Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for literary magazine] 

The essay editor of Wag's Revue came to talk to my literary magazine publishing class today and I was impressed by how sizable the magazine's nonfiction section was. I've been browsing small lit mags for awhile and it seems like most of them throw nonfiction in as an afterthought. Wag's Revue seems to have a few essays in each issue, and they can all be read online. There is a short essay called Birdwatching in Fresno by Steven Church in issue seven which is very representative of poetical nonfiction writing. I've written several recent posts about misconceptions concerning nonfiction (like my last Sunday Salon, and Birdwatching in Fresno really pushes the definition of "essay."

"The bird doesn't suspect and won't chase what doesn't move, what has only recently roosted, relocated, separated and plugged into the seismic shifts of jobs and geography. And he cannot know how you feel caged by the noise, pressed and petrified like the prairie dogs back home in Kansas who duck back into their holes when a raptor glides over the flats--even though you've done nothing wrong, nothing but act like a prairie dog scratching in the yard."

This passage really struck me because I'm attracted to language that deals with nature but also has a dark edge to it. This piece is very short so it's heavy while you're reading it but once you've finished there is a sense of relief. I liked this essay because it illustrates how essays can be topical while still being literary. If this wasn't labeled as essay I'm not sure most people would give it that label, particularly readers who don't think they like essays. If you were convinced by my post last week and want to try an essay Birdwatching in Fresno might be a quick one to see how essays are different from their common perception.

Even if you're not interested in the essay you should certainly check out Wag's Revue. It's an online only literary magazine and there is actually some quality writing in it, which is surprising to me after perusing several small online literary magazines. If you love blogging and reading but don't have a lot of experience with literary magazines this would be a good place to get started.

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After spending a lot of time listening to panels about the future of books today I thought it was only fitting to talk about an essay I read (in an issue of Creative Nonfiction I got at the Twin Cities Book Festival) about what publishing will look like in 2025. In number 31 of the literary magazine Creative Nonfiction essayists wrote on the topic Writing and Publishing in 2015 and Beyond. Phillip Lopate, the man who edited the anthology The Art of the Personal Essay titled his predictions The Best of Times, Worst of Times. One of his most interesting ideas is bringing old authors back from the dead, and in doing this he predicts they'll produce nothing more than boring biographies full of their regrets. You can read a portion of this short essay on Creative Nonfiction's website.

Lopate also predicts that the physical book will continue to exist, but that the industry will be full of experimentation. One example is the book-lozenge, "which dissolved novella-sized works on the tongue, not to mention the book-shot, devised for cultivated diabetics who requested a literary does with their daily injections." Can you imagine being given an entire book through candy? I think it might be fun to try every once in awhile, but I wouldn't want it to replace books. What does that say about our culture? That we'd rather be fed culture than experience it?

I'm really interested to hear what other people think about Lopate's predictions and what all of you think might happen in the book industry by 2025. A more serious suggestion made by Jeff Kamin at the Twin Cities Book Festival today was offering paperback books with the hardcovers simply because people will probably buy the book sooner. I think this is a really good idea and a lot of us agreed on that today.

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This was my first week back to school and I'm already ready for a break. I was talking with a friend earlier this week and I admitted that this semester is the least excited for school I have ever been. It's not that I don't like my classes or that I'm not looking forward to school. I guess I'm just pretty neutral about the whole thing. But I can't really stay neutral, because life is already getting crazy and busy. For instance, last Sunday I had my first meeting of the year for the literary magazine I'm on. Sunday! Before school even started! I was dumbfounded. And since then I've had to work at the student organization fair (only a half hour, but still) gone to all of my classes, drop a class, work, do quite a bit of a reading. This of course seems like quite a lot, because instead of doing my homework this week I've mostly been reading Mockingjay. Great way to start off the year. I did do my homework, I just didn't do it when I should have. Luckily Mockingjay is in the past now, and I'm sure I will have an abundance of evening hours to work on my studies...

But no seriously, I actually don't think my classes are going to be that bed this semester. Two of my classes focus on essays, which is lovely because essays are usually no longer than 30 pages, which is much better than the 60 pages of Victorian literature I was reading every night last semester. Another class is literary history and poems, which is also not too difficult to get through. My Human Origins class has about a chapter of reading the week and the reading is fairly short, and my Nonprofit class is... well I don't want to discount the Management Organization department at this fine university so I just won't say anything about that.

Yesterday I actually felt excited about this whole school thing though, because Thursdays this semester are about the greatest schedule day I've ever had in the history of my college career. I work from 8:30-12:30 in the library, then I go to my piano class for an hour. Piano isn't as terrifying as I thought it would be and I was pleased to find out there wasn't much for me to learn this week because I can already read music in treble and bass clef. After piano I had an hour so I went to the practice rooms to practice piano. Also wonderful. I was really interested in music and making music when I was younger but kind of lost that towards the end of high school. I really missed it and piano is something I've always wanted to learn. So I am! Feels good to do something just because you want to. After practicing I headed to my Nature Writing class. The class meets twice weekly and every Thursday we meet at an outdoor location. So I just got to explore the trees and outdoor things for about a half hour, then we all came to talk about what we had seen. Awesome. Ah I love Thursdays.

So maybe there is something to look forward to in all of this.

Last year around this time I made a list of Gifts for English Majors. Another year has gone by and there are a lot of new things out there for English majors, so I thought I would make an updated list for the English majors (or book lovers) in your life.

1. McSweeney's and Believer combo subscription. For ninety dollars you can get a whole year's worth of awesome literary goodness. I've been a Believer subscriber for one year now and even though it has a hefty price tag, I haven't regretted it at all. The Believer is an almost monthly publication (nine issues) that has book reviews, comics, columns, and literature. They also have special issues throughout the year. I don't subscribe to McSweeney's (yet), but it's a fantastic literary magazine with great contributing writers. A year's subscription gets you four issues, which is basically like getting four books in the mail. Speaking of which, McSweeney's also has a Book Release Club for $100.

2. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook

is a book I reviewed last spring. It's super cheap ($6 on Amazon) and will give any English major hours of fun. Ever since I reviewed it I've lent it out to at least four people and everyone loves it. For more info on this book check out my review of it.

3. Moleskine Passions Book Journal

is another item I reviewed earlier this year and I absolutely love it. It's a great way for any reader to keep track of their notes from the books they read. I use this for school to keep track of the main ideas from books so by the end of the semester I can return to those notes and remind myself of the main points of the book. Check out my review of the journal for more info.

4. Penguin Classics Hardcover Collection

. I'm not suggesting you buy the entire $200 set, but a favorite book out of this collection would make a nice gift for an English major. I, of course, have my eye on Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Several stores have these on sale for less than $15 right now, so it's a good time to get them.

5. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

, because English majors have to have fun too. I can just see myself coming home after a long day of school and work, curling up in front of the television to play with my Harry Potter LEGOs. That actually sounds very nice.

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Snow has finally blanketed the fair Iowa City, just in time to lock me inside my house to study. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I won't be doing that today as the literary magazine I'm on is having a big meeting today and it could go for several hours. Hopefully I still manage to finish at least one paper today!

I had a party last night and several friends came over to play games and eat cookies. I made 100 cookies! Including the cookies Kim talked about at Sophisticated Dorkiness. They were delicious, a big hit. I actually used hugs and kisses for mine, and I think I preferred the hugs but I'm a sucker for white chocolate. The party was especially great because there was freshly fallen snow, cookies and warm drinks, a bright Christmas tree, and lots of laughter with good friends. It was very atmospheric, I would say. If someone from the outside were to look into our frosty windows I think they would smile at the good time we had.

I also got 500 Handmade Books from my friend Michael as an engagement/Christmas present, which was lovely. Although there is a book I saw in there that had human hair on it, which I thought was odd. It was one of the first books I looked at so I'm interested to see what can top that. In all reality, I'm really excited about bookbinding right now. Michael and I are taking a bookbinding class next semester and on Friday I went to see what students in the University of Iowa's Center for the Book made this past semester. There were so many amazing books, paper, and boxes that I feel I couldn't have seen everything even though I walked through it all. I hope some of my projects turn out as beautiful as the ones on display. I'm sure you can all expect posts about that next semester!

I'm off to continue writing about Sarah Silverman and eat some breakfast (brunch?).

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I just spent one hour at the main library looking at articles in Persuasion (Jane Austen Journal) and The Gaskell Society Journal because I have to write a paper proposal. I then had to copy all of those articles, which took the bulk of my time. Now I have to leave for my earthwords Literary Magazine staff dinner soon. One good thing did happen while I was the library though, I found English Love Poems

and did some reading while I was copying. Thought I would share an Emily Bronte poem in hopes of lightening everyone's workload tonight, although I'll admit it's not the happiest of poems.

Remembrance

Cold in the earth -- and the deep snow piled above thee,
Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave!
Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,
Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?

Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover
Over the mountains, on that northern shore,
Resting their wings where heath and fern leaves cover
Thy noble heart forever, ever more?

Cold in the earth -- and fifteen wild Decembers,
From those brown hills, have melted into spring;
Faithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembers
After such years of change and suffering!

Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee,
While the world's tide is bearing me along;
Other desires and other hopes beset me,
Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong!

No later light has lightened up my heaven,
No second morn has ever shone for me;
All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given,
All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee.

But, when the days of golden dreams had perished,
And even Despair was powerless to destroy,
Then did I learn how existence could be cherished,
Strengthened, and fed without the aid of joy.

Then did I check the tears of useless passion --
Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine;
Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten
Down to that tomb already more than mine.

And, even yet, I dare not let it languish,
Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain;
Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,
How could I seek the empty world again?

When I started blogging I was extremely frustrated with my nonfiction writing class. I wanted to write, but I just didn't feel like anything was working. I didn't feel inspired or encouraged the same way I did in the first nonfiction writing class I took at Iowa as a freshman. So, as a lot of you know, I decided to take a break from writing. Or just a break from writing classes, because I'm one of those people who will just always write. After all, I'm a blogger. After a semester off and some time to think, I found myself turning back towards writing essays, so I decided to take another writing class this semester. To push myself even further, I decided to do a reading in conjunction with the literary magazine I work on.

Four weeks after volunteering to read I am sitting in front of my computer frantically trying to get something out. I have several finished essays I could fall back on, things I've written in past classes and edited. But I just want to have something new. Something really great. I wrote one essay my freshman year that I really loved and ever since then I've just been trying to get back to that essay. Although I reread the essay over the summer, and found several things I wanted to revise. So even that essay wasn't the best it could be.

Maybe I'm being overly critical of myself. When I do read an essay I've written or have someone else read they usually so lots of really good nice things about it. But... I don't know. I'm just having a hard time writing the way I used to. I have a lot of ideas, which makes it that much more frustrating. I write down idea on top of idea on top of idea. Then I sit in front of my computer to type and... nothing. Blank stare. Flashing line. Wordless.

I don't aspire to be a writer. It'd be cool to get an essay published and so on, but that isn't really what I'm pushing towards. I don't feel as if that is what I'm called to do. So why do I have to take is so seriously? If it's just a hobby then why the obsession. I don't know.

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Lanie Coates is the mother of three young boys. Supporting her husband's dream to become a professional musician, she's agreed to leave everything behind in Texas and move to Cambridge, MS. For the past fifteen years, she's devoted her entire life to her family. Her passion with art and painting is soon replaced with diapers and crayons. Her body, much like her life, is unrecognizable. She's lost herself, and she desperately seeks to find some semblance of the person she was. She begins to devote time to herself, and begins going the gym each night, and even signs up for a photography class. This class helps her discover a passion that was unknown to her. Unfortunately, though passion is growing in the heart of someone else as well, and it's not her husband! Just as Lanie begins to feel at peace with herself, her world is turned over and she must struggle to fix it.

EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL is a very honest look at hectic life of a mom. There are moments where you will laugh out loud, and moments where you will cry. As a mother of two boys myself, I could completely sympathize with Lanie's character. This is a must read of any mom, no matter the age of the child.

About the Author:

Author: Katherine Center

PUMP UP YOUR BOOK PROMOTION VIRTUAL BOOK TOURS

"We take books to the virtual level!"

Yesterday was the long awaited Twin Cities Book Festival. I got to Minneapolis on Friday night and was excited to see a Borders right across the street from my hotel. I went there right away of course, but didn't end up buying anything. That, of course, doesn't mean I didn't buy anything on Saturday.

This is the nice stack I came away with. To be fair four of these books are literary magazines (which were only $2 each, it's amazing I didn't just buy the entire table) and one of the magazines is for a friend. I got two issues of Creative Nonfiction, a magazine I love for obvious reasons but rarely get. I talk about Number 31 yesterday in my Awesome Essays post because the subject is publishing and writing in 2025, which seemed to be a huge theme in the panel discussions I went to. Check out that post to share your ideas! I also got Number 23, which is about Mexican-American writers, something I've recently become interested in. I got a little poetry magazine called Bateau and the Alaska Quarterly Review for my friend Michael.

As far as actual books, I got the first comic book in the Fables series, A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler (the publicist, Courtney, did a great job selling the book to me), and If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home by John Jodzio from Replacement Press. I'm super excited to read all of these!

Yesterday was a very long and exciting day. Right away in the morning I met Reagan from Miss Remmers Review, Sheila from Book Journey, Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, and Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. We all had a great chat about books and life before heading over to Sheila's panel discussion about the future of publishing. Her panel was awesome-- and Kim and I said that she answered all the blogger questions just how we would have answered them. After the panel we browsed some of the tables where publishers and authors were promoting their books.

It was a huge crowd! I was excited to see so many people interested in books all in one room. We all went to get lunch with Liz from Consumed By Books and Joanne from Jo Jo Loves to Read. We talked about books (more) and life (more) and then headed back to the festival because Kim, Alea, and I wanted to go to a panel about comic books and comics that Bill Willingham was speaking at. I never realized there was such a great comics scene in Minneapolis and I'll definitely be checking into the other speakers' work as well.

Later at night Sheila, Reagan, Kim, and I went to Borders for awhile and I found a bunch of books I wanted but didn't buy any, which I think deserves a round of applause. Then my boyfriend met up with us and we went to a Chinese place for dinner.

Take One: Reagan, Sheila, me, and Kim.

Take 423: Reagan, Sheila, me, and Kim.

So that was my fun exciting time at the Twin Cities Book Festival. Hopefully I'll get to go again next year and we can do another Midwest Book Blogger meet-up again soon!

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I really enjoy writing and I like to read what other people think about their writing practice, so when I saw Views from the Loft: A Portable Writer's Workshop

available on Netgalley I decided to try it out on my nook. This book is a series of short essays and interviews by authors who have attended the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. I gather that these all came from a literary journal the Loft publishes under the same title. A lot gets covered in this book, including several genres within nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Most of my favorite essays were about memoir writing, and particularly enjoyed reading writers thoughts about fair representation in memoir writing.

If I read the interviews in a magazine, I might have enjoyed them more, but it seemed like a lot of the same questions were asked of the writers and several of them gave similar answers. I think the pacing in the book could have been a little bit better, with similarly written things spread out a little more... or perhaps omitted. My biggest problem with this book was that it was really too much information all together. After finishing it was hard for me to come away with the book with any real clear ideas on how I could improve my writing or for things to try. I think this book is better for dipping into from time to time, rather than to try and read straight through.

I do think this book is worth a look if you love to write. I wouldn't recommend it for a reader who just wants to hear about writers writing. And if you love to write, I would recommend this book as inspiration and not as a guide to read cover to cover. Find a topic that interests you, there are some nice subject divisions in the book, dip into that subject for awhile and then turn to writing with those ideas in mind. If you get stuck, come back to the book if you want.

I give this book a C.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog. I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley.