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Publishers Weekly reports on the closing arguments in the DOJ lawsuit against Apple; a salesman for Wiley is charged with the theft of almost three million dollars in books; poet Elizabeth Alexander remembers her late husband; and other news.
The debut author, who is interviewed by Curtis Sittenfeld as part of "First Fiction 2013" in the current issue, reads from her first novel, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, which was recently published by Riverhead Books. DiSclafani also talks about teaching and her experience as writer in residence at Washington University in St. Louis.
The Montreal–based Matrix Magazine and POP Montreal International Music Festival have teamed up to create the Lit Pop Awards—an annual literary competition for poets and fiction writers whose work “exemplifies a spirit of innovation and verve with rockstar attitude.”
Two winners will each receive a round-trip ticket and VIP pass to the POP Montreal Festival (September 25–29), accommodation at a bed and breakfast, fall publication in Matrix Magazine, a one-hundred-dollar honorarium, and a presentation at a Matrix Lit POP event during the festival. The deadline for entry is June 30.
Eileen Myles, whose most recent collection is Snowflake/different streets (Wave Books, 2012), will judge in poetry; Sheila Heti, whose most recent novel is How Should a Person Be? (Holt, 2012), will judge in fiction.
The contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada. Poets may submit up to five poems and fiction writers may submit stories of up to 3,000 words with a $25 entry fee. Entries may submitted via Submittable, by e-mail at [email protected], or by postal mail to Matrix Publications, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., LB 658, Montreal QC, H3G 1M8. Visit the website for complete submission guidelines and payment options.
Founded in Lennoxville, Ontario, in 1975, Matrix Magazine has been published as part of the creative writing program at Concordia University in Montreal since 1994. The POP Montreal Festival, held annually since 2002, is a festival of music, visual art, and literature that “champions independence in the arts by presenting emerging and celebrated artistic talents from around the world.”
In a recent interview, Alice Munro indicated she might be retiring; Laura C. Mallonee chases the ghost of poet Elizabeth Bishop across Manhattan; Kelsey Osgood reveals her childhood attraction to Kafka; and other news.
The debut author, who is interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Paul Harding as part of "First Fiction 2013" in the current issue, talks about her first novel, We Need New Names, which was published in May by Reagan Arthur Books. Read an excerpt from the novel in our 2013 First Fiction Sampler.
In “Why We Write: Tilted Naked Weirdo” (Poets & Writers Magazine, July/August 2013), Nancy Méndez-Booth writes that by allowing herself to explore her “uglies”—the weirdest, most uncomfortable, or embarrassing parts of her life—she has been able to find her truest voice. “Writing honestly makes me feel stripped and exposed,” she writes. “I put everything I’d rather hide right on the page for the world to see. It horrifies me.” Write an essay about your own uglies—the strange, the silly, the discomfiting and weird—the parts of your life that few people know but you.
Wired considers the implications of the reported cloud services deal between Amazon and the CIA; Vivian Gornick discusses the life and work of Mary McCarthy; a new project from Eliza Griswold and photographer Seamus Murphy documents the oral folk poems of the Afghan people; and other news.
The author of four story collections; two novels; and two memoirs, including the one for which he is perhaps best known, This Boy's Life, was born on June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama. Check out Wolff's Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories (Knopf, 2008), read some of his work—don't miss "Hunters in the Snow" and "Bullet in the Brain"—and see where it takes you. Celebrate Tobias Wolff's birthday by starting a new story.
Ira Silverberg is stepping down as director of literature programs for the National Endowment for the Arts; Apple executive Eddy Cue testified in the DOJ's e-book pricing lawsuit; the origins of eight famed author's pen names; and other news.
Shane Salerno's Salinger offers an unprecedented look inside the private world of J. D. Salinger, featuring interviews with more than a hundred subjects, including the reclusive author's friends, colleagues, and members of his inner circle, as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never been seen. It opens in theaters on September 6.
