Celeste pointed me to this great blog, Writers Read, where writers — among them emerging/debut authors Darrin Doyle, Kyle Minor, Greg Sanders, Kristina Riggle, Brendan Short, and Nathaniel Rich; and established authors Antonya Nelson, Porter Shreve, Darin Strauss, Rachel Kadish, and Jane Smiley — share what they’re reading. It’s interesting to see who reads mostly within genre and who branches out…
To start your week with some verse, here are some poetry-for-prosers recommendations from poet Matthew Hittinger (author of Pear Slip, winner of the Spire Press 2006 Chapbook Award): Poemergency Room by Paul Siegell If you live in NY or a city with a similar mass transit system you may find it hard to garner the concentration to read poetry on the subway or bus (and who can blame you with all the poems being written in the conversations and through the actions of your fellow mass transit riders?). Here is a book whose rhythms are so attuned to the city, […]
On Thursday, Celeste read at Pete’s Candy Store with Jeffrey Rotter, whose debut novel The Unknown Knowns I’d been curious about. After hearing him read just a short excerpt, I picked up a copy. If the Dr. Seussish cover and Donald Rumsfeld allusion aren’t alluring enough, check out a sample here, and if Jeffrey Rotter is reading anywhere near you, don’t miss it. In the coming months, look for an interview with him here on FWR.
This time Jofie Ferrari-Adler talks to literary agents Anna Stein, Jim Rutman, Maria Massie, and Peter Steinberg. Here are some tastes: What makes agents want to represent an author? Let us inside your heads a little and talk about what you’re looking at and thinking about when you’re evaluating a piece of fiction. STEIN: It’s really hard to talk about why a piece of writing is good, and moving—even if it’s funny—and what makes us keep thinking about something after we’ve read it. And it’s incredibly subjective. That’s why it’s hard for agents who represent fiction, especially literary fiction, to […]
Writers, do you find yourself romantically drawn (or even legally sealed) to others of our kind–or not? What are the advantages or disadvantages of sharing so much physical and psychic space with another writer? If you love reading about writerly couples, indulge in this essay from the Rumpus by novelist Eric Puchner (annotated by his wife, novelist Katharine Noel). Here’s a taste: Just as people prefer their mathematicians to be endearingly deranged, most people prefer their writers to be lonely schlubs. They seem to look at two writers living together as somehow unnatural, a zookeeper’s mistake. Perhaps it goes against […]
Jessica Belle Smith recommends Anne Carson‘s Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (1998): A classics scholar and poet, Carson has made a literary career of transforming ancient tales into modern language and landscape. Her recent Oresteia re-imagines three ancient Greek tragedies, and more than a decade ago, Carson updated the myth of Herakles and Geryon. The resulting Autobiography of Red is a genuine delight for readers and writers of fiction and poetry. The life of Geryon, the red-winged monster obsessed with his camera and a boy named Herakles, unnerves as the best coming-of-age stories do, coming so close to […]
NYC-based writers, join me at Pete’s Candy Store this Thursday to see FWR contributor (and short story goddess) Celeste Ng read with debut novelist Jeffrey Rotter as part of Pete’s Reading Series. The reading is at 7:30 @ Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn.
The sales figures are coming back. But I have to say I’m still very suspicious of this whole thing…call it a “glitch,” or a flipped-switch error, or the fault of the French, or an elaborate prank by a famous hacker. Whatever may have happened and whoever may be at fault, Amazon is offering explanations, not apologies, and considering the magnitude of the situation, I think the latter is sorely needed. And said explanations have more than a few holes. Whatever unfolds in the next few days, Amazon owes customers (1) a speedy and complete fix…a “flipped-switch error” really shouldn’t take […]
I finally succumbed and joined Twitter‘s ranks this weekend. Shortly after joining, I learned through a topic called #AmazonFAIL — 5 million+ comments — about Amazon’s new and highly sketchy policy regarding “adult” books. Below is Amazon’s response to author Mark Probst about why his YA book’s sales figures are no longer listed, followed by excerpts from and links to protests/responses: Amazon, to Probst: In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that […]
Dustin Brookshire wrote in to recommend two books by Denise Duhamel, Kinky (Orchises Press, 1997) and Ka-Ching! (Pittsburgh, 2009). Her other titles include Two and Two (Pittsburgh, 2005)–winner of Binghamton University’s Milt Kessler Book Award, Mille et un Sentiments (Firewheel, 2005), Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (Pittsburgh, 2001), and The Star-Spangled Banner (Southern Illinois UP, 1999). Here’s Dustin on why he recommends this poet’s work: Denise Duhamel can make you laugh, cry, think, and want to grab a pen to write, and she can do it all within a single poem. Yes, she is that talented! Kumin, […]
