The title I stole from Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote a polemic describing his idea of the literature of commitment, by which he meant that literature needs to be politically engaged. Let me tell you a story that offers a competing vision of literature. I was teaching a Borges short story, “The Gospel According to Mark,” […]
At the Los Angeles Review of Books, Mark McGurl, the author of "The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing," responds to critics who lament the originality of writing in the contemporary fiction: But more broadly, I think what is going on in these indictments of the mediocrity of contemporary fiction is […]
Quiz Time: Out of these six novelists, how many can you identify? (Answers at the bottom of the post). All these images are taken from the literary card game Notable Novelists. Since I’m a board game and book aficionado, it was pleasant to combine my obsessions. The rules aren’t complex — it’s a souped up […]
The Famous Graffiti Wall of What People are READING: Everyone was disoriented because of the location change to USC: Jonathan Lethem is absolutely brilliant. Best session of the weekend. And Carolyn Kellogg did an excellent job interviewing. After the “Future of the Book” panel, there was a madcap rush to the stage to accost and […]
BookFox normally sticks to short stories and literary novels, but every once in a while I break my self-imposed limitations and dabble in other genres. Czeslaw Milosz is a poet that can make me break my own rule. An Invisible Rope: Portraits of Czeslaw Milosz is a biography consisting of remembrances from thirty-two friends, colleagues and […]
Dear Writers who post resumes/bios with “Pushcart Nominated”: Stop. You’re embarrassing the literary community. You’re embarrassing yourself. Because let’s do the math: Duotrope has 3,500 active literary journals. Let’s assume half of those submit to the Pushcart Prize. So 1,800 journals each nominating 6 stories/poetry apiece = 10,800 nominations a year. Multiplied by the past […]
Very depressed to hear that Jeanne Leiby, editor of the Southern Review and former editor of the Florida Review, has died in a car crash. She was far too young. AP has a few more details in this stub. Remarkably, her wikipedia page has already been updated to reflect the date of her passing. She had […]
Last week, Galleycat offered a list of things to do instead of getting an MFA. They were very sensible and proper and, well, dull. So I’d like to add a few of my own. You got to see the world. You have to experience what it’s like to have $1.20 in Rio after being ripped […]
The Los Angeles Review of Books is launching today, after many backroom deals, alcoholic drinks and diatribes on the robust yet underrepresented L.A. literary scene. I’m glad to finally see the project come to fruition, because I’ve been hearing rumors for years. It’s not the full site (which you can see a mock-up if you […]
I’m going to retire my longstanding page that lists journals that accept online submissions (to your left). Why? It’s virtually impossible to keep up, seeing as how journals are flocking to online submissions. It would probably be easier by now to have a list of journals that don’t accept online submissions. If by this point, […]
