Odyssey Fans: College Lit Special Issue

College Literature Volume 38 Number 2, Spring 2011 is a special issue dealing Homer’s Odyssey and more specifically with the second half of the Odyssey (books 13-24), which in Homeric scholarship has been much debated since P.W. Harsh’s 1950 article “Penelope and Odysseus in Odyssey XIX.” The special issue includes essays by Edwin D. Floyd ("Linguistic, Mycenaean, and Iliadic Traditions Behind Penelope's Recognition of Odysseus"), Bruce Louden ("Is There Early Recognitions between Penelope and Odysseus?; Book 19 in the Larger Context of the Odyssey"), Steve Reece ("Penelope's 'Early Recognition' of Odysseus from a Neoanalytic and Oral Perspective"), Scott Richardson ("The Case for the Defense"), John Vlahos ("Homer's Odyssey: Penelope and the Case for Early Recognition"), and Naoko Yamagata ("Penelope and Early Recognition: Vlahos, Harsh and Eustathius").

BULL Needs Votes to Win

Jarrett Haley at BULL Men's Fiction has asked readers to participate in the Dockers $100,000 national “Wear the Pants” contest that takes place until May 1 on Facebook. BULL has got a great plan for the money, including a Best of Men’s Fiction anthology series, expansion into e-books and other digital platform, as well as online and print journals. In addition, BULL is developing a Young Adult division, Buckaroo Books, to bring a new generation of readers to men’s fiction. Visit VOTE BULL for more information and links.

Colm Tóibín with Ploughshares

Colm Tóibín was the Guest Editor for the Spring 2011 issue of Ploughshares and also participated in a Q&A conducted by Chris Castellani (from Grub Street, and the author of The Saint of Lost Things). A video of the interview that took place April 7, 2011 is available here.

Why Couldn't THIS Have Been on the Final Exam?

This spring's final exam is from Paste Magazine: 23 Band Names Inspired by Literature. Below are the band names - can you identify the source text? Visit Paste for annotated answers.

1. Titus Andronicus
2. The Doors
3. The Velvet Underground
4. Modest Mouse
5. Steely Dan
6. Belle and Sebastian
7. Esben and the Witch
8. Steppenwolf
9. Veruca Salt
10. Oryx and Crake
11. The Romany Rye
12. Gogol Bordello
13. The Fall
14. The Boo Radleys
15. Heaven 17
16. Campag Velocet
17. Moloko
18. As I Lay Dying
19. Of Mice and Men
20. Opeth
21. Art of Noise
22. Stryper
23. Marillion

Pongo Techniques for Teaching Therapeutic Writing

Pongo offers a one-day workshop in their approach and techniques for teaching therapeutic writing - how to use poetry to help distressed teens understand and express their important issues and feelings. In addition, they offer a free consultation to any agency or school that participates in the workshop, to help start a teen poetry group. The next workshop will be held in Seattle on May 14, 2011.

Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers Winners

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their Short Story Award for New Writers.

This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5000. The next Short Story Award competition will take place in May. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: Joanna Arnow [pictured], of Brooklyn, NY, wins $1200 for “Waiting for Food Stamps.” Her story will be published in the Summer 2012 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Brian Zimbler, also of Brooklyn, NY, wins $500 for “Dumbguy.”

Third place: Jason Wallace, of Sacramento, CA, wins $300 for “Chasing Murakami.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching for Family Matters: April 30

Glimmer Train hosts this competition twice a year, and it is open to all writers for stories about family. Most submissions to this category run 3000-6000 words, but can go up to 12,000. First place is $1200 plus publication in the journal. Click here for complete guidelines.

Launching Late Night Library

Late Night Library is a monthly podcast devoted to new voices in poetry and fiction by Erin Hoover and Paul Martone. Recorded from Brooklyn, New York, and Portland, Oregon, each episode of Late Night Library is a conversation about an emerging writer whose talent and creativity warrant a greater audience, featuring first books whenever possible.

The first episode introduces Paul, a fiction writer, and Erin, a poet, both graduates of the University of Oregon's MFA creative writing program. Late Night Library is a cross-country continuation of the informal conversations the two would have outside of class. Erin and Paul hope both readers and writers feel 'invited' into these discussions. Each episode will end with a preview of the next month's authors and works to encourage the audience to read ahead and better be able to connect with the conversation.

The inaugural episode, to debut April 30, 2011, features poet Kara Candito and her first book Taste of Cherry (2009, Bison Books).

Late Night Library is planning two parties/readings for the date of the launch, one in Brooklyn and a second concurrent event in Portland, Oregon. Visit Late Night Library on Facebook for more information.

Buy a Lit Mag - Help the Elephants

Benjamin C. Krause, Publisher, Diamond Point Press, writes: ". . .we are in the process of moving all our journals away from GoDaddy over the elephant debacle. . .[and] until the end of April, we are donating 100% of our profits from sales of Muscle & Blood (issue 1) and Liebamour (issue 2) in any format (print or e-book) to a charity called Elephants Without Borders, which works for elephant conservation in Africa." Visit the individual journal sites from Diamond Point Press for more information.

[Hover is a domain service recommended by Leo Laporte that is offering free "valet" service - meaning they will do all the tech work for your transfer - until May 15.]

Five Chapters is Just That

FiveChapters is a online venture edited by Davide Daley, curator 20-Minute Fiction in issue 12 of McSweeney’s, creator of the Tag-team Fiction series for The Journal News, and former features editor of Details magazine.

FiveChapters publishes a five-part story every week, serial-style, beginning on Monday and followed by a new installment each weekday.

Recent works and authors include "The Disappearance of Miranda Željko" by Rebecca Makkai and "Sleeping With John Updike" by Julian Barnes. The archives are packed with works (which can be read in a single click) by authors Lauren Grodstein, Lori Ostlund, Adam Davies, Jennine Capó Crucet, Samantha Peale, Victor Lodato, Tania James, Joe Pernice, Dwight Allen, Susannah Felts, Peyton Marshall, Nick Ekkizogloy, Nancy Mauro, Ashley Warlick, Tod Goldberg, David Gordon, Dawn Ryan, Jami Attenberg, Marisa Matarazzo, Paul Yoon, Brent Krammes, Priscilla Becker, John Jodzio, Angi Becker Stevens, Gina Frangello, Dallas Hudgens, Kevin Grauke, Robin Antalek, Edan Lepucki, Katharine Weber, and Eric Puchner.

FiveChapters accepts story submissions online through Submishmash. FiveChapters stories work best between 5000 and 10,000 words.

Iambik Audiobooks We All Can Love

Iambik is an audiobook publisher making "audio out of books we love." Luckily, what they seem to love most of all are books published by small and independent presses, currently including Akashic Books, Biblioasis, Coach House Books, Coffee House Press, Cursor/Red Lemonade, Graywolf Press, HandE Publishers Ltd, Hard Case Crime, Invisible Publishing, McSweeney's, Minotaur Books, OR Books, Soft Skull Press, Soho Press, Tin House Books, Tyrus Books, and Unbridled Books.

Iambik authors include Preston L. Allen, Helen Benedict, Katharine Beutner, D. C. Brod, Rick Collignon, Bernard DeVoto, Laird Hunt, Andrew Kaufman, Lynn Kostoff, Luna Lemus, Kristin Hughes, Robert Lennon, Gordon Lish, Dustin Long, Jon Loomis, Lydia Millet, Arthur Nersesian, Rebecca Pawel, Max Phillips, Anna Quon, Sam Savage, Seymour Shubin, Ray Smith, Akimitsu Takagi, Keith Temple, Lynne Tillman, James Greer, Hans Eichner, Joe Coomer, Jessica Westhead, and Alexander MacLeod.

All books are available in mp3 and m4b formats.

Poets on Adoption

"Adoption is complicated. Poetry is complicated." These are the lead lines for a new literary blog curated by Eileen R. Tabios, Poets on Adoption. The site features works by "poets with adoption experiences" as they "mine the intersections of poetry and adoption," sharing some of their experiences with adoption and how it may or may not affect their poems and/or poetics. Poets on Adoption will be updated over time as more poets send in their contributions.

The inaugural post includes works by Allison S. Moreno, Amanda Mason, CB Follett, Christina Pacosz, Craig Watson, Dana Collins, Dana R. LePage, Dee Thompson, Eileen R. Tabios, Giavanna Munafo, Jan VanStavern, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Jim Benz, Joy Katz, Judith Roitman, Laura McCullough, Lee Herrick, Marcella Durand, Mary Anne Cohen, Michael D Snediker, Michele Leavitt, Natalie Knight, Ned Balbo, Nick Carbo, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, Rosemary Starace, Samantha Franklin, Sharon Mesmer, and Susan M. Schultz.

Poets on Adoption is "always looking for more POETS WITH ADOPTION EXPERIENCE to participate in this project." Visit the site for more information.

Sad News

Our hearts are broken with this news of the loss of our dear friend and colleague Jeanne Leiby, writer and editor of The Southern Review. TSR's blog, Lagniappe, pothumously published Jeanne's blog "Poems I'm Glad I Know" in honor of National Poetry Month - now as a tribute to Jeanne. Strength and peace to family, friends, and colleagues at this time.

The Pirate Tree: Social Justice & Children's Literature

Young adult authors Ann Angel, Nancy Bo Flood, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Peter Marino and J.L. Powers are the collective of writers at The Pirate Tree, a site for literature and writers for children and teenagers that delve into themes of social justice and social conscience.

The title, The Pirate Tree, comes from a picture book that Lyn Miller-Lachmann once wrote about two children whose grandfathers fought on opposite sides of a war. The children were prohibited from going into each others’ yards, but they figured out a way to meet and play pirates together by climbing a tree with limbs and branches above both their yards.

"Like the story suggested, we are interested in books and writers that question and rebel against the status quo, argue for peace and reconciliation, take the side of the marginalized and powerless, and use creative solutions to overcome obstacles."

Current topics include: Economic Justice/Poverty/Immigration; Environment; Out of the Mainstream: Gender, Ethnicity, and Disability; and Violence/War & Peace/Refugees.

Review recommendations, suggestions for topics, interview subjects, and guest writer inquiries are welcome.

Memorious Art Song Contest Winner

The winner of the Memorious 2nd Annual Art Song Contest is poet Katie Peterson, who will have her work set by guest composer Luke Gullickson. The work will be performed live as part of the Singers On New Ground series in Chicago, and a recording of the work will be available in issue 17 of Memorious along with poems by finalists Sean Hill, Ishion Hutchinson, and Hyejung Kook. Last year’s contest winner is available for listening in issue 14: composer Randall West’s settings of Jill McDonough’s poems.

Community Published Poetry: allwritethen

allwritethen is a literary endeavor out of Columbia College Chicago that intends to be a "community published" magazine. Anyone can publish anything so long as they follow a few simple rules. A voting system allows readers to vote on poems they like so that every six months, the 'put-it-together people' will publish the 40 most popular poems in a print issue.

AROHO Spring 2011 Orlando Prize Winners

A Room of Her Own has announced the Spring 2011 Orlando Prize Winners. Winning submissions and excerpts of the finalists will be posted on AROHO's website following publication in the Los Angeles Review.

Creative Nonfiction
“Six Bright Horses and the Land of the Dead”
Jen Silverman

Short Fiction
“A Strange Woman”
Laura Brown-Lavoie

Poetry
“The Green Season”
Jennifer Beebe

Flash Fiction
“A Woman’s Glory”
Ashley Kunsa

A full list of finalists for each category is available on the AROHO website.

Fall 2011 Orlando Cycle Begins April 15, 2011
Genre judges to be announced
Online Application Deadline July 31, 2011

Beltway Celebrates DC Poets

Beltway Poetry Quarterly celebrates ten years of publishing with the publication of a print anthology Full Moon On K Street: Poems About Washington, DC, edited by Kim Roberts and published by Plan B Press. The anthology includes 101 poems, written by current and former residents of the city between 1950 and the present.

Contributors:

Karren L. Alenier, Elizabeth Alexander, Kwame Alexander, Abdul Ali, Francisco Aragón, Naomi Ayala, Jonetta Rose Barras, Holly Bass, Paulette Beete, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Derrick Weston Brown, Sterling A. Brown, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Kenneth Carroll, Grace Cavalieri, William Claire, Carleasa Coates, Jane Alberdeston Coralín, Ed Cox, Teri Ellen Cross, Ramola D, Kyle Dargan, Ann Darr, Tina Darragh, Christina Daub, Hayes Davis, Thulani Davis, Donna Denizé, Joel Dias-Porter, Tim Dlugos, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Roland Flint, Sunil Freeman, Deirdre Gantt, David Gewanter, Brian Gilmore, Robert L. Giron, Barbara Goldberg, Patricia Gray, Michael Gushue, Daniel Gutstein, O.B. Hardison, Jr., Essex Hemphill, Randall Horton, Natalie E. Illlum, Esther Iverem, Gray Jacobik, Brandon D. Johnson, Percy E. Johnston, Jr., Fred Joiner, Beth Joselow, Alan King, Michael Lally, Mary Ann Larkin, Merrill Leffler, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Saundra Rose Maley, David McAleavey, Richard McCann, Eugene J. McCarthy, Judith McCombs, Tony Medina, E. Ethelbert Miller, May Miller, Samuel Miranda, Miles David Moore, Yvette Neisser Moreno, Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Gaston Neal, Jose Emilio Pacheco, Jose Padua, Michelle Parkerson, Betty Parry, Linda Pastan, Richard Peabody, Adam Pellegrini, Elizabeth Poliner, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Liam Rector, Joan Retallack, Katy Richey, Joseph Ross, Ken Rumble, Robert Sargent, Gregg Shapiro, Myra Sklarew, Rod Smith, Alan Spears, Sharan Strange, A.B. Spellman, Hilary Tham, Maureen Thorson, Venus Thrash, Dan Vera, Rebecca Villarreal, Belle Waring, Joshua Weiner, Reed Whittemore, Terence Winch, Ahmos Zu-Bolton II.

New Lit on the Block :: All Rights Reserved

All Rights Reserved is an online annual publishing works from emerging and established writers and artists. Although volunteer-run, the publication enlists a full editorial and production staff: Ryan Jones, Managing Editor; matt robinson, Senior Editor; Kathryn Bjornson, Editor (Non-Fiction & Poetry); Trina Hubley, Editor (Fiction & Visual Storytelling); Jonathan Bjornson, Editorial Assistant; Afton Doubleday, Creative Director; Atilla Vass, Acquisitions Editor & Sales/Distribution Manager; Kristen Sutherland, Sponsorship & Advertising Manager.

The first issue features works by Lynn Atkinson, Jean Braithwaite, Trey Edgington, yaqoob ghaznavi, Emily Graff, Maria McInnis, Kimberley-Blue Muncey, Shari Narine, Melissa Plourde, Robin Richardson, Mark Sampson, Terry Sanville, Edith Speers, J. J. Steinfeld, Qiana Towns, Davide Trame, Yi-Mei Tsiang, Yassen Vassilev, Paul Vreeland, Darryl Whetter.

All Rights Reserved accepts previously unpublished poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, as well as literary stories told through visual art/photography. Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2011

Utne Reader Names 22nd Annual Independent Press Awards Nominees

Utne Reader 22nd Annual Independent Press Awards Nominees appear in the May-June issue, which is on newsstands April 19, and online at Utne.com. Winners will be featured in the July-August 2011 issue.

The nominees are:

General Excellence — The American Scholar, The Believer, High Country News, Mother Jones, Orion, The Sun, Wax Poetics, YES! Magazine

Best Writing — The American Scholar, The Believer, Brick, The Brooklyn Rail, Creative Nonfiction, Portland, The Sun, Tin House

Political Coverage — Dissent, In These Times, Mother Jones, The American Conservative, The American Prospect, The Nation, The New Republic, The Progressive

Arts Coverage — American Craft, Film Comment, Offbeat, The Oxford American, Public Art Review, Theme, Vintage Magazine, Wax Poetics

International Coverage — NACLA Report on the Americas, New Internationalist, New Statesman, Prospect, Red Pepper, The Wilson Quarterly, World Affairs, Z Magazine

Science/Technology Coverage — Alternatives, Discover, IEEE Spectrum, Johns Hopkins Public Health, Make, Miller-McCune, Science News, Technology Review

Social/Cultural Coverage — Bitch, Brain, Child, Gastronomica, Good, make/shift, mental _floss, Oregon Humanities, This Magazine

Environmental Coverage — Audubon, Conservation, Earth Island Journal, Environment, Environment Yale, High Country News, OnEarth, Orion

Body/Spirit Coverage — The Christian Century, Commonweal, Geez, Resurgence, Sojourners, Tikkun, Tricycle, YES! Magazine

Jupiter 88 Allen Ginsberg Edition

JUPITER 88 ALLEN GINSBERG EDITION is CA Conrad's "celebration of Allen Ginsberg for the HOWL Festival in NYC, 2011. Poets are invited to share the importance of Ginsberg's poetics and activism which continues to CHANGE THE WORLD!" The first video features Mark Nowak, with regular installments to follow. Poets interesting in participating should contact CA Conrad.

"Allen really taught me that poetry is a great device for political protest." Mark Nowak

What if...

New Orleans Review (v31n2) opens with this quote from James Whitehead in New Orleans Review, volume 1 number 4, summer 1969:

"What if the planet is being ruined by smoke and gas and oil? What if we're killing the whales and eagles: killing even our natural symbols? What if shortly, by way of waste or the bombs, we don't have us a good ole planet around any more? Where do we stage our tragedy and comedy then?"

100 Thousand Poets for Change

From organizer Michael Rothenberg:

100 THOUSAND POETS for CHANGE

“What kind of CHANGE are we talking about?”

The first order of change is for poets, writers, artists, anybody, to actually get together to create and perform, educate and demonstrate, simultaneously, with other communities around the world. This will change how we see our local community and the global community. We have all become incredibly alienated in recent years. We hardly know our neighbors down the street let alone our creative allies who live and share our concerns in other countries. We need to feel this kind of global solidarity. I think it will be empowering.

And of course there is the political/social change that many of us are talking about these days. There is trouble in the world. Wars, ecocide, the lack of affordable medical care, racism, the list goes on.

It appears that transformation towards a more sustainable world is a major concern and could be a global guiding principle for this event. Peace also seems to be a common cause. War is not sustainable. There is an increasing sense that we need to move forward and stop moving backwards. But I am trying not to be dogmatic. I am hoping that together we can develop our ideas of the “change/transformation” we are looking for as a group, and that each community group will decide their own specific area of focus for change for their particular event.

“I want to organize in my area. How do we begin to organize?”

100 Thousand Poets for Change will organize “participants” by local region, city, or state, and find individuals in each area who would like to organize their local event. Just let me know if you want to be an organizer by sending a message to me directly through Facebook, or to my e-mail: walterblue@bigbridge.org.

If you are an organizer for your community this means that first you will consider a location for the event and begin to contact people in your area who want to participate in the event. Participation means contacting the media, posting the event on the web, in calendars, newspapers, etc., reading poems, performing in general, supplying cupcakes and beer (it’s up to you), demonstrating, putting up an information table, inviting guest speakers, musicians, etc., organizing an art exhibit, and documenting the event (this is important, too), and cleaning up, of course.

Organizers and participants will create their own local event as an expression of who they are locally. Do they want a candlelight vigil or a circus, a march or a dance, do they want absolute silence, a group meditation on a main street; it’s up to the local organization. However, groups should be sure to hold some part of the event, if not all of it, outdoors, in public view. The point is to be seen and heard, not just stay behind closed walls. It is also important that the event be documented. Photos, videos, poems, journals, paintings! Documentation is crucial. The rest of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change want to hear what you have to say about change and enjoy your creativity too! The documentation will be shared through a blog/website that I will set up, a blog/website where groups can share and announce event information, as well as post photos, videos, poetry, art, and thoughts. But an event doesn’t have to involve tons of people. It can be just you (the organizer) and your pet, on a street corner, with a sign. Just let me know what you are planning! Every effort counts!

Each local organization determines what it wants to focus on, something broad like, peace, sustainability, justice, equality, or more specific causes like Health Care, or Freedom of Speech, or local environmental or social concerns that need attention in your particular area right now, etc. Organizations will then come up with a mission statement/manifesto that describes who they are and what they think and care about. When the whole event has taken place all the mission statements can be collected from around the world and, I hope, worked together into a grand statement of 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

Work for Guernica

Guernica: A Magazine of Art & Politics seeks a publisher, membership coordinator, and art, editorial, and publishing interns. See Work for Guernica blog post for specifics on each open position.

NewPages Updates

Additions to The NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines

Haigaonline - haiga
Modern Poetry in Translation – poetry, essays, reviews
Anomalous - literary works of texts (poetry, fiction, nonfiction and translation) and hybrid, muti- and new media, audio or video literary works, and images
Cordite (Australia) – poetry, essays, interviews, reviews, audio
Pirene’s Fountain – poetry, reviews, interviews
Dragnet - fiction
Asymptote Journal - poetry, fiction, drama, criticism, interview, essay
Toad - new poetry, prose, and visual art
Foam:e – poetry, interviews, reviews
StepAway Magazine – flash fiction, poetry
Temporary Infinity – short stories, flash fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, artwork, comics, plays, photographs, film
Contemporary Haibun – haibun, essays, interviews
All Rights Reserved - poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, literary visual art/photography
Curbside Quotidian – poetry, fiction, non-fiction, art
NAP – poetry, fiction, chapbooks


Additions to The NewPages Big List of Alternative Magazines

The Jewish Daily Forward

Additions to The NewPages Guide to Independent Publishers & University Presses

Fifth Planet Press
Kenning Editions
La Presse
Lightful Press
Paper Kite Press
Sibling Rivalry Press

Additions to The NewPages Guide to Podcasts, Video, Audio

Aloud - A audio/video series by the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles going back to 2005.
Jupiter 88 - CA Conrad hosts this video poetry magazine featuring one poet reading one poem per issue.
Reading the World - An ongoing series of podcast discussions about the world of international literature.

New Lit on the Block :: StepAway Magazine

StepAway Magazine is a new, online literary magazine publishing "the best urban flash fiction and poetry by writers from across the globe."

The title of the magazine draws inspiration from Frank O’ Hara’s landmark flâneur poem, A Step Away from Them.

Editor Darren Richard Carlaw says, "Our magazine is hungry for literature that evokes the sensory experience of walking in specific neighborhoods, districts or zones within a city. This is flânerie for the twenty-first century. Our aim is to become an online repository of walking narratives. Our writers will lead our readership through the streets of his or her chosen city. They will do so in one thousand words or less. There are no further rules. We want whatever you can share."

Issue #1 now available online features works by Gem Andrews, Jaydn DeWald, David Gaffney, Kyle Hemmings, Matthew Hittinger, P.A. Levy, Joan McNerney, Tom Sheehan, Sarah Schulman, and Changming Yuan.

Dissertation Haiku

Dissertation Haiku is exactly that: dissertations in haiku form. Not holding true to more than syllable pattern, scholars are asked to submit discipline, name of institution, a sentence or two in plain English about what they do, and any email address or link.

Dissertation Haiku is the creation of Drew Steen who finished his Ph.D. in Marine Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is now doing postdoctoral work in the Biology Department (microbiology section) and the Center for Geomicrobiology at Aarhus University in Denmark. As he puts it: "I’m currently in my eighth year of being paid to study how stuff rots in the ocean."

Brick Street Poetry Prize Winners

On February 12, 2011, Brick Street Poetry celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Preseident-Elect Abraham Lincoln's inaugural train in Zionsville, Indiana. Winner Shari Wagner's poem, "Lincoln Field," appears in the Winter 2011 issue of Tipton Poetry Journal, along with poems of finalists John Cardwell, Jared Carter, Joseph Heithaus, Jennifer Lemming and James Murdock.

The issue also features Rita Dahl’s “Haukka leikkii kyyhkysellä” self-translated from Finnish to English as ”A hawk plays with a pigeon.”

River Teeth Features Sam Pickering

River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative has "scored big" in its newest issue (v12 n2) featuring an interview with Sam Pickering as well as two of his essays, "The End of Terms" and "Winter Dreams."

Digital Habitus

Habitus: A Diaspora Journal has created its first digital publication — a collection of some of the best writing from their first six print issues. Readers can purchase a copy as a DRM-free ePub, readable on the device of your choice supporting that format, or visit Amazon to get a copy formatted for Kindles. An iPad edition should be available soon in the iBookstore.

Podcasts :: Reading the World

Reading the World is an ongoing series of podcast discussions about the world of international literature, hosted by Chad W. Post (director of Open Letter Books) and Erica Mena (Spanish translator and poet). The programs include interview translators, publishers and writers and cover a range of translation-related issues. The first eight episodes feature Mark Schafer, Fady Joudah, Forrest Gander, Bill Johnston, Esther Allen, Suzanne Jill Levine, Susan Harris, and Lawrence Venuti.

Writers: Name Your Own Mentors

The Stories of Others is a blog post by Townsend Walker of Our Stories in which he shares stories he has collected over the years with a note about a particular technique he thought the author had accomplished (such as: "Steve Almond - 'Pornography' - Perfect flash, punch end"). He refers back to this resource when working on his own writing. By no means his complete list, it provides a helpful model for other writers.

New Lit on the Block :: NAP

NAP is an online quarterly publication of poetry and fiction available free on Issuu and for a cheap 99¢ Kindle download. Edited by Chad Redden, NAP also seeks to publish "amazing works of poetics and fiction in electronic book form...between 10ish and 30ish pages."

Already in its second issue, NAP has published works by Peter Branson, Mark Cunningham, Howie Good, Peter Harris, Thomas E. Jordan, Amanda Laughtland, Linda Mills, Nick Monks, Timothy Moore, Christopher Mulrooney, Michael Murphy, Ben Nardolilli, Michael Lee Rattigan, James Evans Remick II, Michael Shannon, and David Supper (1.1); Sofiul Azam, Allen Edwin Butt, Tatjana Debeljacki, Andrew Durbin, Howie Good, Kyle Hemmings, Denis Joe, Jemma L. King, P.A. Levy, Graeme Lottering, Matt McGee, Adam Moorad, David R. Morgan, Alexandra Pasian, Valery Petrovskiy, Kristen Rygmyr, Adam Jeffries Schwartz, Gareth Spark, Steve Subrizi, David Tomaloff, and John Tustin (1.2)

Submissions are accepted year round, though the deadline for NAP Volume 1 Issue 3 is June 15, 2011.

New Lit on the Block :: Temporary Infinity

Edited by Andrew Fortier, Z.T. Burian, and Erin Jones, Temporary Infinity is a new online magazine of any and all forms that "Fill the White," including short stories, flash fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, artwork, comics, plays, photographs.

The second issue went live March 1, and submissions are open for the June 1 quarterly installment. Future plans for the publication include print issues, if start-up funds can be raised, and the addition of film and reviews of books, poetry chapbooks and more.

Contributors to the first two issues include Robert Louis Henry, Elizabeth Dunphey, Omar Bakry, Damian Lanahan-Kalish, A.D. Wiegert, Ingrid Cruz, Colin James, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Thomas Sullivan, Jude Coulter-Pultz, Katie McLaurin, Bobbi Sinha-MoreyKat Urice, Michael Bourdaghs, Ariel Glasman, Alan Britt, Stacey Bryan, Subhakar Das, and Marika von Zellen.

Our Stories Contest Winners

Winners of the Our Stories 2011 Richard Bausch Short Story Prize appear in the Winter 2011 issue, now available full-text online. The winner is Richard Hartshorn, "Sorry Dani"; Second Prize Anne Earney, "Lifelike"; and Runners Up Charles Hashem, "A Fine December Day," Alyssa Capo, "The River," and Alexis E. Santi, "It Only Takes One Mistake."

Phoebe's Freebies

Phoebe literary-arts journal is trying out e-formats - PDF and ePub soon to follow - and encouraging readers to download the issue for free and give them feedback on how it looks.

Phoebe is also on Twitter and encouraging followers with a first-ever Twitter contest. The best three tweets received by the end of April will win print copies of the magazine.

Get Ready to Put a Poem in Your Pocket!

Celebrate national Poem In Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 14, 2011! The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends.

Bellevue Literary Review Honors Jill Caputo & Prize Winners

The latest issue of Bellevue Literary Review (v11 n1) features the winners of the 2011 BLR Prize. Jill Caputo, whose fiction received an honorable mention, died in August of 2010. In the foreword, Editor-in-Chief Danielle Ofri recounts the prize selection process and discovery of the sad news; BLR's decision came five weeks after Caputo's death, and they had no way to know until attempting to contact her to congratulate her. Jill Caputo's family gave permission for the publication of her story, and BLR has dedicated this issue in her memory.

Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry, judged by Marie Ponsot
Winner: “Sinkhole” by Janet Tracy Landman
Honorable Mention: “Climacteric” by Cynthia Neely

Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, judged by Andre Dubus III
Winner: “But Now Am Found” by Patti Horvath
Honorable Mention: “Winston Speaks” by Jill Caputo*

Burns Archive Prize for Nonfiction, judged by Jerome Groopman, MD
Winner: “The Tag” by Elizabeth Crowell

The annual BLR Prizes award outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. The contest is open each year from February 1 - July 1.

nanomajority & ART364B

nanomajority is interested in the various ways in which artists, writers, and critics intersect (or don't), inviting "residents" to work on a project on the site for an extended period of time. In this way, nanomajority hopes to provide a flexible, unique space for projects to develop.

nanomajority has been featuring the women of ART364B in separate monthly installments. Current projects include works by Melissa Potter, Kate Clark, Jennifer Musawwir, Miriam Schaer, Marietta Davis, and Adriana Corona.

Danahy Fiction Prize Winner

Heather Sappenfield of Vail, Colorado, has been selected as winner of the fifth annual Danahy Fiction Prize by the editors of Tampa Review. She will receive a cash award of $1,000 and her winning short story, “Indian Prayer,” will be published in Tampa Review 42, forthcoming in summer 2011.

The Danahy Fiction Prize is open to both new and widely published writers, with an annual postmark deadline of November 1. The $15 entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Tampa Review, and all entries submitted are considered for publication.

Michigan Quarterly Review 2010 Literary Prizes

Michigan Quarterly Review has announced the winners of its 2010 literary awards:

Lawrence Foundation Prize

Shimon Tanaka has been awarded the Lawrence Foundation Prize for 2010. The prize is awarded annually by the Editorial Board of MQR to the author of the best short story published that year in the journal. Tanaka’s story, “Destruction Bay,” appeared in the Fall 2010 issue. The prize carries a cash award of $1000.

Laurence Goldstein Poetry Prize

Albert Goldbarth is the recipient of the 2010 Laurence Goldstein Poetry Prize, which is awarded annually to the author of the best poem appearing that year in the Michigan Quarterly Review. His poem “Our Argument, like the Thunderstorm” appeared as part of a sequence of poems in the Winter 2010 issue.

Page Davidson Clayton Prize for Emerging Poets

Eric Lee is the second recipient of the new Page Davidson Clayton Prize for Emerging Poets, which is awarded annually to the best poet appearing in MQR who has not yet published a book. The award, which is determined by the MQR editors, is in the amount of $500. Eric Lee's poems “Getting Kicked out of Steamers Restaurant in Fairhope, Alabama” and “Kangaroo or Lion?” were published in the Summer 2010.

Blogging from Japan

Freedom in Harmony is Poetry Kanto editor Alan Botsford's blog "inspired by, but not limited to, events still unfolding in Japan."

Celebrate National Poetry Month with 32 Poems

32 Poems will feature five book recommendations (or an interview with a poet) for each day in April. Their goal is to share favorite poetry books with people and to promote the work of the recommending poet. Below is the month's schedule thus far:

April 1: John Poch
April 2: Jonterri Gadson
April 3: Eric Weinstein
April 4: M.E. Silverman
April 5: Arielle Greenberg
April 6: Lucy Biederman
April 7: Eric Pankey
April 8: Deborah Ager
April 9: Collin Kelley
April 10: Jennifer Atkinson
April 11: Luke Johnson
April 11: Interview with Terri Witek
April 12: Holly Karapetkova
April 13: TBD
April 15: Carolina Ebeid
April 16: M. Scott Douglass
April 17: Adam Vines
April 18: Elizabeth J. Coleman
April 19: Bernadette Geyer
April 20: Sally Molini
April 21: Interview with Jeffery L. Bahr
April 21: Kelli Russell Agodon
April 22: Jeannine Hall Gailey
April 23: George David Clark
April 24: Rachel Zucker
April 25: Lisa Russ Spaar
April 26-on TBD

2010 Walker Percy Fiction Contest Winners

New Orleans Review has announced the 2010 Walker Percy Fiction Contest winner, runner-up, honorable mentions, and finalists. The final judge was Nancy Lemann. The winning story and the runner-up will be published in the next print issue of the New Orleans Review.

Winner: “Prisoners of the Multiverse,” Jacob Appel

Runner-up: “War Story,” Austin Wilson

Honorable Mention: “The Junior Embalmer,” Jane Stark; “Goat Pharmacy,” Robert Glick; “What We Do,” Cassie Condrey

See website for full list of finalists.

Audio Podcast: The Bat Segundo Show

Newly added to the NewPages Guide to Literary Podcasts, Video, Audio:

Edward Champion's The Bat Segundo Show is a cultural and literary podcast that involves very thorough long-form interviews with contemporary authors and other assorted artists. Standard questions that have been asked of guests over and over are avoided, whenever possible. The show is updated (ideally) every week and sometimes every two weeks. There are at least five podcasts unveiled to the listening public every month and, more often than not, considerably more. Currently, there are nearly 400 shows available, with a full index of guests.

Intern at Habitus

Habitus is offering two internship opportunities for organized, independent, globally minded individuals. As a small, independent publication with growing visibility and acclaim, we are able to offer highly personalized internships that will provide substantive experience, diverse responsibilities, and direct contact with our esteemed contributors around the globe. Both internships require a minimum commitment of two full days a week for a minimum of three months. These positions are unpaid." See website for more information and application process.

Brian Clements Leaves Sentence

After founding and seeing Sentence: a journal of prose poetics through eight issues, Brian Clements will be turning over editorship to Brian Johnson, who had previously held the position of Associate Editor. "I look forward to seeing the ways in which Brian's vision for the journal leads it in new directions," Clements writes. "I can assure you that he will maintain Sentence's mission of representing an eclectic mixture of styles, poets, and features." As well as maintaining what now seems to be the established editor first name! Best to both Brian and Brian on their new ventures.

Art :: Bent Objects

Bent Objects blog and art posts by Terry Border. Worth every click on 'Older Posts' to see his creations.