New story “We Were Young and Nothing Was Simple” published at GLR

I’m thrilled to have my story “We Were Young and Nothing Was Simple” included as part of Great Lakes Review‘s Narrative Map feature:

We talked about doing doughnuts next winter in the parking lot of the school and compared notes on how best to achieve one. Of driving vanfuls of friends to the movies, no longer being dependent on our parents or older brother and sisters. About how cool it would be to finally be able to go on real dates, to drive—ourselves—to pick up the girls, open the door for them and park at Saint Mark Lutheran—way in the back, where you can’t be seen from the road—play a CD and just see what happens.

For those not in the know, GLR is collecting stories from all over the Great Lakes Region in the hopes of creating a robust narrative map. It’s a fantastic idea—and they already have some magnificent pieces—so definitely check it out.

The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing

I’m excited to announce that I will be an instructor at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing during the upcoming 2014 session.

Per the website:

The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing was founded in order to give writers the opportunity to develop their craft among established authors. The Institute offers a comprehensive week-long focus on writing, providing writers with the necessary time to devote to their art, in the idyllic setting of the Vineyard. Each summer, the institute invites award-winning authors and poets, literary journal editors, and university creative writing faculty from around the country to lead writing workshops, work one-on-one with individuals, and provide the necessary tips and tools for editing and publishing their work.

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This year’s session runs from July 13-18, 2014. I’ll be leading two courses on the fiction track: The first will cover how to extrapolate the “place” from memories to strengthen setting in the writer’s work in order to produce a fuller, richer story. The second will be a general overview of editing and submitting processes for writers.

I’m ecstatic to be working alongside mega-talents Keith Leonard, Wendy Rawlings, Marcus Wicker, and MVICW director Alexander Weinstein. It aims to be a tremendous week.

In addition, there are need- and merit-based scholarships available for potential students. You can find additional information about that here.

Fargo

I, for one, am beyond geeked to re-visit the world of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo in the new limited-run series (of the same name) debuting on FX. Fargo is one of my very favorite movies—and easily one of Coens’ best—and it perfectly captures a particular place in the Midwest that is often overlooked (and I am all about giving due to these flyover places with their own stories and mythologies).

Also, it just looks really, really good.

Finally, a seemingly worthy filler for all the True Detective emptiness inside me.

Midwestern Gothic Issue 13 (Spring 2014) cover

The release of Issue 13 will mark our three year anniversary since starting Midwestern Gothic. I waxed poetic about how long we’d been doing this when we broke through into double digits with Issue 10 last summer, but I can’t help but think about it again. I mean, it’s unbelievably nutty to think that we’re still here, chugging along, and that the submissions we’ve been receiving have just continued to be nothing short of incredible. I mean, any journal worth a damn is only worth a damn thanks to the submissions they’re fortunate enough to snag. And let me tell you: I am forever grateful to anyone and everyone who’s recognized what we’re trying to do with Midwestern Gothic, who sees the importance of our message that the Midwest is more than just flyover states. Without these folks—the writers and readers and everyone between—I don’t know where we’d be.

A side note: We have a who’s who of talent in this issue, and I’m especially delighted that we’re featuring a story by Bonnie Jo Campbell. She so perfectly encapsulates that Midwest aesthetic we’re going for, and it’s an absolute treat to feature her here.

Check out the cover for Issue 13 below. It’s slated to release April 1, 2014.

Issue13_Spring2014_cover

Voices of the Middle West

Midwestern Gothic wasn’t started on a whim or by freak accident—the idea to explore literature and writing in the Midwest, the region I’ve called home my entire life, was important to me. A place I shunned during my youth, a place I vowed at one time to never set foot in again, kept calling me home…and I’m thankful for that. I love this place, I’d like to think I understand it, and it speaks to me—all things I’m immensely proud of. That being said, the mission of Midwestern Gothic has always been to explore and support the “Midestern voice” in literature and poetry, and I’m excited to announce we’re taking it one step further this coming March.

Introducing Voices of the Middle West: A Celebration of Writers and Independent Presses.

The festival is a culmination of months of work, and I am proud of how it’s shaping up. The idea is to bring together writers and presses from all over the Midwest in order to celebrate and discuss the Midwestern voice in literature. There will be an all-day bookfair and various panels as well featuring authors and publishers and editors talking about a host of things. At the end of the day there will be a special keynote speech from lifelong Midwesterner Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the bestselling novels Sisterland, American Wife, Prep, and The Man of My Dreams.

This is, looking at it now, a natural progression for how things are going at Midwestern Gothic, a chance to celebrate literature and poetry in the Midwest on a grander scale…to showcase my own love for this place, the stories we create here, the uniqueness of it, to share all of this with folks from all over the region and beyond. All-in-all it should be a fantastic day, and I urge anyone that’s able to attend.

Check out the following links for more information:

Event Schedule / Directions and Parking

Presenters

Bookfair Information / Exhibitor List

Facebook Event (RSVP)

 

New story “Smoke and Gold” published in Squalorly #6

I’m honored to have my story “Smoke and Gold” in Squalorly #6:

At the edge, a guard rail—not much of one. She stood there in her tank top and homemade cut-off khaki shorts, crumpled hair blowing in the wind. She clutched her body, arms wrapped around herself. Used to be that was my job. But I kept my distance. She turned and looked at me, forced a smile again, looked back out at the water.

Squalorly is a fantastic journal and I’m thrilled to be included in such a fine issue. Also: They found a killer banner for my piece, a perfect fit. Can’t stop staring at it…

Baudrillard’s America

Baudrillard-America

In his introduction of the text, writer Geoff Dyer calls Jean Baudrillard’s America a “spectacular album of rhetorical postcards and road notes.”

How true.

A book I’ve been meaning to get to for a long while, America is an absolute treat—through Baudrillard’s eyes we see the United States through virgin light: to witness the sights and sounds and scenes and the people and our habits and customs. It creates dialog within oneself, a dialog that cuts through political ideologies and religious red-tape we face daily—the sorts of things that can be the cause of self-wars deep within our minds—and seeks to understand, simply, “What makes us tick?”

It’s an engaging read that, while heavily philosophical, borders more on road trip diary, a text you can envision as you read; Baudrillard’s language lilts off the page as he describes vast deserts and Vegas and Minneapolis (“with its sweet-sounding name, its gossamer string of vowels”) and you can’t help but be carried away by it all.

It’s a short read, a powerful read, and I’d highly recommend America to just about anyone everyone. 

A few of my favorite passages:

“As soon as you set foot in America, you feel the presence of an entire continent — space there is the very form of thought.”

“America is the original version of modernity. [Europe] is the dubbed or subtitled version. America ducks the question of origins; it cultivates no origin or mythical authenticity; it has no past and no founding truth.”

“The marathon is a form of demonstrative suicide, suicide as advertising: it is running to show you are capable of getting every last drop of energy out of yourself, to prove it…to prove what? That you are capable of finishing. Graffiti carry the same message. They simply say: I’m so-and-so and I exist! They are free publicity for existence.”

Fight Club minus Tyler Durden

“May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect.”
―Chuck Palahniuk,
Fight Club

One of my all-time favorite books, Fight Club revolutionized (for me) what a novel could be. What an author could write. And how they could write it.

I also really, really like the film. So it was pretty cool to stumble on this clip with a digitally-removing Brad Pitt/Tyler Durden. Seeing Jack talk to himself is disturbingly cool. Sure, I miss Tyler’s sweet red leather jacket (which I so tried to buy for myself when I was college to no avail), but this is a pretty great way to view the film—and accurate, too.

New story “To Kill Them to Break Them” published in Poiesis Review

Poiesis_6_front_coverYou can find my short story “To Kill Them to Break Them” in Poiesis Review No. 6, which is now available for purchase.

A sample: The man had surprised the boy—moved in up behind fast from the darkest corner of the cabin—but the boy, quick and sure-footed, dodged and grabbed the knife that had been dropped—the one used for snuffing out his mother’s light—and stuck the man in the gut. The boy kept hold of the handle as the man yipped, reached out with old, bone-thin fingers, scraping at the boy’s face. But the boy kept steadfast, shoved the knife in deep, wiggled it in both directions, opened the man up good, and watched as blood poured ceaseless.

Poiesis Review is a great publication, and I’m fortunate to be sharing the pages of No. 6 with some brilliant writers and poets. You can pick up a copy in either print or digital formats (the price is great for how much reading you’re getting). Also: The cover for this issue is absolutely gorgeous.

CHEAP POP is live

I announced last month a new journal I’m going to be running, CHEAP POP, which is devoted entirely to micro-fiction 500 words or less. I’m excited to announce that the journal is now live, and our very first piece—”Not for Women” by Joe Sacksteder—is up.

We plan on posting new stories every Tuesday and Thursday until the end of time, so check out Joe’s piece (a fantastic story that’s perfectly representative of what we’re looking for ), and spread the word. We have some really fantastic stories/authors lined up. Should be a good time.