William Meredith (1919-2007)
Envoi
Go, little book. If anybody asks
Why I add poems to a time like this,
Tell how the comeliness I can’t take in
Of ships and other figures of content
Compels me still until I give them names;
And how I give them names impatiently,
As who should pull up roses by the roots
That keep him turning on his empty bed,
The smell intolerable and thick with loss.
VS. 
Jane Smiley goes head to head with Erica Jong over Jong’s piece, which appeared in the Huffington Post & in Publisher’s Weekly (and One Story discussed, here.) Smiley’s take? There are plenty of women writers out there, working hard and writing wonderful books. The reason why women don’t win more awards is because they are not on the nominating committees:
“Just about a year ago now, I blogged on the New York Times website about the results of a Times poll of literary types, asking the question “What is the greatest novel of the last 25 years?” While Beloved garnered the most votes, few other women appeared among the top twenty-five. This seemed so strange to me that I inquired about the polling method. I was told that the request for a vote went out to an equal number of male and female recipients, but not all of the ballots were returned — 69% of the returned ballots were from men and 31% were from women. Imagine if numbers of registered Republicans and Democrats were equal, but 69% of Republicans voted and only 31% of Democrats. Talk about war without end! But it would also be the case that the Dems would have only themselves to blame for their lack of power and influence. This suggests to me that women writers, while they have been busy writing, have not been busy either filling slots on awards committees or lobbying for influence. That 69/31 split is similar to the split in the Pulitzers and the NBAs [National Book Awards] between male and female recipients.”
To read the rest of the article, go here.
Voodoo Heart, by One Story author Scott Snyder has just been released in paperback. This wonderful story collection got great reviews last year. It also includes One Story issue #14, “Happy Fish, Plus Coin.” Francine Prose said:
“Suffused with sly humor, sympathy and high spirits, the stories in Voodoo Heart are giddy with the thrill of discovering what can be done with words, what you can make happen on the page. The result is as irreducible and rewarding as making playing cards disappear or pulling gold coins out of thin air.”
and Stephen King said:
“Scott Snyder’s Voodoo Heart just blew me away. These dispatches from disaffected but strangely likeable American oddities have much the same effect as good American roots music: their simplicity is deceptive, their emotional power considerable. And at some point between the mystery-blimp of “Blue Yodel” and the World War I-era Curtis Jenny of “The Star Attraction of 1919,” you may discover that Snyder’s plain folks have stolen your heart. I think what impressed me most about these stories–even the ones in which terrible things happen–was their warmth and humanity. Even when his characters are at their worst, Scott Snyder never abandons them. These are stories that welcome the reader in, and fully reward his interest. Sometimes horrifying, often absurd, full of characters afraid to commit (and who sometimes commit anyway), this is a debut worthy of T. Coraghessan Boyle’s If The River Was Whiskey. I couldn’t put it down.”
What are you waiting for? It’s only $13.00! Buy it today!
Thanks to our friend, New Yorker cartoonist (and Australian) Andrew Weldon for this heads up:
“‘Three Thousand’ is a sort of web-newsletter of cool goings-on around Melbourne (3000 is Melbourne’s post/zipcode). They give One Story a rave in their latest issue. Don’t be surprised if you get a spike in Melbourne subscriptions…”
To see what the Australians think of One Story, click here.
While One Story gets their podcasting “stuff” together …
Be sure to check out these oldie-but-goodie readings from one of our favorite authors, NM Kelby. “Jubilation, Florida” in particular is a story that is MEANT to be heard.
And thanks to whatever reader out there wanted an impossible copy of Jubilation, inspiring this “find”
Last night One Story author Calvin Baker was interviewed by Farai Chideya on NPR about his amazing new novel Dominon, which was just released in paperback. He gives a brief reading and discusses how he approached writing about slavery in early colonial America. Find out why blogger Maud Newton calls Dominion one of the best books of 2006. To listen, go here.
Here’s a great interview with One Story author Alan DeNiro about his short story collection, Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead, which includes One Story issue #22, “Child Assassin.” The man behind the camera is the indomitable Gavin Grant, head of Small Beer Press.
I’ve always been fascinated by fairy tales. When I was a child I collected books of them�early Grimm and volumes from Norway and Japan. When I was older I stumbled onto Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales, which I still go back to and re-read regularly. The stories repeat themselves in different forms, with each country of origin adding its own distinctly dark flavor to the human wants and hidden truths. So when I came to “The Wolf Story”�the story within this story, I knew that I had found the heart of Irina Reyn’s piece: the wolf who returns and returns, until it has eaten everything. It is a terrifying image, and perfect for the backdrop of Warsaw, and the desecration of its Jewish community. But it also speaks to the character of Galya, and her own internal struggle and guilt�the desire to turn away from her family’s history, and the inability to escape it. In a good story, there are always two narrative lines�the internal and the external plot. Irina Reyn expertly weaves these two together, keeping the pace as Galya and Lauren’s friendship is tried with this unexpected pregnancy, but always in the background maintaining the emotional pressure�the Ghetto, the Nozyk synagogue, the moment in the bar when Mateusz raises his glass�as if she is keeping her finger on the pulse, the weight of all that is underneath the surface. She’s currently working on a collection of stories where Russian folk tales haunt the lives of modern people. I’d love to get a discussion going here on the importance of fairy tales, and how they have influenced other writers.
Congratulations to One Story author Rebecca Barry, for the over the moon review she got in this week’s New York Times Book Review for her novel in stories, Later, at the Bar, which was released this week from Simon & Schuster:
“Rebecca Barry’s marvelous debut work of fiction, Later, at the Bar, fulfills the promise of the form, and more. In 10 interconnected stories that follow the regulars of a small-town bar called Lucy’s Tavern, the pleasure trip leads to the most happening party in town.
Later, at the Bar is funny, fast and addictive. It is an intoxicating book, beginning to end. Barry’s characters are so smart, hilarious and real that one can’t help being utterly seduced by them and what their lives teach us about “the rough and beautiful ways people carried their loneliness.”
To read the rest of the review, go here.
One of the stories included in Later, at the Bar was published by One Story in 2003. Old-time subscribers might remember issue #17, “Midnight Soup”, which went on to be included in Best New American Voices.
Want to see Rebecca read in person? Here are her tour dates:
Boston
May 8, 2007
The Publick House
1648 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02445
6:00pm
New York
May 10, 2007
Barnes & Noble
4 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003
7:00pm
May 11, 2007
Black Betty’s
366 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211
7:30pm
*with musical guests*
Lancaster, PA
May 19, 2007
Barnes and Noble
1700 H Fruitville Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601
6:00pm
Trumansburg, New York
Book Release Party
May 13th
The Rongovian Embassy
Main St, Trumansburg
7:00 pm
*with musical guests*
Ithaca, New York
May 20, 2007
Bookery
215 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY 14850
3:00pm
Reception to follow at Petrune
115 S. Cayuga St.
with wine from Sheldrake Vineyards.
Columbus, Ohio
May 24
Barley’s Underground
467 North High St, Columbus, 43215
7:00 pm
*with musical guests*
Hudson, Ohio
June 9th
Ellsworth Hall, Western Reserve Academy Campus
4:30 pm
Dani Shapiro (center) with Sirenlanders Nina Sherwin and Randolyn Zinn, and One Story Editor Hannah Tinti
Thanks to everyone who came out to the reading at Pianos on Friday. Couldn’t make it? Go here or visit our readings page to listen to it online! From now on, our readings will be available online for subscribers who don’t live in New York. Enjoy!