From the Archives: Leah Falk talks with A. Van Jordan about his fourth poetry collection, The Cineaste, his intentions for this new work, and what’s changed about the way we go to the movies.
From the Archives: “If I came into writing feeling largely without history or place, writing became a means of discovering both; it also became, as it did for George Willard, a means of discovering a way out, the road ahead. Sherwood Anderson gave me a map.”
September 8th is National Ampersand Day. J. Alison Rosenblitt on the significance of the ampersand to E.E. Cummings and his poetry, as well as its use in the work of Ocean Vuong.
“I don’t cater to the fiction writers in my poetry courses, yet they have taught me to acknowledge commonalities across genres. In exploring these commonalities, we better see distinctions as well.”
“I still think it might have ruined the book if I’d known at the start how the story would end, and that’s one reason it needed to be fiction”: Robert Thomas chats with Lynette D’Amico about his poetic new novel, Bridge (BOA Editions).
Editor’s Note: For the past two weeks we’ve been posting micro-portraits and/or interesting news about this year’s 2013 presenters at The State of the Book Literary Symposium, which will take place in Ann Arbor TODAY, September 28, in Rackham Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule or list of presenters, please check out the State of the Book Website. Thank you! Gerry LaFemina is the author of eleven books of poems, prose poems, and fiction, including 2011’s Vanishing Horizon (poems) and this year’s Notes for the Novice Ventriloquist (prose poems). Clamor, a novel, […]
Editor’s Note: All this week we’ll continue posting micro-portraits and/or interesting news about this year’s 2013 presenters at The State of the Book Literary Symposium, which will take place in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 28, in Rackham Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule or list of presenters, please check out the State of the Book Website. Thank you! We’re honored to have poet of witness, teacher, social justice activist, and Detroit native Carolyn Forché as this year’s State of the Book keynote presenter. Forché is best known for engaging with explicit […]
Cristina García talks about her newest novel, King of Cuba, “total Fidel Castro immersion,” the centrality of poetry to her life and work, and how her scholarly and journalistic background has helped her writing.
Last week’s feature was Van Jordan’s new book of poetry, The Cineaste, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Glenn H. Myers (@glennhmyers) Doug Lawson (@douglawson) Stacy Faulk (@kiokokitten) Congrats! To claim your free copy, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!
This week’s feature is A. Van Jordan’s new book of poetry, The Cineaste, which was just published by W.W. Norton. The book merges the form and content of an obsession, film, to produce poems tracking the inner lives of movie viewers, the career of early black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the story of the Leo Frank trial, and the disturbing racial history of the American film industry. Jordan’s first book of poetry, Rise (Tia Chucha Press, 2001), tracks not only the history of African American music, but also the music of Jordan’s life growing up in Ohio. His second book, M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A […]
