Monday Night Issue 9. Cover design by Sharon McGill (2010).
An introduction to Sharon McGill, Heather Miller, Nana K Twumasi, and Jessica Wickens, the editorial team that publishes the literary journal Monday Night. Open submissions are held from September to December. The idea to start Monday Night came out of a writing group where Jessica Wickens and Sharon McGill first met. The debut issue of the journal published in 2001. Read the rest of this entry »
Keren David. Photo by Faye Thomas.
An introduction to Keren David, author of Almost True (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2011), the sequel to her debut novel When I Was Joe. Keren David’s first novel was published in the UK in January 2010, and won the North East Teenage Book Award. A journalist by trade, Keren David began writing fiction when she returned to live in London after eight years abroad. She explained that “the experience of being a stranger in my own land really inspired me to write. I saw everything with a new eye.”
Tod Davies. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2011).
An introduction to Tod Davies, author of Snotty Saves the Day: The History of Arcadia (Exterminating Angel Press, 2011). Tod Davies is also the founder of Exterminating Angel Press (EAP), which she started “to find people who were really passionate about an alternative point of view.” What Davies looks for in an EAP writer is someone who has “a practical orientation to life, who says, wait a minute, it’s not working.” Davies will tell you that “stories are living things,” and her author bio in Snotty Saves the Day states that she “firmly believes in the truth of fairy tales, and that if you know who you are (and what made you that way), you can change your world.” Her artistic pursuits are rooted in the philosophy that people ought to think about the world and their place in it, and that everyone may be an advocate for truth and an agent of change. Read the rest of this entry »
Paul Maliszewski. Photo by Hadley Ross.
An introduction to Paul Maliszewski, author of the fiction collection Prayer and Parable (Fence Books, 2011). The cover description for Prayer and Parable says the stories feature people who “struggle to do right. They argue. They think. They think again. They have odd dreams. Often they fail at being good, and yet, on occasion, they realize moments of true kindness.” People much like any of us. These stories are about life and the human condition. The artistry is in Maliszewski’s honest language, and as he mentions, the best way to experience art, is to experience it yourself. You’ll have to read the book to discover its beauties. Read the rest of this entry »
Andre Dubus III. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2011).
An introduction to Andre Dubus III, author of the memoir Townie (WW Norton & Company, 2011), and the recent novels The House of Sand and Fog and The Garden of Last Days. Over the years, while also writing, Dubus has worked as a bartender, office cleaner, halfway house counselor, assistant to a private investigator/bounty hunter, self-employed carpenter and college writing teacher. Townie chronicles his dangerous affair with physical violence. At the end of the interview Dubus stated proudly, “I have not punched anyone in 23 years, by the way. I’m on the peaceful path.” Read the rest of this entry »
Caitlin Doyle. Photo by Mike Robinson.
An introduction to poet Caitlin Doyle, who just completed her tenure as the winter term Writer-In-Residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Florida. Accolades for Caitlin Doyle’s work include Pushcart Prize nominations, a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize, a poetry award from The Atlantic Monthly, and prizes from the Academy of American Poets. Doyle is currently at work on her first book-length poetry manuscript. Her poems have recently been published or will soon appear in Best New Poets 2009, Black Warrior Review, The Boston Review, The Warwick Review, and Measure.
Jonathan Evison. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2011).
An introduction to Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here (Algonquin, 2011). Writer, reader, editor, and blogger extraordinaire Jonathan Evison is a friendly, witty, encouraging, and thoughtful presence in the online literary world. In person, he is all that plus a whole lot of fun. If you attend an Evison book event, you will be rewarded by candid answers and personal anecdotes. He might even play a recording of a Sasquatch whoop howl from his mobile phone. Yes, he believes in Bigfoot. Of everything Evison said, I went to sleep the night after meeting him still thinking about this: “Bigfoot is one last wild possibility that may or may not be out there. I believe because I want to believe.” He is a man with heart, willing to believe in what others might consider the impossible.
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Michael David Lukas. Photo by Haley Pollack.
An introduction to Michael David Lukas, author of the novel The Oracle of Stamboul (Harper, 2011). Lukas lives in Oakland, California, where he was born and raised. When asked where he would most want to live and write, Lukas admitted, “I’m pretty happy in Oakland. I have a really great community, and great food, great weather. It’s nice not being in the center of literary production and publishing. I think I would be a little bit overwhelmed by that.”
Don’t be deceived into thinking that he is anything other than worldly. In fact, the seed for the idea that blossomed as The Oracle of Stamboul came to Lukas while he was living in Tunisia. In his debut novel, Lukas transports readers to the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s. Read the rest of this entry »
Deborah Harkness. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2011).
An introduction to Deborah Harkness, author of the novel A Discovery of Witches (Viking, 2011). A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has previously published two nonfiction books. A Discovery of Witches is her first foray into fiction.
During a book reading and signing event at Rakestraw Books in Danville, California, Harkness mentioned that she had never taken a creative writing class, and never imagined she’d be a published novelist. Discussing the way her experiences and other interests influence her writing, Harkness described writing as “a kind of alchemy. Things you’re not even aware you’re tracking go into the writing.”
As to A Discovery of Witches, which Harkness wrote in one year after beginning in a small notebook while on vacation, she said simply, “It was a story that once I started telling it, I couldn’t stop.” In Harkness’s words, “It’s a book about books, a love of reading, and what books can do.” It’s also a testament to what a person can accomplish when an idea truly captures her attention. Read the rest of this entry »
Hannah Pittard. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2011).
An introduction to the author of the debut novel The Fates Will Find Their Way (Ecco, 2011). Hannah Pittard confesses a few obsessions, and shares advice she gives to her writing students at DePaul University. She’s articulate, she’s a serious thinker, she’s got a sense of humor, and she’s out to break your heart. Read the rest of this entry »
Mariano Bartolomeu. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2010).
An introduction to the Angolan filmmaker Mariano Bartolomeu. Originally from Angola’s capitol city, Luanda, Bartolomeu has lived in a handful of different countries and now resides in the United States. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking and he is a Fulbright alumni. His short films have been selected and screened at a variety of international film festivals, and his documentary “The Sun Still Shines” (1995), made for French TV Channel La Sept-Arte, won Best Documentary and the Fipresci Award at the Milan International Film Festival. Read the rest of this entry »
Elliot Harmon. Photo courtesy of Harmon.
An introduction to poet Elliot Harmon, who initially made a name for himself through performance poetry. Harmon shared, “I think that performance still plays a role in what I write, and I love having the opportunity to perform in different contexts. There was a while there when I was traveling a lot and I was really active in the slam scene. Performing things over and over was a big part of how I revised and worked. That’s not the case anymore because I have a full-time job and not as much opportunity to do that stuff. It’s changed how I work.” Read the rest of this entry »
Juliana Spahr. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2010).
An introduction to the author of several poetry books, including The Transformation (Atelos Press, 2007) and This Connection of Everyone With Lungs (University of California Press, 2005). Juliana Spahr co-edited the literary journal Chain, and has published and edited a variety of essay collections. Currently, she teaches at Mills College in California. Read the rest of this entry »
Amanda Hesser. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2010).
An introduction to the editor of The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century (WW Norton & Company, 2010), and author of the award-winning Cooking for Mr. Latte. Amanda Hesser is a food columnist and editor for the New York Times. She is also the co-founder of food52.com, an online community and recipe database for food lovers and cooks. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Madrid. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2010).
An introduction to the author of The SUPERGIRLS: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, & the History of Comic Book Heroines (Exterminating Angel Press, 2009). Readers of Mike Madrid’s The SUPERGIRLS will note that the discussion moves forward chronologically by decade, from the 1940s through “2000 and Beyond.” As pop culture editor for the Exterminating Angel Press online magazine, Madrid divulged, “I tend to always think of things in terms of other things. For instance, movies in terms of music, comics in terms of movies, or comics in terms of fashion, and how these things reflect certain decades.” He added, “everything seems to be referencing something else. Images in magazines are someone shot to look like someone from the fifties, celebrities get described as ‘the new so and so,’ and things like that. People don’t seem to want surprises anymore, and I find that sad.” Whether in the role of writer or editor, Madrid is a critical thinker, which makes his first book an entertaining and educational read.
Christopher Aslan Alexander. Photo courtesy of CA Alexander.
An introduction to the author of A Carpet Ride To Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road (Totem Books, 2010). Christopher Aslan Alexander originally traveled to the walled city of Khiva, Uzbekistan to write a guidebook. He fell in love with the city, and stayed to work with UNESCO to develop a traditional, fair trade carpet-weaving workshop. In this interview Alexander mentions, “I had no prior experience with carpet weaving or carpet history before I went to Khiva, and yet, somewhere along the line, I became an expert.” A Carpet Ride to Khiva chronicles his adventure.
Brian Switek. Photo by Tracey Switek (2010).
An introduction to the author of Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature (Bellevue Literary Press), which releases this November. Brian Switek is also the author of the science blog Laelaps and Smithsonian magazine’s Dinosaur Tracking.
E E King. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2010).
An introduction to the author of Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife: All You Need to Know to Choose the Right Heaven Plus A Five-Star Rating System for Music, Food, Drink, & Accommodations (Exterminating Angel Press, 2010). E E King has published a number of short stories, but this is her first novel. As her author bio at the back of the book explains, “She was raised in a household that doesn’t force religion on kids. This book is the result.” Read the rest of this entry »
My name is Marissa Bell Toffoli. A writer and reader, I spend lots of time with books, and then more time thinking about those books and the words that fill their pages. I am interested in what writers are working on, how they think about writing, and how writing fits ... Continue reading
Words With Writers 