Finalists For Lambda Literary Awards Announced

From Baude Cordier’s “Belle, bonne, sage” (1350-1400), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The finalists for the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. The Lambda Literary Awards honor the best LBGTQ literature of the year in 24 categories, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Among the nominees for 2015 is Augury friend Shelly Oria. Other noteworthy finalists include Ana Castillo, Tom Spanbauer, Danez Smith, Lenelle Moïse, and La JohnJoseph. The winners will be declared at the awards ceremony on Monday, June 1st in New York City.

For the complete list of finalists and their works, visit the Lambda Literary Awards website.

Alicia Jo Rabins Wins 2015 APR/Honickman First Book Prize

Alicia Jo Rabins, friend of Augury Books and reader at our 2014 offsite AWP event, has won the American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize for 2015.

The winning manuscript, Divinity School, will be published in September with distribution by Copper Canyon Press through Consortium. Read “Chute” from Divinity School, which has previously appeared on our site.

Find out more about Rabins and the Book Prize.

Meghan O'Rourke to Lecture at the Mayapple Center

Meghan O’Rourke, photo by Sarah Shatz

The Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities will kick off their Creative Writing guest lecture series on Monday night, July 21, with a lecture by editor, essayist and poet Meghan O’Rourke. The Center, located in Stamford, Connecticut, provides programs, retreats and residencies that cover writing, literature, music, and art therapy, in a “distinctly 21st century climate.”

Augury Books editor Kate Angus, who is also Mayapple Center’s Creative Writing Advisor, will be introducing O’Rourke on Monday night. For more information on the Center and to register, visit Mayapple’s site.

Meghan O’Rourke began her career as one of the youngest editors in the history of The New Yorker. Since then, she has served as culture editor and literary critic for Slate as well as poetry editor and advisory editor for The Paris Review. Her essays, criticism, and poems have appeared in Slate, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Redbook, Vogue, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, and Best American Poetry. O’Rourke is also the author of the poetry collections Once (2011) and Halflife (2007), which was a finalist for both the Patterson Poetry Prize and Britain’s Forward First Book Prize. She was awarded the inaugural May Sarton Poetry Prize, the Union League Prize for Poetry from the Poetry Foundation, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, and a Front Page Award for her cultural criticism. One of three judges chosen to select Granta’s Best Young American Novelists in 2007, she has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and a finalist for the Rome Prize of the Academy of Arts and Letters. A graduate of Yale University, she has taught at Princeton, The New School, and New York University. She lives in Brooklyn, where she grew up, and Marfa, TX.

 

Augury Books at the 4th Annual New York City Poetry Festival

The New York City Poetry Festival, put on by the Poetry Society of New York and organized by Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski, will celebrate its 4th year on July 26th and 27th, with two full days of readings on three stages at Governors Island. This year’s line up includes Mark DotyMatthea Harvey, and Joyelle McSweeney, as well as readings organized by The Academy of American Poets, Coldfront Magazine, and The Poetry Project, among many others.

Join the festival both Saturday and Sunday between 11 AM to 6 PM, with a Vendor’s Village of booksellers, artists and craft makers, and food truck catering. Augury Books will be reading on Saturday at 4 PM on the White Horse stage, with Frances Justine Post (BEAST, 2014), David Joel Friedman and B. C. Edwards (TO MEND SMALL CHILDREN, 2012). Admission is free — don’t miss out!

Check out the press release for more info, or visit the Festival’s website for a full line up of each day, directions, and any additional info.

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

10th Annual Printers’ Ball

This year marks the 10th annual Printers Ball, a day of performances, live printmaking demos, and exhibitions surrounding poetry and literary culture. Founded in 2004 by Poetry magazine’s Art Director Fred Sasaki, Printers’ Ball takes place each year in Chicago and has seen a number of venues spanning across the city. This year, the Ball will be hosted by Spudnik Press Cooperative at the Hubbard Street Lofts, with a central theme of CHATTER, focused on “the energy and chatter of concurrent creative practices.”

Augury Books is honored to be a selected publication at this year’s Ball.

For more information, visit the event website.

 

PICS & VIDEO: "Bonus Round" at Fowler Project Space

Last week, Luke Degnan and  BOMB Magazine put on the reading, Bonus Round, a final event in the Game Show exhibition at Fowler Project Space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The reading included poetry and fiction by presenters Frances Justine Post (BEAST, Augury, 2014), Jack Christian, Michael Coffey, Vincent Katz, and Micaela Morrissette. The exhibition itself displayed work spanning several mediums by Ted Carey, Susan Fang, Kurt Freyer, Elizabeth Hoy, Shanjana Mahmud, Emilie Selden, and Cecelia Post. Enjoy the video and photos documenting the night’s events.

 

Frances Justine Post reads “Heart Hunted” (Video: Cecelia Post):

 

10447602_10101297269154012_3099049814402558874_n

Sarah Gerard of BOMB Magazine and Luke Degnan introduce. Photo: Frances Justine Post

 

10356407_10101297416164402_8103946911109622726_n

Michael Coffey reads from his forthcoming story collection, The Business of Naming Things (Bellevue Literary Press, 2015). Photo: Frances Justine Post

 

10378920_10101297418913892_1643369402603300517_n

Vincent Katz prepares to read in front of a video piece at Fowler. Photo: Frances Justine Post

10411781_10101297414208322_1202778362142945793_n

Jack Christian reads new work. Photo: Frances Justine Post

More on BEAST

buy5._V192207739_

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

 

B.C. Edwards To Launch "From the Standard Cyclopedia of Recipes"

From the Standard Cyclopedia of Recipes by B.C. Edwards, Black Lawrence Press, 2014

We’re happy to announce that tomorrow night is the launch for B.C. Edwards’ (To Mend Small Children, Augury, 2012) first full-length poetry collection. Edwards will be reading with Amy Lawless and Angelo Nikolopoulos at Berl’s Poetry Shop in Brooklyn to usher in From the Standard Cyclopedia of Recipes (Black Lawrence Press, 2014). The event will be hosted by Bernard J. Kravitz. See the Facebook event page to RSVP and Berl’s blog post for more details.

PICS from Federal Dust and Cabin/Fire’s Joint Reading

Two Baltimore reading series, Federal Dust and Cabin/Fire, joined forces earlier this month to throw “Federal Fire,” their first joint reading and cook-out. Hosted by Justin Sirois and Matthew Zingg, the reading featured Michelle Dove, Mark Cugini, Eric Nelson and Adam Wilson.

There were well-crafted words. There were hot dogs. There were marshmallows, a fire pit and a giant Mother’s Day card. A good time was had by all—see the pics below!

Follow Federal Dust on Facebook / on Tumblr

Follow Cabin/Fire’s Blog

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

Michelle Dove reads at Federal Fire

Mark Cugini reads at Federal Fire

Justin Sirois with giant Mother’s Day card at Federal Fire

Eric Nelson reads for Federal Fire

Adam Wilson reads for Federal Fire

 

PICS: Halina Duraj Reads at D.G. Wills

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday night to see Halina Duraj—2014 O.Henry Prize recipient and author of THE FAMILY CANNON (Augury Books, 2014)—read at D.G. Wills Books in La Jolla, CA. Thanks to Dennis Wills for the amazing venue and the wonderful audience for their enthusiasm and support. See photos from the event below.

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

 

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

 

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

Courtesy Halina Duraj and D.G. Wills Books

 

More on THE FAMILY CANNON

Order THE FAMILY CANNON on Amazon

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

Yoga and Writing Retreat Led by Halina Duraj: Openings Still Available

This retreat will help you discover, nurture and support your own creative potential by providing you with yoga and writing tools that unravel the writer within. The retreat will take place in the world famous yoga retreat center Prana del Mar — located in the southern tip of Baja, Mexico — from Saturday, May 31st to Thursday June 5th, 2014.

Find out more here!

More on Halina Duraj

Submit your manuscript to Augury Books — Our reading period is open!