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Waterstone's announces twenty store closures in the U.K.; Snooki's novel released today; e-books outsell their print counterparts on the USA Today best-seller list; Nancy Pearl is named Librarian of the Year; and other news.
Author Kwame Dawes recently appeared on the PBS NewsHour to discuss his experience in Haiti, where he has traveled over the past year to report on and write poems about life after the earthquake last January. After you watch the clip, check out Kevin Nance's article "Haiti Noir, Haiti Light" in the new issue.
A consortium of indie outfits—the Journal of Experimental Fiction, the press Civil Coping Mechanisms, and trade publisher Pig Iron Press—are reintroducing the Kenneth Patchen Award, given for a novel that echoes the innovative spirit of the late fiction writer and poet. Created in the 1990s by Pig Iron, the prize offers one thousand dollars, publication of the winning novel manuscript, and twenty author copies to boot.
Submissions opened on January 1 and will be accepted until July 31. Entries should be sent as a Word document or PDF via e-mail, and must be accompanied by a twenty-five-dollar entry fee payable through PayPal; for complete guidelines, e-mail the Journal of Experimental Fiction. The winner, selected by Ukrainian American avant-garde writer Yuriy Tarnawsky, will be announced in September.
In the video below, Patchen reads his poetry amidst images of the writer's New York City. A contemporary of John Cage, T. S. Eliot, and William Carlos Williams, Patchen is the author of more than forty books of poetry, prose, and drama including Before the Brave (1936), Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer (1945), and The Journal of Albion Moonlight (1941).
Dzanc Books launches a writing retreat in Portugal; the centennial of Tolstoy's death passes quietly in Russia; Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is updated in a new edition; gender inequality in the New Yorker; and other news.
This short film, directed by Alex Markman, starring Tom Shillue, and produced by Electric Literature, takes a look at how well the big books of 2010 would protect you in the event of a shooting.
I reach into the back of my closet to take out a tailored navy bule sllk dress with a matching short jacket that is lined with a surprisingly brilliant yellow-green fabric. This was my mother's dress-up outfit. She wore it only on special occasions and looked lovely when she did. I don't know why I kept it, other than it belonged to her. I never planned to give it away nor wear it myself. It was hers and so it would remain, a kind of loving keepsake.
Check back on Thursday, January 6, for our first fiction writing prompt. We'll post a new fiction prompt or exercise every Thursday to keep you writing all year long!
Choose a favorite poem written by somebody else, type a copy of it, delete every other line from the poem, and write your own lines to replace those you’ve deleted. Next, delete the remaining lines from the old poem so that only your lines remain. Read what you have, and revise it, adding new lines to fill in the gaps.
The importance of prison libraries; editors rediscover Hurston stories; national essay contest asks, Does poetry matter?; and other news.
Bob Holman reads "Happy New Year Poem" at the 37th annual New Year's Day marathon reading at the St. Mark's Poetry Project in New York City.
