April 2011
61 posts
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“comma. It is, in short, the most abused of punctuation marks and one of the...”
– Bill Bryson, Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors
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Poem of the Day: One of Those Neighborhoods, by... →
As National Poetry Month comes to a close, stop by fwriction : review’s new issue and read New Orleans poet Angelle Scott’s poem, “One of Those Neighborhoods.” It’s a powerful piece. Then, share it with someone!
Enjoy.
This is one of those neighborhoods
where wizened women scratch lines in their arms,
where eyes of men are redder than the tips of their...
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“People gave names to things so they could tell stories about them, goddam fairy...”
– Sam Lipsyte, “Deniers”
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The new issue of fwriction : review is live!... →
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The Buddy-Flick Book Tour →
I heart Aryn Kyle. This book tour adventure is a must follow.
On Sexuality and Hairstyles
Goodwillie: Your hair looks nice today—it’s really straight.
Me: That’s funny, men always compliment my hair when it’s straight, and women always compliment it when it’s curly.
Goodwillie: Well, are you a lesbian or not?
Me: Not.
Goodwillie: Then straighten that shit out.
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“For his whole life, Dennis feared not being good enough, not being the sort of...”
– Danny Goodman, “We’re Grownups, After All”
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What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers... →
Lynne Barrett, writing for The Review Review. Wonderful.
The editor wants nothing more than to read something so fresh and powerful and polished there is no question it must be in the journal.
Instead the editor, having read 17 things this morning, keeps going, thinking: A run-on sentence in the first line! Oh no, another story with the character waking up hung-over and getting a phone call. ...
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“Someone said later she could feel the bullet tickling her hair as it whizzed by,...”
– Neil Serven, “Gunplay”
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What We Call What Women Write →
Deena Drewis, who I know as a brilliant editor, writes this engaging, insightful piece for The Millions, on Jennifer Egan and celebrating good writing:
In 1971, Gore Vidal compared Norman Mailer’s The Prisoner of Sex to “three days of menstrual flow.” Mailer then proceeded to head-butt Vidal before they appeared on the Dick Cavett Show, and six years later at a party, he threw his drink in...
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Joseph Finder, writing for The Daily Beast, about... →
The writer George Plimpton once proposed what he called the Small Ball Theory of sports writing: the smaller the ball, the better the literature.
I love both baseball and great writing, so this struck my fancy. If you, too, love both, check out the Baseball Issue of The Southern Review, which is a home run, or inside the park home run, or a really, really tough triple. With one of those slides...
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“Jack had always called her a Manhattan girl, but she was never sure exactly what...”
– Danny Goodman, “Union Square”
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Zadie Smith's rules for writers →
housingworksbookstore:
Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
(via m.guardian.co.uk)
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Gunplay, by Neil Serven →
The story of the day for this weekend, as well as a killer FridayReads, is Neil Serven’s “Gunplay,” from the new issue of fwriction : review.
Serven’s prose is spare, powerful, and uncomfortable in all the right moments. Enjoy, and share it with a friend.
It was when the party hit a lull and a woman wearing too much rouge was going on about her parakeets that Tom...
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The new issue of fwriction : review is live and... →
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“Good is the enemy of great.”
– Miss you already, JML. You were one of a kind, a ball buster, eternal champion of the short story. “Do this, but better,” you once wrote on a draft of my story. I hope I can do that, for you, always.
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An Interview with Alan Heathcock →
Here’s a wonderful interview with Alan Heathcock, in Psychology Today. Enjoy.
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Does the Novel Have a Future? The Answer Is In... →
Tao Lin, writing in The New York Observer, about the what the hell “future of the novel” means:
A certain literary discourse, about what others should or shouldn’t be doing with their art, will probably always exist as a distraction from writing novels. I discerned this afresh while studying said discourse for my addition, arguably, in terms of “the future of the...
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“The reason people hold on to things is more complicated than that, more...”
– Paul Lisicky, “A House, A Summerhouse”
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“I am in a muddle.”
– Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophische Untersuchungen
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Five Questions with Danny Goodman →
From this page is infinite, the blog of Found Press, talking about my short story, “Somehow There Was More Here.”
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“There were things nobody knew about me.”
– Paul Lisicky, Lawnboy
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Renee says, Who do you love more? New Orleans, or...
I tell her: New Orleans.
(via ubiquitousamericana)
Perfect. Simply perfect.
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“Perhaps we’re all writing the Great American Novel, each in our own way.”
– Peter Matthiessen, from The Paris Review
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The new issue of fwriction : review is live! →
It’s an honor to publish an excerpt from Paul Lisicky’s new novel, The Burning House. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
After you read “A House, A Summerhouse,” pass it on to a friend!
(Being an editor rocks my waffle sometimes.)
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“He looked at them as they sat at the table. In the lamplight, there was...”
– Raymond Carver, “Why Don’t You Dance?”
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One Year Ago: "Is it a Novel, Yet?" →
I wrote this nonfiction piece exactly one year ago today, and it all feels so, so close.
“I’m struggling,” I said, quietly to the table, though I felt as if I’d boomed it across the bar. Even the cute girls playing air hockey in the backroom had heard, I was sure. “I have no time to write. I’d say I’m drowning, but I’d end up editing myself later.”
I needed to laugh, so I did, and the rest...
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The Atlantic: First Drafts, Ctd. →
theatlantic:
UbiquitousAmerican writes
Everything I do is aimed at creating—the jobs I search for are either in creative fields themselves or are at the least meant to support me while I create.
I’m ambitious; creation is about as ambitious a thing as one can attempt, because great creation can truly…
Bradley is a wonderfully-talented young writer. There’s so much awesomeface...
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Which poem from the new issue of FWR is your...
Howie Good has four poems in this week’s new issue of fwriction : review, and they’re all gorgeous:
“Oh, Look”
“Ein Plein Air”
“Spring Melt”
“Prose/Poem”
Which Howie Good poem is your favorite? Take your response to Twitter and let everyone know. Be sure to use both #NaPoMo and @fwrictionreview in your tweets!
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“For the first time in months, I could see long, long rows of graves.”
– Howie Good, “Spring Melt”
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The Paris Review: An Interview with James Salter →
The Paris Review’s James Salter Month is just what I needed this April. This interview continues the awesomeness:
Well, of course you learn things. If you write enough, you begin to learn to do things. But in a way you do start from zero each time. You know something, but you more or less forget what you know, and as you go on you may remember a little, unless you’re a writer like Trollope...
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“…he packs the truck with tchotchkes and geegaws / and whatnots and slides...”
– David Kirby, “Roy G. Biv” (from the new issue of The Southern Review)
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Four Poems, by Howie Good →
The new issue of fwriction : review is the perfect way to usher in National Poetry Month, with four brilliant poems by Howie Good: “Oh, Look,” “Ein Plein Air,” “Spring Melt,” and “Prose/Poem.”
After you’ve read them, pop onto Twitter and let everyone know your favorite. (Be sure to use both #NaPoMo and @fwrictionreview in your tweets!)
Also, check out Good’s new collection of poetry,...
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“Writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this...”
– Ann Beattie (via theparisreview)
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fwriction : review's new issue is live! Kick off... →