Cool. The Missouri Review (one of my favorites!) has posted on its website a selection of work from 20 years ago. There’s much to choose from, but my heart skips a beat when it sees: Joy Williams and Amy Hempel.

Today is the Day

Today, at some point, my new computer will arrive. It is a Dell laptop with a large screen. I promise to honor and cherish my new computer. To not to spill water or wine on it and to not let crumbs fall into the keyboard. In sickness and in health. Amen. While this may not seem big news to some, to me it is … Read More Today is the Day

So, I was going to take a bit of a break from posting here but I’m not going to anymore. I’ve found, that for me, breaks should be natural and not self-imposed. When I impose stuff upon self, self becomes obsessed with being denied. It is a miracle that I quit smoking. And that I did it cold turkey. The first time, I failed … Read More

Have been reading the powerful and shattering Reporters’ log: S Asia earthquake at BBC News: I am looking at what remains of the main boys school in Balakot. Its green metal roof has collapsed on top of heaps of wood and stone rubble. Local people are pulling at the wreckage, just using their hands. They are still finding many bodies underneath. I just saw … Read More

I was cleaning out some of my bookshelves the other day when I found Brett Easton Ellis’s Less Than Zero. I decided to read it again as it had been many years (nearly 20?) since I had read it. I remembered that it had left its mark on me when I read it the first time (As did Ellis’s American Psycho–which also ruined brie … Read More

Dear Bozo:

If you are going to try to rip me off, please don’t insult my intelligence by having typos in your email: We recently have determined that different computers have logged onto your PayPal account, and multiple password failures were present before the login. One of our Customer Service employees has already tryed to telephonically reach you. As our employee did not manage to reach … Read More Dear Bozo:

Innovative Lit Zine Launches on October 15

This info was passed on to me by a friend and now I am passing it on to you: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Theodore Q. Rorschalk Founder and Chairman, TQRtqrchair@gmail.com Innovative Lit Zine Launches on October 15 TQR Makes the Editorial Process Visible to Readers and SubmittersAlbuquerque, New Mexico (October 5, 2005) — The pilot issue of TQR, an online literary magazine whose motto … Read More Innovative Lit Zine Launches on October 15

Was just communicating with a friend of mine this morning and was reminded that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sadly, there are more and more people who know someone or are related to someone who has had breast cancer. For me, my mother, two of my aunts, and many friends have had breast cancer (one of my aunts died from it but my … Read More

The latest Vestal Review has a couple of lovely pieces by Pamela Painter: Family Therapy & Not A Ghost Story

got this email and am passing on this info: The Writers’ Room of Boston is now accepting applications for our 2006 Fellowship Program. Fellowships provide free workspace, accessible 24/7 in downtown Boston, for a one-year period beginning in January, 2006. Awards are based upon the quality of the submitted writing sample and the project description and on the basis of financial need. (Dues are … Read More

"Once there was and there was not"

Laila Lalami’s debut Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is an exquisitely written linked collection. I know Laila from her blog MoorishGirl. So I know this is her first book and I know the steps she has taken to get here, but even so, as I read this book, it was difficult to believe that it was a debut. The writing, to me, seems incredibly … Read More "Once there was and there was not"

Read Laila Lalami’s (aka moorishgirl) fascinating interview of Salaman Rushdie: When he was younger, Rushdie told the audience at a Portland appearance last week, he wanted to have some power because he believed a writer should be able to use it to speak out on the big issues of the day. He could never have imagined how he would come about his own power. … Read More