About

Matt Bell is the author of a forthcoming fiction collection, How They Were Found (Keyhole, Fall 2010), as well as a novella, The Collectors, and a chapbook, How the Broken Lead the Blind. His fiction has appeared or is upcoming in magazines such as Conjunctions, Willow Springs, Unsaid, American Short Fiction, Redivider, Gulf Coast, Caketrain, Hayden's Ferry Review, Hobart, Barrelhouse, Monkeybicycle, and Gargoyle.

He is also the editor of The Collagist and the series editor of Dzanc's Best of the Web anthology series.

He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and can be reached via e-mail at mdbell79@gmail.com.

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The Collectors

How the Broken Lead the Blind

How They Were Found
The Collagist

A new literary magazine published by Dzanc Books, edited by Matt Bell with Poetry Editor Matthew Olzmann. Now available at www.thecollagist.com.

Published Fiction
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Currently Reading...
  • Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir
    Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir
    by Ander Monson
Anthologies
Awards and Recognitions
  • 2009 Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions Selection, for "This Showroom Filled With Fabulous Prizes"
  • 2009 Dzanc Best of the Web Notable Story, for "The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines"
  • 2008 Caketrain Fiction Chapbook Contest Runner-Up, for The Collectors
  • 2008 Keyhole Fiction Chapbook Contest Finalist, for The Collectors
  • 2008 Million Writers Award Winner, for "Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken"
  • 2008 Dzanc Best of the Web Notable Story, for "Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken"
  • 2008 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines"
  • 2008 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "Ken Sent Me: Lost in the Land of the Lounge Lizards"
  • 2007 Storyglossia Fiction Prize Finalist, for "Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken"
  • 2007 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "A Certain Number of Bedrooms, a Certain Number of Baths"
  • 2006 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "The Present"
  • 2006 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "White Lines and Headlights"
  • 2006 Pushcart Prize Nomination for "Rosemary Blooming"
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Tuesday
13Jun2006

How to Write Book Reviews, by John Updike

Critical Mass has posted a selection from the introduction to John Updike's Picked Up Pieces which lays out his six rules for writing book reviews.  These rules seem seem fair and intelligent, applicable not only to the reviewing of books but also to creating a proper mindset for reading them.  If they seem obvious at times, I think it's only because they're probably the right way to do things.

I've enjoyed Updike's reviews ever since I started reading The New Yorker, and his following his own rules is obviously a big reason why.  Head over to Critical Mass to read more.

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