Self-made Boldtype
Maud here. The Self-Made issue of Boldtype, which I guest-edited with fellow blogger Mark Sarvas, is up now. If you want to know more about the issue, you can read our ongoing discussion of it. And please send along any self-made recommendations of your own. We’ll try to work some of ‘em [...]
RIP, Mary Lee Settle
Historical author Mary Lee Settle has died at the age of 87. Settle was the author of the “Beulah Quintet” novels as well as the National Book Award-winning Blood Ties. She was also, apparently, the brainchild behind the PEN/Faulkner prize:
Ms. Settle, always sympathetic to other writers and an advocate of their causes, decided that [...]
Short story superfuntime!
Thanks to the many of you who sent in the names of your favorite short stories. I’ll post a few each week over the coming weeks, because the entire list is pretty overwhelming. But hey, “overwhelmed” is pretty much my middle name lately, so keep sending them on in! Next week, I’ll even share our [...]
Short story writing = Big Bucks!
Okay, okay. Not really true. But it does happen that a few short story-related writing awards with suprisingly large purses have been handed out this week. First off, Ann Beattie won the annual Rea Award, and its 30,000 purse, given for “significant contribution to the discipline of the short story as an art form.” And [...]
Listen to Nancy
Nancy Pearl, the only librarian I know of with her own action figure, shares some of her favorite short story collections over at NPR.
Repurposing rejection
Lulu, a self-publishing service, offers to help transform any sorrow and anger at rejection letters by doing the the dignified and environmentally responsible thing. At 90 bucks for a pack of four, they’ll transform your rejection letters into custom (two-ply! “facial quality” – thank god, we were all wondering) toilet paper. Lulu says they [...]
“I Love Little Pussy”
Bet you’re wondering what that’s about, eh? That’s what we call a teaser in this biz.
Before we get on to the important literary news of the day, I’ve got something important to talk about, and that thing is Christian ventriloquism. Maud posted earlier this week about the emergence of Christian mimes in our time, [...]
Writers in ballgowns
The nominations for Canada’s Giller Prize were announced yesterday. For those of you Americans who might, for some strange reason, not have heard of this major Canadian writing award, this is some glitzy deal. In addition to the weird candy bars (strawberry Kit Kats!) and the poutine, one of the many great things about Canada [...]
Until Monday
That’s all from me for the week. I’ve got plenty of stuff on tap for you, but — I wish I could think of a classier way to say this — it looks like I shot my load yesterday. The mania has passed. My brain has returned to its previously malfunctioning state. [...]
The psychopathology of reading
Two of my best friends, the Antigeist and her man, G., like to read to each other when one of them’s taking a bath. Recently, having worked through all the other short fiction in their apartment, they were left with The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (or, G. being G., the collected works [...]
The Colored Section: a guest opinion by Tayari Jones
Early this year, a reader wrote in to express her dismay at finding her favorite African American writers’ books sequestered in a special Barnes & Noble section. Hot on her heels came another reader, a former bookstore employee, who argued that outrage over special sections for writers of color is endemic to white readers, [...]
U.S. writers and kangaroo: they all taste like chicken
Unbelievable news: the Edgar Allan Poe Pizza has a rival. At Celebrity Sandwich, you can have the Edgar Allan Poe grilled chicken sandwich with avocado.
Yes, I think we can all agree that “snappy lemon-mayo” in a smoke-free environment naturally brings Poe to mind. And be sure not to miss the [...]
DeLay indicted; jobs for writers; other causes for celebration
As if the Tom DeLay indictment weren’t enough to send me on a triumphant five-day bender, I turn my back for a second, and my favorite political blogger, Holly Martins, resurfaces at Wonkette and spends the afternoon riffing on the House Majority Leader’s fall from grace. I haven’t laughed this hard all week. [...]
Dealing with that which is self-made
Mark Sarvas and I guest-edited the latest Boldtype (the “Self-Made” issue), and he didn’t throttle me once. He’s a saint, that Mark.
A blog discussing the review selections — particularly the way fellow book blogger Laila Lalami’s first short story collection came to be among them — was supposed to launch with the reviews, but [...]
Tom Hopkins on the Lorrie Moore/Chang-Rae Lee reading
Last year I saw ZZ Packer and Lorrie Moore read. Despite, or perhaps because of, my longtime adulation of Moore, I was disappointed by her delivery. (Packer was great.)
When Tom Hopkins mentioned in email last week that he had tickets to the New Yorker Festival’s Chang-Rae Lee/Lorrie Moore reading at Satalla, [...]