“The Writer”
Carson Mell has a story in the new Electric Literature, which I bought because he and Lynne Tillman were published in it. I bought a copy of that and all the Supermachines (which are at least as great as everyone says they are because it’s true) and so I felt really indie lit and hip and stuff for about a week on the bus with people wondering “oh that must be the contemporary literature I hear so much about never” and then I fucked around and started re-reading a book that was written ninety years ago and which made me feel I could climb a building if I only wanted to.
Anyway I don’t much care for Mell’s fiction and I thought the publication quality of Electric Literature was quite poor considering how cool their website is, but then they do manage to pay their contributors and obviously care much more about the web with their apps and all, so maybe that makes up for it. I dunno nothing. Lynne Tillman’s thing was great of course. All in all though, I was underwhelmed. But I still think Carson Mell is a genius at making these videos, so who gives a shit I guess.
Ken Baumann—
Electric Literature made Broadcastr, an app & site that lets you record stories and pin them to places. Start making it weird.
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Being Andy Devine
Along with the great discussion about how to read Andy Devine’s work in the LMC (which, really, is just cool), today at Electric Literature’s blog, Julia Jackson posts a write-up about Being Andy Devine, Andy’s tour across the states. Next stop, Solar Anus.
Matthew Simmons—
Justin is on Electric Literature and the story’s kinda badass. E.g.: “I don’t know dick about Latin but some things are just obvious and sometimes I think that’s what God is: the obvious, resplendent and intractable and dumb.” (Sorry I didn’t notice this sooner.)
NEW Electric Literature Single-Sentence Animation: Lydia Davis
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8SsY3AFdBU
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December 17th, 2009 / 1:03 pm
December 17th, 2009 / 1:03 pm
Some Reactions to “Some Contemporary Characters” by Rick Moody
All of you know that Electric Literature recently began tweeting what they are calling ‘an experiment in participatory ePublishing’: they are publishing Rick Moody’s story “Some Contemporary Characters” over three days/153 Tweets. They’ve invited anyone who’d like to RT ((re)publish?) the story along with them to participate. As far as I can tell, here’s who is participating: @WritersGarret, @vromans, @shyascanlon, @TheSchooner, @str1cken, @StephenBruckert, @skylightbooks, @skemptastic, @OpiumMagazine, @MWSchmutterer, @litdeathmatch, @FictionAdvocate, @coppernickel, @commongoodbooks, @breathebooks, @brazosbookstore, @blackclockmag, @a_m_kelly, @Andrew_Ervin, @lunaparkreview, @BOMBMagazine, and probably more.
After tweeting the story for today, Electric Literature posted this question on their Facebook page: “Is the Multiple Tweeting of Rick Moody’s Story Awesome, Annoying, or a Bit of Both?”
After the jump, I’ve tried to answer the question as best I could.
READ MORE >
The Electric (Literature) Slide: Boogie Woogie Woogie
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixel_addict/ / CC BY 2.0
Whenever a new literary magazine debuts I am intrigued because it means there’s one more group of people in the world who support words, writing and writers. I have found Electric Literature particularly interesting because they actually pay (and quite well) their writers. They have a slick, aggressive advertising campaign with ads like this and this and others suggesting that their magazine offers “reading that is bad for you.” I’m not sure what that means. The writing in the first issue didn’t feel dangerous.
Lick Your Finger and Stick it in The Outlet
The fine folks at Electric Literature have launched a blog. The first two posts at The Outlet are a chapter of Shya Scanlon’s Forecast and this short essay by Jim Shepard about writing non-fiction-based fiction.
The first worry writers have when they consider working with something like historical events has to do with the issue of authority: as in, where do I get off writing about that? Well, here’s the good and the bad news: where do you get off writing about anything? Where do you get off writing about someone of a different gender? A different person? Where do you get off writing about yourself, from twenty years ago?
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October 1st, 2009 / 11:46 am
October 1st, 2009 / 11:46 am
Jim Shepard’s “Your Fate Hurdles Down At You” video trailer
Kudos, Electric Literature.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUClJFjFEgk
Cover to Cover: Electric Literature, No. 1
I’m still in the Dominican Republic, recuperating after climbing Pico Duarte, with a giddy love of modern plumbing dominating my emotional core. Earlier last week, I read the entire Electric Literature, No. 1 which consists of only five short stories. At first, the green smoke of envy blew out my nostrils because every single one of the f ive authors- EVERY SINGLE ONE- has had multiple books published. I mean, couldn’t they publish just one up and comer? Pretend they care about new talent? Hm. Guess not.
Anyway, the cover of Electric Literature is a tripped out, fantastic portrait of a woman with multiple eyes and ears, blood dripping on her face, muscle tissue showing and weird space-age shit going on, done by Fred Tomaselli. So, I expect something unconventional inside, from both the coverart and the title, something truly “electric”. What instead I found, were five, solidly good short stories. And this is no small feat. In fact, it was one of the most satisfying journal reading experiences I’ve had in a while. READ MORE >
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July 28th, 2009 / 10:49 am
July 28th, 2009 / 10:49 am
Blake Butler—
Ken showed me this: Electric Literature. Looks amazing. $1000 for contributors, beautiful design, various mediums, etc. Nice’ns. Enjoy the weekend fellas and fellettes.
