Reviews are out for Chris Adrian's first short story collection, "A Better Angel." The Seattle Times, a two-paragraph blurb at Esquire, a thorough review at the San Francisco Chronicle, and lastly at the LA Times. It's this last review, by Lizzie Skurnick, which troubles me. Skurnick's main complaint is that the children in "A Better […]
Over at Emerging Writers Network, Dan Wickett gives a shout-out to the Southern California Review, including a mention of my interview with Nathan Englander: The issue has three excellent short stories from Gary Fincke, Michael Buckley and Judith Freeman, as well as a nice essay by Christopher Buckley, and a ton of great poetry, including […]
For all of you out there who think you know short story collections, here's your chance to test your mettle. This twelve-question quiz covers the gamut from classics to newly released, asking questions on nationality, biography, dates, content and more. So buckle down and start answering. Powered By ProProfs – Create A Quiz or Flash […]
Well, now that the games are about to begin tomorrow, it might be an excellent time to plead for all the writers that China has imprisoned. I heard on NPR yesterday that one of the Olympic Committee members didn't award China the Games because he thought they deserved it, but because he thought the Games […]
Poets and Writers has a searchable archive of contests, including a function where you can find fee-free ones. (like Greensboro Review) Book Reviewers, not to be outdone by the hundreds of fiction contests, now have their own contest. Virginia Quarterly Review wants the best review of a book published in 2008 by writers under thirty. […]
Wonderful discussion about the multi-faceted responsibilities of the writer/reader going on at Blake Butler’s blog, the Ploughshares blog, and Emerging Writers Network. Lots of reader commentary, so go read and add your two cents.
Salman Rushdie is pure fodder for paparazzi: He participates in literary squabbles, fights the fatwa, engages in juvenile dick-wars about book-signing records, schmoozes around the world looking for a fifth wife, and now sues (on the basis of libel) the security guard coming out with a tell-all memoir about Rushdie’s time spent under police protection. […]
After finishing the article by Lissa Warren in the Huffington Post, which practically recited verbatim the canard about the problems of the shrinking newspaper coverage of books and the failure of blogs to pick up the slack, I read Edward Champion’s and Michael Orthofer’s replies. Their replies, in short, demolish her argument. Demolish: a thorough, […]
Good on Barnes & Noble for inserting video into the literary realm. Literature needs more videos suited for the internet — by which I mean relatively short, with snappy edits, a Youtube video rather than a C-Span books segment (think mixing Current with CNN and you’ll get the idea). Some nice B-roll going on here, […]
So it's been nearly two hours after the earthquake here in California. It registered at 5.6 (or 5.4 or 5.8, depending on the report), and hit in Chino Hills, which is about six miles from where I live. I was writing a short story (predictably enough) and when it hit, I saw and heard Mrs. […]
