a nonprofit organization for high school girls centered on the craft of creative writing and empowerment through self-expression. Through one-on-one mentoring and monthly workshops, girls are given techniques, insights and hot tips for great writing in all genres from professional women writers.

Submissions :: Barrelhouse 3.17.08

Never a boring submission period at Barrelhouse, that’s for sure. This time around? Roller Derby.

“That’s right: roller derby! Send fiction, essays, poems, whatever you got. Barrelhouse will select one winner who will receive original art created by Cory Oberndorfer, a genuine roller derby artist. Finalists will be published in our Very Special Roller Derby Section, which will be included in our next print issue.”

But that’s not all! Barrelhouse will select one work to be the inspiration for the cover art: “The one we like best (aka, “The Winner”) will recieve original artwork from Cory Oberndorfer, who creates (among other things) roller derby related art. Cory’s piece will take it’s inspiration from your work. This essentially means that you will become immortalized in two formats: your roller derby writing will appear in the pages of Barrelhouse, and will also be celebrated in or serve as inspiration for Cory’s work. Which will also be the cover of the next issue of Barrelhouse.”

What are you waiting for? Deadline is March 17, 2008.

Submissions :: DMQ Review

The Disquieting Muses Quarterly Review, an online journal of poetry and art since 1999 welcomes email submissions of poetry and art to our quarterly review for our winter issue. We seek work that represents the diversity of contemporary poetry and demonstrates literary excellence. Check out current and past issues and read & follow submission guidelines closely.

The Autumn 2007 issue features the poetry of R.S. Armstrong, Michael Baker, Chris Crittenden, Andrew Demcak, Brent Goodman, Melissa Holm, Kim Mahler, Rodney Nelson, Larry Rapant, Amy Bracken Sparks, Susan Varnot, Donna Vorreyer, Christine Walsh, and Cyril Wong with artwork by Bob Dornberg. Also appearing in this issue, essays by Noah Eli Gordon, Marge Piercy, and Reginald Shepherd from Poet’s Bookshelf 2, edited by Peter Davis.

All Over

Roy Kesey’s debut story collection, All Over, was also the groundbreaking ceremony for Dzanc Books, a new publishing house based in Michigan. Dzanc “was created in 2006 to advance great writing and champion those writers who don’t fit neatly into the marketing niches of for-profit presses.” Dzanc did well to procure talent like Kesey to launch their press.

Continue reading “All Over”

Dixmont

Rick Campbell is a friend of mine, someone whose capacious heart and mind have served me as a touchstone of the genuine for over a decade. As director of Anhinga Press, as well as founder and director of the Florida Literary Arts Coalition (FLAC), Rick has performed immense and selfless service for poetry both in Florida and nationwide. For years he has advocated for good poetry, worked to make poetry a larger presence in our culture, and supported the work of his fellow poets. His work promoting other people’s writing has been so significant, in fact, that his own fine poetry, while not exactly overlooked, has garnered less attention than it deserves. His new book, Dixmont, outshines his previous collections by a long shot; it is a powerful, honest, finely-crafted book of emotionally-honed poems whose cumulative effect is simultaneously harrowing and life-affirming. Quite simply, Dixmont is the real thing, a genuine contribution to our poetry. Continue reading “Dixmont”

Ryan Seacrest is Famous

If you’re the kind of person who reads book reviews, you’re also probably the kind of person who occasionally says things like, “I don’t really watch that much TV,” or who likes to pretend they’ve never sang along to a boy band in the shower. If this in any way describes you, then prepare to squirm a little while you read Dave Housley’s Ryan Seacrest is Famous. This debut collection is littered with pop culture references, and I can almost guarantee that you’ll catch way more of them than you’d like. These stories, which originally appeared in magazines such as Nerve, Backward City Review, and Hobart, take on a variety of pop culture types, including reality television, professional wrestling, and wedding DJs. Fortunately for us, Housley goes past the most obvious hipster-ironic observations and into the more earnest territories reserved for true pop culture fanatics. Continue reading “Ryan Seacrest is Famous”

Hiding Out

Jonathan Messinger’s debut collection of short stories, Hiding Out, hits the mark in every possible way. From the winding layout of the book, to the basic line drawings accompanying each story, to the wildly engaging story plots, Messinger’s book storms out of nowhere, his characters real enough to leave fingerprints on a windowpane. Continue reading “Hiding Out”

Temporary People

Like many readers my age, I grew up reading not literary fiction but the twin pillars of fantasy and science fiction.  As an adult, I’ve mostly left those pleasures behind, except for those genre-bending writers in the mainstream literary world, writers like George Saunders, Aimee Bender, Michael Chabon, or Jonathan Lethem. For the most part, I don’t regret the transition in my reading habits, but I do miss the invented worlds and cultures that came with the best genre writing. Thankfully, Steven Gillis has created just such a place in Bamerita, the floating island country of his newest novel, Temporary People.  Much like Tolkien raiding Norse and Christian mythologies to create his own world, Gillis paints his culture with shades of Central American dictators and revolutions, then puts American pop songs on his character’s lips while giving them the oppression, ingenuity, and knowledge needed to forge true revolutionaries from Bamerita’s most common citizens. Continue reading “Temporary People”

The Pale of Settlement

The nine linked stories in this collection follow Susan Stern, a New York City photo journalist who often finds herself operating between two lives. The life she leads in the U.S. has its problems, relationships mostly, but she does all right. Her personal and familial ties to Israel and the Middle East, however, provide a much richer source for conflict. Bombs in Haifa, buzzing helicopters, border patrol violence, a massacre in Palestine–these events are merely background noise compared to the nuanced consideration of the personal lives and family history deeply imbedded within this chaos. Continue reading “The Pale of Settlement”

The Sky Over Walgreens

The wonderings and wanderings of the maturing poet, recollected in elegy, self-deprecating humor, and moments of personal clarity seem to be a perennial favorite among Midwestern voices, and Chris Green’s first book clearly defines him as a champion of this mode. From his choice of puns and candid scenes to the obvious displays of technical skill and learning, Green exemplifies the ironies and neuroses that plague the writer who sees himself as Dante-prophet in the isolation of Midwest winters and towns. And his limits are as high as the skies over a Walgreens. Continue reading “The Sky Over Walgreens”

Young Writers :: Kenyon Review Summer Workshops

Young Writers
A workshop in writing for high school students (ages 16-18)
Kenyon college
Gambier, Ohio
Two sessions offered:
June 22 – July 5, 2008 or July 13 – July 26, 2008

“Young Writers is an intensive two-week workshop for intellectually curious, motivated high-school students who value writing. Our goal is to help students develop their creative and critical abilities with language—to become better, more productive writers and better, more insightful thinkers. For more than eighteen years, Young Writers has provided a lively, supportive environment where students can stretch their talents, discover new strengths, and challenge themselves in the company of peers who share their interests.

“Young Writers takes place at Kenyon College, a leading liberal-arts college renowned for its tradition of literary study. The program is sponsored by The Kenyon Review, one of the country’s preeminent literary magazines.”

Application deadline: March 1, 2008
Scholarships are available.

More information, a video about the Young Writers Workshop, and application materials online now at The Kenyon Review website.

Submissions :: Slipstream Anthology 2.29.08

Subtle Edens
The Elastic Book of Slipstream

This book will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, to be edited by Allen Ashley and published as an original paperback by Elastic Press (UK) in Autumn 2008.

For fiction submissions, Allen Ashley has made the following provocative statements: “Slipstream is essentially a 1990s and noughties extension and subtle reconfiguration of New Wave science fiction. How do I define science fiction? Somewhere between 1967 and 1974.” A few non-fiction articles will be published within the body of the book, but all of these have been commissioned.

Deadline: February 29, 2008

Jail or Read :: Changing Lives Through Literature

The History of Changing Lives Through Literature
An Alternative Sentencing Program

“Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) is a program that began in Massachusetts in response to a growing need within our criminal justice system to find alternatives to incarceration. Burdened by expense and repeat offenders, our prisons can rarely give adequate attention to the needs of inmates and, thus, do little else than warehouse our criminals. Disturbed by the lack of real success by prisons to reform offenders and affect their patterns of behavior, Professor Robert Waxler and Judge Robert Kane discussed using literature as a way of reaching hardened criminals.

“In the fall of 1991, Robert Waxler, Robert Kane, and Wayne St. Pierre, a New Bedford District Court probation officer (PO), initiated the first program at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth where Waxler is a professor in the English Department. Eight men were sentenced to probation instead of prison, with an important stipulation: they had to complete a Modern American Literature seminar run by Professor Waxler. The seminar was held on the university campus and included Judge Kane and PO St. Pierre. For 12 weeks, the men, many of whom had not graduated from high school and who had among them 148 convictions for crimes such as armed robbery and theft, met in a seminar room at the university. By discussing books, such as James Dickey’s Deliverance and Jack London’s Sea Wolf, the men began to investigate and explore aspects of themselves, to listen to their peers, to increase their ability to communicate ideas and feelings to men of authority who they thought would never listen to them, and to engage in dialogue in a democratic classroom where all ideas were valid. Instead of seeing their world from one angle, they began opening up to new perspectives and started realizing that they had choices in life. Thus, literature became a road to insight (see the New Bedford paradigm).”

Read more about the program here, including information on how to start a CLTL program in your own community.

Submissions :: STORYGLOSSIA 5.01.08

STORYGLOSSIA Breaks the Law

“Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law…” Okay, maybe not quite like Judas Priest.

“STORYGLOSSIA has enlisted Anthony Neil Smith as guest editor to help deliver a STORYGLOSSIA crime wave in Issue 28 (May 2008). Neil is the author of Psychosomatic, The Drummer, and Yellow Medicine and the editor of the re-emergent online noire-zine Plots With Guns, as well as a few kick-ass crime/noir issues for the Mississippi Review. He’s currently a professor of Creative Writing at Southwest Minnesota State University. Loves Louisiana Hot Sauce and Mexican beer. He’s already warned you once, which means next time you won’t see it coming. The guidelines for Issue 28 are simple: We’re shining our flashlights into the darkness to find what’s hiding there. We want hard-hitting crime and noir stories that walk the line between the worlds of literary fiction and genre. Push the envelope, see what pushes back. Word count max: 4000 words (no exceptions). Neil is reading submissions from January 15th until March 15th with the issue publishing May 1, 2008. See the complete guidelines for submission details and send in your best work.”

AWP :: FC2 Sweeps the Events!


FC2 Reception!
Clinton Suite
Hilton, 2nd Floor
7:00 p.m.

A Reading & Reception Hosted by FC2. Join us for drinks and a reading with Debra Di Blasi, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Diane Williams, Alexandra Chasin, Jeffrey DeShell and Pamela Ryder.

Signings at the FC2 table #278:

Thursday
Yuriy Tarnawsky 2:30 p.m.
Alexandra Chasin 3:30 p.m.
Jeffrey DeShell 4:30 p.m.

Friday
Pamela Ryder 2:30 p.m.
Diane Williams 4:30 p.m.

Saturday
Debra Di Blasi 12 noon

PLUS: FC2 is crazy wild on the session schedule! Stop by the FC2 table for a full listing, and check your AWP Program!

*NewPages Loves Brenda*

AWP :: Luna Park Partay

Luna Park
Premiere Issue Party
Brooklyn
January 31, 2008

The premiere issue party of Luna Park, a review of the carnival world of literary magazines, will be January 31st, in Brooklyn (coinciding with the AWP conference). Guest hosts are Mississippi Review and Juked . Special readings by: Angela Ball (AWP award winner), Tao Lin, Marie Helene-Bertino, and Claudia Smith. Music by Tin Pan Blues Band. Art by Steven Summer and Ken Weathersby. The fun begins at 9:00pm.

Where: Noo Na, 565 Vanderbilt Ave (corner of Pacific St.), Prospect Heights,Brooklyn, NY. Just a 10-15 minute subway ride from Manhattan. Getting there from AWP Hilton: Walk north on 6th Ave. to 57th. Turn left andwalk to the 57th St & 7th Ave. Q stop. Head to Brooklyn. Exit Train at 7thAve and leave terminal at right. Head down Park Place to Vanderbilt Ave.Turn left and walk 4 1/2 blocks…you’re there. More details at: www.lunaparkreview.com

AWP :: Milkweed and Tameme

Saturday February 2nd
10:30-11:00 am @ the Milkweed Editions booth
AWP Bookfair New York City
C.M. Mayo Book Signing
Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles Through Baja California the Other Mexico.

“A luminous exploration of Baja California, from its southern tip at Cabo an Lucas to its ‘lost city’ of Tijuana… [Mayo] takes the fiction writer’s impulse and blends it with the instincts of a journalist to create a work of nonfiction that elides into modern myth” ~Los Angeles Times Book Review

—>Though the AWP conference in New York City is sold out, the bookfair is free and open to the public for this one day only.

And come by Tameme (table #85) for “Ghosts of the Palace of Blue Tiles” the beautiful new chapbook by Mexican poet Jorge Fernandez Granados, translated by John Oliver Simon. Also on hand: previous issues of Tameme, Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, and more….

Podcasts :: By Women. For Women.

The By Women. For Women. series is brought to listeners by Seal Press. Seal Press was founded in 1976 to provide a forum for women writers and feminist issues. These podcasts feature interviews with current Seal Press authors and the topics range from childbirth options to dealing with the death of a parent, from the issues facing transgender women today to training for a marathon. Some of the women featured include: Victoria Zackheim, Linley Erin Hall, Silja Talvi, Alix Olson, Jessica Valenti, Michelle Goodman, and many more.

Submissions :: Segue

Segue, the online literary journal of Miami University-Middletown, is accepting creative and scholarly work for its fall 2008 issue.

Segue‘s dual mission is to serve as a high quality literary publication and an educational venue for writing instructors and students of writing. In addition to publishing an eclectic blend of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from around the globe, each issue features a well-established author who publishes a small body of new/forthcoming work along with an essay that explores the writing process behind their submission. Past Featured Authors include Brenda Miller, Terese Svoboda, Lex Williford, Diane Glancy, Denise Duhamel, and others. Further, our peer-reviewed Writing on Writing (WoW) page publishes nonfiction on a wide range of creative writing-related issues for educational use, and our Author Q&A page posts email interviews conducted by writing students with selected authors published in Segue.

Submissions are open to anyone outside of Miami University. The WoW page is an especially valuable resource for instructors (including graduate students) to use and/or publish in. Possible topics for the WoW page include, but are not limited to:
Creative writing pedagogy (we’re especially interested in this)
The state of creative writing in academia
Creative writing in academia v. the alleged “real world”
The craft/process of writing fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction
Creative writing exercises (with explanations of their origin,
purpose, and if possible, examples of completed exercises)
Close readings of the literary works of established authors, with
an eye toward illuminating something interesting in the work
Interviews with established authors
The business side of creative writing
The writing life

Complete details on all the above, submission guidelines, and past issues are freely available on Segue‘s web site.

Submissions :: damselfly press 3.15.08

“damselfly press, an innovative online literary journal for women, is seeking electronic submissions of original fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by female writers slated for online publication in April 2008. For our third issue, we welcome submissions focusing on peregrinations ranging from actual travel to spiritual or inner journeys that transform you or your characters in some significant way. As always, we welcome a myriad of women’s voices from new and experienced writers. The deadline to submit for the third issue is March 15th, 2008.”

Books :: StoryQuarterly Annual

18 Lies and 3 Truths
2007 Story Quarterly Annual
Edited by Tom Jenks with Carol Edgarian and M. M. M. Hayes

Includes eighteen great stories and three essays on the art of writing by today’s master storytellers: Rick Bass, Richard Bausch, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Robert Olen Butler, Alice Hoffman, Charles Johnson, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lorrie Moore, and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as by some of today’s important up-and-coming authors.

New Online Issue :: Spindle Magazine

From Spindle Magazine Editor & Publisher Guy LeCharles Gonzalez:

“Spindle Magazine‘s official launch continues this week with the ‘Love, New York Style’ issue, featuring poetry and fiction by Jai Chakrabarti, Panika M. C. Dillon, John Rodriguez, Amanda Nazario, Lisa Marie Kelleher and many others. Plus, a new Coffee & Brooklyn column from Mahogany Browne.

“Spindle Magazine is an online literary magazine with a twist, featuring creative non-fiction, poetry and short fiction by, for and about New Yorkers – literal and spiritual. Showcasing emerging writers, artists, musicians and other notable New Yorkers, it offers a multi-faceted look at New York City and the world beyond through the eyes of both those who love it and hate it, and in many cases, a peek inside the minds of the people themselves. Log on today!”

Positions :: The Pedestal Magazine

The Pedestal Magazine is currently seeking to fill three positions:

1. Poetry Editor. Applicants should have prior publication in Pedestal, as well as other prominent journals, and previous editing experience. Applicants should have at least one published full-length collection currently available. Applicant would be asked to edit the poetry in 1-2 issues per year. Please send resume to [email protected].

2. Reviewer. Applicants should have prior experience reviewing for various publications. Pedestal currently publishes 850-1000 word reviews. Reviewer would be asked to undertake 1-3 assigned reviews per issue, primarily poetry collections but possibly short fiction as well. Send resume and 2-3 sample reviews to [email protected].

3. Administrative Assistant. Applicants should be thoroughly familiar with MySpace.com: how to send friend requests, post bulletins, set up a blog, send event invitations, tailor/program a page aesthetically; i.e., all the ins and outs of setting up a compelling and effective MySpace page. Send resume, along with a link to a MySpace page you’ve designed, to [email protected].

Submissions :: Kicked Out Anthology 3.1.08

Kicked Out
Wdited by Sassafras Lowrey
Published by Homofactus Press

“Kicked Out is a new anthology, which uniquely seeks to tell the tales of former queer youth and current queer youth who were forced to leave home because of their sexuality and/or gender identity. This anthology will tell our collective stories of survival, weaving together descriptions of abuse, and homelessness with poignant accounts of the ways in which queer community centers offered sanctuary, and the power and importance of creating our own chosen families in the face of loosing everything we have ever known. Kicked Out offers advice and wisdom to the queer youth of today from those who have been in their shoes. Additionally, it provides the opportunity for readers to get a glimpse into the world of those queer youth who as a result of circumstance have to leave home, while simultaneously shattering the stereotypes of who queer youth are, and what they have the potential to become.”

Deadline: March 1, 2008
www.myspace.com/kickedoutanthology

Submissions :: Yes Means Yes Anthology 3.1.08

Co-editors Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti are seeking submissions for their anthology on sex, rape and power, Yes Means Yes!, to be published by Seal Press in Fall 2008.

Yes Means Yes! is looking to collect sharp and insightful essays, from voices both established and new, that explore how creating a culture which values genuine female sexual pleasure can help stop rape.

Potential essay subjects could address:

How public sex education is taught, and to whom.
Self-defense and creating the kind of safety required for meaningful consent and pleasure
The new backlash against rape survivors (e.g., media obsession with female drinking and slutty “Girls Gone Wild” being to blame for assault.)
Analyzing and eradicating sexual shame in American culture
Bringing men back into the conversation, making men co-leaders in the movement to dismantle the cultural dynamics which support and encourage rape
How queer rape is reinforced by patriarchy, heteronormative stereotypes and the commodification of sexuality, and how centering female sexual power can combat queer rape
Thoughts on “enthusiastic consent”
Taking Back the Porn: How changing the pornography industry can help stop rape
Combating the hypersexualization of women of color to make way for genuine refusal and genuine consent
The power of language (naming rape for what it is, or the new myth of “gray rape”)
A primer for men on sexual assault
How a society that values good sex (where women’s pleasure is central) can undermine rape culture and make it easier to identify and prosecute rapists
Rethinking sexual interaction as a collaborative performance, as opposed to as an exchange of a commodity or service
Who owns our pleasure? An analysis of the economics of female sexual alienation/oppression, and an economic model for resistance
Holding the mainstream media accountable for torture porn, kidnapping crusades and faux feminism.
Overcoming commercially enforced sexual stereotypes to organize across race, class, gender, and difference
Homophobia, compulsory masculinity, and why genuine male pleasure matters, too
Creating accurate media representations of rape
Beyond consent: state-sanctioned and institutional rape that even the healthiest sexual culture won’t stop

People of all all colors, cultures, genders and preferences, published and unpublished authors, are all encouraged to submit essays. Be creative, be visionary, be outraged, be passionate, be funny! Perhaps most importantly, editors are seeking essays with a pro-active bent that offer new and insightful thoughts and actions on how to dismantle rape culture. “No Means No” is not enough — let’s think “Yes Means Yes!”

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Please submit your essays to
yesmeansyes2008(at)gmail.com
no later than March 1, 2008.

Essays should be from 2000 to 5000 words, double spaced and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address and a short bio. Pay: $100 for each essay published in the final book.

Submissions :: Alehouse Press

Alehouse Press is now considering queries for short essays and book reviews for the next issue of Alehouse. Essay topics focus on the current state of poetry, the work of particular poets, plus other appropriate topics of interest. The 2009 issue will feature essays on African-American poets and poetry.

Book reviews focus on work published in the past few years, but may also include older, under-appreciated work that reviewers may want to promote to readers. Again, for our 2009 issue, special interest will be on reviews of books by or about African-American poets.

Alehouse essays run approximately 500-2000 words, book reviews approximately 500-1000 words per title. Please contact Alehouse for book review guidelines: editor(at)alehousepress.com

Jobs :: Various

The English Department at Hamilton College invites applications for a two-year appointment, with the possibility of renewal, in Creative Writing, specializing in poetry. Professor Naomi Guttman. February 15, 2008.

Assistant Professor/Director of Creative Writing at Fordham University, tenure track. Writing Search Committee, English Department. February 29, 2008.

University of Mississippi welcomes applications for the Summer Poet in Residence (SPiR). Director Beth Ann Fennelly. February 1, 2008.

Alt Mag Mailbag :: January 27

For information about these and many other quality alternative magazines, click the links or visit The NewPages Guide to Alternative Magazines.

Against the Current
“After Forty Year: The Memphis Strike”
January/February 2008
Bimonthly

American Book Review
Volume 29 Number 2
January/February 2008
Bimonthly

Geist
Ideas and Culture :: Made in Canada
Volume 16 Number 67
Winter 2007
Quarterly

Guild Practitioner
A journal of legal theory and practice: “…to the end that human rights shall be more sacred than property interests.”
Volume 64 Number 2
Summer 2007
Quarterly

Humor Times
Issue Number 193
January 2008
Monthly

In These Times
Lights! Camera! Collective Action!
Volume 32 Number 1
January 2008
Monthly

Labor Notes
Number 346
January 2008
Monthly

Lilith
Independent, Jewish & frankly feminist
Volume 32 Number 4
Winter 2007-08
Quarterly

Planet Drum Pulse
A Voice for Bioregional Sustainability, Education, and Culture
Winter 2007

Science & Society
Volume 72 Number
January 2008
Quarterly

Shambhala Sun
Buddhism/Culture/Meditation/Life
Volume 16 Number 4
March 2008
Bimonthly

Sing Out!
Folk Music Folk Songs
Volume 51 Number 4
Winter 2008
Quarterly

Turning the Tide
Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education
Volume 21 Number 1
Jan-Feb 2008
Bimonthly

Voices from the Earth
Southwest Research and Information Center, Albuquerque, NM
Volume 8 Number 4
Winter 2007
Quarterly

Z Magazine
20 Year Anniversary Issue
January 2008
Monthly

In Memoriam :: Celeste West

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Celeste West’s spirit released her body to go exuberantly adventure in other realms, on January 3rd. She was 65. Celeste is survived by her partner and co-vivante of six years Tina Perricone and their orange tabby cat, Sienna Pumphrey Gabor; sisters, Sue Ann Johnson and Katherine Karr of Portland, OR; many loving nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews, and many many friends across the country. Celeste received her BA in journalism from Portland State U, later entering the ranks of professional librarians, having graduated from Rutgers in 1968. She headed to San Francisco in 1968. Celeste worked in the Bay Area Reference Center (BARC) 1968-1973 where she helped publish Synergy, a library periodical which won at least two awards. With Elizabeth Katz, Celeste edited Revolting Librarians, which they then published with Sue Critchfield as Booklegger Press in 1972. A bestseller in the library world, it continues to inspire librarians today. In 1973 the final issue of Synergy was published and Celeste initiated Booklegger Magazine, “built to begin where Synergy leaves off,” which was published until 1976. Celeste also wrote or edited and published through Booklegger Press, the following books: Women’s Films in Print (1975); Positive Images, Non-Sexist Films for Young People (1976); Booklegger’s Guide to the Passionate Perils of Publishing (1978); Words in Our Pockets: The Feminist Writers Guild Handbook on How to Gain Power, Get Published and Get Paid (1985); Elsa: I Come With My Songs (a biography of Else Gidlow, 1986), Lesbian Love Advisor (her bestseller, 1989) and her “most controversial book, the one which every feminist publisher and even a printer rejected,” Lesbian Polyfidelity: How to Keep Nonmonogamy Safe, Sane, Honest, and Laughing, You Rogue! (1996). On April Fool’s Day 1989 Celeste began work as the library director at the San Francisco Zen Center until her retirement in Autumn 2006. Celeste was a devout anarchist, feminist and Buddeo-Pagan. She is most often compared to a shooting star. Donations in Celeste’s memory can be made to: KPFA radio, Recovery Inc., the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, or plant a tree in her memory at Arbor Day Foundation. If you cannot donate, no worries, you can creatively agitate for peace and justice, and follow your bliss. As Celeste would say, “Oh yez. oh yes, oh yez.”

AWP :: Dinty Moore Book Signing

Between Panic and Desire
by Dinty Moore
AWP Bookfair

Brevity editor Dinty W. Moore will be signing copies of his new memoir Between Panic and Desire, part of Nebraska’s American Lives Series, at the Nebraska AWP Bookfair Booth (B25-B26) on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 10 am. Blending narrative and quizzes, memory and numerology, imagined interviews and conversations with dead presidents, the book documents the disorienting experience of growing up in a postmodern world. Publisher’s Weekly kindly describes the book as a “quirky, entertaining joyride.” Drop by and join the festivities.

AWP :: Kore Press Events

Women’s Presses, Activism, & Gender Inequities in the Literary World
Panel Sponsored by Kore Press
Friday, February 1, 12pm
Gibson Suite, Hilton 2nd floor
Moderated by Lisa Bowden. Guerrilla girls look at gender inequity and the literary world: why are there far fewer women getting published than men when MFA programs and residencies are filled with women writers? Through the lens of Third Wave Feminism, we will consider what the perception of feminist publishing is and if the women’s press is an effective activist project or a remarginalization of the already marginalized. Writers, editors, and activists comment on the historic need for and complexities inherent in the “affirmative action” of publishing women only.

Chocolate & Merlot Booksigning
Saturday, February 2, 4:30 pm
Kore Press Bookfair Table #451
Nibble truffles & sip red wine with Kore authors Spring Ulmer and Tiphanie Yanique as they sign their award-winning books at the Kore table.

Call to Action :: PEN American Center

From PEN American Center:

Our colleagues in China need your help.

Last month, in cooperation with the courageous members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, PEN launched We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression, a campaign aimed at freeing all writers and journalists imprisoned in China before the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Noted Chinese authors Liu Xiaobo and Zheng Yi were among those joining international counterparts Margaret Atwood, Francine Prose, and Salman Rushdie in launching this important campaign. The support and participation of PEN Members in the United States is vital to our collective success.

Take action today by adding your name to two PEN petitions:

• Petition to the Chinese government

• Petition to the U.S. Congress to ban U.S. involvement in internet censorship in China

This is a historic moment in which the international community has the opportunity to pressure the Chinese government to improve its human rights record. Take time now to sign the petitions, and join us in our advocacy work in the weeks ahead.

Help us win the release of our colleagues in Chinese prisons and expand freedom of expression in China in this crucial year.

Many thanks,

Francine Prose
President

Larry Siems
Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs

Summer Fellowships :: Fishtrap 2.4.08

“Each year, Fishtrap, Inc. awards up to five Fellowships for Summer Fishtrap, held every July at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. Awards are made on the basis of writing submission only, and are not limited to or made because of the genre. In a given year, awards might all go to poets, or to fiction writers, or to non-fiction writers; in fact they go out in different combinations each year, based on the judge’s selection of best writing. Fellowships cover the cost of a workshop, registration for the Gathering, and food and lodging for the week. Previous Fellows include fiction writers Kathleen Tyau and Geronimo Tagatac, poets Charles Goodrich and Marilyn Johnston, and non-fiction writer Ellie Waterston.”

Deadline: Postmark February 4, 2008

Residency :: Stadler Center for Poetry 2.23.08

Philip Roth Residence
Stadler Center for Poetry

To be eligible, an applicant must be more than 21 years of age, must reside in the United States, and must not be enrolled as a student in a college or university. (Persons enrolled in a college or university at the time of application are eligible). Some record of publication is desirable. Please note that the 2008-09 Roth Residence will be awarded to a poet. Prose writers may apply in spring 2009 for the 2009-10 Residence.

To apply, submit the following items by postal mail to the address shown below:

1. A letter of application.
2. A curriculum vitae.
3. Three letters of recommendation.
4. A writing sample of no more than 12 typed pages of poetry.

No materials will be returned; please do not send originals. We strongly recommend that you include letters of recommendation with your other application materials. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that letters of recommendation are sent by the postmark deadline.

Application deadline (for 2008-09 residence, open to a poet): postmarked by Saturday, February 23, 2008.

Notification: late spring 2008.

Send application materials to:

Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing
The Stadler Center for Poetry
Bucknell Hall
Bucknell University
Lewisburg PA 17837

Sad to See You Go :: Small Sprial Notebook

From Small Sprial Notebook: “After six years of publication, articles in major newspapers and magazines, and solicitations from top agents and publishers, which have helped our writers score agents and book deals, I’m sad to announce that SSN will cease publication on 12.31.07. We are not reviewing or publishing any new work, so please do not submit work for consideration. Thank you for supporting Small Spiral Notebook! If you have any queries, please email them to: editor – at – smallspiralnotebook -dot- com.”

AWP :: Alimentum Events

Look for ALIMENTUM at
Table #261
Americas Hall I
3rd Floor
Come Meet the Editors

Alimentum Publisher Paulette Licitra reads for AWP panel: “Writers at the Table,” Jan 31st 4:30

Alimentum Editor Peter Selgin reads for AWP panel: “Our Roots are Deep with Passion,” Jan 31st 1:30
Plus 2 book signings for his book
By Cunning and Craft
Feb 1st & 2nd at 11
Writer’s Digest table (right next to Alimentum‘s)

See you there!

AWP Off Site :: Micropress Poetry

Micropress Poetry Pageant
Friday February 1, 2008
8:00 PM
Stain Bar
766 Grand Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Take the L TRAIN to Grand Street, 1 block West

Free! Public! Prizes!
No AWP badge required.

Featuring: Bloof Books * Coconut Books * No Tell Books

Authors: Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Jenna Cardinale, Shanna Compton, Bruce Covey, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Shafer Hall, Jennifer L. Knox, Sueyeun Juliette Lee, Reb Livingston, Danielle Pafunda, PF Potvin, Ravi Shankar