Emerging Writers Network

Established Writers Deserving of Wider Recognition

Part of what you can read in the upper left corner of this website, in the mission statement of the EWN is the idea of trying to garner wider audiences for 'established writers deserving of wider recognition.'

I just received two galleys this week, for a novel due in January from Knopf, by Steve yarbrough, and a short story collection due in February from Graywolf, by Alyson Hagy.  Between them they have published 6 previous short story collections, and 5 previous novels - all very well received by critics.  If only that meant they were widely read, or even widely discussed. 

I read fewer literary blogs than I used to on a regular basis, but I honestly don't believe I've seen news of these two titles on any other blogs.  And that's really just plain sad news.  PEN/Faulkner finalist, Best American Mystery Stories, Best American Short Stories and O.Henry Prize Stories are just a few places they've seen their writing.  Keep your eyes out for these two books.

One nice thing to see this past week was a title reviewed at Erik Smetana's blog, an older title that saw nothing but great reviews, but not enough of them - Steve Gillis' Temporary People:  a Fable.  YYou can see what Erik has to say here.  With two previous novels and a short story collection of his own prior to TP, Gillis fits right in with Yarbrough and Hagy as an author deserving much wider recognition.

Source of Lit - Storyglossia

The new issue of StoryGlossia is up, number 36!  It's the Music and Obsession issue and has some fine work from Tim Jones-Yelvington, Roxane Gay, Anne Valente, and 16 others.  I've not read the entire issue yet, but those that I've dipped into show the usual high level that makes Storyglossia one of my favorite regular reads.  And don't forget to stop by their blog once a week or so to catch up on great musings from editor Steven J. McDermott, interviews of Storyglossia authors by Assistant Editor, Anne Valente, and other great content.

Source of Lit - Unsaid - Brian Schorn

  Brian Schorn - Three Poems

I'm going to admit up front to not fully understanding the poems, or what Schorn was hoping to get the reader to take out of them, and am interested in finding out what it was about them that grabbed your attention. 

I think there are some great phrases and lines that sound great when read aloud, but the question I really walked away with after reading all three of these a few times apiece was - what in the world do the titles have to do with the poems?  Searching a bit further I do see how they might tie in, but it led me to wondering, for you, someone to whom words are so very obviously important, that is, specific words, and their placement within each piece, how important is the title of a piece to you? 

David McLendon

I was first introduced to Schorn's work through his collection, Strabismus. What appeals to me most in his writing is its liveliness. The poems at first glance may come across as stream of consciousness writing, but Schorn places a lot of meaning behind the structure. Regardless, it's the sensation of language created by Schorn that draws me to his work. The words appear to be living organisms on the page. Like Kira Henehan, Schorn is both smart and playful. His titles fit this category as well, and I see each matched perfectly with the text appearing below it. When referencing John Cage and Heinrich Rudolph Hertz, Schorn builds a narrative that stylistically reflects their lives. Schorn appears to me as a scientist-musicologist-historian with the soul of a poet. Each of these disciplines has a place in his work. He is curious and always learning--and he turns his knowledge into curious art.

October is Chapbook Month!

According to Hobart's Aaron Burch (well, as of October 7 that is), October is Chapbook Month.  I'm thinking that Aaron selected October as an homage to the EWN Chapbook Publisher E-Panel that we did just over a year ago. Or maybe he thought about it because he's got two chapbooks coming out in the next four months or so?  I suppose that would make more sense.

In any case, though late to the party, I'm going to do some posting on chapbooks this week (month).

This one will simply be that link above to my E-Panel from last year.  More to come though.

Source of Lit - Unsaid - Richard St. Germain

Richard St. Germain - The Aim Was to Aim Lower

First off, this one surprised me in that it is written in second person.  How often do you receive submissions written in second person, and of those, what percentage do you think pull it off?  What do you personally look for in a story once you notice (usually as of word one) that it's been written in second person? Anything different than what you are looking for in a first or third person narrative?

The other thing that hit me while reading this one was that in a mere seven pages I felt like I was in the midst of a novel.  It didn't seem like a typical short story with a conflict somewhere within, but felt larger than that. 

David McLendon

Ultimately, the narrative point of view in itself matters very little to me. What matters most is how the writer proceeds once he or she has established a narrative point of view. The tools and methods one chooses from the narrative mode are crucial, of course, as each creates an intrinsically notable effect once implemented on the page. But writing from one point of view or another is not the deciding element that makes a story weak or strong. While it’s true that the elevated sense of cold distance conveyed by McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is strengthened by McCarthy’s use of the third-person omniscient, his use of parataxis is perhaps more important, as it increases this needed distance and gives the book a tone that is somewhat biblical. One must also consider the strange archaic terms that are part of McCarthy’s diction, as well as the antiquated syntax of his dialogue. The narrative point of view is but one of many tools.  

Not unlike McCarthy, St. Germain knows his tools. He uses the rarely used second-person point of view to his advantage. He finds authority in this stance and moves forward with declarative sentences that are deceptively simple:  

“It was huge. You were scared. Here it came. Here you were. You were little. You were scared. You were flesh. You were bones.”  

Sentences such as these gather and build inside the reader out from a kind of understated hypnotic cadence. St. Germain easily could have chosen to compose the entire piece in this manner. Had he done so, the story would have been strong. Instead, he insists on making it stronger. He insists on raising the stakes. He accommodates his pages with risk and danger by braiding such deceptively simple sentences with others that are lengthier and somewhat lyrical:  

“It was a view within a view arranged for the sake of familiarity, so that by their feel you gained it, by their feel you lost it again, retrievable and irretrievable at the same time.”  

“Things you touched sank in the way widened by you trying to get at them.”  

“There would always be room for a person who let it be known that the thing he was talking about could be used to get whatever you wanted, to convince someone you were serious, to sleep on (under a cushion or something) or beside (covered with a blanket or something) or even holding (away from the body, obviously, hopefully) as a precaution against intruders coming.”  

This braiding of rhythmically opposed sentences creates a sort of harmonious tension throughout the composition. One rhythm is broken by the other, and the overall effect is one of lingual dips and swells. What bonds each braid to the other is the fullness of confidence that exudes from St. Germain’s spareness of language. In both his shorter and lengthier sentences, he emotes a lot by saying very little. His work is less about information than sensation.  

It’s a wonderfully strange piece, beautiful in its musicality, and you are correct in assuming it’s from a larger work. In addition to these pages, parts of the larger work appear in Unsaid’s second and third issues. St. Germain recently allowed me the fine pleasure of reading the completed work. He has chopped it considerably and shaped it into one of the more exacting pieces of writing I have ever read. Let me be the first to say that this novella, Archipelago, is lasting in its difference and needed by the world. Any publisher who truly cares for literature will not tarry another moment against the opportunity to bring it into print.

Source of Lit - Annalemma

There may not be a journal around right now putting more into its appearance than Annalemma, edited by Chris Heavener.  I've had issue five now for a few weeks and have continued picking it up and leafing through it, not just to read it, but to admire it.

That is not to say, however, that the material isn't worth reading - FAR from it.  "Line of Scrimmage" by BJ Hollars is a great story, adding itself to the many fine "father/son" stories that have been written; "What I Love About History" by Angi Becker Stevens is also a winner; William Walsh's "Barber vs. Heart Disease" caught me completely off guard a couple of times in the best ways; "Waste" by Amelia Gray continued to develop my growing admiration for her work, and her ability to once again start with a scenario that I cannot imagine what she's going to do with - I've learned however to sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing she's always going to do something fantastic.

These were the highlights to me, but there really isn't a dull story in the journal.  And the two essays were interesting and well written, plus there's a great photo-essay toward the back, along with nice images included in each story, plus a letter pressed (numbered, limited edition) piece from Danny Jones included in the back cover, as well as color photos in the contributor's notes.

It's hard to believe you can get all this for a mere ten dollars.  I highly recommend it.

Novellas Novellas Novellas

Back in April, John Madera got heavy into novellas after reading Eugene Marten's fantastic Waste.  He asked numerous authors and editors to share their own favorite novellas - some with, some without, explanation.  It led to a fascinating list that has just been updated as he received more lists and recommendations from other authors and editors, including myself.

From my list:

A Day Meant to Do Less, by Kyle Minor

The piece that grabbed the attention of Dzanc Books.  We read that and immediately asked Kyle if he had a collection of stories to wrap around it.

Tenorman, by David Huddle

I think Huddle is truly one of the undiscovered masters of writing the past forty years.  Short fiction, poems, and essays all just top notch.  His novels, I enjoyed, but not so much as the shorter work but with Tenorman, somewhere in between, his words are golden.

The North of God, by Steven Stern

Stern’s ability to take what I assume to be a Yiddish folktale, and merge it alongside a story that retells this folktale, though from within a cattle car of Jews headed to a concentration camp, to show the power of storytelling itself, is a marvelous bit of writing.  In writing this, Stern reminds us of the power of the human spirit and does so with a helluva tale at that.

Poachers, by Tom Franklin

The novella that titled his first collection, a Hitchcockian with drama and suspense build through the story as three amoral young brothers are slowly stalked and picked off, one by one, by an ex-poaching game warden.

Not, by David Huddle

It is told in numerous short lists or paragraphs. Only one or two of these reaches the length of a page, but they each tell incredible amounts about Claire, the protagonist. The essence of this novella is Claire suffering a breakdown of sorts in her office and deciding that her entire life has been a series of incidents where she has convinced herself she was happy.

Pafko at the Wall, by Don DeLillo

When this was originally published in Harper’s, it blared on the cover, a new novella by Don DeLillo. Later it was the prologue to Underworld, and then later yet, republished in a special hardcover version as Pafko at the Wall again. If the rest of Underworld could have maintained this pace, this level of writing, it would be my favorite novel ever. This section as a stand alone is probably my favorite piece of writing. I don’t know if DeLillo always intended for it to be the lead in to a 500-plus page novel, but maybe he was as enamored with the original novella as I was and just felt he had to try to keep going.

Based on a True Story, by Hesh Kestin

The title novella of the trio Dzanc published last year. Actually, all three are fantastic, but this one, set in pre-World War II Black Hollywood was my favorite of the bunch. Kestin combines the classic writing style of the old masters with the smart ass attitude of some of the more contemporary writers.

Now go check out either link and read everybody else's suggestions - it's a fantastic source for you to find many great reads for your future TBR pile(s).

EWN Honored by Canongate

The kind folks at the very find independent publishing house, Canongate, have deemed the EWN to be this week's Gatekeeper's Site of the Week on their Meet at the Gate literary blog - which is a great place to visit.  Looking and seeing many friends and their sites as previous Gatekeeper's Sites of the Week and it becomes obvious just what a nice thing this is.

 

Their post begins:  "With the stated goals of developing emerging writers and gaining a wider audience for lesser-known writers of literature, what's not to like about the Emerging Writers Network?"  I'll let you click on that link above to see the rest.

Source of Lit - Lonesome Fowl

This new journal's debut issue has actually been online for a good four months, and I'd dabbled in reading it before, but spent some solid time here late last night and left very impressed.  A. Minetta Gould has instantly made Lonesome Fowl a place where language can be seen as a very important thing. 

The debut contains work from seven different writers and ranges from poems, to flash fictions, to stories in letter form and even a story in what appears to be interview form.  Any journal that gets work from Kim Chinquee into that first issue is on the right path as far as I'm concerned.

Source of Lit - Necessary Fiction

The latest effort from So New Publishing's online journal, Necessary Fiction, is Anne Valente's excellent short story, "May This Strap Restrain You." 

In the past weeks there have also been new stories from Michelle Reale, Timothy Jones-Yelvington, Erin Fitzgerald, Jensen Beach, Timothy Raymond, Angi Becker Stevens, Ethel Rohan, Jamie Iredell, Jeff Vande Zande, and the list goes on, including a chapter of Shya Scanlon's Forecast.

Since kick starting this journal back in February, editor Steve Himmer has done a steady, impressive job finding both new and established authors with great new work.