Suspend Your Disbelief

Shop Talk

the used book wars

by Celeste Ng

An agent once told me that if I wanted to support my fellow writers, I should never buy used books, because the author gets no royalties on re-sold copies. And while that is certainly true, this editorial in the Guardian makes an eloquent argument for why secondhand bookshops are important: [T]he best have stock that is old – an out-of-print Penguin on Imagist poets, or a Fontana reader bringing news (at least it would have been in 1981) from the sociological front – and temptingly affordable. They contain treasure, however dusty. Several commenters point out that this editorial makes no […]


Infinite Summer with DFW

by Anne Stameshkin

Slate reports on Infintesummer.org, a reading-group/support group combo for those grieving David Foster Wallace‘s death and those wanting to tackle his masterwork. The challenge: Join endurance bibliophiles from around the world in reading Infinite Jest over the summer of 2009, June 21st to September 22nd. A thousand pages1 ÷ 92 days = 75 pages a week. No sweat. 1. Plus endnotesa. a. A lot of them. Posts range from in-depth analysis of Wallace’s themes to close readings of favorite passages to humorous accounts of how people react when they see you toting around this giant book. (Really!) If you want […]


On an optimistic note…

by Celeste Ng

There’s plenty for writers to worry about these days: the future of literary fiction, the collapsing publishing industry, the economy in general. So here’s a much-needed note of optimism. On the Penguin Blog, Darin Strauss (author of Chang and Eng and More Than It Hurts You) reminds us about the joys of being a writer. These are, as the whole world knows, tough days for literary fiction. And it’s never been the easiest career, even in boom times. Rejection. Financial uncertainty. Mean or dense critics. Good publishers that nevertheless have, at the end of each quarter, to answer to corporate […]


admissions

by Celeste Ng

Erika Dreifus at the Practicing Writer posted about this recently, and it was too interesting not to discuss here. Admission to college is getting tougher ever year, and as the New York Times reported, highschoolers hoping for an edge can now seek help from independent college counselors. But what about applicants to MFA programs? Well, now there’s help for them too: Abraham Leslie Consulting, which bills itself as “the first-ever consulting firm designed exclusively for applicants to Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), and doctorate (Ph.D) in Creative Writing Programs.” The consultants, all of whom are recent […]


Andrew's Book Club: August Picks and New Feature

by Anne Stameshkin

This month, Andrew recommends Victoria Patterson’s debut collection of linked stories, Drift, as his big-house pick. Read more about it here; you can read one of the collection’s stories, “The First and Second Time,” on the Freight Stories website. For August, Andrew also introduces a new feature, ABC Rewind, which he describes as “spotlight[ing] story collections that may have been slightly overlooked when they were originally published, as well as story collections that are reissued after falling out of print.” The first ABC Rewind pick is Don’t Make Me Stop Now by Michael Parker, the author of several novels, most […]


is short the new black?

by Celeste Ng

Flash fiction is rising in prominence both online and in print. (For an introduction to the form, see Sophie Powell’s review of The Field Guide to Flash Fiction.) Then came the six-word story trend. And now there’s 7×20, a Twitter-zine publishing short stories and fiction of 140 characters or less. In fact, 7×20 is just one of several Twitter-based short-story outlets. Mediabistro notes that such sites have been springing up everywhere. Some, like Nanoism, even pay. Here are four complete stories: She shows him her wedding ring and he just shrugs. I would be more interested in you if my […]


The Big-Box Retailer Book Clubs

by Anne Stameshkin

Three Percent, a site dedicated mostly to international lit, recently featured two must-read posts — “Predatory Pricing Practices” (which includes a clip from the Colbert Report featuring Douglas Rushkoff) and “Anti-Fixed Book Price Essay” — about the predatory pricing practices that stores like WalMart are using to drive down book prices. In short, they’re employing books as loss leaders to sell other products. See also: the NY Times‘ recent article about big box retailers pushing a HUGE proportion of booksales these days and creating “bestsellers”. Could Target really be the next Oprah’s Book Club? It’s interesting to think that a […]


Symphony Space: Selected Shorts

by Celeste Ng

NY-based (or visiting) writers: More short story love, this time with actors: Symphony Space presents “Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story,” in which “spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen.” Hosted by Isaiah Sheffer, performances often focus on a theme; for example, “Living Life to the Fullest” included Neil Patrick Harris reading “The Canoeists” by Rick Bass and Mia Dillon reading Pam Houston’s “How To Talk to Hunter.” And the series features plenty of stories by young/emerging writers, too, including Karen […]


"Restoring" A Moveable Feast

by Celeste Ng

Scribner caused a stir earlier this year by announcing it would publish a “restored” edition of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Why? Because the original edition was edited after the author’s death by Hemingway’s fourth wife and literary executor, Mary, who reordered parts of Hemingway’s unfinished manuscript and included parts he had wished to exclude–including a chapter that that portrays his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, in a negative light. Scribner claims the new edition is what Heminway actually intended: Since Hemingway’s personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined and debated the changes made to the text before publication. Now, […]


adventures in moving

by Anne Stameshkin

Dear readers, apologies for the lack of posting this past week; I have been readying to move from Brooklyn to Columbus, Ohio, and I remain neck-deep in logistics and work. As for FWR, exciting features are coming soon. I have a stack of material from our fearless writers — interviews! reviews! essays! book news! — just waiting to be posted, and by August 2 we will return to our regularly scheduled (or even somewhat enhanced) program. Come back then, and come back often.


DZANC Books 2009 Best of the Web Anthology Launches

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Because we are an online journal ourselves, it’s no surprise that FWR is excited to announce the release of The Best of the Web 2009, published by DZANC Books. This is their second volume of the annual anthology, which selects the best poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published online during the previous year. Click here to read my full review of Best of the Web 2009 here on FWR. Big Congratulations to all the writers included in this year’s collection, and to the editors for bringing together such a range of voices and talent.


Emerging Writer Fellowships: Call for Submissions (deadline: August 15, 2009)

by Anne Stameshkin

Via Matthew Hittinger, here is a call for submissions from The Writer’s Center just outside D.C. (in Bethesda, MD). Emerging Writer Fellowships: Call for Submissions CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS The Writer’s Center, metropolitan DC’s community gathering place for writers and readers, is currently accepting submissions for several competitive Emerging Writer Fellowships. Emerging Writer Fellows will be selected from applicants who have published up to 2 book-length works of prose and up to 3 book-length works of poetry. We welcome submissions from writers of any genre, background, or experience. Emerging Writer Fellows will be featured at The Writer’s Center as part of […]




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