Here they are, the April collections Andrew urges us to buy, read, and recommend. This month, all three books are debuts. Viva la short story–and the emerging writer! University Press Pick: Tracy Winn’s Mrs. Somebody Somebody (Southern Methodist UP) Indie Pick: Paul Yoon’s Once the Shore (Sarabande) Big House Pick: Kevin Wilson’s Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Harper Perennial)
Take a tour of The Most Interesting Bookstores of the World. And visit Zoomii.com, which offers a “real bookstore” browsing experience but links to Amazon for actual checkout. I wish (1) that you could look inside this book during this part of the process and (2) that you could use such a service to shop at indie stores.
Huzzah and huge congrats to Jeremy, FWR’s Associate Editor, whose story “What We Can” has captured the $1200 first prize in Glimmer Train‘s Family Matters contest. Runners-up were, for second place, Yuval Zalkow for “God and Buses,” and for third place, Adam Theron-Lee Rensch for “Everything in Its Right Place.” The full list of finalists is available as a PDF here. Be sure to check out Glimmer Train‘s Summer 2010 issue, where “What We Can” will appear, or get a jump on it and subscribe now to one of FWR’s favorite literary magazines.
I love hearing about other writers’ processes, how they perceive of and describe them. There’s always the hope that this will yield some magical secret–or at least a scrap of empathy. And I think it serves writers well to read about how artists in other mediums work through a piece. This post on Henry Sene Yee’s book design blog walks us through his process — including many drafts — in creating the cover design for Columbine by Dave Cullen.
This may be last week’s news, but the issues it raises are still worth a jaw. From The Daily Beast (via some friends who were at this event: a reception and Q&A with the Man Booker International Prize judges, who met to discuss the finalists for this prestigious biannual award): The book world is generally so polite and civilized, that it’s sort of fun when a kerfuffle breaks open as it did last night at the New York Public Library. […] Up on stage were The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown, acting as moderator, and the three judges: novelists Amit Chaudhuri, […]
Hey, Boston-based writers! If you like western-themed mad-libs, raffles, and good short fiction, don’t miss this Sunday’s Dirty Water Reading Series event. $1 suggested donation.
Celebrate Slice Magazine‘s fourth issue launch with a Literary Trivia Showdown event tonight, March 23, from 6:30-9:30 at Dixon Place (161 Chrystie St, between Rivington and Delancey). This first-time event will pit three teams of five agents, five editors, and five authors (including Jonathan Lethem) against each other. The launch party will also feature craft ales, a raffle, and a silent auction. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of the magazine’s Issue 4.
DZANC books and the Emerging Writers Network are offering a a great opportunity for writers seeking feedback on their work: the DZANC Creative Writing Sessions are online one-on-one workshops that you can purchase very cheaply by the hour. Have your work read and commented on by someone from this amazing list of authors–all of whom are volunteering their time to this project. 100% of the proceeds go to support DZANC’s Writers in the Schools program for kids grades 4-12.
Warm congratulations to friend and former classmate Uwem Akpan, whose debut story collection Say You’re One of Them has won the Africa regional for the Commonwealth Writers’ Best First Book Award. Africa’s Best Book Award winner is South African writer Mandla Langa, for The Lost Colours of the Chameleon. The authors will each go on to compete for the overall Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in their respective categories.
This is courtesy of The Millions, who gave us the first incarnation of this tour in 2007. This updated, expanded map and itinerary is also a eulogy for the bookshops we’ve lost and those that won’t be with us for much longer… And, as of today, you can edit and update the map to include the independent bookstores and bookish places you love anywhere in the world. Follow these instructions to help create The Millions’ Collaborative Atlas of Bookstores and Literary Places. Who will add Shaman Drum to the Atlas? Do so, let me know you did, and I’ll order […]
