Poetry—it isn’t just for poets! In her latest column, Katie Umans recommends straying from fiction with the following books: Kingdom Animalia, Something in the Potato Room, Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie, and Lucky Fish.
This week’s feature is Robert Garner McBrearty’s new collection, Let the Birds Drink in Peace, which was published last fall by Conundrum Press. McBrearty is the author of two previous collections of stories: A Night at the Y (John Daniel & Company, 1999) and Episode (Pocol Press, 2009). He received his MFA in creative writing from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, was the winner of the 2007 Sherwood Anderson Foundation Award, and has received fellowships from the Macdowell Colony and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. He teaches at […]
Last week we featured Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: stacey said, (@staceysaid) Leila N (@LeiNili) joann spears (@JoAnnSpearsRN) Brett Wilcox (@wilcoxworks) Donna Bailey (@DBailey_GirlInk) Congrats! To claim your free copy, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!
As a fiction writer, I have a litmus test for knowing if a book is one I love love love versus one that is merely admirable. A book that is truly fantastic for me is one that also makes me want to write. It’s not that I go into the reading experience looking to be bitten by contagious writing. But I’ve found that when I read certain writers—Jennifer Egan, Jo Ann Beard, Susan Minot, to name a few—the reverie of their prose is so intense, so real, that I find myself wanting to continue the conversation on my side of […]
You think you have a problem with hoarding books? The above short film, by Sergey Stefanovich, walks you through the library of writer and critic Duncan Fallowell, which “has spilled over into every available space and become an art installation in its own right.” (Via.) Fallowell narrates, with lots of meditative insights on reading and writing: “I’m so glad I haven’t read everything–I have such a wonderful future awaiting me.” However, if you really need to clear out some space, perhaps this post by Jodi Chromey, “How I Learned to Stop Hoarding and Give Away Books,” provides the solution. Further […]
Celeste Ng offers compelling proof that storytellers aren’t so different from scientists: both explore the same very large, very dark, very crowded room, poking and prodding and tirelessly asking, what if?
Okay, I admit it—I didn’t think this was going to funny, but it was. Funny… because it’s true. (Via GalleyCat.) Further reading: Look at things from the other way around: I’m waiting for agents and editors to make a “Shit authors say” video.
With her debut novel, Regina O’Melveny’s heroine embarks on a journey through Renaissance Europe. Indebted to The Bard, the book inhabits many worlds worth exploring.
Though written in English, Luana Monteiro’s debut collection is firmly rooted in Brazilian culture — carnaval to Coetzee, Candomblé to Christianity.
…using only the words from The Cat in the Hat. Or could I? That’s the challenge posed by one of the prompts at the Tumblr site Writing Prompts. (Don’t worry, they’re helpfully listed for your reference. Did you know The Cat in the Hat contains the word “shame”?) The site has a huge variety of prompts, including lots based on photos (for you visual thinkers). They’re totally different from other prompts I’ve seen–you’re sure to find something to get you started, unstuck, or turned in a new direction. I’m bookmarking this site for the next time I feel like I […]
