Clifford Garstang's Blog, page 151

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...

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[image error]

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

The End of Andrew's Book Club « Andrew's Book Club[image error]

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[image error]

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...

6 Questions

Six Questions for Clifford Garstang, Editor of Prime Number Magazine

The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell

The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell was officially released this week. It's the story of an opera singer and her husband to consult a doctor in Boston who specializes in fertility matters, somewhat surprising as the novel is set in the early 20th Century.

From there, it's pure romance. And fans of historical romance might like this very much.

Free Short Story Contest at Circalit

Circalit is having a free short story competition--2500 word maximum, deadline September 15. See the website for more information, and you might want to explore the site to see what else they have to offer. Here's what their contest press release has to say about Circalit:

Circalit is the world's premier social networking site for writers. The site was launched in February 2010 as a site where screenwriters can showcase their work to film studios, and is now also home to novelists...

The New Yorker: "The Dredgeman's Revelation" by Karen Russell

Because the ending of this fiction is so odd, I was under the impression that it must be an excerpt from Russell's forthcoming novel Swamplandia! (what's with exclamation points in titles, these days?), but in discussing her inspiration for this piece (see Q&A with Karen Russell) she makes it sound more like an outtake than an excerpt:

What was the inspiration for the piece included in the "20 Under 40" series?

I was working on a novel draft for what felt like the thousandth year, doing some...

Longlist announced for Man Booker Prize 2010: Man Booker Prize news

Longlist announced for Man Booker Prize 2010: Man Booker Prize news

The longlist includes:

Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue Room (Pan MacMillan - Picador)

Helen Dunmore The Betrayal (Penguin - Fig Tree)

Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Books)

Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy The Long Song
(Headline Publishing Group - Headline Review)

Tom McCarthy C (Random House - Jonathan Cape)

David Mitchell The Thousand...