February 2011
47 posts
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“I see the enormous shapes swimming through the gray that is all around…”
– Stephen Hastings-King, “Elsewhere”
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This week's Sunday Story is "Coma" by Shelagh... →
vol1brooklyn:
from Shelagh Power-Chopra’s “Coma”:
When I think of Arthur falling into the coma, I imagine him diving headlong into a mud puddle. Slip sliding down a dark abyss and drowning–his hands like stunted flippers, getting him nowhere. But he’s like that; a beautifully angular man, all sharp corners but clumsy as hell as if his body were carved by an amateur puppeteer....
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Our Favorite Writers as Legos →
Thank you, Flavorwire, for making my weekend.
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“It’s okay, I say. I’ve been saying it’s okay a lot lately....”
– Anthony Doerr, “The River Nemunas” (via Storyville)
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Elsewhere, by Stephen Hastings-King →
The story of the day for this weekend comes from the new issue of fwriction : review - Stephen Hastings-King’s “Elsewhere.” I love this story, and evidently, so do others:
“This story kind of kills.” -Lindsay Hunter
“That was incredible and so many great lines that I couldn’t gush over just a few…Loved this!” -Meg Tuite
“This...
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Tel Aviv Broadcast, by Etgar Keret →
This nonfiction piece by Etgar Keret, taken from The New York Times Sunday Magazine, really stuck with me. There’s something about the way we interact with death, even on an international scale, with an unsatisfying mix of sadness and devilish curiosity, and Keret really nails it. At the end of this short essay, when the writing shifts to Keret interacting with his young son, I find the...
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“…thinking that nothing remains of her in this world we’ll go home where we...”
– Marcus Speh, “Mother Burning”
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FridayReads: Hey, Whatcha Readin'?
“Mother Burning” by Marcus Speh, in fwriction : review: http://fwrictionreview.tumblr.com/post/3346060226/mother-burning-by-marcus-speh
“It Came to Pass After This” by Karen Eileen Sikola, in Pure Slush: http://fwriction.tumblr.com/post/3363952886/it-came-to-pass-after-this-from-pure-slush
Yep, it’s Friday again! Reblog this post with a line about what you’re reading this week...
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“‘I love your standards,’ he said. ‘That’s so you. Forget...”
– Suzanne Rivecca, “Yours Will Do Nicely” (via Storyville)
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"It Came to Pass After This" - from Pure Slush →
Read something great this Friday: Karen Eileen Sikola’s “It Came to Pass After This,” new nonfiction at Pure Slush. I heart both Sikola and Slush. Check it out, and happy FridayReads!
from “It Came to Pass After This”:
I could have asked for any number of things, had my faith not wavered years ago, if I still saw prayer as a means for anything. For patience, or...
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The Indie Lit Community Survey 2011 →
From Marcus Speh’s Nothing To Flawnt and > kill author comes a great survey and look at the online and “indie” literary community. Spend some time enjoying this today.
The Indie Lit Community Survey 2011
(or The Questions We Would Ask Ourselves If We Had The Nerve To Ask Ourselves All Those Questions We Don’t Really Want To Ask And Where We Probably Don’t Want Any...
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fwriction : review - Mother Burning, by Marcus... →
It’s Thursday, and that means the story of the day comes from fwriction : review. Marcus Speh’s intense flash fiction broke my heart, left me breathless with so few words.
Enjoy the new issue, submit your own work, subscribe, and spread the love!
from “Mother Burning”:
That’s our mother, our little, lovely old mother, who’s burning there, don’t you see?
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Crutch, by Jami Attenberg →
I love today’s story of the day. Well, I love all of them, but this one I’ve been holding on to for a while; today, with its hints of possibility, seemed like the right day.
Taken from the brilliant Five Chapters, Jami Attenberg’s “Crutch” is one you’re sure to read again and again. Enjoy, and check out more from Attenberg here and here.
The man upstairs is...
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Play an 8-Bit ‘Great Gatsby’ Video Game! →
Well, there goes my writing schedule. Dammit.
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To Be or To Be →
Michael Nye, managing editor of The Missouri Review, discusses the power of verbs in writing:
Every sentence doesn’t have to be DEFCON 1. Every sentence, though, does have a purpose. And sometimes, what tips us to a skilled writer’s language isn’t immediately obvious. It’s the way the reader has been setup for what’s coming next. It’s confidence in being forthright with prose. This confidence...
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fire, by Nick Flynn →
There’s not much to introduce this poem from Nick Flynn, other than the fact that I adore it, and I cannot stop reading it.
Read this one out loud to someone, and if you’re up north, bundle up and warm yourself beside this fire.
the boy stood on the burning deck, stammering
elocution, wait—
the boy stood in the burning cage, stammering
electrocution, no—the boy stood in the...
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“Jumping up, I grabbed a whiteboard marker. ‘What are some of the words and...”
– Matt Potter, “Flaming Beauty”
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Good Writing, Bad Sex: The Best Sex Scenes About... →
Happy Valentine’s Day, my lovely readers.
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The Continuous Yearning of Walter Rush, by David... →
This Valentine’s Day (which I hate), I thought I would share something fantastic, from a writer and editor who’s just kickass (which I enjoy).
So, on this temperate Monday read a wonderful story, taken from Fifty-Two Stories (which also rocks my waffle): David Cotrone’s “The Continuous Yearning of Walter Rush.” Then, when you’re done with the story, check out...
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“Drives me crazy when I see people on [Twitter] and elsewhere telling people...”
– Robin Black, via Twitter
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fwriction : review - Flaming Beauty, by Matt... →
Today’s story of the day comes from fwriction’s literary journal, fwriction : review!
Matt Potter, editor of Pure Slush, has written a wicked piece of flash fiction and been kind enough to share it with us.
Stop by and read “Flaming Beauty,” spread the love around, and submit your own work. While you’re there, too, subscribe to fwriction : review (on the...
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Gorgeous nonfiction at fwriction : review →
Karen Eileen Sikola’s “Headlines” has seen a lot of traffic during its week on fwriction : review, and with good reason. It’s a punchy, poignant piece of flash nonfiction, and it’s worth your time. I’ve been reading it, over and over, saved it to my Instapaper, locked it away for future perusal.
I love it when a plan (or piece of writing) comes together.
...
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The Gospel of Justin Taylor « Brooklyn Based →
Been enjoying The Gospel of Anarchy. You should, too.
Brooklyn Based: I ask because a lot people talk about how TV writing is at this high point. Would you ever be interested in dramatic writing of any kind, say for film or TV? Do you think you can be a writer and still watch a lot TV?
JT: Yeah, it’s not going to kill you. I think there is a lot of great television being produced and some of...
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Is it a Comedy? Is it a Tragedy?, by Thomas... →
Asymptote is a fantastic new journal, focusing on translated works. I was delighted to find Thomas Bernhard here, and I hope you are, too. Check out this exciting journal, submit, and enjoy some good reading.
from “Is it a Comedy? Is it a Tragedy?”:
I haven’t been to the theatre any more for eight or ten weeks, I said to myself, and I know why I haven’t been to the...
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Some great writing about trains
from fictionz:
What I write about when I write about trains.
(via TrainWrite)
If you have train-related writing, submit to TrainWrite!
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“I warned him once, told him he should be careful, that he shouldn’t drive those...”
– Karen Eileen Sikola, “Headlines”
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Stories of the Day: Dark Sky Magazine Showcase
Dark Sky Magazine is full of yummy goodness, and I think you should check it out. Currently on Issue 5, Dark Sky showcases quality fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, and interviews. It’s definitely worth your time.
For today’s stories of the day, here are two of Dark Sky Magazine’s fiction pieces (and a bonus interview!):
“Cinematic,” by Michelle Reale
“She...
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“Most of us wish that we could have it both ways, as Dickens did – to write...”
– John Barth (Charles Dickens’ birthday today—via theparisreview)
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“New York was good for that, providing transportation and anonymity...”
– Emma Straub, “Rosemary”
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Famous Authors and Their Animal Counterparts →
This is my new favorite thing, thanks to flavorwire. Win. (Best one: John Updike—Elephant).
The release of Quirk Classics’ The Meowmorphosis reimagines Franz Kafka’s classic tale with a Lolcat friendly kitten instead of the original insect. Although Kafka isn’t known to have been particularly cute or cuddly in either his life or work (though skittish, yes), we couldn’t help but ponder...
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Where can one, sit, read, write AND drink in NYC?... →
As you may have noticed, lower Manhattan has many more hospitable bars than hospitable cafes. This is especially true of my neighborhood, the East Village. The first novel I ever edited, I edited in the back room of Botanica, on Houston Street, where the Knitting Factory used to be.
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New nonfiction at fwriction : review! -... →
TrainWrite’s badass conductor, Karen Eileen Sikola, has new nonfiction up at fwriction : review! Check out “Headlines,” and if you’re so inclined, send your train-related writing to her own literary journal.
KES, in addition to being the newest member of the fwriction : review family, has been featured (twice) on fwriction’s Story of the Day and has...
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Open Book Toronto Gives Some Love to Found Press →
This makes me happy. Please stop by Found Press and check out my story, “Somehow There Was More Here.”
Named after the slogan/central philosophy of “stories everywhere,” Found Press recognizes the importance of the internet and mobile technologies for widening readership. “People can purchase and read our stories pretty much everywhere,” Bryan asserts. “Moreover, the...
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“The only thing more tormenting than writing is not writing.”
– Cynthia Ozick (via theparisreview)
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Let’s have no more insults hurled at the memoir,... →
Deb Olin Unferth unleashes a “Memoir Manifesto”. Take that, Neil.
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Call for Submissions, from TrainWrite
Writers, send your best train-related stories, poems, works of extraordinary value!
This Tumblr Tuesday, I recommend you submit, because your contributions help keep TrainWrite on track.
Thanks and love,
KES
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Tumblr Tuesday Is Read Something Awesome Day
If you love good writing, I think fwriction is a pretty kickass place for it, so please stop by the directory and recommend fwriction. But, only if you want to. Thank you.
Here are some other places to read brilliant things:
fwriction : review
Slaughterhouse 90210
McNally Jackson Bookmongers
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
Word
Lapham’s Quarterly
The Paris Review
Fumbling Forward...
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The Rumpus Interview With Laura Van Den Berg →
Laura van den Berg’s What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us is one of my favorite short story collections in recent memory. Claire Stanford’s interview with her for The Rumpus is a great look at both the writer and her rockin’ work.
I do think my characters have an independence of spirit, and I also think that they are quite lonely. I’m not sure I would say...
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Death to February →
The randomness of Catherine Lacey’s short interview with Shane Jones on HTMLGiant made me giggle. As did Jones’ assertion that February “mostly feels like I’m wearing a blanket of sludge-ice.”
Bring it on, February.
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Pretty Boy, by Richard Ford →
Richard Ford’s stories have been a popular story of the day pick for me, mostly because when I’m done reading his fiction, I need at least the remainder of the day to think on it. “Pretty Boy” is no exception.
Robert Lindstrom is another one of those iconic Ford characters, one who’s flawed and at times irrational but ultimately magnetic for this reader. I’m...