Writer's Edge 2008 Day One

Things I noticed on Day One from this year's Writer's Edge conference in Portland:

1) There are a lot of guys named Andy attending. Cool guys named Andy. So much so that I am thinking about changing my name to Andy now.

2) Lily Hoang is a filthy overachiever but she gives awesome hugs so it is impossible to hold anything against her for more than a picosecond.

3) Steve Tomasula and Shane Hinton are handy guys to have around if you cut your foot on a rusty nail and want to avoid a staph infection. Steve carries bandages in his wallet and Shane rolls with a tube of Neosporin.

4) Lidia Yuknavitch has the coolest students up at UW-Bothell. One of them is named Selena. I think I am going to try to adopt her before the conference is over, whether she wants to be adopted or not.

5) Andi and Lance Olsen are losing sleep over their inability to score a 3G iPhone and getting to the Apple Store way too late. It's a vicious cycle and I am praying Steve Jobs takes mercy on them tomorrow at Pioneer Square.

6) Mia De Bono is still the most awesome writer name I've heard in a long, long time.

Here are some photos I snapped earlier today. I'll post more to the set as the weekend progresses.

It was TRAUMA, but now it's TREASURE!

I have changed nothing below in this advert I found on the Creative Nonfiction Magazine website:

Turning Trauma into Treasure

Washington, DC

September 20

This intense, day-long program with CNF Editor Lee Gutkind will present the art and craft of memoir writing, explaining how to capture traumatic stories in a way that touches and impacts readers.

During this intense and entertaining day, participants will learn how to:

• find the precious nugget of the story
• isolate the crucial magic moment
• infuse the story with a universal chord
• develop a narrative arc
• frame and focus the story
• capture essential intimate details
• share their hard-earned, hard-learned wisdom

$275 registration fee includes a 4-issue subscription to Creative Nonfiction. (After August 20, $290.)

chiasmus press podcast #6

Episode #06 marks the return of the Chiasmus Press podcast after a lengthy absence. You tell us if it was worth the wait:

:: Conference recaps from AWP and &NOW :: 2008 releases by Lou Rowan, Kevin Sampsell and Lily Hoang :: Looking forward to Writer's Edge :: Teaser preview of our upcoming release from Stephen Graham Jones :: First Book Contest :: Post-production update on The Iconographer :: Lidia's healthy skepticism towards Barack Obama :: WE LOVE STEVE TOMASULA!! :: Andy's love affair with Big Oil :: Trevor drinks Andy's milkshake P.T. Anderson style :: Chiasmus mascots Rusty and Chomsky get it on :: Flashmob of kids threatens to destroy the Milwaukie mothership ::

You can shout back by email (contact@chiasmusmedia.net), or leave us voicemail through Skype (username: chiasmuspress). Don't forget that the podcast is listed on iTunes, which makes subscribing to our RSS feed easy enough that even a U.S. president could do it.

undoing the novel : first book contest

This just in from the amazing Chiasmus Press . . .

Dear Chiasmus Nation:

The last time we held our Undoing the Novel contest, you blessed us with epic, sexy books by Colette Phair and Lily Hoang. And we thank you ever so much for these blessings.

Now we come before you again with our arms and hearts agape, and ask that you bless us yet again...

Undoing the Novel—First Book Contest

Eligible fiction: innovative novels, anti-novels, novellas, graphic novels, short story collections, hybrids

Deadline: August 30, 2008

Reading Fee: $25.00

Award: Publication + 10 author copies

We are looking for new writers at the front edge of fictional form. Our mission is to continue to publish fiction that burrows underneath the commercial market and busts up and through consumer culture book-as-product bunk. We believe new writers ought to share the space with accomplished writers.

Send Manuscripts, SASE, and fee by August 30 to:

Chiasmus Press
8826 SE 28th Ave
Milwaukie, OR 97222

Make checks payable to: “Chiasmus Press”

Winner announced: November 1, 2008

press home: [www.chiasmuspress.com]
press blog: [chiasmuspress.wordpress.com]


One thing you've always known about us, Nation, is that we are never satisfied. Please speed the most fierce and ferocious to us.

Amen.

XOXOX,

-Ch

Jefferson Hansen Starts New Review Blog

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: I am looking for reviews, books to be reviewed, and interviews for a new blog, Experimental Fiction & Poetry: Reviews, Interviews, Commentary at experimentalfictionpoetry.blogspot.com. (I just renamed it, so you might have to access it by googling "blogger" "Jefferson Hansen".) Please visit, leave comments and spread the word. Currently featured is a review of Charles Bernstein's GIRLY MAN, in addition to commentary on the underground fiction writer David Ohle. Send books for review to 4055 Yosemite Ave. S., St. Louis Park, MN 55416

First Wall Rebate podcast

This week, Chiasmus-nauts Shane Hinton and myself are launching First Wall Rebate, a podcast focusing on videogames and gaming culture. Unlike the overwhelming majority of gaming podcasts that focus on sales figures and finicky demographics by industry insiders/reviewers, we are insisting upon a serious, engaged and intelligent conversation about the aesthetic, socio-political, philosophical and/or rhetorical functions of games, and how this new media artform compares to older ones (including writing, film, music, and performance). This is not a podcast geared specifically for gamers; we are hoping to share and showcase a wide variety of experiences and interests.

We recorded Episode 00 on 12 May as both an opening salvo and test run for our digital recording setup. There are a few hiccups towards the end, but we are hoping you will give it a listen anyway, and to continue coming back in the weeks and months ahead. You can subscribe to our RSS feed here; we will be available at iTunes Music Store shortly.

Subito Press Book Competition

Subito Press of the University of Colorado invites submissions to its annual book competition. We will publish two books of innovative writing, one each of fiction and poetry.

Submissions will be accepted from June 2 to August 15 (postmark date).

Submit manuscripts of up to 70 pages of poetry or up to 100 pages of (double spaced) fiction along with a $20 reading fee and an 8.5 x 11 SASE if you would like a copy of the winning entry in your genre. Manuscripts should include two cover sheets: one with title only, the other with title, author's name, address, e-mail, and phone number. All submissions will be judged anonymously by the creative writing faculty at the University of Colorado; friends, relatives, and former students of University of Colorado creative writing faculty are not eligible. Simultaneous submissions o.k.; please notify Subito immediately if your ms. is accepted elsewhere. Winners will give a reading at the University of Colorado. Notification of winners will occur by December of 2008.

Send mss. to:
Subito Press
Department of English
226 University of Colorado, Boulder,
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0226

Subito Press adheres to the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses Contest Code of Ethics:
CLMP's community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

---

Email: cwengl@colorado.edu
Voice and Voicemail: (303) 492-1853
Website: http://www.colorado.edu/English/crw/crwprogram.htm

tubearts contest

I just received the following email from Aaron Jaffe about what sounds like a fascinating contest/project. For a video explaining things in more depth, please click here.

I’m writing to let you know about an art and writing contest we’re holding on YouTube. Writing is a central part of our society, but writers who want to focus on something other than pop culture and drunken celebrities are struggling to find footholds on YouTube. It’s a site that should naturally be a haven for writers, but the YouTube staff takes a passing interest in the arts at best.

The purpose of the TubeArts contest is to call for the addition of an “art and writing” category, and to let writers explore YouTube as medium for their work. The winner will also receive $500 and some great exposure (between myself and the six judges, we have 90,000 regular viewers).

I’ve included a link to the contest introduction video below. I hope you can take a moment to visit and leave a comment. The comment section is serving as an online petition, and the more comments we get the more people will see the video. . . .

YouTube could be a place for writers to showcase their work. It could be a place that makes poetry accessible and interesting to a new generation. We’ll take a big step towards that goal if this contest is successful, but we’re not going to be able to do it without you!

alain robbe-grillet : 1922-2008

This sad news from Bloomberg.com, courtesy of Marc Lowe:

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Alain Robbe-Grillet, the French author and theoretician of the 1950s ``new novel'' genre, died today, the Academie Francaise reported. He was 85.

Seeking to overturn conventional fiction, Robbe-Grillet attempted to write novels that avoided psychological or ideological commentary, as he explained in his 1963 book, ``Pour un Nouveau Roman'' (``Toward a New Novel'').

In place of plot and character, Robbe-Grillet focused on meticulous descriptions of things and events as seen by an objective eye. With their timetables of people coming and going, Robbe-Grillet's novels can resemble noir detective stories.

His 1953 novel, ``Les Gommes'' (``The Erasers''), addresses a murder committed by the man who's investigating the crime. ``Le Voyeur'' of 1955 describes a stranger who kills a young girl.

Two years later, Robbe-Grillet published ``La Jalousie'' (``Jealousy''), in which a jealous husband spies on his wife and her suspected lover through the shutters of a blind, or ``jalousie.'' Time and again, his work explores the relationship between objectivity and subjectivity.

Born in Brest, Brittany, on Aug. 18, 1922, Robbe-Grillet trained as a statistician and agronomist before turning his hand to fiction. He wrote more than 10 novels, including last year's ``Un Roman Sentimental'' (``A Sentimental Novel''), a book about pedophilia that he called a ``fairy tale for adults.''

Robbe-Grillet also directed motion pictures, including ``L'Immortelle'' (``The Immortal,'' 1963) and ``L'Homme Qui Ment'' (``The Man Who Lies,'' 1968). His best-known work in film was his screenplay for Alain Resnais' ``L'Annee Derniere a Marienbad'' (``Last Year at Marienbad,'' 1961).

He was elected to the Academie Francaise in 2004.

the writer's edge : 1 march application deadline

Please note that the application deadline for the third annual Writer's Edge conference is 1 March.

Sponsored by FC2 and hosted by Portland State University, The Writer's Edge will be held Friday through Sunday, 25-27 July, in downtown Portland, Oregon, and feature five workshops on innovative fiction, two panels, a faculty reading, two open mics for participants, and myriad conversations about experimental prose.

For more information, please click here.

Goodreads politics

Simultaneous with reading Lidia's last post, I got involved in the past couple weeks with Goodreads, a networking site that operates on the basis of books -- who's read what, how you felt about it. It's not quite coming in each other's mouths, but it's addictive, promising, and emphasizes -- I'm right there with ya, Lid -- READING. One of the probs with the "year's best" lists we come up with is that inevitably we're listing our friends, and even if they write great books, it feels a little bit too local for me (besides which, there's the inevitable "hey, how come he didn't list MY book"!). A more outwardly networked service like Goodreads let's you list your faves, and then the listing riffs out into worlds semi-known and totally new.

Reading = Jouissance, yes, yes, yes... but I also feel nowadays a need to have a fully political commitment to reading as well. The new NEA report on reading, "To Read or Not to Read" (pdf), which updates the earlier 2004 report,"Reading at Risk," begins with three factual statements about our failing democracy:

• Americans are spending less time reading.
• Reading comprehension skills are eroding.
• These declines have serious civic, social, cultural, and economic implications.

Reading is becoming more and more explicitly a political act,and promoting reading certainly is. I made phonecalls for John Kerry in 2004 (I called Pennsylvania, which he won) -- now I'm trying to devote more time to promoting reading. Starcherone Books is a non-profit -- as are many small presses -- whose legal justification is as an educational organization promoting reading. That once felt like a convenient legal loophole in order to compete for grant money. It doesn't anymore.

dear reader

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Half Life by Shelly Jackson, Anxious Pleasures and Nietzsche’s Kisses by Lance Olsen, The Jiri Chronicles by Debra Diblasi, American Genius by Lynn Tillman, Frances Johnson by Stacey Levine, VAS (still), by Steve Tomasula.

These books gave me piss shivers over the last years, because, in their various ways, they unmasked the totality of the authority of capitalism--the glitz and grind of all our consuming—and reflected back to us the importance of art—that it can be an erotic exchange.

But I don’t really want to talk about books and authors just now. I want to talk about readers. Instead of listing the top ten authors or books of the last years, I’d like to list the top ten desires I have of a reader. Maybe it’s a dream reader who doesn’t exist. Maybe it’s a reader who really is out there, and I just haven’t quite written my way to her yet. Or maybe it’s a reader we play a part in creating—like people in intimate relationships do—unmaking and remaking each other. I don’t know. But lately I have developed an oceanic impulse to reach her, and the writing I am doing is different than any other writing I have ever done because of it. It’s very urgent, this feeling.

So:

1. Let her hair be made of fire. Her wonderous mind let loose finally, without permission or limit, burning with its desires and violences.

2. Let her hands breathe. Put the child to bed. The dishes are washed. The lover is sleeping. The lines near your eyes are the map of a life; ssshhh. Your fingers carry the crouch of dreams. Your hands are a world.

3. Let her heart beat. Not the dull thud of a good citizen but the wild rage of a love breaking open the very walls of story.

4. Let beauty come from inside the turmoil of her body. Where the blood gushes. The menses. The placenta. The cunt. The ass. The guts and shit of it—that transformational thing, that animal lunge, that tender rush of pulse, the body.

5. Let her knowing come in waves. Not what we’ve been told, not how we’ve been told to understand it, but with closed eyes and a body floating in warm water. Still the intellect open.

6. Let her transgress. Break any law here. I am waiting for you on the other side.

7. Let her mouths be what they are.

8. Let her tricks and fragments make pieces of things. I will let you be someone else and then yourself and then change as many times as you like. I will not tell anyone your secrets. I will carry your lies with the loyalty of a dog.

9. Let her come in my mouth. These words. I made them for you.

10. Let reading be a radical act of lovemaking.

Book Recommendations

Hi, All --

Can we put together a list of books from the past year(ish) that we'd recommend? And maybe ones we look forward to reading?

I'll start with just a few (sorry if I actually *got* some of these from our past lists):

Half Life, by Shelley Jackson
B., Jonathan Baumbach
Anxious Pleasures, Lance Olsen
Europeana, Parik Ourednik
Tetched, Thaddeus Rutkowski
American Genius, Lynne Tillman

I plan to read Only Revolutions, by Mark Danielewski

I'm sure I'm forgetting many more.

Experimentally Friendly MFA / Ph.D. Programs

Hello Everyone,
About this time of year I usually have someone ask, 'What schools are good for someone who's interested in experimental, conceptual, hybrid, avant-garde, postmodern (etc.) writing?' I thought it would helpful if we could put our heads together to come up with a list of schools/programs where like-minded students are working on this kind of writing (either as authors or critics), could find a mentor to work with, or at the least, find an atmosphere conducive to this kind of writing. Just off the top of my head, I'd start with the below list. Can you make suggestions or additions?--add you and your school if so inclined. Refine the listing, i.e., by filling in if the school offers an MFA or Ph.D. or whatever other info might be helpful to someone trying to sort out where to go?....

Lance Olsen at U of Utah
Brian Evenson, Robert Coover, Carol Maso at Brown
Ben Marcus at Columbia
Kate Bernheimer and Michael Martone at U of Alabama
R.M. Berry at Florida State
Jeffery DeShell and Elisabeth Sheffield at U. of Colorado
Naropa in Boulder, CO.
Steve Tomasula (fiction); Joyelle McSweeney (poetry) at U. of Notre Dame (MFA Program; the Ph.D. in Poetics is very experimental leaning: Check out Romana Huk and Stephen Fredman).

Suggestions more than welcome to this very sketchy start....
Yours,
Steve

Happy Thanksgiving from your Uncle Bill

Good American Guts