Suspend Your Disbelief

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Cozy Classics

by Celeste Ng

Perhaps you’ve heard of “fuzzy math”—now there’s fuzzy literature, as well. Literally. A new series of picture books illustrates works like Moby Dick with adorable felted figures. Brothers Jack and Holman Wang have teamed up to create “Cozy Classics,” explains Tandem Magazine: Holman made wool figures of Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bingley for Pride and Prejudice as well as figures of Captain Ahab, Moby Dick, and the Pequod for Moby Dick. […] Each image is accompanied by one of the twelve words, previously selected by Dr. Wang, that make up each book of the Cozy Classics […]


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Book of the Week: Signs and Wonders, by Alix Ohlin

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Our new feature is Alix Ohlin‘s most recent collection, Signs and Wonders (Vintage), which was simultaneously published last month with her new novel, Inside (Knopf). Additionally, she is the author of the novel The Missing Person (Knopf, 2005) and the collection Babylon and Other Stories (Knopf, 2006). Her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Best New American Voices, and has also appeared on public radio’s Selected Shorts. Born and raised in Montreal, she currently lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, and teaches at Lafayette College. She is also on the faculty of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for […]


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Book-of-the-Week Winners: Aerogrammes, by Tania James

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

For the last two weeks we’ve been featuring Tania James’s new story collection Aerogrammes, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Tiffany Alexander (@alexandervision) Stacey Joy Netzel (@StaceyJoyNetzel) Kay Glass (@kglass112406) 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!


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The ghost in the (writing) machine

by Celeste Ng

Not long ago, we talked about the phenomenon of robots writing books. But those computer-authored tomes—with scintillating subject matter like Saltine Cracker were mish-mashes of text culled together from Wikipedia and other websites. Computers can’t write actual stories. Or can they? Enter Narrative Science, a Chicago-based software company teaching computers to do just that—well, news stories, at least. Wired explains that articles written by the company’s computer algorithm are already out there: The computer-written product could be a pennant-waving second-half update of a Big Ten basketball contest, a sober preview of a corporate earnings statement, or a blithe summary of […]


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Shout-out: Danielle Lazarin wins Glimmer Train’s Family Matters contest

by Celeste Ng

We were delighted to learn that FWR contributor Danielle Lazarin was the first-place winner of Glimmer Train‘s April 2012 Family Matters contest! A full list of winners and top-25 finalists is on the Glimmer Train website. Danielle’s winning story, “Spider Legs,” will be published in Glimmer Train in 2013. In the meantime, you can learn more about Danielle and read some of her work on her author website. Congratulations, Danielle! Read Danielle’s interview with Dan Chaon for Fiction Writers Review Read Danielle’s essay “‘The Mommy Problem,’ and the larger notion of life beyond work“


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The Unfilmable Novel

by Celeste Ng

I am unreasonably excited to see the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Is it because Gatsby is one of my favorite novels? Because Baz Lurhmann is brilliant? Because Leonardo DiCaprio makes me swoon? Mark me down for “All of the Above.” Actually, most of all, I can’t wait to see how this novel comes to life on the big screen. It contains some of the most cinematic scenes I can think of—one of my favorites is the first moment we meet Daisy, in a swirl of white curtains—but I’m not sure how it will translate to film. Which makes […]


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What to do with an MFA?

by Celeste Ng

If you’re a newly-minted MFA wondering what to do with your degree, perhaps you can take inspiration from Eric Wahl, who works at the University of Washington’s surplus store. Wahl puts his writing skills to use by crafting hilarious descriptions of items for sale–and offering proof that pretty much everything gets way better with a dose of creativity. Says the Seattle Times: Wahl, 42, began working at the store in November 2010 as a program coordinator, a job that means he not only works the cash register, he does the Web marketing. He couldn’t help but notice that the descriptions […]




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