Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘Anne Stameshkin’

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recommended event: CLMP's 2009 lit magazine fair

by Anne Stameshkin

New York-based writer-readers: On Sunday, May 31, come to Housing Works for the 10th Annual Literary Magazine Fair with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). Admission is free, and all lit magazines will be on sale for only $2! I’m hoping to come away (as I do every year) with a tote bag full of literary goodness. About Housing Works: Since opening its doors in 1998, Housing Works’ Bookstore Cafe has been an unparalleled hot spot for New York’s literary community, hosting countless readings, panels, and parties for every major publisher, as well as magazines from Lucky to […]


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The Lonely Cupcake

by Anne Stameshkin

South African writer Bridget McNulty will make a (virtual) stop at FWR during her blog tour later this month when Strange Nervous Laughter (St. Martin’s), her debut novel, publishes. In the meantime, Bridget offers this lovely, wacky little film to get you in the mood for it. As she says: How can you resist watching a video with a name as intriguing as ‘The Lonely Cupcake‘? Especially when it’s only 1 minute long! And it’s only vaguely related to Strange Nervous Laughter. And it has cupcakes in it. With funny faces.


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May picks from Andrew's Book Club

by Anne Stameshkin

For Short Story Month itself, Andrew recommends the following collections: Indie Press: The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards by Robert Boswell (Graywolf) University Press: American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell (Wayne State UP, from the Made in Michigan Writers Series) Andrew’s Book Club also currently features an interview with author Tracy Winn, whose debut collection of linked stories, Mrs. Somebody Somebody, published in April (Southern Methodist UP). Read the first line from each story in Robert Boswell’s new collection here. See Bonnie Jo Campbell read from American Salvage at the following events/venues: – May 14 – Made in Michigan Writers […]


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excerpt from Donald Maass's The Fire in Fiction

by Anne Stameshkin

Today, agent Donald Maass‘s new craft book published, and he was kind enough to share the following excerpt with FWR readers; scroll down to read more about the book and its author. A Singular Voice Do you have style? Some authors have a plain prose style. That is said often of John Grisham, James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks. They are strong storytellers and best sellers so I dare say they are not much bothered about it. Other writers are known almost entirely for their way with words. Reviewers swoon over their “lapidary” prose (I had to look it up) and […]


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FWR's latest features

by Anne Stameshkin

From now on, I’m going to announce here when we’ve posted a new review, interview, or essay to the site. For those of you who usually just read the blog, please stop by and check out our most recent features: (1) FWR’s first foray into erotica comes from our Canadian correspondent and Black Heart Magazine‘s editor-in-chief Laura Roberts, who spices things up with a review of Best Sex Writing 2009 by Rachel Kramer Bussel. (2) Contributing Editor Lee Thomas offers a glowing review of Chris Cleave’s second novel, Little Bee, the story of two women — a British journalist and […]


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recommended event: Jewish Intellectuals and the Writing Life

by Anne Stameshkin

Tonight I’m looking forward to attending a (free!) panel discussion, Jewish Intellectuals and the Writing Life , at CUNY with Erika Dreifus (of Practicing Writing and The Practicing Writer). Here’s the description from CUNY Grad Center’s website, should any New York-based writers like to join us: EVENT: Jewish Intellectuals and the Writing Life DATE: 4/29/2009 TIME: 6:30 PM ADDRESS: 365 Fifth Avenue / Manhattan PHONE: 212-817-2005 ROOM NUMBER: The Skylight Room (9100) PRIMARY EVENT SPONSOR: Center for the Humanities SUMMARY: Join prominent intellectuals as they discuss the relationship between literary reputation, intellectualism, and Jewish life. Participants include Morris Dickstein, Ruth […]


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May is Short Story Month on EWN – so let's talk stories

by Anne Stameshkin

Emerging Writers Network’s Dan Wickett is devoting May to reading and discussing short stories; his goal is three a day for a month — so just under 100 stories. Be sure to check it out. And let’s try a sister-experiment here: FWR contributors and readers, I invite/challenge (whichever word you find more motivating) each of you to read or re-read some short stories in May and write to me about one of them that really rocks your writerly world. I’m not talking full-scale reviews (though if what you write becomes something longer, that’s OK)…just a paragraph or even a couple […]


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recommended reading: Jami Attenberg interviews cartoonists

by Anne Stameshkin

At Largehearted Boy, check out Jami Attenberg‘s first in a series of interviews with female cartoonists; this one is with Sarah Glidden. You can preview chapters from Glidden’s book-in-progress on the artist’s website, and if you haven’t yet read Jami Attenberg’s Instant Love (one of my favorite collections of linked stories) or her debut novel, The Kept Man, I recommend a trip to the nearest bookstore. Jami also had a great piece, “An Apartment Affair,” in the New York Times last month.


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Olive Kitteridge wins Pulitzer

by Anne Stameshkin

Congratulations to Elizabeth Strout, whose Olive Kitteridge, a collection of linked stories (billed as a “novel in stories”) about a curmudgeonly retired schoolteacher in Maine, has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Finalists included Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves and Christine Schutt’s All Souls. You can read an excerpt from Olive Kitteridge here and the NY Times review here.


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I was Born Doing Reference Work in Sin

by Anne Stameshkin

Last week, poet and activist Dustin Brookshire recommended Denise Duhamel’s work to FWR readers, and I failed to mention that Dustin has a poetry blog of his own, one bearing what may be the best name ever: I was Born Doing Reference Work in Sin. This month he’s featuring a very cool series with guest poets (including Mark Bibbins, Ellen Bass, and Denise Duhamel) called “How I Discovered Poetry”, and his site also hosts a longer-running series, “Why Do I Write?”




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