(1) The Rumpus is having a book review competition open to all undergraduate and graduate students. There is no fee to enter. Book reviews must be at least 600 words (no longer than 1,500 words) and concern literary fiction, creative non-fiction, or memoir. The publication date of the book is irrelevant. The deadline to submit your review is June 1, 2009. (I know for a fact that editor Stephen Elliott is really psyched about this contest. If there’s a college student in your life (or if YOU are the college student in your life) who is interested in this sort of thing, you’d be doing him or her a big favor by passing the word along. Click anywhere here to see the details at the Rumpus.

(2) THE LONELY VOICE: A New Column About The Short Story by Peter Orner What else could you possibly need to be told about this? There’s basically no level at which it’s not exciting.