Our cover story is a profile of novelist Susan Choi, who, in all three of her novels, draws from dramatic events in history to tell stories with present-day relevance, but her latest, A Person of Interest, hits especially close to home.
January/February 2008
Features
The Moment of Origin
A profile of novelist Susan Choi.
The Moment of Origin: A Profile of Susan Choi
A profile of novelist Susan Choi who discusses her book A Person of Interest.
Finding the Centers
A profile of mathematician and fiction writer Manil Suri who discusses his novel The Age of Shiva.
Finding the Centers: A Profile of Manil Suri
A profile of mathematician and novelist Manil Suri about his book The Age of Shiva.
Literary Agents
Agents & Editors: A Q&A With Agent Lynn Nesbit
With more than forty years of experience in the business, agent Lynn Nesbit discusses how she signed some of her biggest clients, how a writer can get an agent’s attention, and what’s wrong with the publishing industry.
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Calling All Agents
How to attract agents' attention.
California Dreaming
A roundup of California agents.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
When to end the author-agent relationship.
Twenty-one Agents You Should Know
A listing of agents, the genres they represent, and their contact information.
News and Trends
U.S. Postal Rates Up, Editors Down
Low-budget literary magazines are struggling to absorb the impact of the Postal Regulatory Commission's recent ruling in favor of a new pricing structure that favors large-circulation publications with heavy advertising.
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Q&A: Alice Quinn’s Poetic Providence
Former New Yorker poetry editor Alice Quinn discusses her final days at the magazine and looks ahead to more time spent in her role as the director of the Poetry Society of America.
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California Complex
Showtime's Californication—a series about a best-selling writer (played by David Duchovny) who succumbs to the glitzy West Coast lifestyle—is renewed for a second season and leaves contributor Ken Gordon wondering, "What's the appeal?"
Small Press Points
Small Press Points highlights the happenings of the small press players. This issue features Akashic Books, Belladonna Books, Cool Grove Press, Fence Books, Litmus Press, Ugly Duckling Presse, Four Way Books, and Tin House Books.
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Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin
Page One features a sample of titles we think you'll want to explore. With this installment, we offer excerpts from Beautiful Children by Charles Bock, Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee, and Infamous Landscapes by Prageeta Sharma.
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Venture Capital for the Literary Set
After sitting through a lecture about the harsh reality of literary publishing, an idealistic MFA grad took action and founded the Literary Ventures Fund, whose mission is to financially support books of all genres.
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The Written Image: Men of Letters...
A look at select images from Men of Letters and People of Substance, a collection of author portraits created with letters from the writers' names in the typeface that best represents the style of their work.
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Literary MagNet
Literary MagNet chronicles the start-ups and closures, successes and failures, anniversaries and accolades, changes of editorship and special issues—in short, the news and trends—of literary magazines in America. This issue's MagNet features Southern Humanities Review, Nimrod, Many Mountains Moving, Shenandoah, Virginia Quarterly Review, Notes From the Underground, and Slice.
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The Practical Writer
Paperback Writer: Do I Want to Be One?
Fiction writer Steve Almond discusses the advantages and disadvantages of publishing books in paperback format.
First: Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age
A profile of Tahmima Anam on the occasion of the publication of her debut novel.
The Literary Life
Imperative: The Pitfalls of Historical Fiction
A novelist's take on the challenges of writing historical fiction.
To Make Me Who I Am: Poetry As a Way Out
Poet Reginald Shepherd discusses poetry's essential role in his life.