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2013 Great Write Off Begins!

by The Editors

Dear Friends, We’re excited to announce that the 2013 Great Write Off is underway! For the next week (9/23 – 9/30) we’ll be participating in our second annual write-a-thon fundraiser, in collaboration with four other literary non-profits: 826michigan, Dzanc Books, the National Writers Series, and the Neutral Zone. Last year FWR and its partner organizations raised nearly $30,000 during our inaugural fundraiser to support the work these literary non-profit organizations do to help nurture the next generation of writers. And we hope to exceed those number this year! Last year the money we raised from the Great Write Off allowed us to […]


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2013 State of the Book Literary Symposium: September 28th

by The Editors

Once again, Fiction Writers Review will be co-hosting our annual State of the Book literary symposium, in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Department of English Language & Literature and the Zell Visiting Writers Series. Last year’s event was a huge success, drawing more than 900 people to Rackham Auditorium in Ann Arbor for a day of literary happenings, including Dave Eggers’s release of the 2012 Best American Nonrequired Reading anthology and 826michigan’s OMNIBUS anthology, a keynote conversation between famed fiction writer Charles Baxter and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Phil Levine, and panels with writers such as Bonnie Jo Campbell, Doug […]


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Off for Summer Vacation!

by The Editors

Dear FWR friends: We hope this finds you well. It’s hard to believe that we’ve nearly reached the end of summer. Or, perhaps more amazingly, that we’ve nearly reached our fifth anniversary! It’s a big milestone for this organization, and so to celebrate (and to honor the age-old tradition of publishers disappearing in August) the editors are taking off the next two weeks for summer vacation. If you haven’t yet, we hope you’ll get the chance to do the same. Free book for anyone who can identify the beach in the picture above. [Hint: It’s not Nantucket…] We’ll be back […]


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First Looks, Buzz Books: June 2013

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Welcome to the latest installment of “First Looks,” which highlights soon-to-be (or just) released books that have piqued our interest as readers-who-write. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog mid-month, and as always, we’d love to hear your comments on and recommendations for forthcoming titles. So please drop us a line with buzz-worthy titles: editors(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com. Thanks in advance. Because we devote the entirety of May to celebrating Short Story Month, we invariably miss a few great novels during this time. So before we go any further, here’s a quick look back at two books I wish we could […]


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"A Physical Link into the World of the Fictional"

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

For the last several years, we’ve periodically explored the intersections between fiction and video games in these pixilated pages–they are, after all, both narrative art forms. Back in 2009, we published Christine Hartzler’s “Games Are Not About Monsters,” which was subsequently anthologized in Dzanc’s 2010 Best of the Web. In 2010, Mike Rudin argued that the Next Great American Novel just might be a video game (heresy!). And in 2011, Celeste Ng wondered, along with the Guardian, “Why aren’t more novelists weren’t writing vido games?” Most recently, James Pinto sat down in March for an interview with Tom Bissell, who […]


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First Looks, Buzz Books: May 2013

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Hello again, FWR friends. Welcome to the latest installment of “First Looks,” which highlights soon-to-be (or just) released books that have piqued our interest as readers-who-write. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog around the 15th of each month, and as always, we’d love to hear your comments and your recommendations of forthcoming titles. So please drop us a line with buzz-worthy titles you’re anticipating: editors(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com. Thanks in advance! Though we devote the entire month of May to celebrating short stories, there are still plenty of great collections that slip through the cracks. I guess it’s a good […]


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Happy Short Story Month!

by The Editors

Happy Short Story Month 2013! Once again, we’ll be celebrating short stories all month here at Fiction Writers Review: Reviews of fantastic story collections, such as Jamie Quatro’s debut I Want to Show You More, which is our lead feature for the month. We’re also excited to publish reviews of Ethan Rutherford‘s The Peripatetic Coffin, Karen Russell‘s Vampires in the Lemon Grove, and several others that we’ve been saving for Short Story Month. Interviews with established writers like Charles Yu, debut authors like Sarah Gerkensmeyer, whose collection What You Are Now Enjoying is currently longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International […]


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First Looks, April 2013

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Hello again, FWR friends. Welcome to the latest installment of “First Looks,” which highlights soon-to-be (or just) released books that have piqued our interest as readers-who-write. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog around the 15th of each month, and as always, we’d love to hear your comments and your recommendations of forthcoming titles. So please drop us a line with buzz-worthy titles you’re anticipating: editors(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com. Thanks in advance! Perhaps I’m biased because I teach Midwestern Lit courses and classes on Rust Belt Narratives, but Brian Kimberling‘s debut novel, Snapper, which Pantheon is releasing next week, and which […]


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First Looks, March 2013: Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Hello again, FWR friends. Welcome to the latest installment of “First Looks,” which highlights soon-to-be released books that have piqued our interest as readers-who-write. We publish “First Looks” here on the FWR blog around the 15th of each month, and as always, we’d love to hear your comments and your recommendations of forthcoming titles. So please drop us a line with buzz-worthy titles you’re anticipating: editors(at)fictionwritersreview(dot)com. Thanks in advance! Though fiction is our primary focus on this site, from time to time a book of poetry or nonfiction or criticism crosses our path that necessitates some recognition. (Besides, we’re all […]


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FWR at AWP in Boston

by The Editors

Some of our editors and contributors at AWP 2012 in Chicago Fiction Writers Review is at AWP again this year, and we’re looking forward to catching up with our friends and contributors. Throughout the conference, you can find us in the Bookfair at Table P9 in Exhibit Hall B on the Plaza Level of the Hynes Convention Center. Come say hello! We’ll also be doing a contributor photo at the table at 4pm on Friday. We hope you’ll join us! And here’s a partial list of FWR-related events: Thursday, March 8th: Noon – “Getting That First University Teaching Job.” Contributor […]




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