A while back, we wrote about Elevator Repair Service’s performance of Gatz, in which The Great Gatsby is read in its entirety onstage. Recently, Elevator Repair Service took on a different lit-meets-theatre project, which they called “Shuffle”: to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New York Public Library, the group performed three great works of literature—The Sun Also Rises, The Great Gatsby, and The Sound and the Fury—simultaneously. According to the New York Times, the library was temporarily transformed into a piece of performance art. Visitors wandered in and out, some fascinated, others apparently dumbfounded. No, they couldn’t get the […]
No, not that kind. For her book Dog Ear, photographer Erica Baum has photographed mass-market paperbacks with their pages folded down so that the text on different pages aligns. (Via.) The results are a kind of mash-up between found poems and origami. The Seattle PI has several of Baum’s images online—take a look!
1. Make a vase. Craft blog Green Upgrader presents this video tutorial by crafter Jennifer Berry on turning a book into a (decorative) vase: 2. Make a carpet. Design blog Apartment Therapy highlights this rug made by artist Pamela Paulsrud from the spines of actual books: 3. Make a… restaurant. That’s right. The Brushstroke restaurant in NYC features one wall made entirely of books. The Gothamist has photos. I love books, and I love clever repurposing, but sometimes the sight of so many ex-books gives me the same queasy feeling I get when I look at taxidermy projects. How do […]
It’s an end table. No! It’s a lampshade. No! It’s… Today at Fiction Writers Review, we present you with three more things your book can do. 1. Books as handbags Craft podcast Curbly presents step-by-step instructions for turning your favorite tome into a purse. For the gentlemen, perhaps a large volume, like an atlas, could be used to make a stylish attache? 2. Kindle cover Love your Kindle, but want to maintain street cred with the paper-book-loving crowd? Instructables shows how to craft a Kindle cover from an old hardback. Now you can enjoy the hi-tech benefits of an e-reader […]
Earlier this month, Editor Jeremiah Chamberlin moderated a panel on criticism at the 2011 AWP Conference entitled “The Good Review: Criticism in the Age of Book Blogs and Amazon.com.” Joining him were Charles Baxter, Stacey D’Erasmo, Gemma Sieff, and Keith Taylor. In this essay, adapted from his talk at that panel, he discusses why liking a book should have nothing to do with a review, and how this thoughts on criticism have changed since running an independent bookstore.
In her conversation with novelist Tracy Chevalier, Felicity Librie uncovers how research fuels the process of character development, how the past sheds light on our present moment, and why Chevalier will never tire of getting lost on a journey of discovery.
As usual, my holiday shopping consisted of lots of hours lost in bookstores, just browsing around, and finding at least as many books that I wanted, as I did books for friends and family. Yep, I’m a bit of a one-trick pony on the gift front – the equivalent of an aunt who always gives hankies. Usually I’m on the hunt for specific things, so my head isn’t all that turned by covers, but this year I couldn’t help but notice the attention to aesthetics that many of the houses are putting into their bindings. Here are some favorites. Europa […]
Like to doodle in the margins of your stories? Sketch in the park until inspiration for a story strikes? The folks behind Art House Co-Op – out of the Brooklyn Art Library – who came up with the traveling Sketchbook Project, that sends themed sketchbooks around the country on exhibit, have just announced The Fiction Project. Like The Sketchbook Project, anyone can participate, for the $25 entry fee they’ll send you a book to fill: The Fiction Project is an opportunity to tell stories in a different way by fusing text and visual art. Add your voice to this year’s […]
Every month, new and no-doubt worthy literary magazines are launched. Many seek to fill a particular niche in the literary landscape, a place to assemble writers concerned with, say, the intersection of the Southern Gothic and SciFi traditions in flash fiction (that actually sounds like a magazine I’d like to read). New on the scene this month is Carrier Pigeon Magazine (my initial search turned up trade magazines targeted to pigeon enthusiasts). The brainchild of a group of artists and illustrators, who view fiction as a natural partner to their visual work, Carrier Pigeon is a quarterly publication that seeks […]
