Suspend Your Disbelief

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Essays |

The Long Hard Slog: From the 2010 AWP Panel “From MFA Thesis to First Novel”

by Margaret Lazarus Dean

“When I was asked whether I’d be interested in taking part in a panel on turning the MFA thesis into a first book, I said yes right away, but I wasn’t sure what I could contribute. In fact, I felt like a bit of a fraud because my journey from the thesis to the published book was so long and roundabout. But I’ve convinced myself that this is part of what makes my story worth telling here, because long and roundabout might be just as common as quick and straightforward, and my particular kind of roundabout experience makes me feel emboldened to give certain bits of advice.”


Shop Talk |

Strand Tote Bag Contest

by Celeste Ng

You’ve seen it a million times: that iconic tote bag with The Strand logo on it. Recently, The Strand partnered with the School of Visual Arts, TOON Books, Drawn & Quarterly, and Fantagraphics Books to host a tote bag design contest. Over 800 emerging artists submitted their representations of The Strand Bookstore, and a panel of judges, including Pulitzer Prize–winner Art Spiegelman, selected three winners. Check out a slideshow of all the entries, just the finalists, or the three winners. The image by the grand prize winner, Zak Foster, will be featured on a new tote bag, available in-store and […]


Shop Talk |

O. Henry Launch Party at Idlewild Books this Saturday

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

For those of you in New York, Idlewild Books will be hosting a launch party for the 2010 PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories Anthology this Saturday from 6-8pm. FWR is pleased to have two of its contributors represented in this year’s collection: Preeta Samarasan, whose story “Birch Memorial” was published in A Public Space, and Natalie Bakopoulos, whose story “Fresco, Byzantine,” was published in Tin House. Come join us for the reception with several of the authors featured in the anthology. Idlewild is located at 12 W. 19th street (near 5th Avenue).


Shop Talk |

Amazon Gives $25,000 Grant to Lambda Literary Foundation

by Celeste Ng

You know how in the movies, every super-villain has a sweet side? Like a cat to dote on, or a lovely patch of garden to tend, or a puppy to kiss—in between ordering assassinations or blowing up planets or stages in the Master Plan to Take Over the Universe. Well, Amazon’s got one too, and it goes beyond being sweet: it’s actually doing good. The Lambda Literary Foundation, the country’s leading national nonprofit organization for the LGBT literary community, recently announced that it has received a grant of $25,000 from Amazon.com: The grant will support the Writers’ Retreat for Emerging […]


Shop Talk |

Electric Literature's Short Story "Trailer"

by Celeste Ng

Literary journal Electric Literature has put out a wonderfully weird animation based on one sentence from Jenny Offill’s short story “The Tunnel,” from Electric Literature No. 3. It reminds me of a mix between Alice and Wonderland and Monty Python, both whimsical and serious, but take a look for yourself: This video is actually the latest in a series: lots more are available on Electric Literature‘s website. But the videos aren’t just a gimmick; they’re an integral part of the journal’s mission. The editors write: Electric Literature’s mission is to use new media and innovative distribution to return the short […]


Shop Talk |

Because it's National Poetry Month…

by Anne Stameshkin

All across the blogosphere, writers have been celebrating April 2010 by discussing poems and sharing recommendations, including work of their own. – At Powell’s Blog, Jae suggests three collections (including Alphabet by Inger Christensen), observing: The poetry section of a bookstore can present potential challenges for any reader. More often than not, poetry books are precociously slim, slipping past first glance; it’s far easier to quickly name 10 famous living novelists than 10 famous living poets; and even when you know exactly what you’re looking for, small print runs may have rendered the book unavailable. Despite these occasional pitfalls, people […]


Shop Talk |

Andrew's Book Club: April 2010 Picks

by Anne Stameshkin

There’s still a week left in April: spend it reading one of these new collections recommended by Andrew Scott. INDIE PICKS: – Strange Weather (Press 53), by Becky Hagenston. Winner of the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Praise from Antonya Nelson: The sensibility overseeing these fine stories is curious, clever, quick, hilarious, and heartbreaking. The world contained between the covers of Strange Weather is both realistic and magical, silly and sublime, ‘romance and raunch. Just like real life.’ When a character working a desk job in a toxic chemical plant announces wistfully that ‘nothing’s blown up,’ the reader completely understands […]


Shop Talk |

The Upside (?) of Melancholy

by Celeste Ng

We’ve discussed the links between depression and creativity on this blog before—from a report that some schools on Nantucket were banning “depressing” literature in response to high rates of teen suicides to Anne’s reflections on “When Writers Stop Drinking (or Start Taking Meds, or Start Reading Peter Kramer).” Jonah Lehrer’s recent essay in The New York Times Magazine investigates this question from a different angle: whether depression has an evolutionary purpose. For some unknown reason, the modern human mind is tilted toward sadness and, as we’ve now come to think, needs drugs to rescue itself. The alternative, of course, is […]


Shop Talk |

50 Book People to Follow on Twitter

by Celeste Ng

The Huffington Post recently published a list of “The 50 Best Book People to Follow on Twitter.” Those on the list include everyone from veteran authors Margaret Atwood and Anne Rice to up-and-comers like Colson Whitehead. There are plenty of agents, editors, and book bloggers, too, as well as book sites like GalleyCat and Guardian Books. These bookish Twitterers offer thoughts on current events and life in general and favorite writing-related links you might never find otherwise. A representative smattering: from Mokoto Rich, New York Times book editor: Looking at questions asked and not asked about latest incident of flawed […]


Essays |

Shop Talk: From the 2010 AWP Panel "Evolution of the New Media"

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

“During my years as a bookseller, I cherished the opportunities to talk with fellow readers who were enthusiastic about books: how we read them, why we read them, where we read them—you name it. And whether mysteries or metaphysics, non-fiction or nature writing, Chaucer or children’s literature, there was a world of writing to discuss, much of which I had never heard of. I loved nothing more than learning and contributing to that community. It is this same sense of community that we try to foster at Fiction Writers Review. One that is made up of tastes and interests as divergent and varied as our contributors. But if there’s one unifying element, I have to say it’s that very same enthusiasm for books. An unabashed, unapologetic, earnest love of ‘shop talk.'”




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