Ravi Mangla's Blog, page 50
March 1, 2012
"Outlander" @ American Short Fiction
My story ("Outlander") is the March web exclusive on the American Short Fiction website. (There's also a short interview on the ASF blog.)
February 26, 2012
Review of Visiting Writers @ The Lit Pub
The Lit Pub posted a review of my tiny collection of stories. Many thanks to Erin Fitzgerald for the thoughtful words. Here's a short excerpt:
"As an expatriate, I have a particular fondness for writers who are influenced by western New York. Their stories are infused with fatalism and the resulting grim humor that seemed to permeate my own childhood. Reading stories by writers like Nicholson Baker, Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson, and George Saunders is satisfying. For me, sometimes it's also like going home. I have the same experience when I read stories by Rochester's own Ravi Mangla, and especially his new collection, Visiting Writers."
February 23, 2012
Quick Fiction (2001-2012)
Quick Fiction, one of my very favorite lit journals, has ceased publication after ten years. Back issues are currently being sold for $4 (with free shipping). Can't imagine a better deal.
February 21, 2012
Knee-Jerk Chapbook Contest
My collection of short short fiction, Hear Ye Knives, was a finalist in Knee-Jerk Magazine's chapbook contest. It's a bittersweet result (the collection was also a finalist in PANK's chapbook contest), but I'm grateful for the opportunity. Big congratulations to Lauryn Allison Lewis, whose chapbook The Beauties will be published by Knee-Jerk in the fall.
February 20, 2012
February 5, 2012
Football Flash
"Buckaroo" from SmokeLong Quarterly (12/10)
When I was twelve I was the only boy in my class who dreamed of becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. My father bought the pom-poms from a sporting goods store: real ones, tinseled in silver and blue. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic about my new hobby, but the last thing he wanted was to become a walking cliché of a single father, displacing his own disappointments, hectoring his son into something he wasn't.
"Interim Coach" from Staccato Fiction (4/10)
In his will, my father left me ownership of his fantasy football team. The inheritance tax did away with LT and what remained was a franchise devastated by injury. There were two weeks left in the regular season. To contend for a title we'd need a miracle or more, even a playoff spot was a prospect with little promise.
