Blog archive

Maggie Glover, "In West Virginia"

Published on September 13, 2010

Almost heaven? Almost.

Each morning was a fresh, blue breakdown.
I perfected my skills of isolation among those hills,
the splash back of creeks and muddied snow drifts.
I had enough money, but not enough money...

Do read the rest, from San Francisco-late-of-Appalachia poet Maggie Glover.

Lou Mathews wins our Tenth Anniversary Novella Contest for The Irish Septet

Published on September 8, 2010

Lou Mathews has won our Tenth Anniversary Novella Contest for The Irish Septet. Chosen by a team of judges from nearly 900 contest entries, Septet tells the heartrending, poignant, ultimately redemptive story of an L.A. priest whose life is nearly destroyed when he stands up to the Church’s attempts to sweep its pedophilia scandal under the rug.

Mathews receives a $500 prize1 for his winning entry, which we'll serialize beginning October 12.

John Rybicki, "Night and its Strange Likeness to a Diego Rivera Mural"

Published on September 3, 2010

"I shadow box the sheet hanging over the opening
               to the back of my house,
tacked up to trap in the heat.

I jab sometimes with knives in each hand
               shredding the sheet before me,
or with a hammer-like swing

to the right stab at the bathroom door.
               A young Mexican man at my gym
beams and asks if I’m training for a fight.

No, just fighting my own demonios.
               He laughs but nods his head yes to this..."

Envy and small-mindedess at the Chronicle of Higher Ed

Published on August 16, 2010

Ted Genoways didn't kill Kevin Morrissey - but envy and small-mindedness might kill the Chronicle of Higher Ed...

Summer, high

Published on August 16, 2010

It's high summer—time for Stephen King novels, sunburns, and drinking too much beer while we wait for the clams to bake. Busy with all that, we'll be taking a break from all this, 'til the day after Labor Day. Join us then, for great poetry from our old friend John Rybicki, and the announcement of the winner in our 10th Anniversary Novella Contest.

Landscapes of the imagination: The latest in a series

Published on July 20, 2010

paulistalady1

Our novella contest - The Finalists

Published on July 14, 2010

We're pleased to announce that from among the more than 800 entries to our Tenth Anniversary Novella Contest, we've selected a handful of finalists. Each of these works is strong, worthy not just of publication, but appreciation as well:

Coming soon - A novella contest announcement

Published on July 11, 2010

Have you been wondering what's going on with our 10th anniversary novella contest? Well, we're in the homestretch now, with about a dozen manuscripts that have made it to the final reading stage. Some of the names will be familiar to those of you who've followed our site over the years, while others are first-time submitters. And we're having a hard time deciding among them... But decide we must, so stay tuned - we've got an announcement coming later this week!

Gabba gabba we accept you we accept you one of us

Published on July 7, 2010

There's been a bit of a hullabaloo over Tin House's decision to accept book manuscript submissions only from writers who can provide receipts showing they've recently bought a literary magazine. And for good reason, it seems to me. Not only because the rule is arbitrary and a bit silly...

Obelix, freebasing

Published on July 6, 2010

Nothing new on our homepage today - we're taking a break to clean the grill, and drain the radiator on ol' number 66 - 77? 88? I can never remember.  Anyway, not to worry about our seeming inaction - if you're signed up for our monthly FAILBYMAIL newsletter, stay tuned.

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