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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!

Letters of Note

Curated by Shaun Usher, Letters of Note: Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience is a blog-based archive of letters, notes, postcards, telegrams, faxes, memos, etc. from/to people ‘of note.’ Usher includes full text as well as scans of the originals.

Some recent posts include a letter from James Thurber – “delivered, quite brilliantly, a playful jab to his attorney and friend, Morris Ernst”; a letter from F. Scott Fitzgerald to “aspiring young author and Radcliffe sophomore” Frances Turnbull who had sent a story in hopes of receiving some feedback; and a letter from Oscar Wilde wrote to a publication following an unfavorable review of his play – “not about the review itself, but about the critic’s insistence on naming him ‘John Wilde.'”

Usher’s comments are brief but clearly set the context of the correspondence and often include photographs of the letter writer as well. Letters of Note is slated to come out with a book edition in November 2012 (pre-orders available), and while Usher comments that he has “a seemingly endless supply of correspondence to plough through,” he welcomes his audience to send in their own contributions from their collections.

Usher also curates the blog site Letterheady, which is a showcase of interesting letterheads, both new and old: “It’s like Letters of Note, but with less reading,” and Lists of Note, on which Nora Ephron’s “What I Won’t and Will Miss” is a recent entry.

Usher’s blogs are without a doubt worth your time to visit and follow to keep up with daily updates and a great add-on for classroom reading.

[Teachers: If you want to consider the book for your classes, the content can be viewed by clicking on the pre-order link.]

NewPages Reviewer Justin Brouckaert Publishes First Fiction Piece

Justin Brouckaert, one of the newer magazine reviewers for NewPages, just had his first piece of fiction published in Thrice Magazine–which can be purchased as a print copy or downloaded as a PDF, e-book, or Kindle file for free–titled “What is Hell, if not a Hard Candy.” He also had a one-sentence story called “She Gets Starry Eyed When We Make Love” published on MonkeyBicycle in June. 

New Lit on the Block :: Dark Matter

From the University of Houston and the Downtown Natural Science Creative Writing Club comes a new biannual online magazine–available in PDF, EPUB, or Kindle formats–Dark Matter: a journal for speculative literature. The magazine features poetry, fiction, essays, and “musings.” Managing Editor Bradley Earle Hoge says that readers can expect to find “an eclectic mix of provocative, insightful, and sublime thoughts and ideas expressed through poetry, fiction, and essays. They will not find science fiction, horror, or fantasy, though elements of these genres will certainly be incorporated into the work published in Dark Matter. Pieces in Dark Matter will use metaphor to describe our connection to the natural world, to explore interpretation of experience, and to search for meaning.”

Hoge explains that the name of the magazine is inspired by both definitions of “dark matter”: “unknown particles suggested by the Standard Model to explain observations of gravity which cannot be accounted for by observable matter and energy” and “a reference to the thoughts and ideas that ferment inside a human brain before they emerge through spoken or written words.” The title then, he says, is meant to “reflect emphasis of the unknown in both scientific inquiry and creative writing.”

Alongside Hoge will be Advisory and Contributing Editors Robin Davidson and Lisa Morano and University of Houston student editors. “Our goal,” says Hoge, “is to make Dark Matter a relevant contributor to the ever adaptive landscape of modern poetry and fiction.” He said they started the magazine to provide a place for literary speculative writing “that uses natural metaphor and allusion without resorting to the mystical.” Dark Matter,” he says, “will use cosmological, evolutionary, quantum mechanical and traditional natural metaphor to elicit literary thought and infuse modern ideas into poetry and prose.”

The first issue features fiction from J. J. Anselmi, Allie Marini Batts, Robert Boucheron, Olive Mullett, Valery V. Pertrovskiy, Jordan A. Rothacker, Patty Somlo, and L. E. Sullivan; poetry from Victoria Chadwick, Nicholas Cittadino, William Doreski, Billie Duncan, Susan Gundlach, Tim Kahl, Anne King, Mira Martin-Parker, Mira Martin-Parker, Ed Meek, Robin Amelia Morris, Ben Nash, Liam Pezzano, Rhonda Poynter, Erik Rice, Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb, Carol Smallwood, Claude Clayton Smith, Carolyn Steinhoff, and Frank Symons; and essays from Vincent Caruso and Darren Taggart.

Dark Matter will accept submissions year-round through Submittable. Hoge says they will also consider e-mail submissions to the managing editor but not through traditional post.

5×5 magazine: “Under Construction”

The newest issue of 5×5 announces upcoming changes to the magazine. Poetry Editor Jory Mickelson writes, “Perhaps it would be best to say that our next theme for 5×5 is ‘Under Construction.’ While this isn’t the actual theme, it’s definitely a signpost for the changes we are making to our literary magazine.”

The founder and Editor-in-Chief Bradley Wonder will be resigning and “handing off the reigns of 5×5 so that it can continue to grow,” says Mickelson. Mickelson and Sonya Dunning will stay with 5×5. Wonder writes, “for me, as well as 5×5, I feel like this is a step forward. Time for a new chapter in my life, and a lot of great changes for 5×5.”

Among those changes is a transition to a quarterly online-only magazine in an attempt to reach a larger audience. Each year, they plan to publish a “Best of 5×5” in print. The current issue will be the last print quarterly. However, current subscribers will be added to the list to receive the first copy of the “Best of” issue.

This issue, themed “Backwards,” is actually backwards. The front cover is on the “back” where the content begins. “This issue’s all backwards,” says Wonder. “But within each spread, you’ll still read left to right, top to bottom. Although you may have fun reading some of the stories backwards.” It includes work from Stephanie Papa, Leonard Kogan, Joanne Mallari, Lily Cao, Shabnam Nadiya, Melissa McElhose, Richard Marx Weinraub, Willy Conley, Therin Johns, Peter Cooley, Evvan Burke, Catherine Doucette, Ariane Sanford, and Jess Feldman.

Interview with Paulette Licitra

I don’t even think of Alimentum necessarily as “food writing.” Alimentum is this funny thing in the middle because it’s fiction and creative writing and it’s poetry, but it’s about food—so some people think of it as “food writing.” The magazine started as a bridge between literary writing and food, since they were a big part of my life. Some lit mags do food-themed issues once in a while, but I wondered: why not a journal that was food all the time? We started in 2005 and we still get terrific submissions from writers who somehow incorporate food as a catalyst or character in their stories and poems.

Continue reading “Interview with Paulette Licitra”

2012 August Poetry Postcard Festival

The annual August Poetry Postcard Fest is just around the corner, and NOW is the time to sign up!

APP was started in 2007 by Paul Nelson along with Lana Hechtman Ayers; this year Brendan McBreen is coordinating the project. I have personally been participating in this project for the past several years and look forward to it each year. [Check out Peace, Love, Unity blog where Jessica posted a collection of cards from 2010.]

Here’s how it works:

  • Sign up (see below).
  • Gather 30 postcards from book stores, thrift shops, online, drug stores, antique shops, museums, gift shops…or make your own.
  • Buy some stamps. Mailed to U.S. addresses, standard postcards (up to 4-1/4″ x 6″) currently take 32-cent stamps; oversize/undersized cards take 45-cent stamps. (This is an international project, so some cards may require additional postage and extra delivery time.)
  • Receive (by e-mail) your list of 31 names (including your own) and addresses of participating poets.
  • Each day in August (best to start the last week of July to allow for delivery time), write an original poem on a postcard and send it to one person on the list, starting with the name that follows yours on the list and moving through the successive names until you’ve sent all your cards.
  • This is a commitment, so if you sign up, do send poetry postcards.

To sign up, send an e-mail to stripedwaterpoets at gmail dot com

Use “August Postcard Poetry” as the subject line and include your name, complete mailing address and e-mail address. Brendan will reply to let you know he’s gotten you added and then will send the list within the next couple weeks.

To learn more, read this blog post by Paul Nelson and visit the August Poetry Postcard website where you can read past years’ posts for additional info.

I (as will others) will admit that I didn’t always get a card a day in the mail; some days I wrote several to catch up, and some days I wrote several in advance just because I felt ‘in the groove.’ Regardless, I have always been able to send all 31 cards, which in and of itself feels great. I got new ideas for writing, explored some new forms that ‘came to me’ in the moment (as the effort is meant to be organic, not pre-planned poems), and in return, have always been inspired-to-awed by the work I’ve received (occasionally from “famous” poets who I was thrilled to see participating, but also from anonymous poets whose work resonated with me). And call me old school, but I still love to get mail, especially postcards.

Really: jump into this one folks! There are much worse commitments you could make than to write a poem a day for a month (like Facebooking every day, how many times a day…). This is a challenge, but a fun one with its own unique rewards.

[Guidelines adapted from The Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest blog post here.]

Ninth Letter’s Special Edition

Ninth Letter has put out their first special edition fiction chapbook, guest edited by Scott Geiger. Man-Made Lands includes stories from: Joe Alterio, Seth Fried, Luther Magnussen, Micaela Morrissette, Ben Stroud, and Will Wiles; and proposals from Bjarke Ingels Group, Family with Office of Playlab, Steven Holl, and Keita Takahashi. “A Tale of Disapperance” is a commissioned collaboration between author Kate Bernheimer and architect Andrew Bernheimer.

New Lit on the Block :: The Liner

The Liner is a new annual print publication that publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and visaul art from both established and emerging artists and writers. Since The Liner is a transatlantic collaboration,” says Co-Editor Gloria Kim, “we were envisioning crossing water when thinking of possible names. The Liner was a good fit.” Kim says that she and Co-Editor Emma Silverthorn threw around the idea of staring their own magazine while “attending a summer literary festival in Cornwall, England, in between hearing writers, getting lost in garden mazes, and rolling down Port Eliot’s hills. As writers ourselves,” she says, “we wanted to feature perspectives, whether in writing or in art, that compelled us to create more.”

Kim says readers can expect to find “a high calibre, eclectic mix of original works from both established and emerging artists and writers. Plus our Thornkim Questionnaire, 21 revealing questions answered by all of our contributors in the back of the magazine.” In the future, they hope to become a biannual publication. Kim also adds that they are proud of the scope and international flavor of the magazine and hope to continue on with that, “gaining more worldwide distributors as well as contributors.”

The first issue includes writers Maura Dooley, Blake Morrison, Sherard Harrington, William Doreski, Lisa Wong Macabasco, Kenneth Pobo, Caitlin E. Thomson, and Gina Zupsich and visual artists Dave Carswell, Christopher Daniels, Benjamin Edmiston, and Dominic Silverthorn.

The Liner‘s next issue will have an epistolary theme. “We want your correspondences, real or imagined, scandalous or humorous, digital or paper,” says Kim. The deadline to submit is October 21, 2012.

Interview :: Keorapetse Kgositsile

The online magazine Sampsonia Way features the interview “This is Who I Am” in which former poet laureate of South Africa Keorapetse Kgositsile and K. Mensah Wali, artistic director of Kente Arts Alliance, discuss South Africa’s progress since the end of apartheid, the effects of exile on family, and the relationship between poetry and jazz.

Podcasts :: The Virtual Memory Show

Newly added to the NewPages Guide to Podcasts, Video, Audio: Gil Roth is the host of the monthly podcast The Virtual Memories Show, which features interviews with authors about the books that helped shape their lives as well as discussions about books and literature. The newest program features interview/conversations with Paul Di Filippo, a long-time science fiction writer/critic and unofficial “King of Steampunk”, and Diana Renn, author of a new YA novel, Tokyo Heist. Roth sometimes takes a step away from the literary, such as his interview with John B. who was “dead” for ten minutes last year, but has been alive ever since. The Virtual Memories Show is available for download as well as online listening (MP3).

New Lit on the Block :: BLACKBERRY

BLACKBERRY is a new quarterly magazine available in print and as digital copy that “aims to be a premier literary magazine featuring black women writers and artists. Its goal is to expose readers to the diversity of the black woman’s experience and strengthen the black female voice in both the mainstream and independent markets.” The magazine features non-fiction, fiction, all forms of poetry, photography and artwork.

Editor Alisha Sommer said that the name was inspired from the phrase “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” when she was wandering around the French Quarter. “BLACKBERRY: a magazine is born out of my passion to giving others a voice,” she says. “It will give African-American women a new platform to share their art. Our voice is one that is often silenced, and BLACKBERRY: a magazine will be our megaphone.” During a visit to the New Orleans Museum of Art, she “disappointed that a city with such a large black population did not have a significant representation of black artists. The feelings I felt that day,” she says, “were the same feelings that have been sitting with me for the past year: disappointment and confusion. After having a conversation with a friend about the need to help women of color gain access and give them exposure, I decided that it was time to act.”

The first issue features art and photography by Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, Jessica Valoris, Jessica Serran, Danielle Scrugs, Eleanor Leonne Bennett, Danielle Scrugs, Keondra Bills, and Margaret Jacobsen; non-fiction by Ekua Adisa and Nikita T. Mitchell; poetry by Nia Hampton, Jessica Valoris, Raquelle Mayoral, Amina Ross, Rose Smith, Arianna Payson, Celeste Jona, Athena Dixon, Althea Romeo-Mark, Leesa Cross-Smith, Keondra Bills, Keyaira Olivia Kelly, Artemis Steakley-Freeman, Samantha BanDavad and Stephania Byrd; and prose by Debra Stone and Jessica Lynne.

Submissions are accepted through Submittable and should be inspired by the issue’s theme. The next theme is “Belief,” and submissions are due by August 1, 2012.

Anisfield-Wolf Book Prize

Arnold Rampersad, award-winning biographer, literary critic, and professor emeritus at Stanford University, has been named winner of the 77th annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards is the country’s only juried literary competition devoted to recognizing books that have made an important contribution to society’s understanding of racism and the diversity of human cultures.

Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book prizes in 1935, in honor of her father, John Anisfield, and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for issues of social justice. Today it remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity.

The esteemed jury, overseen by Henry Louis Gates Jr., includes poet Rita Dove, author Joyce Carol Oates, psychologist Steven Pinker, and art historian Simon Schama. Each year, the jury honors works of fiction and non-fiction and recognizes one individual whose life work has enhanced an understanding of cultural diversity. Previous Lifetime Achievement Award winners include Oprah Winfrey, August Wilson, and Gordon Parks.

Rampersad is the author of the two-volume work, The Life of Langston Hughes, which is widely considered the definitive biography of the poet. Volume One, published in 1986, won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction in 1987; Volume Two, published in 1988, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. He has also written award-winning biographies of Ralph Ellison, Jackie Robinson, and W.E.B. Dubois. “Arnold Rampersad has illuminated the lives of the central figures in African-American literary and cultural studies,” commented Gates. “By so doing, he has single-handedly inserted the African-American character into American biographical literature.”

The announcement was made by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University, who serves as jury chair, and Ronald B. Richard, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Foundation, which administers the prize.

[Press release content via Randi Cone, Coterie Media.]

Alaska Quarterly Review – Spring/Summer 2012

Given my interests, while there is much to be said for the literary content of this publication, the focus on this review will be on the photography in this thirtieth anniversary issue: a special section consisting of 141 stunning glossy pages of photographs and brief essays commemorating “Liberty and Justice (For All): A Global Photo Mosaic.” From guest editor Benjamin J. Spatz’s introduction to the project: Continue reading “Alaska Quarterly Review – Spring/Summer 2012”

apt – 2012

I should start by saying that I’ve been holding a grudge against apt for some time now. It turns out that if you don’t read their guidelines very carefully and submit something out of their reading period, they send you a very snarky e-mail. I’m not a fan of snarky e-mails; in fact, they kind of hurt my feelings. So I had vowed to hate apt forever. Continue reading “apt – 2012”

Conjunctions – Spring 2012

Conjunctions is a slippery, difficult journal, and its current issue, “Riveted: The Obsession Issue,” is no exception. As is par for the course with Conjunctions, the writers appear heavily vested in a particular attention to language, with extremely idiosyncratic patterns and constructs of thought. Although ostensibly clustered around a theme, their writing offers broad interpretations of various obsessions that run the gamut from the expected to the unexpected, the probable to the improbable, the tangible to the intangible. Continue reading “Conjunctions – Spring 2012”

Iodine Poetry Journal – Spring/Summer 2012

On the whole, the poetry in the Spring/Summer 2012 edition of Iodine: Poetry Journal is “poetry of witness,” a term put forth (if not created) by Carolyn Forché. Not every poem is dark and foreboding, however, but the journal is filled with wounds that beg to be healed, even if it hurts to do so. After all, isn’t that the essence of iodine, the tincture, to begin with? Continue reading “Iodine Poetry Journal – Spring/Summer 2012”

Journal of Ordinary Thought – Winter 2012

Let’s call it “folk art.” It’s certainly folk literature. It would be chic to call it urban myth, but I call it my history. Who doesn’t remember the sand man and the boogie man? I feel sorry for them. Then there’s the wahoo man, and the weird aunt and the uncle who . . . The Journal of Ordinary Thought is just that. My neighborhood, my people. It’s not just a trip down memory lane; it’s decent literature, in the language of the people I grew up with, speaking to me about many of the events that we experienced and that you’ll enjoy reliving. Continue reading “Journal of Ordinary Thought – Winter 2012”

New Ohio Review – Spring 2012

I usually try not to pigeon-hole magazines into a theme, but with this issue, it’s difficult not to do so! Clearly, there is a bird theme flapping its wings in this issue, from the multi-media “Penguins” cover art, to the more than a handful of stories that were cleverly pecked and then nestled together in this charming and diverse journal. And it just so happens that many of my favorite pieces of the issue were the ones which involved birds. Continue reading “New Ohio Review – Spring 2012”

Relief – Spring 2012

In this issue’s introduction, which Editor Brad Fruhauff has entitled “Literature by Necessity,” Fruhauff reminds us that a rich literary diet “[confronts] some of the hardest realities of our time” and “will ask you to feel grace for a strung-out drug addict as well as for a cynical woman dealing with her abortions . . . to be merciful with an adulterer and to re-live the death of a childhood friend. These pieces,” says Fruhauff, “are not safe.” Continue reading “Relief – Spring 2012”

Tin House – Summer 2012

The summer issue of Tin House: cue an essay on “miserablism”—not in music, as Simon Reynolds once used to describe Morrissey and other gloomy Manchester bands but in fiction, as Gerald Howard employs in an essay on the “Merritt Parkway Novel.” More on that later, but let that brief introduction to this issue suffice to say that this isn’t exactly light-hearted beach reading. Who wants that anyways? The editor’s note says, “Consider this summer reading as providing a few grains of sand in your suntan lotion, a little bit of grit to remind of you the depth and breadth of the human condition.” So, let this Tin House do just that—give a dark, realistic, take on summer reading. Continue reading “Tin House – Summer 2012”

Valley Voices – Spring 2012

If you like literature that looks, sounds, smells and tastes like Mississippi Delta blues and jazz, then Valley Voices: A Literary Review, published by Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), would make a nice addition to your library. This issue celebrates the journal’s 10-year anniversary with a collection of what Editor John Zheng calls “the best creative works, poetry and stories, Valley Voices has published.” This issue is evidence that the journal has long lived up to its stated dedication to promoting the works of MVSU students and the cultural diversity of the Mississippi Delta through writers from the Delta, while maintaining standards of excellence in poetry and prose. Continue reading “Valley Voices – Spring 2012”

Verse – 2012

Excerpts from Jean Donnelly and John Olson could be used to sum up the style of work in the latest issue of Verse, a magazine that publishes chapbook-length submissions. Donnelly’s “Some Life” begins “read poems to know / how to live,” and midway through switches to the abstract Continue reading “Verse – 2012”

Witness – 2012

Witness is, according to the editors, “an internationally recognized journal that blends the features of a literary and an issue-oriented magazine to highlight the role of the modern writer as witness to his or her times.” A publication of the Black Mountain Institute of the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, “an international literary center dedicated to promoting discourse on today’s most pressing issues,” this issue’s theme is “Disaster.” As the description suggests, the magazine is provocatively responsible (yes! one can be both!), of consistently high quality, and, in this issue, ruthless. The world is more full of disaster than you might want to know. Continue reading “Witness – 2012”

SNReview – Spring/Summer 2012

The thing I immediately noticed about SNReview is its online format—clean and crisp. It doesn’t attempt to use a lot of graphics or design, which is actually really working for it: black type, in an easy-to-read font, on top of a white page. Alternately, each piece can be viewed as a PDF with active links to previous issues and the website. Beyond the format, this particular issue’s fiction, nonfiction, and poetry delivers so that the graphics don’t have to. Continue reading “SNReview – Spring/Summer 2012”

Hippocampus – July 2012

For this issue, make sure you strap on your rocker boots because it’s all about the rock ‘n’ roll. As their first themed issue, the editors say that this month they have “turned Hippocampus Magazine into a mixtape of creative nonfiction.” In essays and memoirs about rock ‘n’ roll experiences, the contributors write about personal influences of Pink Floyd (“A Piece for Assorted Lunatics” by Anne); concerts of Crosby, Stills, and Nash (“Long Time Gone: September 27, 2010” by Shelia Grace Stuewe); and obsessions with Steve Tyler (“Stone Cold Fox” by Melanie Malinowski). But no matter which rock artist the writer gushes about, one thread seems to bind them all together—the power music has to invoke memory. Continue reading “Hippocampus – July 2012”

Eclectica Magazine – July/August 2012

This issue of Eclectica is a bursting collection. From the poetry to the prose, I was enthralled, spending hours reading. My favorite piece, “Sasha, That Night” by G. K. Wuori, told the story of a woman named Sasha who has a special ability that she cannot always control: she is a “hydraulic vigilante.” She is able to manipulate liquids, causing them to move, or boil, or freeze. Continue reading “Eclectica Magazine – July/August 2012”

SmokeLong Quarterly – 2012

As always, SmokeLong Quarterly serves up a heaping plate full of appealing flash fiction; I couldn’t wait to dig in. “Ameilia Fucking Earhart” had me laughing—and easily disturbed—throughout as a young couple discovers an old skeleton wearing an aviator hat. Deciding it must be Amelia Earhart, Elias picks up the skull and has his way with it—both humorously and sexually: Continue reading “SmokeLong Quarterly – 2012”

Cigale Literary – Summer 2012

This issue is full of illusions as the characters in the stories break down their misconceptions and face reality—or, instead, continue to live in them. In “The Bathroom window”by Ivan Overmoyer, the narrator imagines a great scene outside the window, only to be disappointed when he/she actually opens it. Ned Randle’s “The Amazing Doctor Jones” portrays an old man who hasn’t adapted to the new medicine practice but still believes the way he does things is the best. And then Pan Pan Fan literally deals with illusions as the narrator stares at “The Woman in the Mirror Continue reading “Cigale Literary – Summer 2012”

pif Magazine – July 2012

In writing this review, I struggled to find a thread that sews all of the pieces together, but then I realized that perhaps it doesn’t need that. The pieces in this issue stand apart for themselves, in the excellent narration, the witty lines, and the way they portray life’s uncertainties. Anthony Moore’s “Speak Memory” was easily my favorite; the narration in it had me chuckling to myself. The narrator is in the process of writing as the story develops, commenting on the writing and metaphors he is using—sometimes pointing out the flaws in them and trading them out for new ones. The story itself brings up questions of memory as the couple’s baby has nightmares. Their doctor says that the baby doesn’t have any memory beyond eating, sleeping, and pooping once it falls asleep. Yet, she still wakes up every night screaming and crying. Paul, the father, takes steps to insure that he won’t forget anything. Continue reading “pif Magazine – July 2012”

Carve Magazine – Summer 2012

Carve Magazine’s summer issue invites the reader into three delightful and thoughtful short stories with its cover which features a girl with sea-green hair holding a miniature merry-go-round of horses. The cover, by Alessandra Toninello, “ties [the] stories together in a fitting way,” says the editor’s note. “It’s rare that an issue’s stories and photo come together in such a synchronous way. I can’t help but feel a bit of magic pulled this issue together too.” Continue reading “Carve Magazine – Summer 2012”

defunct – Spring 2012

This issue of Defunct, a nonfiction magazine, sparked a piece of my childhood—memories of Saturday mornings when my brother and I would litter the floor with Legos, watch Pokemon on T.V., and munch on bowls of Honey Nut Cherrios. Sonya Huber’s “Legoland” reminisced about the days when Lego characters all had the same face. “The little yellow faces,” she writes, “smiled a sort of inward parenthesis. They felt their feelings but the faces were all the same calm smile: man, woman, killer, child, seven heads stacked in a freakshow parade.” She compares these to the Legos that her son now plays with; each of the characters featuring the latest Indiana Jones or Harry Potter movie. As she says, “This is his Legoland now.” Continue reading “defunct – Spring 2012”

2River View – Summer 2012

The 2River View’s current issue contains poetry that moves, most of which ends to make me feel unsettled, as if I need to sit there, take a deep breath, and ponder before rereading—because they are definitely worth a second look. S. L. Alderton’s “The Last Gas Station in Iowa” ends, “As she crosses the asphalt / toward the brink of cloud, it seems // that the van could roll a little further, / and fall off the end of the world.” And Peter Street’s “Another Sideline—1957” ends with “he’d throw them in / and I would watch // someone’s pet melt into nothing.” Carrie Causey’s poem about purgatory invokes feelings of being stuck: Continue reading “2River View – Summer 2012”

Job :: Marketing & Circulation

From Managing Editor Hattie Fletcher: “The Creative Nonfiction Foundation, publisher of the quarterly literary magazine Creative Nonfiction and In Fact Books, seeks a part-time Marketing and Circulation Associate for its Pittsburgh office. The ideal candidate will be self-motivated, detail-oriented, flexible and able to work in a fast-paced nonprofit environment. Reports to the editor, but works closely with the managing editor and office manager; may also work closely with seasonal interns and volunteers.”

The complete description is here: http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/helpwanted.htm

Project Gutenberg Self Publishing Portal

Project Gutenberg has opened their new online, self-publishing portal, through which they “encourage the creation and access of copyright protected eBooks. In general, this center is focused on the author’s who wish to share their works with readers.”

Moreover, the portal will allow self-publishing for books presumed NOT to be in the public domain, but whose copyright holder is willing to allow limited access to readers for personal study and non-commercial sharing. Users must register to upload books to the site.

The goal of Project Gutenberg Self Publish is to have a million eBooks on the site by 2012, with as many as 10 million by 2021. The site already has nearly 700 titles as of this writing, and knowing the scope of the self-publishing world, believe Project Gutenberg will have no trouble reaching its goal.