Fiction Writers Review on Halina Duraj’s ‘The Family Cannon’

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

The Fiction Writers Review has posted a lovely piece by Matthew Batt on Halina Duraj’s THE FAMILY CANNON (available here). Read an excerpt:

The miracle of this book, calling to mind Anthony Doerr’s recent Memory Wall, is that Duraj manages to distill the historical, cultural, familial, and interpersonal experience of love, memory, and pain in ten crystalline short stories that form a family portrait covering nearly a century, resonating both before its beginning and well beyond its end. ….

What binds it is the fierce and loyal will of the one who knows she has to keep weaving these stray bits of stick and story and trash and grass back together to make us who we are—family.”

Read the whole review here.

But there’s more! Head out to La Jolla tomorrow to see Halina Duraj (recent recipient of a 2014 O.Henry Award) read at D.G. Wills Books: Saturday, May 10, 7 p.m.

More on THE FAMILY CANNON

Order THE FAMILY CANNON on Amazon

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

VIDEO: Frances Justine Post and Kate Angus Visit ‘The Casserole’ Online Reading Series

BEAST author Frances Justine Post stopped by The Side Dish, part of the online reading series, The Casserole, to read from her new book (available here) and talk with series runner Chelsea Kurnick about the imagery of the book, its narrative arc, and writing “creepy poetry.”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACCnSdIkVCc

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Also check out Augury Books editor Kate Angus’ reading on The Casserole:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKIk26ZLe4o

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The Casserole is a weekly online reading series hosted by Chelsea Kurnick and featuring poetry and prose writers every Sunday. Writers hang out with Chelsea on Google Hangouts and the result is aired live on Youtube. The Casserole goes live at 6:30pm until 7:30pm PDT each week. If you miss an episode, you can come back any time to watch the recordings.

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

Augury Author Halina Duraj Wins 2014 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction

Halina Duraj, whose debut short fiction collection, The Family Cannon, was published by Augury Books this past January, will appear in this year’s O. Henry Prize  anthology. Widely regarded as one of “the most prestigious awards for short fiction” (The Atlantic Monthly), the O. Henry prizes are awarded each year to twenty short stories selected from the pages of thousands of literary magazines. Duraj will appear alongside such luminaries as National Book Award winner Louise Erdrich and Whitbread Award winner William Trevor. Duraj’s short story “Fatherland” originally appeared in Harvard Review. The 2014 O. Henry Prize anthology was edited by Laura Furman and will be published by Anchor Books in early September.

Publishers’ Weekly has a full list of the O. Henry prize winners.

Order THE FAMILY CANNON new from Augury Books here.

Congratulations, Halina!

 

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

Augury Books at PEN World Voices Festival Book Fair

On Friday we went to the PEN World Voices Festival Book Fair in Washington Mews, the secret little cobblestoned street just north of Washington Square Park. CLMP arranged a great group of publishers, and we were particularly happy to share a table and make new friends with Little Star Journal and n+1.

Little Star even had gummy star candy! Maybe next year we’ll make gummy foxes to bring.

And there was a food truck with pirogies. Poetry, prose, and pirogies: what more could you want?

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and let people know about our reading period, currently open. Please send us your manuscripts!

It’s Time: Augury Books’ Reading Period OPEN for Poetry and Prose Full-Length Manuscripts

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Our reading period is now OPEN through July 31, 2014. We are accepting submissions of full-length manuscripts in the categories of Poetry and Prose. The new Prose category includes Short Fiction Collections and Creative Nonfiction Manuscripts.

See our Submissions Page for length requirements and other guidelines, or find out everything you need to know (including our discounted book specials for those submitting!) on our third-party submissions manager, Submittable, where you can also send us your manuscript.

We can’t wait to read your work and find out who the authors of our 2015 books will be. Thanks to all of you in advance for sharing your work with us.

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Want to find out more about our aesthetic before submitting? Visit our Books and Orders page to order books or read synopses, reviews, and press material about the books in our catalogue. 

Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow this Blog (link in bottom corner) for updates about the reading period and announcements about our next publications and finalists.

Mayapple Center Is Accepting Applications for Summer Program

Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities

The Mayapple Center for Arts and Humanities is now accepting applications for its summer program. The Creative Writing program offers two week-long residency classes for adults, two guest lectures, and one weekend day program for high school students.

Summer faculty in the adult program include Vijay Seshadri, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, and Cate Marvin, co-founder of VIDA, the organization of Women in Literary Publishing. Summer guest lecturers include Meghan O’Rourke, recipient of the 2014 Guggenheim Award for General Nonfiction, and Brenda Shaughnessy, Poetry-Editor-at-Large for Tin House magazine. The summer high school program instructor is Kate Angus, recipient of the Spring 2014 Orlando prize for Creative Nonfiction from the A Room of Her Own Foundation.

The Mayapple Center creates space to cultivate imagination through artistic and intellectual cross-pollination in a distinctly 21st century climate. Artists and scholars of exceptional stature come to teach and collaborate with small groups of dedicated, like-minded participants. Located just one hour north of New York City and easily accessible by car or Metro North, Mayapple offers diverse programs for adults and youth in a retreat environment where pressures of quotidian life are suspended, freeing participants and faculty to pursue artistic and intellectual passions. The Center is located on a masterfully designed campus whose serene lake and peaceful landscape of trees and gardens serve to inspire its residents. Activities such as swimming, tennis, canoeing, yoga and meditation promote a strong sense of community among residents, with an emphasis on mindfulness. The center’s holistic approach to artistic growth and development is also demonstrated by our dedication to sustainability. Our meals are partially prepared from organic produce from Mayapple gardens, and we serve locally-sourced food at every meal.

Read more on the Best American Poetry Blog.

For more information or to apply to summer classes, please visit www.mayapplecenter.org.

Augury’s Reading Period Opens May 1 – July 31 for Poetry and Prose MSs

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

It’s almost time to start polishing up your full-length manuscripts to submit to Augury Books for publication in 2015.

This year, we will be accepting manuscripts for publication in two categories: Poetry and Prose. Our new, expanded Prose Category includes both Short Fiction Collections and Creative Nonfiction Manuscripts. Augury’s reading period will open via Submittable on midnight of May 1, 2014, and remain open until 11:59 on July 31, 2014.

For you early birds who want to know what’s in store, here’s a peek at our upcoming guidelines:

FOR FULL-LENGTH POETRY MANUSCRIPTS: 

  • Submissions should be 45-80 pages. This page requirement does not include any front and back matter your manuscript might contain (title page, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, notes, about the author, etc.).

FOR FULL-LENGTH PROSE MANUSCRIPTS:

  • Submissions should be 150-220 pages, double-spaced, with 1″ margins. This page requirement does not include any front and back matter your manuscript might contain (title page, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, notes, about the author, etc.).
  • The prose sub-category in which you are submitting — Short Fiction OR Creative Nonfiction — must be clearly stated in your Submittable Cover Letter / Bio field AND on the first page of the uploaded manuscript itself.

FOR EVERYTHING, ACROSS THE BOARD:

  • Brief (approx. 300-word) bio is required, pasted separately from your uploaded manuscript on the Submittable form.
  • Multiple submissions, either within or across categories, are welcome, but must be submitted separately with separate reading fees.
  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your MS immediately if it is accepted elsewhere, up until the time we announce our selections in the fall.
  • Except under special circumstances, we are unable to accept submissions from international authors. Contact us for more information if this applies to you.
  • Acceptable formats for uploaded manuscripts are PDF, DOC, and DOCX.

AND … WE’RE RUNNING A SPECIAL! 

  • All those submitting will have the option of getting a discounted book from our catalogue along with your submission. Find out more about the discounted titles when our reading period opens. Fee for submission without a book purchase: $10 per submission. Fee for submission with a book purchase: $18 per submission.*

Check back with us on May 1, when we will publish the link to our Submittable Campaign on our SUBMISSIONS PAGE, as well as here on our blog. We can’t wait to see you then and read your work!

Check out our current catalogue to get a feel for our aesthetic.

*Discount is only available with a Submittable submission. One book per submission. Your decision to submit with or without a book purchase has no bearing on our consideration of your manuscript. All funds Augury Books receives through Submittable will go toward the titles’ production fees and the maintenance of our catalogue. Complimentary copies will be available to authors of accepted titles.

Frances Justine Post Discusses "Self Portrait in the Body of a Whale" on PSA's "In Their Own Words"

 

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

BEAST author Frances Justine Post tells the Poetry Society of America the backstory behind “Self Portrait in the Body of a Whale.”

We walked down the beach, but didn’t see anything remotely whale-like until we came upon this sort of carpet of flesh. It was a whale carpet. The body was so broken down that all that was left was this huge, flat mass of skin, covering bones, half on the beach and half in the water. It was not as disgusting as it sounds and was, in fact, kind of beautiful. It was bleached white by the sun with darker stripes in a wave-like pattern.” 

Read the full article and poem on PSA’s site.

Buy BEAST

National Poetry Month: Washington Independent Review of Books on Maureen Alsop’s MANTIC

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Happy National Poetry Month! Read this wonderful MANTIC (Maureen Alsop, Augury Books, 2013) review by Grace Cavalieri in this month’s Washington Independent Review of Books.

 

Mantic by Maureen Alsop

“We can tell when a poem is sent out into the world scared and these poems are the opposite. They’re fearless. Alsop is like a hero who boldly moves forward and never looks back. She’s a social revolutionary using words to change our concepts of reality and the world.” —Grace Cavalieri, April 2014 Exemplars, Washington Independent Review of Books

Read the Whole Review

More on MANTIC

Buy MANTIC

Connotation Press Talks BEAST Video Trailer With Justine and Lia Post

You’ve seen the video trailer for “Self-Portrait as Beast,” read by author Frances Justine Post and designed by her twin sister Cecelia Post, and now you can learn about everything that went into the vision and production of the video (including details about the body suit, which has been christened “The Lady”) in this excellent interview by Erica Goss on Connotation Press, “The Third Form.”

Order BEAST here.