Topic: February 2005
Second Thoughts columnist, Githa Hariharan, in Telegraph India's FROM READER TO READER, pays a nice tribute to literature's great ambassador, Alberto Manguel, who has played a key role in validating literary magical realism.
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a magical realist zine
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In a recent Time magazine retrospective on reggae master Bob Marley, the Caribbean's infamous musician was described as "a musical magic realist" by senior editor Christopher Farley. Go to the article
SEEING DOUBLE
from Mark Sanderson's "Literary Life" column at the Telegraph?
"Twins, by their very nature, come in pairs. Now,
it seems, so do novels about them. ? Helen Oyeyemi's
The Icarus Girl, published this month by
Bloomsbury, is a work of magical realism featuring
mystical twins with a Nigerian mother. Diana Evans's
26A, to be published by Chatto & Windus in
March, is a work of magical realism featuring mystical
twins with a Nigerian mother."
Writers of flash fiction and prose poetry who have written work on the theme of twins, mirrors or doubles/doppelgangers might consider submitting to Periphery's current contest, following the theme of "Reasonable Facsimiles." Hurry, the deadline is Feb 15, 2005!
NEW WORK
Dean Bakopoulos earned four stars from book columnist
Marta Salij for the Detroit Free Press for his subtly magical
realist novel, Please Don't Come Back From the
Moon, recently released by Harcourt.
Other recent releases:
Kafka on the Shore ~ Haruki Murakami
The Shadow of the Wind ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafon
(audiobook version, narrative by James Wilby)
Out on a Limb ~ Judith Budnitz
Tokyo Cancelled ~ Rana Dasgupta
The Last Song of Dusk ~ Siddharth Dhanvant
Shanghvi
Bab Al-Shams (The Gate of the Sun) ~ a film by
Yousry Nasrallah
FILM
In the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette, writer Philip Martin raves
about Danny Boyle?s "delightful" Millions, a film
slated for limited release in the US in March. Says Martin,
"The March release date is a shame, for Millions is
a funny bit of magical realism that just might be the best
Christmas movie I?ve ever seen."
Some Sundance Film Festival selections to look for:
Thumbsucker by Mike Mills and
Chumscrubber by Arie Posen
LITTLE GREEN MEN,
RUSSIAN-STYLE
Recently reviewed in the St. Petersburg Times:
Irina Denezhkina's "Vasya and the Green Men," a short
story described as "a darkly humored, grim, and violent
exercise in magical realism" from her new collection,
Give Me.
ON THE OSCAR TRAIL
Notable screenwriter and playwright Jose Rivera studied
with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and was the co-creator of the
short-lived, but memorable, '80s television series, Eerie,
Indiana. His work on both the screen and stage pushes
the limits of reality in ways that are uniquely American.
His latest script effort, The Motorcycle Diaries, a
film about Che Guevera, was recently nominated for an
Oscar. Read more
More information about Periphery: what it is, how to buy it, how much it costs, why you should?
"Reasonable Facsimiles: Twins, Mirrors and Doppelgangers"Postmark deadline: February 15, annually.
Winner and honorable mentions published in Periphery, released August 1 annually.
Prize: $50, 3 copies of collectible print zine and publication. All manuscripts also considered for general publication in Margin. Sim subs okay with notification, but entry fee nonrefundable. Previously published okay; please credit first publisher in cover letter. Entries not returned.
Entry fee: $7.50 covers up to 5 poems or short shorts (each 500 words or less); additional submissions, $2 each. Make checks payable to Tamara Kaye Sellman.
Proceeds go to produce the August collector's edition of Periphery and to pay the prize. Judged blind by staff. See general guidelines at the website.
Email for inquiries only, no electronic submissions, please.
Winner of the 2004 PERIPHERY contest, "The Living Landscape" ~ Marjorie Manwaring of Seattle, WA. Periphery is published as a limited edition, high-quality zine. Get your copy before they sell out!
Magical realist author Daniel A. Olivas will read and sign his new collection, Devil Talk: Stories (Bilingual Press/Arizona State University).
"In a stunning departure from the social realism of his previous collection...Olivas takes readers into a disarming otherworld of the surreal and the supernatural....The quick succession of 26 narratives covers a wide territory of moods, from the strangely elliptical to the whimsical." ? El Paso Times
Info: Tia Chucha?s (818) 362-7060 or
www.danielolivas.com
Below is Tamara Sellman's prelude to her reading of a section of Pearl S. Buck's The Big Wave, to be presented at A Wave of Caring: a concert for tsunami relief to be held at the Bainbridge High School gymnasium on Sunday January 16 at 3pm in Bainbridge Island, Washington.
"I read the story, The Big Wave, about a year ago to my daughters as a bedtime story.
The Big Wave is the prizewinning children's book written by Pearl Buck, about a Japanese fishing village that is wiped out by a tsunami.
One year later, I am tucking my oldest daughter in one night, and we are discussing the tsunami when she asks, Is it like The Big Wave?
I am reminded then how providing a human context for the disastrous events of our lives, big and small, close and far away, is essential for healing the human spirit.
Watching the TV news or reading the paper only provides information and facts, but information and facts are not enough to help people, including children, to cope with bad news.
I've found, as a lifelong writer, that literature is one of the best ways to explore the uncertainties that befall the human condition. The Big Wave filled in blanks for my daughter that I was not sure I could fill in myself.
When I tell my daughter that, Yes, the tsunami is the same thing as The Big Wave, she does not respond with fear. Instead, I see her process the comparison, and her next response is not one of panic, but of compassion. How can we help? she asks. How can we help?
Thanks to Pearl Buck my daughter makes that important leap. She understands that if we share and have faith as a global community, life will persist."
Thanks to Jan Steckel for this news lead.
Updated: 11 January 2005 9:53 AM PST
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Yolen moves gracefully from children to young adults, fantasy, science fiction, poetry and even nonfiction. Her books and stories have won the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the Jewish Library Award and more.
To learn more about and the Whidbey Island Writers Conference and Jane Yolen, see the website, or contact Conference Director Elizabeth Guss (phone: (360) 331.6714.
Thanks to Wayne Ude for this news lead
CELEBRATE!
2005 is Margin's FIFTH ANNIVERSARY! Yep,
that's right?we've been online for five years! That's
practically a quarter-century in real time!
You can expect to find us participating in many upcoming
literary events including conference panels, local readings
and the like.
NOTE: Estimated launch date for the Winter 2005 Special Fifth Anniversary Edition: January 26, 2005. Stay tuned for details!
JOIN US
Margin's first anniversary reading event is slated for
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 2005 at Lottie Mott's in Seattle
(Columbia City neighborhood). As part of the ongoing
Take a Poem from Your Heart/WPA
series, we'll be hosting a special Margin anniversary
reading.
Featured readers: Wayne Ude and Sondra Kelly-Green for short
fiction; Marjorie Manwaring, Marjorie
Rommel and Kelli Russell
Agodon for poetry, with introductions from the
editor and publisher, Tamara Kaye
Sellman, and an appearance by Bruce Taylor, founder of the
Magic Realist Writers International Network.
Includes an OPEN MIC/poetry only. The event starts at 7
pm but get there early to sign up for the open mic and to get
a good seat! Lottie Motts, 4900 Rainier Ave S. (Columbia
City at corner of Rainier and Ferdinand), Seattle. For more
information, contact organizer Christopher J. Jarmick at glasscocoon (at)
hotmail.com
GOING TO AWP IN BC?
Margin will be part of the AWP-Vancouver BC Publishers' Fair this coming
spring! If you plan on attending, please stop by our table
and meet the staff! More details to follow?
ONLINE READER'S JOURNAL
Margin announces the debut of its new re-reading
journal, Two-Way Mirror. January's discussion will
focus on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's classic short story, "A
Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." Come read along as
editor and publisher Tamara Kaye Sellman returns to the
text and offers her personal and critical thoughts about the
story. Readers are encouraged to comment as well.
COMING SOON
Other new features to be added to the Margin
website in 2005:
RSS Feed
Site Search
Everchanging Quotes
Stay tuned for those additions!
SOME HOUSEKEEPING
This new clearinghouse of magical realism news is still under construction. Some of the links on either side of the text may not be fully functional yet. Thanks for your patience as we slowly, but surely, establish the architecture for this latest feature for Margin.
Sincerely,
Tamara Kaye Sellman, Editor and Publisher, Margin: Exploring Modern Magical Realism