Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘Anne Stameshkin’

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Mr. Dickens regrets he's unable to lunch today

by Anne Stameshkin

It would be criminal not to link to this great Dickens anecdote, as told on Terry Teachout’s blog; for the whole story, pick up a copy of Jane Smiley’s Charles Dickens (a Penguin Lives Biography). Can anyone think of a kinder way to phrase Dickens’ letter, which justifies breaking a social engagement in order to write? I’ve often longed to say something like this; hell, maybe the key to prolificacy is not worrying about the “kinder” bit. Teachout’s response: I like to think that after firing this off, Dickens burst into tears, then got on the computer and played Web […]


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recommended reading on Oscars Day

by Anne Stameshkin

Based on my abysmal guesses last year, I can’t provide a reliable cheat sheet for your Oscar pool. But I can provide linkage: an interview with Slumdog Millionaire/Q&A author Vikas Swarup, discussing Simon Beaufoy’s film adaptation of his novel; a thoughtful piece from Garth Risk Hallberg on Revolutionary Road–the book, the film adaptation, and why the latter might not be up for more gold statues; a review of Milk from the New York Review of Books; BookFox’s critique of the adaptation of “New Boy,”one of the live-action short film contenders (FYI, you can download any of the short film nominees […]


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identity and responsibility

by Anne Stameshkin

In a comment to an earlier blog post, Celeste asked the following questions, which deserve a discussion of their own: I think this is an issue that writers of any minority group–-religious, ethnic, and so on–-face: must we write about our “own” group? Do we have a responsibility to write about our own group? And, on the flip side, if we write only about our own group, do we limit ourselves unnecessarily? Do we risk being dismissed by a larger audience? Thoughts?


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literary travel companions

by Anne Stameshkin

I’m itching to do some traveling (and the reading that goes with it); in the meantime, let’s talk books. A few months ago I blogged about the wonderful Idlewild Books in Manhattan–a travel bookstore organized by country rather than genre. For more destination-specific recommendations, The Millions‘ Kevin Harnett suggests some fiction (and nonfiction) to take on the road. Last June, Joan Silber also contributed a post about reading abroad. Frommer’s website offers reading recommendations for a huge variety of destinations, among them cities like New Orleans, Buenos Aires, and Toronto, and countries from Japan to Iceland. For inspiration on where […]


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Murakami accepts Jerusalem Prize

by Anne Stameshkin

In his acceptance speech, Haruki Murakami defends his decision to accept the Jerusalem Prize, which some Palestinian groups pressured him to refuse. Any number of times after receiving notice of the award, I asked myself whether traveling to Israel at a time like this and accepting a literary prize was the proper thing to do, whether this would create the impression that I supported one side in the conflict, that I endorsed the policies of a nation that chose to unleash its overwhelming military power. This is an impression, of course, that I would not wish to give. I do […]


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Preeta Samarasan on Commonwealth shortlist!

by Anne Stameshkin

The 2009 South East Asia and Pacific regional short lists for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize have been announced, and FWR contributor Preeta Samarasan’s Evening is the Whole Day made the cut for Best First Book. Congratulations, Preeta!! Here are the short lists: Best Book Aravind Adiga, Between The Assassinations Helen Garner, The Spare Room Joan London, The Good Parents Paula Morris, Forbidden Cities Christos Tsiolkas, The Slap Tim Winton, Breath Best First Book Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger Nam Le, The Boat Mo Zhi Hong, The Year of The Shanghai Shark Bridget van der Zijpp, Misconduct Preeta Samarasan, Evening is […]


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short story bubble?

by Anne Stameshkin

On the Virginia Quarterly Review blog, Michael Lukas worries that AWP’s heightened emphasis on the short story is a contributing factor to what he calls the “Short Story Bubble”–and its eventual burst. I’m not sure I entirely buy his argument, but hey, it’s worth discussing… All around the country, thousands of young fiction writers are scribbling furiously, focusing their creative and psychological energies on producing and publishing short stories, not necessarily because the short story is their favorite form. But, rather, because it’s the form best suited to the workshop, because they think it’s the easiest way to get published, […]


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Shivani Manghnani wins AAWW/Hyphen contest

by Anne Stameshkin

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Hyphen announced today that Shivani Manghnani‘s “Playing the Sheik” has won their 2008 Short Story Contest. The story will appear this April in Hyphen‘s Issue 17. Among the finalists is FWR contributor Celeste Ng, for her story “Girls, At Play.” Congrats to Shivani, and to Celeste and the other finalists! The AAWW is currently selling raffle tickets ($20 apiece) to raise money for the Workshop and support Asian American literature. The prize, should you wish to enter, is this rather fetching Vespa.


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20 years ago, McEwan offered Rushdie safe haven

by Anne Stameshkin

Two decades after the fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie, it’s been revealed that Ian McEwan offered the author a place to hide — a cottage in the Cotswolds — and joined him there for some time. From the Guardian: This intimate detail is contained in a long profile of McEwan published in next week’s issue of the New Yorker. Written by an editor at the magazine, Daniel Zalewski, it explores McEwan’s growing commitment to science and rationality as a factor, alongside the Rushdie affair, behind the controversy over Islamic fundamentalism in which he later became embroiled. The Cotswold encounter […]




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