Christopher Linforth's Blog, page 7
March 7, 2011
March 2, 2011
PUBLICATION UPDATE
After several months revising and expanding my anthology/textbook, The Anthem Guide to Short Fiction (Anthem Press, 2011), I recently heard it is undergoing final copyedits and should be released May/June time.
In other news: so far this semester my success rate with journals has improved. RipRap, ZAUM, The Lindenwood Review, and Rougarou have all taken some of my older fiction pieces. On the poetry front, The Broken Plate, Breadcrumb Scabs, and Adroit have taken some of my recent forays into this genre.
January 15, 2011
NEW READING LIST
Over the break, I sorely fell flat on the quantity of reading I wanted to get through. The highlights, though, were the following:
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? Raymond Carver
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. ed. Joyce Carol Oates.
High Lonesome. Joyce Carol Oates.
Virgin: The Untouched History. Hanne Blank.
In the fall semester, I also read:
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Raymond Carver
Drown. Junot Diaz.
The Seagull Reader: Stories. ed. Joseph Kelly.
Twenty or so literary journals. And enough composition and pedagogical theory to last me a lifetime!
December 15, 2010
NEW PAGES
Over at New Pages there has been a review of Arcadia, a new journal associated with the MFA program at the University of Central Oklahoma. In the issue is my short and very odd play, "I, Arbus." The play centers on Simone Brookman, an aging New York actress. Throughout her monologue, she argues the ruination of her life goes back to an incident in which "Arbus took my picture…she saw something in me. I was a freak, an unnatural occurrence" (48).
Sima Rabinowitz, the New Pages reviewer, has some kind words for it: "Similarly, playwright Christopher Linforth's description of one of his characters as an 'off, off, off Broadway actress' signals a kind of feeling for character that inspires engagement with his work." If you want to read more of the play, buy a copy of Arcadia today! If you want to peruse the script for a production, let me at clinfor [at] vt [dot] edu
December 7, 2010
GOODREADS
Happy holiday greetings to my website viewers! Recently, I've begun a profile over on the Goodreads site. You can find that page here and also one for the book here. Feel free to add me as a friend and review the book once you've read the thing (it comes out in March).
If you'd like a copy for a newspaper or online review, please contact me at clinfor [at] vt [dot] edu.
November 10, 2010
Book Availability — Update
My publisher has been busy developing my book's distribution. Accordingly, it is now available for pre-order at the following websites:
Amazon sites in:
The UK site also delivers to the following countries: Italy, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Sweden, San Marino, Finland, Portugal, Netherlands, and Denmark.
Britain's biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, is also selling the book via its website:
October 27, 2010
On Productivity
Oh, I miss the summer and the crazy-ness and hi-jinks of writing conferences. Over the last couple of years, the main benefits of writing conferences I've found are:
Finding friends and peers interested in writing literature.
Learning by osmosis (craft talks, workshops, basking, etc.).
Discovering new ways of writing, and viewing, literature.
Learning to appreciate quiet spaces where you can write and think.
Drinking lots of wine!
Over my "precious" weeks conferencing, I wrote and re-wrote several stories and poems, and completed my book proposal and sample chapters. After the latter acceptance, the rest of my summer was taken up with finishing the anthology for the early deadline. That now done, I've been sending work out to various literary journals, and recently have had a poem accepted into The Broken Plate. Perhaps appropriately, the poem was about Phillip Lopate (an accomplished writer) thrashing me at tennis! (Full disclosure: He's 67!)
October 19, 2010
Book Available
After only a few months, my publisher, Anthem Press, has completed the artwork for the book. The Anthem Guide to Short Fiction has a release date set in March. Inside the book is my lengthy introduction, and 20 classic short stories, editorial commentary and brief author bios, and discussion questions and creative activities for the classroom.
Pre-order your copies now! Here's a link to the US Amazon and the UK Amazon.
July 24, 2010
Infamy, Infamy, They've All Got It In For Me!
Browsing the web is an odd thing. You come across references to your work, your artistic output every now and then. So far I've found a couple of mentions of my essay: "Stalking Woody Allen: Your Guide in 54 Parts," published in Australia's premier journal, Etchings. Both short mentions were positive (phew!). They can be found here and here.
July 3, 2010
Summer Conferences
I recently attended the Colgate Writers' Conference in Hamilton, NY. While there I met some great people and outstanding writers. In particular J. Robert Lennon (MFA director at Cornell and author of several funny novels), Brian Hall (novelist — check out his recent one on Robert Frost), and Peter Balakian (poetry, memoir, and so forth). The week was long and filled with various readings, lectures, and workshops. The day after Colgate finished I went — via Utica — to Saratoga Springs, where the New York State Writers' Conference is currently taking place. So far, I've met some old friends and had my stories workshopped by Joseph O'Neill (Netherland — a deep, moving, and challenging novel), who, to say the least, is a character! Next week Allan Gurganus will be taking over the class, and I'm highly anticipating some keen insights.
