Vanessa Place has appropriated the Warhol Factory model, available thus far as 3 text objects: Factory Work : Hellocasts by Charles Reznikoff by Divya Victor by : Poems for OodPress

But why do the individual stories in a collection have to be connected in any way (tone, character, subject matter, etc)?

The NYT website has a prominently featured piece titled “In Sleepless Nights, a Hope for Treating Depression”… I read it with interest as I’ve from time to time had brutal, grinding insomnia (as have many other writers I know).  Extended periods of insomnia do not in my experience alleviate depression in any way.  On the other hand–and this is not insomnia–there are those nights (rather, mornings) when dawn breaks and you’ve been writing nonstop all night and your exhaustion becomes a kind of euphoria.  Writing as a profession or lifestyle can be disruptive to circadian rhythms because of those nights–they can fuck up your sleep schedule for a week.  (This just happened to me in the last few days, totally disoriented my mind and body in relation to time of day, and may or may not have contributed to a minor car accident.)  But those nights are actually one of my favorite parts of being a writer–those nights are when you get the pure joy of creative endeavor unadulterated by the logistical headaches of publishing and promoting and etc etc etc.

The only thing I got excited about in this list: The Stranger sold 135,434 copies.

Daniel Nester has created a group lit etc. blog, We Who Are About to Die. Contributors include Melissa Broder, Nate Pritts, Michael Schiavo and others. Check it out.

Comedian Eugene Mirman has been added to the already-sweet lineup of tonight’s Rumpus/Flavorpill/Tin House event. He’ll be joining Colson Whitehead, Sam Lipsyte, Lorelei Lee, Michael Showalter, and others. I’m probably a little late in posting this, but if you’re in NYC right now and, like, somewhere near W 16th street, you should be at this event right now. You know who you are, and you should be there.

Dzanc Best of the Web 2010 contents have been announced, congrats to all the writers and editors; looks like a great issue. Matt Bell is series editor, with Kathy Fish as guest editor this year.

Paul Verhoeven, director of RoboCop & Starship Troopers, wrote a book about Jesus.

Since it’s Poetry Month, the awesome SPD is offering a 40% discount on poetry books that came out before 2000. Lots of amazing titles to remember and dream about and buy. I finally bought books by Lorine Niedecker and Linh Dinh. I feel bad that it took me this long to buy them, but happy that I got them at a great discount.

Do you have a literary agent?  Do you think you want/need a literary agent?  Has a literary agent ever sold anything for you?  Are agents a good thing for literature or just a necessary element of publishing?