MAGICAL REALISM NEWS ~Autumn 2004
TWO FAVORS, FIRST...
~ Pretty please? Writer's Digest is now taking names and website addresses for its 101 Best Sites of 2005. If Margin is everything you ever wanted in a magical realism anthology, would you consider sending your comments and nomination to them? We're proud to be the world's only resource for writers, readers, students and teachers of literary magical realism. From the great letters we get from you, I know we're meeting an important need out there. All you have to do is send your e-mail with your comments and nomination to writersdig@fwpubs.com with "101 Sites" in the subject line. To be nominated or listed would give that many more readers and fans of magical realism a new resource. Your help in doing so would be...well...marvelous! Thanks -- TKS/Margin
MAGICAL REALISM NEWS ~Autumn 2004
TWO FAVORS, FIRST...
Also, Gregory Adamoli is trying to locate a video copy of the soap opera, Strange Paradise, which was mentioned in our Caribbean magical realist film list last May. If you know where one might be available for sale, let us know and we'll hook you up with Greg. Thanks -- TKS/Margin
INDUSTRY NEWSWrites Devineni about the film, "Neruda's poetry was a great voice of hope for the Chilean people and his funeral was the first public outpouring of resistance against the dictatorship. Lastly, it is about an underground literary organization of young poets born during Pinochet, who rented a helicopter and dropped 100,000 poems on the Presidential Palace on March 23, 2001 as a counter reaction to the dictatorship."
For more information, contact Devineni in New York at 212.560.7459 or send him an e-mail. Details about the film can be found at the Rattapallax website.
~ TALES FROM THE LAST RESORT ~
The Speculative Fiction Reading Series in Manhattan kicks off on October 17
with featured author Michael "The Mad Mick" Matheny reading from his
hilarious novel of an altruistic alien in San Francisco, Tales From
the Last Resort. Open mic follows; sign up for your 15 minutes by
2:45. SF, fantasy, slipstream, magic realism, horror, paranormal,
surrealism, transrealism, time travel, etc. welcome.
~ IT'S PUSHCART TIME AGAIN! ~ Every November, the editors at Margin discuss which stories and poems they would like to nominate for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. This year we'd like to give you a chance to cast your vote as well! Send us your top 5 selections of poetry and/or short fiction published in Margin between January and October of 2004 and we'll add your suggestions to the pool. Deadline for suggestions is November 15. An announcement of those chosen to be nominated will appear in the January 2005 edition.The Spark Cafe & Art Center | 161 West 22nd Street | Manhattan.
3-5pm, $3. For more information, call 917.674.7560.
~ SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES FOUNTAIN AWARD WINNER ~ The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) awarded Alison Smith $1,000 as its first winner of the organizations Fountain Award. Her winning entry, "The Specialist," first appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern.
Sixteen other stories received honorable mentions. Click here for full details.
The Fountain Award is given to short stories (up to 7500 words) of exceptional literary quality. The Award is judged by a select jury, and is chosen from work nominated by magazine and anthology editors for the year in question. The judges for the 2004 award (for works published in 2003) were Heinz Insu Fenkl, John Kessel, Larissa Lai, Kelly Link, and Maureen McHugh.
The SLF was particularly pleased to note the participation of many mainstream publications in the Award, in addition to traditional genre venues. Stories receiving honorable mentions included works from McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Conjunctions #41 and Missouri Review.
~ BRAUTIGAN LIBRARY ON THE MOVE? ~ New Englanders considering a visit to Todd Lockwood's avant garde collection of unpublished manuscripts, originally gathered by writer Richard Brautigan, should make one soon. If plans work out, the manuscripts and memorabilia (including its famous Hellmann's mayonnaise jars) will be relocated to the Presidio Branch of the San Francisco Public Library in 2005. Read more
~ AMERICAN PUBLISHERS SUE TREASURY OVER "CHILLING" REGULATIONS ~ A group of American publishers filed suit against the Treasury Department in September in an attempt to overturn regulations against editing manuscripts from Cuba, Iran and other countries under American economic sanctions as they contend it violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. The regulations, which were initially invoked to prevent trading of ideas with enemies, do not forbid publication of existing works from those countries held under trade sanctions by the US. And they allow publishers to print and distribute "camera-ready" (unalterable) works. However, they require publishers of manuscripts from these countries to obtain licenses before substantively altering such manuscripts. The group of publishers filing suit argues that the regulations prevent them from performing typical editing functions like reordering sentences and paragraphs, correcting grammar and adding illustrations or photographs. Marketing efforts, they say, are equally difficult. In their estimation, it creates a "chilling effect." Read more
~ DID YOU READ LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE IN THE SUNDAY PAPER? ~ The New York Times serialized four well-known literary works as part of "The Great Summer Read: The New York Times Free Book Series™ " last July. Included in the titles was Laura Esquivel's Like Water For Chocolate, which was published in its entirety in seven daily installments from July 26-August 1.
~ CARE PACKAGES FOR THE MIND ~ In August, we published the link to Books For Soldiers at Margin's website. Regardless how you may feel about the war in Iraq (and Afghanistan and elsewhere, for that matter), this is a good way to feed the morale of soldiers overseas. Sometimes, there are embedded journalists and civilian workers asking for reading material as well.
Soldiers along the front lines in particular are looking for "sci fi, fantasy, anything" to fill up their downtime. Why not send some magical realism? Personally, I think a good dose of literature makes for a fine cure for boredom, loneliness and stress.
If you have any old paperbacks of MR on your shelf that you've finished, please think about sending them on to these folks. Please consider them as well if you happen to be shopping at a used bookstore or library book sale. Directions for locating and mailing book packages to specific soldiers are available at the website. (A favor: If you send along some magical realism, would you also print out the cover page to Margin, so that they have the URL? I know they would enjoy going on-line as well.)
~ RUSHDIE STANDS UP FOR 'PERSONAL CREATIVE SPACE' ~ The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie recently called on Congress to remove anti-terror laws which allow US officials to monitor citizens' reading habits, believing that there is "absolutely no security reason" to justify the government scrutinizing people's reading habits. Go to the BBC News story.
Censorship is something Rushdie has experienced personally. His novel, The Satanic Verses created such a controversy in the Muslim world that the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa against him; Rushdie went into hiding in the 1980s for fear of being killed.
PASSAGES
The founder of Hanging Loose Press, Ron Schreiber, passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 21, 2004. Poet and musical artist Dick
Lourie once described Schreiber's poems as "clear visions; they can be literal and magical—some both at once. Through his language and
rhythms, his sensibility and his intelligence manage to fuse the political and the personal in a true way. . ."
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Look who's/what's up for accolades these days:
~ Mordicai Gerstein, author of the children's book, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers, earned a Caldecott Award this year for his larger-than-life tale of a man who walks a tightrope between the twin towers in the 1970s.PUBLISHING NEWS~ Kristen den Hartog, the Canadian writer of the novel, The Perpetual Ending, claimed this year's Toronto Book Award for her story about "twins, love, and the truth found in fables."
~ TAMEME TAKES ON BOOK PUBLISHING ~ In August, editor C.M. Mayo announced that Tameme, Inc., the nonprofit foundation, will no longer be publishing Tameme, the bilingual literary journal, in order to focus on publishing bilingual chapbooks. "We will be making a formal announcement soon about forthcoming titles," writes Mayo. Back issues of the journal are still available at www.tameme.org/.
~ A SUMMER DEBUT FOR LENOX AVENUE ~ Lenox Avenue, a bimonthly speculative fiction e-zine edited by M. Thomas and Adrienne Allmann, launched its first edition last July. "Our focus is cultural myths and traditions either re-written, re-invented, or slightly alluded to in very well-written stories," they write. For more information, visit the site at www.lenoxavemag.com.
A QUICKIE WITH GABO? ~ Do you like reading blogs? Here's an interesting discussion about One Hundred Years of Solitude from a site otherwise known as Gashlycrumbkid's Final Act: Deconstructing American Pop Culture for Like-Minded Media Whores. The blog title: One Hundred Years: Condensed.
~ TWO OPINIONS ON THE FUTURE
OF LITERATURE ~
*1* Taste and tenacity: Are 'little magazines,' those tip sheets on the literary future, an endangered species—or on the verge of a renaissance? by Sven Birkerts at the Boston Globe*2* Who Killed Literary Reading? by Carlin Romano at the Chronicle of Higher Education
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
~ RESURRECTING QUIXOTE: MAGICAL REALISM FROM THE IBERIAN PENINSULA ~ (Yes, it used to have a different title, but this one is shorter and more catchy.) The
editors at Margin are now accepting submissions; please note that we've extended our postmark deadline to February 28, 2005. Work does not need to reference the Quixote; our goal is to capture the spirit of Spanish and Portuguese (and other Iberian regional) magical realism. ~ guidelines
~ CALLING ALL CHICANA/CHICANO WRITERS ~ The Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Premio Atzlán Literary Prize is a
national literary prize established to encourage and reward emerging Chicana and Chicano authors. A prize of $1,000 will be given to a
Chicana or Chicano writer for a work of fiction published in the 2004 calendar year. Authors who have published no more than two books
are eligible for the prize. The winner will be expected to give a reading at the University of New Mexico Libraries during April 2005.
Publishers should submit a letter of nomination and authors should submit a letter of interest. Letters should include appropriate contact
information and be sent with five copies of the book by December 31, 2004 to:
Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Premio Atzlán Literary PrizeQuestions may be directed to Teresa Marquez (505.277.0582) or Dina Ma’ayan (505.277.7197) at the University of New Mexico Libraries.
University Libraries, Dean’s Office
MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-1466.
NEW OR UPCOMING RELEASES
BooksMARGIN NEWS
Apago luces, poems by María Cerecero ~ recent North American release from Praxis through Aliform Publishing and Distribution
Perros Héroes, by Mario Bellatín ~ (recent North American release from Interzona through Aliform Publishing and Distribution)
Pueblo quieto, poems by Maite Villalobos ~ recent North American release from Praxis through Aliform Publishing and Distribution
Rosa mística: Relatos eróticos (Mystic Rose: Erotic Stories), by Marosa di Giorgio ~ recent North American release from Interzona through Aliform Publishing and Distribution
El sacrificio de los lirios, poems by Flor Aguilera García ~ recent North American release from Praxis through Aliform Publishing and Distribution
Viajero en tránsito, poems by Francis Mestries Benquet ~ recent North American release from Praxis through Aliform Publishing and Distribution
The Double, José Saramago (October)
The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton (October)
Carmen Dog, by Carol Emshwiller (November)
The Salt Roads, by Nalo Hopkinson (November - paperback edition)
The Günter Grass Reader, Günter Grass (December)
On Literature: Umberto Eco Translated from the Italian, by Martin McLaughlin (December)
Now You See It . . . , by Vivian Vande Velde (January)
Book of Flying, by Kevin Miller (January)
Film
Enduring Love, directed by Roger Michell (October)
Birth, directed by Jonathan Glazer (November)
Fabled, directed by Ari Kirschenbaum (November)
The Polar Express, directed by Robert Zemeckis (November)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, directed by Brad Silberling (December)
Fat Albert, directed by Joel Zwick (December)
Hide and Seek, directed by John Polson (January)
Video/DVD
Kingdom Hospital (October)
Tru Calling, Season One (November)
Carnivale, Season One (December)
Latino Forum: Voices at the source. Autumn focus: The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories, edited by Carlos Fuentes and Julio Ortega. In this column, we celebrate the many magical realist authors who herald from the Americas.~ MARGIN SUMMER APPEARANCES ~ Margin made public appearances at the following venues between June and October 2004:Magical Realism 101: Ask the Professor. Autumn feature: Wendy B. Faris, the scholar who has worked for more than 20 years to dissect, understand and explain literary magical realism. In this column, we focus on those brave souls who dare to teach magical realism.
Recommended Reading List: Children's Literature ~ Following our successful general reading list, we've constructed a reading list of children's magical realist literature.
Ongoing project: The Magical Realism Bookshelf Challenge
Westercon 2004, Phoenix, AZ, July 2004~ MARGIN CONTESTS ~ Contest winners announced!
Periphery, Art of Zines exhibition, San Jose Museum of Art, July through October 2004, (will remain in the gallery zine library afterward)
The Word on the Street 2004, Kitchener, ONT, September 2004
The Word on the Street 2004, Vancouver, BC, September 2004
Foolscap convention, Seattle, WA, September 2004
Periphery, The Zine Archives and Publishing Project, at the Richard Hugo House, October 2004 (now on file in the basement zine library)
Laura Loomis won the first annual short story contest (subject: Metamorphosis) with her story, "Cecelia." Her story appears here.
Marjorie L. Manwaring won the first annual Periphery prize for flash fiction/prose poetry, for her prose poem, "Sculptor," which appeared in Periphery 2: The Living Landscape in August. To order your copy of this collectible journal of magical realist writing, click here.
~ MARGIN'S NEW POLL ~Margin's latest magical realism poll is online. You have all year to answer, but why not take a moment now? Deadline for all contributions is December 31, 2004. We'd love to hear from you. Everyone welcome! Answers to appear at the website in January 2005. Survey link
~ COLLECTOR ALERT : PERIPHERY AVAILABLE IN LIMITED QUANTITIES ~
Margin's print mini-zine, Periphery 2: The Living Landscape, is available in limited quantities (via website sales and appearances at book fairs
and conferences) through the end of July 2005, after which it will be retired. Proceeds from the sale of Periphery benefit Margin's contributors. Copies sell for a very affordable $5. Please make checks out to
Tamara Sellman. Ordering Information
MISCELLANY
~ PAGE SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE ~ Margin accepts page sponsorships. Please visit the sponsorship page if your
institution, company or organization would like to reach Margin's targeted readership through an affordable
sponsorship program. All proceeds benefit the anthology's contributors. Direct
jump to rate page
~ SPAM FILTER ALERT ~ Please update your various filtering devices so that you can still receive your free updates from Margin without finding them deleted or otherwise quarantined as spam. If you have a spam filter, please instruct it to accept the following e-mail addresses: smike10@qwest.net and magicalrealismmaven@yahoo.com. These are the only addresses from which Margin will be launched. If you're unclear on how to adjust your filter, please consult the necessary help screens, handbooks or websites for the appropriate information. As you may already know, announcements and updates from Margin are sent less frequently than once a month; you should feel safe knowing we will not abuse the privilege to send you Margin updates by sending additional spam.
~ DONATIONS ~ We're in the process of setting up an electronic/internet payment service for those of you interested in making donations to help out with Margin's efforts. We function purely by volunteer efforts; the monies acquired from our contests help to cover prizes. All other monies raised go to a Contributor's Fund which we hope to start disseminating to all previous contributors to Margin in 2005. Eventually, those monies will also be used to cover general expenses. We don't have a lot of overhead, but supplies for conventions, conferences, appearances and the like are being paid out from private funds. If you're interested in donating a little cash to the cause, feel free to send us a check or money order (payable to Tamara Kaye Sellman, with "MARGIN DONATION" written in the memo line) for any amount you'd like to send (hey, if every subscriber sent just $1 it would be a tremendous boost) to MARGIN, 321 High School Road NE, PMB 204, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. We'll keep you posted on the electronic method once it's added to the site, as well as any donation incentives that we conjure between now and then. Gratefully yours, Tamara Kaye Sellman, publisher, Margin
~ TRAFFIC REPORT ~ We're pleased to announce that traffic at Margin has increased by 39% over just one year ago. Tell your friends about Margin! Our biggest referrals come through word of mouth. Our dedicated subscribers list is over 1,000; why not help by adding your friends, colleagues and students! Better yet, add a link to your own website. Traffic referrals that send at least 25 readers will receive free link exchanges at our new sponsorship page. See also LINK EXCHANGE POLICY, below
LINK EXCHANGE POLICY ~
In the past, we have limited link exchanges only to include those websites with explicit investments in magical realist subject matter. We continue to endorse that policy, as our content and literary goals are quite specific. However, with new tracking utilities we installed in the fall of 2003, we have discovered a few websites that don't meet these criteria (aka "non-related"), but which are still sending us healthy amounts of traffic. Thus, as an incentive for link exchanging, we invite webmasters to place a link to Margin at their non-related websites if they think it will be of interest to their readerships. When we find that any non-related websites have sent more than 25 hits to Margin, we will automatically reciprocate and post a return link in exchange in a special section on the sponsorship page as a way of saying "thanks!"AUTUMN 2004 CALENDAR
*World Fantasy Convention 2004, Tempe, AZ ~ October 28-31. Margin information will be available at the table for the Speculative Literature Foundation Co-op; pick up a copy of Periphery while you are there!November*InCon 2004, Spokane, WA ~ October 22-24. Look for consultant Bruce Taylor in the white top hat!
Highline Community College (Susan Rich's literature class), Highline, WA ~ October 26. Tamara Kaye Sellman guest attends the class to discuss Innocent Erendira by Gabriel García Márquez and A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell. Not open to the public.
San Jose Museum of Art "Art of Zines 04" exhibition, San Jose, CA ~ through October. Periphery on feature. After the exhibit is retired the zines will be on file at the gallery library.
*OryCon 26, Portland, OR ~ November 5-7. Bruce will be here, too; tell him hello!January
*RustyCon 22, Seattle, WA ~ January 14-16. Again, Bruce Taylor will be appearing to discuss his favorite subject, magical realism. Maybe Tamara will pull herself from the upcoming anniversary edition launch to catch a ferry over and come say hello!
Send your news items to Margin and we'll try to include them in upcoming issues. Deadlines: December 31 for the Winter edition; April 1 for the Spring/Summer edition; September 30 for the Autumn edition.
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