Absinthe Hosts Festival of New European Film and Writing
This weekend (May 9-10, 2008), local literary magazine Absinthe: New European Writing is hosting a Festival of New European Film and Writing at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. If you're in Michigan and free this weekend, there are a lot of interesting readings and screenings available, all of which are free and open to the public. More information is available here.
Also, Absinthe 9 just came out, and I got my copy yesterday. I can't wait to read it.
"5:25" at Isak
I don't generally write much here on topics other than writing and reading and music, but maybe I should. Anna Clark has taken some time out of her own literary coverage over at Isak to provide "5:25," a great post about the state of our prison system, and I think it's a must read post on a blog I already read every day. Go now and read it.
Matt Bell
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No Posit Vol. 2 Published
Matt Bell
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New Blog: Five Star Literary Stories
T.J. Forrester has just started a new blog called Five Star Literary Stories, where he invites literary magazine editors to nominate one of their stories available on the web to be reviewed by another writer, combining (in Forrester's words) "three integral facets of the writing life: publisher, story, and reviewer." It's an interesting project, and the first three magazines to participate are Hobart, Night Train, and Summerset Review, all excellent magazines. It's an interesting project, and I'll be reading more as it goes forward.
Thanks to Aaron Burch for pointing this one out.
Matt Bell
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FRiGG: Issue 20, Spring 2008
FRiGG's Issue 20 went up recently, and its a stunner. Issue after issue, the artwork is among the best of any magazine on the web, and I think this issue is particularly beautiful. As for the writing, I've only had a chance to read Scott Garson's stories so far (his "Diversion" is particularly haunting), but I'm diving right back in to read more.
Also, I believe this is FRiGG's fifth anniversary issue, if I'm doing my math right. Congrats to Editor Ellen Parker and her staff on keeping it going this long, and at such a high level of quality (and I'm not just saying that because I was in it years ago). I'm looking forward to reading FRiGG for years to come.
Matt Bell
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May Book Reviews Posted at NewPages
The May Book Reviews are now up at NewPages, including my own reviews of books by John Brandon, Charles Jensen, Elizabeth Crane, Sloane Crosley, and Alex Rose. Here are quick links to the reviews:
Arkansas by John Brandon :: Sensational Spectacular by Nate Pritts :: Oh Baby by Kim Chinquee:: The Strange Case of Maribel Dixon by Charles Jensen :: Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee :: You Must Be This Happy to Enter by Elizabeth Crane :: City of Regret by Andrew Kozma :: Spring Wind Brings the Fireworks by Christopher Kelen and Agnes Vong :: I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley :: The Musical Illusionist by Alex Rose
Enjoy!Matt Bell
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"Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken" is a Million Writers Award Notable Story
My story "Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken" is on the long list for the Million Writers Award, along with other great writers like Brian Evenson, Michael Martone, Steven Gillis, Ander Monson, Anne Elliot, Randall Brown, Elizabeth Crane, Blake Butler, Mary Miller, and many many more. I'm looking forward to reading some of the other stories that were listed, and I hope you'll check them out too.
Storyglossia, the magazine my story was originally published in, had three other Notable Stories as well, by Michael J. Davis, Stephanie Dickinson, and Anthony Neil Smith, who also guest-edited the just released Storyglossia 28, the Crime/Noir Issue (which includes a story by writing group partner Barry Graham).
Congratulations to everyone involved, and thanks again to Storyglossia and Steven McDermott for publishing all of us. It's my favorite online magazine for full-length fiction, and I'm glad to have been a part of it over the last two years.
Other good news: I just had a short story ("Ten Scenes From a Movie Called Mercy") accepted for the first issue of No Colony, a print collaboration between the web journals Lamination Colony and No Posit. Judging by their respective web presences, it should be a pretty cool issue.
Matt Bell
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Michael Chabon in the LA Times
In this week's Los Angeles Times, there's an excerpt entitled "Let Me Entertain You," taken from the first essay in Michael Chabon's new book of essays, Maps and Legends. The essay itself is an updated version of the introduction to the 2005 Best American Short Stories collection (which is one of the best of the series), and expresses so much of what I believe about the intersections of entertainment and literature, and about how they should be the same thing but too often aren't. It's inspiring stuff, as is the rest of his collection. I'll be reviewing this one soon.
Matt Bell
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Elizabeth Ellen and Jeff Parker in Waccamaw
Matt Bell
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Become a Fan of NewPages on Facebook
I just added a page on Facebook for NewPages that will make it easier to get updates when new literary magazine and book reviews go up on the site. Please join us as a fan, and tell your friends! New book reviews are coming May 1. There are some really interesting books being reviewed (including reviews by myself of Elizabeth Crane, Charles Jensen, and John Brandon), and I want to make sure as many people hear about them as possible.
Matt Bell
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