Cover Art for Prime Number?

Prime Number Magazine is looking for cover art! It's pretty simple -- the magazine wants representations of the prime numbers corresponding to the issues. The next issue is No. 3, so we need 3's -- picture of a 3, picture of 3 somethings, something else that connotes 3.

There's a 'Cover Art' category in the submission guidelines. Go forth and submit.

And, by the way, we're always looking for work in all the genres: fiction, non-fiction, craft essays, poetry, interviews, reviews, and even drama!

The next update, Prime Decimals 2.5, will be posted in a couple of weeks. The next full issue is scheduled for mid-October.

Poetry Publishers Who Accept Electronic Submissions

I came across this useful site (for poets) when I noticed that Prime Number Magazine had a visitor who arrived from there:

Poetry Publishers Who Accept Electronic Submissions

The New Yorker: "The Science of Flight" by Yiyun Li

In the Q&A with Yiyun Li she mentions she’s working on a novel about leave-taking. While she doesn’t say that this story is an excerpt from that novel, it certainly feels like an excerpt to me. As much as I find the character of Zichen interesting and sympathetic, not much happens here. One could argue that there is conflict, as Zichen struggles to withhold the truth from her colleagues and maintain the fictions that she’s created for herself, and it even provides some decent tension—will the truth come out?—but it doesn’t get resolved and it doesn’t lead anywhere.

The story is that Zichen was born out of wedlock in China and was raised by her grandmother. At the first opportunity she fled—by marrying a man who was bound for the U.S. She miscarries, her husband divorces her, and she carries on a fantasy life that involves lying to her colleagues about her parents and her annual visits to them in China. Meanwhile, her one and only friend was Margaret, a senile older woman, who gives her a copy of Winnie the Pooh in Latin. Which she uses to learn Latin. And now she’s bound for England—her grandmother has died so the annual visit to China is more pointless than usual—to connect with Margaret’s past.

Li says that the story is about fleeing, but it seems to me that Zichen in planning her trip to Margaret’s village is really going home. Only Margaret has been her friend and it makes sense that she feels a connection there. She has no real home, so the village she has chosen to be Margaret’s (she doesn’t know the actual village) is where she’s going. At the end of the story Li says “the life she had made for herself was a life of flight, of discarding the inessential and the essential alike, making use of the stolen pieces and memories, retreating to the lost moments of other people’s lives.” And that’s what she’s doing with her trip to England.

As I say, Zichen is an intriguing character, but the story doesn’t do much for me.

August 30, 2010: “The Science of Flight” by Yiyun Li

Sunday Miscellany

Wow. It's been awfully quiet in here lately. Sorry about that, but I've been busier than usual. Here's what's been happening.

The new semester started this week at Blue Ridge Community College, where I'm teaching one section of Freshman Composition II. I like this course because the students read and write about literature, so I get to talk about fiction and poetry and drama. We're using a new textbook this semester, so that means more work for me, but it also means I can think about and explore some things I haven't read before. We're just getting started, but we had a nice discussion this week on Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," which is terrific.We did a close reading and even I noticed things this time through, although I've read it many times before. The class is only 18 students, down from my 26 last semester, and we're in a nice, modern classroom. Should be [mostly] fun.

And I decided to TAKE a class in addition to teaching one because French 101 meets right before my Composition class and I have to be on campus anyway. That's also going to be fun. The homework is enjoyable so far and the teacher is using My French Lab, which allows us to do the exercises online and have them graded automatically.

This week we also had the August meeting of our Reading Liberally book club. I started the group five months ago because I felt that many of us talk about issues without being fully informed. Not only do we solidify our beliefs when we do more study, we arm ourselves to discuss the issues with others. The first book we read was Agenda for a New Economy by David Korten. Then we read Michael Pollan's Defense of Food. Two months ago we read Beyond Fundamentalism by Reza Aslan. Last month it was Color-Blind by Tim Wise. This month we read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Next month we're doing Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, and in October we're reading The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman.

Then there's SWAG--the Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta Group of Writers, a group that I started. We're a subgroup of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Virginia Writers' Club and the goal is elevate the profile of local writers and the literary arts in the community. In June we had a terrific reading with a visiting novelist and a local poet and next month we have a reading with a visiting poet and a local essayist. More about that to come. But a couple of our members approached me about doing a talk on their experiences with self-publishing, so they put that together and the program was yesterday. On a Saturday afternoon at the library we had about ten people, and I was happy with that. The two presenters were Alexandra Jefferds, author of Earlier Heaven, and Caleb Grimes, author of Star Wars Jesus.

I'm also keeping busy with Prime Number Magazine, which is humming along. Earlier this week we posted the latest update to the first issue, Prime Decimals 2.3 with more flash and short poetry. This weekend I'm working on layout for 2.5, due out in a couple of weeks, and lining up work for the next full issue, No. 3, which will be live on October 19. Because we're using Submishmash as our submission manager, keeping track of all this is relatively easy. Still, at the moment we've just got a few people doing everything, so it's a fair amount of work. I don't think it will be long before we're looking for help.


And then there's my own writing, which is moving slowly. I'm doing revisions to a novel and it's taking longer than I thought it would. Doesn't it always.

Prime Number Magazine -- update 2.3

The latest update (Prime Decimals 2.3) to Prime Number Magazine is up. It features flash fiction by Paul Griner, flash non-fiction by Rebecca K. O'Connor, and poetry by Anne Babson and Jennifer Hollie Bowles. Take a look!

Writing the Literary Short Story -- begins August 30

The class I'm teaching at Writers.com was supposed to begin tomorrow, August 23, but we're going to delay the kickoff by one week. If anyone is interested in enrolling, or knows someone who might be interested, please check out the course description at Writing the Literary Short Story. I'm biased, of course, but I think it's a very nice workshop. We'll definitely start on August 30.

Emily Dickinson :: The Belle of Amherst, BRCC November 12

Emily Dickinson :: The Belle of Amherst - Pam Chabora in Live Theatre, Private Acting Coaching Classes, Fargo, ND, Beckley, WV

There are some interesting opportunities for the students in my Composition class this fall. (I'm teaching Comp II, where we read and write about fiction, poetry, and drama.) First, the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton is performing Othello in repertory until early December. In previous semesters I've taught Hamlet in this class, but the textbook has changed and it now includes Othello, so I'll be encouraging the students to see the show. (Which I've already seen once and plan to see at least one more time.)

And then it turns out that the one woman show by Pam Chabora--Emily Dickinson, The Belle of Amherst--will be coming to the college on November 12. We're reading Dickinson in the class, of course, so this will be a great opportunity for the students to find out more about her. For information about tickets, see: Belle of Amherst at BRCC.

Awards for In an Uncharted Country

This isn't new news anymore, but the local paper just ran a short piece about the Maria Thomas Award that my book, In an Uncharted Country, won recently. And I just happened to notice that the Indiebound listing for the book is now showing the new cover, complete with IPPY Gold Medal the book won in May. And I thought I'd share that here . . .

SWAG Hosts Self-Publishing Workshop

Earlier this year I started an organization called SWAG: the Staunton-Waynesboro-Augusta Group of Writers, a sub-group of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Virginia Writers' Club. My primary purpose in forming the group was to provide a vehicle for the reading series I envisioned, and the first reading was held on Bloomsday, June 16. Our next reading will be September 29 and will feature the poet Todd Davis and the local nature essayist Janet Lembke.

But before we get there, SWAG is hosting another event: a Self-publishing Workshop. This will be presented by two local authors, Alexandra Jefferds, author of the novel Earlier Heaven, and Caleb Crimes, author of Star Wars Jesus.

The workshop is free and open to the public on Saturday, August 28, from 1:00-3:00 pm, at the Staunton Public Library.

Writing the Literary Short Story

My course "Writing the Literary Short Story" begins 8/23 on Writers.com/Writers on the Net. Past participants have found the class very helpful. Have an unpublished story you want to get ready to send out? This is a great way to get feedback and also learn or review the fundamentals of short story writing.

Sign up now!

Anis Shivani: Anis Shivani: 17 Literary Journals That Might Survive the Internet (PHOTOS)

Last week, Anis Shivani created some controversy with his list of overrated American writers. His new list is going to draw less fire, but there might still be some discussion.

Anis Shivani: Anis Shivani: 17 Literary Journals That Might Survive the Internet (PHOTOS)

It's a misleading headline, though. Shivani has merely gathered comments from the editors of these 17 journals; he hasn't said he thinks these are the only journals that will survive the Internet. Indeed, missing are some very strong magazines such as Ploughshares and Paris Review, and even some on this list are known to be financially shaky--both The Southern Review and New England Review have had close calls in the past couple of years. Still, it's interesting to read the editors' comments.

The New Yorker: "Second Lives" by Daniel Alarcón

According to the Q&A with Daniel Alarcón, this is an outtake from a novel the author is working on, but it seems to work as a story. I like Alarcón’s work, and this story is no exception. The title gives us the story’s theme: second lives. The narrator’s parents were in school in the US when their son Francisco was born, but they had to return their country, where the situation was tolerable for some time but then deteriorated. Because Francisco had a US passport, they could send him the States, which they did when he was 18 and their lives were steadily getting worse.

Meanwhile the neighbors are going through a change—the husband has an affair and leaves, which embitters the wife—and the narrator’s parents work at getting permission to emigrate to America. And the narrator, whose name is Nelson, lives a sort of imaginary life as his brother travels across the US.

The story works thematically. What’s most appealing, though, is Nelson—a typical boy who is struggling to learn how the world works by observing the people around him—the neighbor and their affair, his parents and their political struggles, his brother and his letters from America. All of which contributes to the man he’s going to become—his own second life.

August 16 & 23: “Second Lives” by Daniel Alarcón

Bread Loaf

In case anyone wonders, I'm not at Bread Loaf, which got underway yesterday.

The New Yorker: "The Train of Their Departure" by David Bezmozgis

Begrudgingly, I have to admit that this excerpt from Bezmozgis’s novel in progress, The Free World, works pretty well as a short story. I think if he had conceived of it as a story he could have dispensed with a lot of the backstory concerning Polina and Maxim—the fact that she had an abortion and then they got married is pretty much all you need to know about that. The real story is about Polina and Alec.

That said, I like the character of Alec and the way he worms himself into Polina’s bed and the dilemma he puts himself in when her pregnancy potentially screws up his plan to emigrate. (He bets her that he can beat her in a shooting competition and the prize is that she’ll go on a date with him, although she’s still married; he barely wins.) In the end, Alec plays his cards pretty well—he’s not the fool that Polina’s coworker Marina takes him to be.

The story is about how the Soviet Union was every bit as bleak as we think it was, although it also had sparks of life to it. And, of course, it’s about taking responsibility and making choices, which both Alec and Polina are trying to do.

Not bad. Check out the Q&A with David Bezmozgis 

August 9, 2010: “The Train of Their Departure” by David Bezmozgis

James River Writers Conference -- October 8-9

The 2010 edition of the James River Writers Conference is fast approaching. It's October 8-9 at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, and this year there is a special offering of workshops on Thursday afternoon, October 7. (I'm leading one of those workshops, and I'm also on a panel or two during the conference.) I've been to JRW as a participant and it's definitely a great deal. Check it out! (And sign up for my workshop . . .)

This year's conference has some great featured speakers:

• Silas House, New York Times bestselling author and recipient of the James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South from the Fellowship of Southern Writers.
• Mike Olmert, Emmy Award winning screenwriter.
• Charles J. Shields, writer of the New York Times bestselling Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee.
• Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling mystery author.
• Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the Newbery Honor Medal, the Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement, and many others.

Nicholas Negroponte: The Physical Book Is Dead In 5 Years

Is the physical book dead? Oh, probably. Moribund, at least.

Nicholas Negroponte: The Physical Book Is Dead In 5 Years

The End of Andrew’s Book Club « Andrew’s Book Club

The End of Andrew’s Book Club « Andrew’s Book Club

TaniaWrites: The First Story Sunday on Twitter

Tania Hershman continues to promote the short story. Read her blog post and then check out what's happening on Twitter:

TaniaWrites: The First Story Sunday on Twitter

The New Yorker: "The Blue Djinn" by Téa Obreht

We’re not quite done with The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 series, but I think this one is my favorite of the bunch so far, and not just because it does not seem to be an excerpt from a novel (although Obreht’s “The Tiger’s Wife” that appeared in TNY last year is an excerpt from her novel that is due out this fall). 

This story is about a boy, Jack, who lives in the hotel that his mother manages. (Since the story, according to the Q&A with Téa Obreht is inspired by the period when Obreht lived with her family in Egypt, let’s say that’s the setting.) As the story opens, some articles of clothing belonging to a Frenchman have been found on the beach, and the lifeguards and local fishermen are trying to determine what happened to the Frenchman. Then one of his flippers turns up, and they’re all afraid that he’s drowned. They go to inspect the man’s room and discover his sketches of sea life, including a big turtle, but his pencils are missing. We understand that Jack knows something:

“‘But where are the pencils?’ Mr. Hafez is saying as he lifts up the pages one by one and looks under them. Jack does not tell him.” Hmm. What does Jack know?

It turns out that Jack observed the Frenchman the previous morning doing his sketches and they were both present when a tortoise was freed from a fishing net, although the tortoise had a crack in its shell. For the benefit of the tourists a fisherman says a shark is responsible, but Jack knows he really thinks the Djinn did it. The story then lapses into an explanation—it’s short, though, and interesting—about the Djinn.

At this point, the story has our complete interest. What does Jack know? Where’s the Frenchman? And what about this Djinn?

It is revealed that Jack saw the Frenchman being carried off across the water—by the Djinn! Jack didn’t see the Djinn, but the Frenchman appeared to be sitting on the waves while he was being carried off. He called for help, but Jack wasn’t allowed in the water and there wasn’t time to run for help.

Eventually, the Frenchman’s body turns up, but there is still no explanation. And that brings us to the unsatisfactory ending of the story—Jack falls asleep on the beach, and it seems to me that the last six paragraphs are his dream: he wakes up and there is silence, and the water is gone. But no, not gone, but the tide is much further out than Jack has ever seen it. He is able to walk out to the shipwreck where the Djinn live—although his feet are cut by the corals and rocks. He is doing what he has been too afraid to do up until now, and then he sees “it” — which seems to be a tortoise. And that, apparently, is meant to explain the mystery of the Frenchman’s disappearance—he rode to sea on the back of the tortoise and drowned.

I suppose it isn’t necessary to conclude that Jack is dreaming at the end, but I think that’s what’s happening—and dreams in fiction almost always annoy me. If he’s not dreaming, how do we explain his courage in walking to the shipwreck when he’s been timid before? Why is he shown falling asleep on the beach? So, until the ending, I liked the story a lot.

August 2, 2010: “Blue Water Djinn” by Téa Obreht

Other views?

6 Questions

Six Questions for Clifford Garstang, Editor of Prime Number Magazine