Literary News & Opinion
*******Breaking NewsOffbeat Video.*******OPINIONI just finished my novel. Which is interesting. Was a hard re-write, months and months of doing. The previous novel was so easy, just a joy to work with....
View ArticleSteinbeck, Hemon and Our Progressive Zeitgeist
True story. The scene is a Manhattan supper club, circa 1952. Eleanor Roosevelt approaches a table at which John and Elaine Steinbeck are dining. Elaine makes introductions, and then... Eleanor...
View ArticleSunny Summer Sunday Scifi Short Stories
It's a super sunny Sunday afternoon in mid-July. It's perfect to let the imagination wander and the let the brain matter dabble and exercise into the the realm of the amazing, curious and profound.I...
View ArticleSEGO: Short and serious
Once upon a time, I could write a short story. None of them started with "once upon a time," but they did get through a plot in 10,000 words or less (you can read an excerpt from one of my stories...
View ArticleFreebie Friday (24-Jun-11) WAYR?
What Are You #Reading? (WAYR) on this Freebie Friday? Need something new? Get it at Webbiegrrl's Writings on Blogger:This week are 2 ChickLits, 1 Alt World SF and 1 "science fictiony" RomCom / Jewish...
View ArticleRashomon and 17 Other Stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke
As far as translations go, I can offer few criticisms of Jay Rubin’s ordering and selection of short stories by the noted Japanese author Akutagawa Ryunosuke, (Japanese order) born March 1, 1892...
View ArticleIndigo Kalliope - Thursday Variations: The Bionic Billion Dollar Politician
A new activity on a new day for Indigo Kalliope.In the last several months, we have had some writers ask if they could submit pieces other than poetry. Here is our answer. Every Thursday IK will accept...
View ArticleIndigo Kalliope: Thursday Variations - Honkiunybo-san and The Great Englishman
A true story from my pastJoin us every Thursday for another short story from a Kossack with a tale to tell, fact or fiction. One which will both inform and entertain. And join us on Mondays at 5pm...
View ArticleIndigo Kalliope: Thursday Variations - God's Sitcom
Join us every Thursday for another short story from a Kossack with a tale to tell, fact or fiction. One which will both inform and entertain. And join us on Mondays at 5pm Pacific for poetry from the...
View ArticleConservative Editorial Wrong on Coal and Global Warming
This morning, I opened the Fort Dodge, Iowa Messenger News. I’ve been skipping past the editorial section because it tends to feature mostly conservative columnists beating the same old drums. Today,...
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: Whole Universes Contained Therein
Different types of writing can be served best by different kinds of reading. Although it didn't strike me immediately, once I became a teacher and started deconstructing reading strategies, eventually...
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: Lifted to the surface to breathe
Even if short stories are not explicitly connected in a collection, although linked short stories are slightly trendy right now, their themes still can weave together connections. The connections in...
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Jhumpa Lahiri's subtle tapestries of the heart
Jhumpa Lahiri has achieved much with just three books. Her most remarkable accomplishment, which you spot before even opening her work, is that she has earned both popular success and critical acclaim....
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: Christmas Catalog
This will be my fifth, and final, Contemporary Fiction Views diary. It has been a great pleasure to fill in for bookgirl. You should try it. Limelite will be writing a diary here on Tuesday, January...
View ArticleBooks Go Boom! Hemingway on Writing
"I have all the copies of The Paris Review and like the interviews very much. They will make a good book when collected and that will be very good for the Review."...
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: "Those drops of fellowship"
Many of George Saunders's characters in Tenth of December live in complex worlds they have imagined. Even when those worlds bump up against reality, Saunders makes us believe in both the worlds that...
View ArticleContemporary Literary Fiction: Sense of place, sense of self
Reflecting on last week's diary about Jonathan Evison's The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving and its weakness in the realm of sense of place, my reading during this past week has included stories in...
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: Characters who can handle it
One of the reasons I'm drawn to fiction set in the West is that the good stuff, the really good stuff, brings this part of the world to life. It is a vivid, harsh, beautiful place that rarely nurtures...
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Paul's Book Reviews: Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Memoir, Young...
"Nothing is more important mostly than a funeral," Violet said as they ate a noon lunch of soup and sandwiches. "The whole point of a person's life—or the lack of a point if it's more or less...
View ArticleContemporary Fiction Views: Seriously fantastical stories
Short stories are short on respect, even for many readers of literary fiction. It doesn't make sense to me. The impression I get from people who don't read much literary fiction is that the stories are...
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