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The New York Times' new e-book best-seller lists; the role of poetry in the ongoing demonstrations in Egypt; an e-book app that preserves the page format of poetry; Eminem as a literary force; and other news.
This trailer for Elizabeth Stuckey-French's second novel, The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady, published next week by Doubleday, is directed and edited by Ben Mekler. Stuckey-French's short stories have appeared in The Normal School, the Atlantic, the Gettysburg Review, the Southern Review, and Five Points
As the new year rages on with news of political unrest abroad, PenTales, a New York City–based organization dedicated to furthering global dialogue through stories, has announced a short story contest on the theme of "revolt." The competition welcomes entries from around the globe (written in or translated into English) that offer unique perspective on the topic.
According to the contest guidelines listed on the PenTales Web site, judge Daniel Rasmussen, author of American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt (Harper, 2011), will be looking for "stories that capture the bravery and idealism of men and women who fight against oppression and injustice; stories that disinter the wild spirit of man in rebellion; stories that remind us of the wild dreams and tremendous risks of complete and total revolt."
The winning work, as well as the second- and third-place selections, will be published on the PenTales Web site along with a review by Rasmussen. The winner will also receive a signed copy of American Uprising.
The deadline for entries, which should be submitted via e-mail, is March 7.
For those seeking inspiration from a book on the subject, this recent post on the New Yorker's Book Bench blog recommends a few illuminating titles, including Gabriel García Márquez's 1975 novel, The Autumn of the Patriarch.
Vida reports on the gross underrepresentation of women writers in major literary outlets; tips for navigating AWP; how a revolution is like being in love; a whole new strain of bad writing; and other news.
In this clip from James Wright's Ohio, a documentary by Tom Koba and Larry Smith that is being reissued on DVD later this month by Bottom Dog Press, the late poet William Matthews speaks to the importance of place in Wright's work.
Read the first paragraph of five of your favorite short stories, analyzing how they begin. Do they start with the description or voice of a character? With the description of a place or incident? With dialogue? Choose one of the beginnings and use it as a model for the entryway into a story of your own. See how far it takes you.
Black History Month kicks off with a best books list; the Cairo International Book Fair is canceled; a spillion vs. a metric buttload; Apple tightens its grip on e-book apps; and other news.
Aspinwall, Pennsylvania–based Black Lawrence Press, while experiencing rather modest weather in comparison to points west, has opted to extend the deadline for its novel competition, with snowbound writers in mind.
"We've received word from a number of people that inclement weather across much of the country made it rather difficult to meet Monday's Big Moose Prize deadline," the press's executive editor Diane Goettel writes in an e-mail. "For this reason, we are extending the deadline to February 15. And don't worry, we won't exclude you if you live in a land of sand and sun."
Details about the submission process are available in this earlier post about the prize and on the press's Web site.
If you're under the cloud that is covering most of the country, perhaps today is the day to resist cabin fever and consider submitting that novel—or at least cozying up to write. For a little wintry literary inspiration, check out the video poem below by Black Lawrence Press author Brent Goodman.
In this recent interview with Jeffrey Brown on the PBS NewsHour, author, essayist, and longtime professor Roger Rosenblatt discusses his book Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing, published last month by Ecco.
Jimmy Fallon will publish two books based on a TV sketch; how to bind a ten-thousand-page book; a Senate bill to protect reader privacy; protecting the great library of Alexandria in Egypt; and other news.
