Books for Readers # 107

ONLINE CLASS COMING UP IN JULY

I'm offering a four-session online creative writing class called Summer Stories during the month of July 2008 for writers of memoir and personal essay as well as short story and novel. The class is appropriate for beginning writers but will give ample stimulation to advanced writers who want to move forward with their projects. Students who have taken this class in the past will find new exercises included and, of course, new responses to new work. There will be exercises and individual feedback on up to 1000 words per week. Sessions will be posted online and emailed on July 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2008, with homework due a week later. The class will close as soon as it is full. For more information, see http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/summerstories2008.html

I’VE BEEN READING...

....just a little more Maria Edgeworth! (Is this an addiction?) Last issue I wrote about CASTLE RACKRENT. Next I read THE ABSENTEE. Many people think this first of Edgeworth’s novels was her best, and I would agree that her novels of manners are more uneven, but she’s worth reading even when she’s sloppy. After reading THE ABSENTEE, I did an edit of the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) article about it as follows: “ Just before coming of age, Lord Colambre, the sensitive hero of the novel, finds that his mother Lady Clonbrony's attempts to buy her way into the high society of London are only ridiculed, while his father is in serious debt as a result of his wife's lifestyle. Colambre falls in love with his mother's companion, his supposed cousin, Grace Nugent. Colambre travels incognito to Ireland to see the country that he still considers his home. Along the way he is briefly ensnared by a cold hearted adventuress who wants him to marry her daughter and who informs him that his beloved Grace is not Mr. Nugent's daughter at all, but rather an illegitimate child! This is confirmed by letter by his mother, who, while a social climber and generally frivolous, is very loving to Grace and has never told her about her parentage. Colambre is heart broken and feels he can never love a woman with such a heritage.

“He visits his family estate and discovers that his father's agents are oppressing the local peasantry and probably cheating his father as well. He reveals himself to the evil agents, and there is a race back to London, Colambre trying to stop his father from signing documents that would ruin some of the good peasants, the agent's agent trying to get the papers signed. Colambre makes it back just in time to stop his father from ruining the people, and he then assists his father in paying off his debts, on condition that the Clonbrony family return to live in Ireland. The final section concerns Colambre's love for Grace and how it is discovered that she is– yes!– both legitimate and an heiress! There are many turns of plot and lots of information about Ireland as well as Irish dialect and details of shallow London fashionable life and the egregious results of the propertied classes treating their Irish lands as a resource to be exploited rather than as a relationship among classes and with the land.”

The things I dislike about the novel are the hero’s fastidiousness about legitimate birth, and the heroine’s apparently bottomless passivity. You have to remind yourself that the biggest argument against female passivity is Edgeworth herself, who ran an enormous family and their property and wrote books and traveled besides.

Then, just to complete my little Maria Edgeworth festival, I also read a purported biography, MARIA EDGEWORTH by the Hon. Emily Lawless– a funny old fashioned book published in 1905. I bought it used, online, and it turned out to be a reject from the Santa Cruz, California, Public Library– last checked out on March 24, 1923! The writer, an Anglo-Irishwoman like the author, loves CASTLE RACKRENT, but not Edgeworth’s other books. She also thoroughly disapproves of Edgeworth’s patriarchal papa. It wasn’t the biography I was looking for–although I did enjoy meeting Hon. Emily. Which seemed to have been the real subject of the book.

I also read HEALTH PROXY by Robert Roth, which was recommended here by Carole Rosenthal in Issue #104. It’s really pretty stunning– all about life in tiny gray apartments in the Village among people who were (and still are I suppose) cutting edge and political and full of talk. It is extremely gripping, that in-your-face quality of the ancient mariner stopping you and holding you with his extreme honesty. It’s the insistent scrupulousness with which he examines himself, his friends, and his failings that engaged me. I really couldn’t put it down. See Carol Rosenthal’s comments.

Final notes: I re-read Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL after my husband bought it for me and brought in home from the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. It is much funnier than I remembered, and I had totally forgotten some of the wonderful short poems.

And, for something completely different– I read the Phaidon COURBET by James H. Rubin after visiting the big Courbet Retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. I didn’t know I liked Courbet particularly, and wasn’t all that overwhelmed by the melodramatic series of youthful self portraits in the beginning of the exhibit, but by the end, I really was overwhelmed by the hunting scenes, the landscapes, the dead fish, the bowls of wonderfully imperfect apples. The book is an excellent, reasonably priced introduction to him: to his democratic, anti-upper class approach to life and art, and to his self-publicizing. He has some of that quality of the Newly Discovered, Much-celebrated Self that you find in Whitman’s poetry. Good art book– I often go to the Met’s big exhibits and decide not to buy the enormous catalogs with their scholarly articles and large price tag. Also, I don’t want to have to carry them home on the train. Ten I buy the Phaidon introductions instead!

Finally, speaking of Wikipedia, I hope everyone is using it not just for the odd bit of information, but also to put in notes about your favorite writers and other subjects. It is especially important to put in short articles about writers who may be missed otherwise: overlooked or young writers, regional writers. You should also edit the articles on subjects you care about. I did a whole edit of the article on “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” which I thought was tendentious in a bad direction. Wikipedia is so often the first source that comes up on Google that it has become an important influence on human knowledge. So share what you know– it only succeeds when everyone’s information is shared.

--- Meredith Sue Willis

JEREMY OSNER...

...says, “I found a just mind-blowing passage on blindness in Pamuk's "The Black Book" -- quoted most of it http://readin.com/blog/?id=1124
(Did I mention to you what a wonderful book Saramago's "SEEING" is? It's set in the city of "BLINDNESS" four years later, a political fable. The both books in combination are, I think, hugely more than the two of them separately.)” Notes on SEEING: http://www.readin.com/blog/?k=book:seeing

MORE BEST BOOKS

Magdalena Ball of http://www.compulslivereader.com recommends her best 2007 books: Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD and Emily Ballou’s APHELION. She says “the two books couldn’t be more different. McCarthy, as I know you know, is the spare king of desolation. No other writer could do what he did in that book and pull it off with the same sense of beauty and even renewal (but only the merest hint). Ballou, on the other hand, is almost baroque by comparison. Her writing is linguistically rich and upbeat always.”

LOTS OF GOOD NEWS!

Pamela Erens’ novel THE UNDERSTORY (reviewed here in Issue #100 ) was named as a finalist for the LOS ANGELES TIMES Book Prize in First Fiction. Very exciting news!

Carter Seaton, author of FATHER’S TROUBLES, has been awarded the 2007 Denny C. Plattner award for Outstanding Non-Fiction for her piece “Those Who Came,” which appeared in the 2007 Spring Edition of APPALACHIAN HERITAGE, a literary journal published by Berea College.

Jennifer DeWitt reports that she has just an article published in the DAILY RECORD of Madison/Chatham, New Jersey in their special section called "Madison Chatham This Week". Looks like it will be a regular gig for me. She thinks this may be a regular column, too. See it at
http://www.madisonchathamthisweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/803050377and her article for Senior Citizens Guide magazine:
http://www.seniorcitizensguide.com/nenj/articles/from-page-to-stage.htm. She says that having two non-fiction articles published has also inspired her fiction writing.

Glad Day Books and Triboro Pictures have announced the official website for the film based on Leora Skolkin-Smith's EDGES, set to be shot on location in Jordan and Jerusalem: http://www.thefragilemistress.com

Diane Lockwood’s book WHAT FEEDS US is one of two poetry collections featured
in the new e-issue of RATTLE. The feature includes 5 poems from the book. See
http://rattle.com/eissues.htm

Penny Harter’s new collection of poems THE NIGHT MARSH is just out from WordTech. The publisher's web page for the book is http://www.wordtechweb.com/harter.html, and Penny’s page for the book is http://www.2hweb.net/penhart/publications.html . Here’s a sample poem:

Feeding the Horses in Texas
for my father

Dad kept yellow corn from the feed store
in a garbage can out behind the shed.
Dawn and dusk, he shoved a rusty scoop
deep into that can, dumping hard kernels
of boyhood memory on the family farm
into a galvanized pail.

Then he sniffed the wind and nickered
until two horses crossed the neighbor’s field
to rest their muzzles on the split-rail fence
and talk to him.

And he made more horse noises,
grinning back as they curled floppy lips
to bare big teeth and munch this ritual gift
from an old man lost in his yard,
who raised that steel bucket
as if to his own mouth.

BRIEF MENTION

TEMPORARY PEOPLE by Steven Gillis (Black Lawrence Press, April 2008) is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Gillis is the author of the novels Walter Falls and The Weight of Nothing, both finalists for the Independent Publishers Book of the Year and ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year 2003 and 2005.

Warren Adler’s NEW YORK ECHOES has just been published, to be followed shortly by FUNNY BOYS, a new novel. Adler is the author of THE WAR OF THE ROSES and many other books.

Judith Victoria Hensley ‘s TERRIBLE TINA has just been published. See the website at http://www.judithvhensley.com.

A new book by Norman Jordan. Learn more .

SARAH'S GIRLS: A CHRONICLE OF BIG UGLY CREEK by Lenore McComas Coberly

A NEW RESOURCE

Ed Myers writes to say he has found an interesting resource for writers, redroom.com. (http://www.redroom.com/) Ed says, “Someone described this to me as Facebook for writers. The site's goal is to provide writers with a networking site and a place for building a community of writers and readers. One has to apply and get screened, etc.....It looks promising to me in several different ways...Have a look.”

ONLINE– AND ON THE AIR!

Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 9 p.m. is the broadcast date and time for Diane Gilliam Fisher's amazing volume of poetry, KETTLE BOTTOM. West Virginia Public Radio's version, produced by Kate Long, is sure to be a very special and long remembered program.

A new book review online: THE INTERNET REVIEW OF BOOKS, Carter Jefferson, Editor,
editor@internetreviewofbooks.com . See the website at http://internetreviewofbooks.com/

Barbara Crooker recommends http://www.innisfreepoetry.org/ – which also has several of her new poems.

Magdalena Ball (http://www.compulsivereader.com) Is the host of Compulsive Reader talks which is live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/compullsivereader the second Tuesday f the month at 6 p.m. It is permanently available in podcast form.

The HAMILTON STONE REVIEW’S Issue # 14 is up at http://www.hamiltonstone.org/hsr14.html featuring selections from Hamilton Stone Edition's 2008 Book List by Rebecca Kavaler, Jane Lazarre, Eva Kollisch, and Rochelle Ratner; and poetry by Bobbi Lurie, CL Bledsoe, David Thornbrugh, Alex Cigale, Georgios Tsangaris, John M. Bennett, Burt Kimmelman, Jamie Cooper, Cheyenne Nimes, and Laurie Price.

READINGS AND EVENTS

PARK SLOPE’S 440 GALLERY– Claudia Carlson and others read on Sunday, April 13th from 4:40-6:00 pm at 440 Gallery, 440 Sixth Avenue (at 9th St., F to 7th Ave.) CONTACT: Brooke Shaffner at brshaffner@hotmail.com. Admission Free

MIGUEL ORTIZ AT TEACHERS & WRITERS
Wednesday, April 16th at 6:00 PM
Miguel Ortiz
King of Swords
Miguel Ortiz's new novel is a sweeping historical work based on the life of his grandfather in Puerto Rico.

ROSARY O'NEILL, Award-winning New Orleans playwright, announces the representation of a two volume anthology set of her plays by Samuel French: A LOUISIANA GENTLEMAN and OTHER COMEDIES AND GHOSTS OF NEW ORLEANS. Friday, May 9th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Marquis Room of The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. Call (212) 475-3424 for more information. See her website at http://www.rosaryoneill.com .

JOHN AMEN is reading 4/9 at PoetsWednesday, 582 Rahway Ave, Woodbridge, NJ; 4/10
NYC Pedestal Event at the West Side YMCA (The George Washington Lounge) 5 West 63rd Street (between Central Park West & Broadway) New York, NY 8pm. For more readings, around the country, see http://www.johnamen.com and http://www.myspace.com/johnamen

WORKSHOPS

Meredith Sue Willis’s next one day “Jump-Start Your Novel” workshop at NYU will take place June 7, 2008. NYU’s SCPS Writing Classes are at http://www.scps.nyu.edu/index/continuingEducation.htm?sid=209&durl=WRSP

CONTESTS AND SUBMISSIONS

IMPORTANT NOTE: Meredith Sue Willis makes no claims and has no special knowledge about these contests– please check them out carefully! I just pass on things that look interesting.

THIRD ANNUAL FLASH PROSE CONTEST DEADLINE: April 10, 2008
WriterAdvice, is searching for flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction that grabs, surprises, and mesmerizes readers in fewer than 750 words. If you have a complete story or memoir with a strong theme, sharp images, a solid structure, and an unexpected discovery, please submit. Visit the website, www.writeradvice.com, for details about offering your pieces. Questions? Send an e-mail to Lgood67334@comcast.net. SPECIAL PERK: All entries accompanied by an SASE will be returned with brief comments.

MARSH HAWK PRESS Fifth Annual POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: April 30, 2008
First Prize: $1,000
and Publication of Book
Contest Judge: Thylias Moss
For full guidelines, see Website www.marshhawkpress.org for more information.
MARSH HAWK PRESS Mail to: P.O. Box 206, East Rockaway, NY 11518. Entry fee.

THE INTERNET REVIEW OF BOOKS offers a $100 prize for the best entry in its "Lasting
Impressions" contest. Write a 600- to 900-word book review that includes the reason this book made a lasting impression on you. Send it as plain text in your e-mail message form to this address. Include a bio of 50 words or less. First place - $100 with publication in the May issue of IRB– Second place - $50 and possible publication– Third place - $25 and possible publication. Entry fee - $5.00. Entries and payment must be received by April 20, 2008 Learn more at: http://internetreviewofbooks.com/

JOB/FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

A ROOM OF HER OWN FOUNDATION Invites Applications for Literary Gift of Freedom Award. Deadline: October 31, 2008 A Room Of Her Own Foundation ( http://www.aroomofherownfoundation.org/) is dedicated to helping women artists achieve the privacy and financial support necessary to pursue their art. To this end, the foundation annually provides an award of $50,000 to a woman writer. The foundation's 2009 Literary Gift of Freedom Award will be given to an American woman writer who is a U.S. citizen and will be living in the U.S. during the grant period. Acceptable genres for this grant are poetry, playwriting, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Visit the foundation's Web site for complete program guidelines:
http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10012001/giftfreedom

2008-2009 Teachers &Writers Fellowships are now available online at http://www.twc.org/about/tw-fellowship . These fellowships are for people 30 and under who show exceptional artistic promise and are in the New York City area (or have their own place to stay there.) The Fellowship period is October 1, 2008, to May 31, 2009. During that time, T&W Fellows will receive a $10,000 stipend, Office space and resources (e.g., computer, supplies) at T&W, and much more. Applications for the 2008–2009 T&W Fellowships must be RECEIVED by 5:00 PM (Eastern), Monday, July 7, 2008 If you have questions after reviewing the guidelines and application form, please e-mail fellowship@twc.org or call 212-691-6590.

ABOUT AMAZON.COM

I’ve been reporting for some time in this spot that Ingrid Hughes writes:Ingrid Hughes writes: “My union newspaper says, ‘Forget Amazon.com, which has engaged in union busting on two continents. Try Powell's Books (http://www.powells.com)- the largest unionized bookstore in America....An alternative way to reach their site is from http://www.powellsunion.com; prices are the same but 10% of your purchase will go directly to the [Powell’s bookstore] union's benefit fund.’” For the complete discussion, see the comments of Jonathan Greene and others in Issues #98 and #97 .

Now Amazon is causing a new stink in the publishing world! They are demanding that certain publishing options be replaced by their exclusive Print on Demand Company Book Surge. Take a look here to read more: http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html