Our cover story is a profile of poet Afaa Michael Weaver, who, with the release of The Plum Flower Dance, offers a new perspective on twenty years of writing.
November/December 2007
Features
The Path of Creation: A Profile of Afaa Michael Weaver
With the release of The Plum Flower Dance, poet Afaa Michael Weaver offers a new perspective on twenty years of writing.
The Sadness They Carry On Their Backs: A Profile of Benjamin Percy
The stories in Benjamin Percy's second book, Refresh, Refresh, explore what the author calls "the burden of masculinity."
Questions With Answers and Questions Without: A Profile of Alan Lightman
For physicist-turned-novelist Alan Lightman, whose Ghost has just been published, life is one question after another.
The Poetry of Beginning: Twelve Poets Who Got Things Going in 2007
Twelve debut poets talk about their experiences publishing first collections of poetry.
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MFA Programs
In Defense of MFA Programs
A creative writing professor weighs in on the value of MFA programs.
Six New Programs
California State University, Long Beach, Queens College, CUNY, Rutgers University, Newark, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Vanderbilt University
Nine Distinctive Programs
California Institute of the Arts, Chatham University, Hamline University, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, University of Baltimore, University of Iowa, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of Texas, Austin, Whidbey Writers Workshop
Confessions of a Teaching Assistant
Graduate student Kelly Ferguson weighs the pros and cons of teaching against paying tuition while working toward a writing degree.
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Growing Diversity in Graduate School
Today, some graduate programs seek to celebrate different kinds of writing by creating or strengthening initiatives that appeal to students from a variety of geographic locations, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes. And not only are the institutions doing more, students are also taking an active role.
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News and Trends
Killing Them Softly
Nearly three decades after introducing Zuckerman in The Ghost Writer and with the release of Exit Ghost, Philip Roth joins the ranks of authors who have bid farewell to their beloved protagonists.
Q&A: Nicole Cooley and the New MFA
Program director Nicole Cooley discusses the Queens College take on the creative writing degree.
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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 American Short Fiction, American Poetry Review, Conjunctions, Fence, Tigertail: A South Florida Poetry Annual, Cave Wall, and Poetry.
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The Democratic Approach to Slush
A new Web site and publishing program offers an alternative to the old slush pile standard by putting a manuscript’s fate in the hands of its readers.
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The Contester: Editor Offers a Contest Alternative
Two years after the demise of the Contemporary Poetry Series, the University of Georgia Press, in conjunction with Virginia Quarterly Review editor Ted Genoways, begins a new series with a traditional editorial approach.
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Small Press Points
Small Press Points highlights the happenings of the small press players. This issue features Akashic Books, the New Press, Melville House, Seven Stories Press, Disinformation, the Feminist Press, Slope Editions, Essay Press, and Rose Metal Press.
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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 Rhode Island Notebook by Gabriel Gudding and Bowl of Cherries by Millard Kaufman.
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The Written Image: The Writer's Brush
A look at select images from The Writer’s Brush, a collection of essays paired with visual art produced by some of the world’s most famous writers.
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The Practical Writer
Extreme Research: Out of the Library and Into the World
Research takes the form of storm-chasing.
And the Winner Is: Tips From a Pushcart Prize Editor
The former essays editor for the Pushcart Prize discusses the process of selecting winning work.
Blurb My Book, Please!: One Author's Humble Request
A first-time novelist seeks a blurb.
The Literary Life
Literary Laryngitis: How One Writer Found Her Voice
A creative nonfiction writer develops her personal style while freelance writing.
The Art of Reading John Ashbery: Driven to Poetic Distraction
A survey of Ashbery's oeuvre, after last fall's publication of the poet's twenty-fifth poetry collection, A Worldly Country.