CRAFT at AWP
If you’re heading to AWP, please stop by and say hello! We’ll be at Table 1219, along with drDOCTOR and Triangle House. Are you staring at that AWP schedule, not sure where to begin? Quite a few of our authors…
Blog
New books: week of March 5!
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Ramona Ausubel, Awayland Riverhead From Kirkus Reviews: “Eleven stories laced with humorous developments, mythic tendencies, and magical realist premises. Ausubel (Sons…
Opening Lines
The start to a story is so important. It’s what draws the reader in, it’s what sets the stage for everything to come. When we read stories (and especially when we read submissions!), an arresting first line can capture our…
The Story Prize
The 2017/2018 winner of The Story Prize is Elizabeth Strout, for her collection Anything is Possible. The other top two finalists were Daniel Alarcón for The King Is Always Above the People and Ottessa Moshfegh for Homesick for Another World. In addition, Lee…
Character Research
When it comes to doing research for a novel or story, the resources are endless. We typically turn first to non-fiction sources, writers documenting the history of the time. Often, though, these accounts are written after-the-fact as the historian makes…
“Parenthood” by J. M. Tyree
I got laid off from the realty company, and then the foreclosure followed hard. Reya absorbed the shocks better than me. She was still working, managing the liquor store. She was the one who found us a new place to…
Favorite First Sentence: WAYS TO DISAPPEAR
“In a crumbling park in the crumbling back end of Copacabana, a woman stopped under an almond tree with a suitcase and a cigar.” Ways to Disappear, Idra Novey’s debut novel, is about a South American writer who has disappeared,…
Switching Tenses
Most writers, it seems, prefer one tense over another. Many of us use the past tense as our default, as it allows for foreshadowing, and, conversely, it allows reflection from the present “telling” moment. We’re telling a story of which…
Literary Podcasts
What could be better than listening to stories or to writers talk about fiction and their writing process? There are many wonderful literary podcasts out there. Here are some of our favorites: The New Yorker Fiction Podcast Once a…
New books: week of February 12!
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Amy Bloom, White Houses Penguin Random House From Kirkus Reviews: “From the prolific Bloom, whose novels and short stories have often…