Adam Robinson
http://www.publishinggenius.com
Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he operates Publishing Genius Press. His book of poems, Adam Robison and other poems, will be published by Narrow House Books this year.
Matt Bell, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
For sheer wtf, you gotta read Matt Bell’s story “Cain, Caleb, Cameron,” recently in Wigleaf. It’s like one man’s personal Beowulf. (I’m not sure that holds up, but it’s funny, and if an enterprising composition student wants to put it in a paper, alongside a list of all the kennings in the piece, he can site this post as substantive material.)
Here, I’ve excerpted a good grossness, for the click-weary:
. . . First there was the push, push, then the blood, then my mistake-toothed firstborn howling in the nurse’s arms: chubby, too chubby, too covered in mother’s gore.
And then my wife continuing to push. And then the doctor’s begging her to stop. . . .
Anyway, uh, I met Matt Bell’s wife briefly in Ann Arbor. So for this installment, I’m asking her to EXPLAIN YOUR HUSBAND! [applause]
Is this a good poem?
Last night in class we did some process writing. I don’t like process writing, especially when it’s rule-based. I always wonder more if I’m paying attention to the rules. Last night in class I kind of ignored the rules and the process writing. I wrote this poem. Is it any good? Is poetry better with revision? Actually, don’t answer that. Just tell me if you think this poem is good.
Adam Robinson—
Kristy Bowen, from Dancing Girl Press, characterizes her reason for publishing chapbooks:
I’ve always seen an editor more as a collector. I know a lot of people see them more as gatekeepers, culling the wheat from the chaff, but I think what I choose depends far more on my own tastes and whims than on any standard of what anyone else considers “good” poetry. What I tend to like or publish might not appeal to everyone all the time, but I always feel a bit more like someone collecting culture rather than passing judgment on it.
Plenty of more people from a notable variety of presses talking about chapbooks over at the November issue of The Chapbook Review, as well as reviews of five chapbooks.
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Adam Robinson—
Yesterday I (finally) received the proof of Joseph Young’s collection of microfiction, Easter Rabbit. A company in St Louis is handling the printing. They are eco-friendly and their pricing is very competitive, but they were slow as cold shit getting this proof out. Anyway — the book is gorgeous. Really damn hell gorgeous.
Now I’m hard at work on the next book, for a late January/February release. It’s a 200-page collection of poetry by Mairéad Byrne. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, I HIGHLY recommend checking out her eBook released from ubu/web: SOS Poetry.
Wack Bible Stories
You know Jonah – God sent him to Ninevah but he didn’t want to go, so God made a whale eat him. Then Jonah had a change of heart and God made the whale barf him up.
Here’s the rest of the story: in Ninevah, Jonah told everyone that God was going to wipe them out in 40 days. They panicked and dressed themselves in burlap and the king said no one should eat anything. He said no animals should eat anything either, so God spared them. This irked Jonah because he looked like he didn’t know what he was talking about. Surely thinking about the Mediterranean storm, this time he fled into the desert. That night God grew a plant to shade Jonah. Then God sent a worm to eat the plant.
It’s in the Bible: READ MORE >
Adam Robinson—
Electric Literature in the NY Times. Geez.
Rick Moody is doing a story over 3 days via Twitter. Incorporating technology into literature all willy-nilly is bad for literary innovation.
Adam Robinson—
Submissions I receive most often and I’m most tired of reading are:
Stories about heterosexual sex (often violent) (usually written by women)
Stories about drugs/drinking (often cruel) (always by men)
Stories about having bad jobs and being proud of it (mostly narcissistic) (always by men)
Stories about detached husbands (mostly domestic issues that don’t seem that difficult to overcome) (usually by women)
Stories about breaking up (usually based on sex) (usually by men)
Stories about not really getting God (usually involve parents) (usually by men)
It’s very hard to handle these topics in an interesting way.
It’s too bad there’s nothing else in the world to write about.
Explain Mean Week Yourself! Sean Lovelace or Ander Monson
What? This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.
I’m sorry Sean Lovelace or Ander Monson (whoever really gets the credit), but you can’t use Amazon to host a literary magazine.
Please remove your stupid journal immediately. There is no editorial control. People are just writing all willy-nilly. It’s been around for more than seven months and someone submitted as recently as two hours ago. It should have died by now.
Meanwhile, my story was posted in the beginning and only 3 people found it useful.
This is exactly what’s wrong with indie lit. No one can read my story because too many other people are writing and all the editors are freaking crazy.
Dammit.
Adam Robinson—
Does it seem like there are an unusually high number of posts here today, I mean for a Friday?
Jesse Tangen-Mills, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
[Oops, this feature is a little late this week because I forgot that it exists.]
I really like this odd piece of fiction in elimae, called “Anywhere,” by Jesse Tangen-Mills. It will take you 7 seconds or less to read, so go check it out.
Here are some things I noticed about “Anywhere”:
It’s twelve words long.
It’s kind of sci-fi?
It has round characters.
It’s vague.
It came into my brain and stayed there and made me think about it after I read it.
But wtf is it? Jesse Tangen-Mills, EXPLAIN YOURSELF! (applause.)
Uncategorized / 22 Comments
October 23rd, 2009 / 9:54 am
October 23rd, 2009 / 9:54 am