Issue #98: Fire Season

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Hannah Tinti

As One Story nears our 100th issue, we are more determined than ever to keep the magazine growing and moving forward. One way that we are doing this is to have other people on our staff step in as editor and oversee a story, from start to finish, that they have pulled from the slush. Marie Bertino is our first “guest editor,” and so I am turning the mike over to her this month to discuss the new story, “Fire Season” that she found and brought to our attention. Enjoy!

Katharine Hepburn said, “Plain women know more about men than beautiful ones do.” I thought of this quote while reading Amelia Kahaney’s gorgeous story “Fire Season.” Here we have thirteen year old, “ugly” Marni who wakes one morning to find she has become beautiful. The surprising fallout of this change is what comprises “Fire Season.”

Amelia Kahaney has the writer’s gift of seeing our world in a specific, unconventional way. In “Fire Season,” she decides not to wear her mythology or magic on her sleeve, preferring instead to expertly walk the line between real human pain and circumstantial divinity. The characters she creates in some cases peddle magic, but are human through and through; Lorraine the mother whose hobby of grinding lenses does not bring her any closer to seeing her daughter and Pablo, who can pull a hundred scarves from his fist, but does Marni the greatest injustice by ignoring her new beauty. Somewhere in their short, brutal exchanges, Marni’s heart and the heart of this piece resides.

And, the lines! I want to put them in my pocket. Roger’s mustache is “walrusy,” the “particles” between Marni and her love are “stretched tight as slingshots.” After first reading “Marni waits for Pablo with a clanging heart” it stayed with me for days. Not beating, not drumming, but clanging! Who among us hasn’t waited with a clanging heart for someone? Enjoy “Fire Season.” There is magic here.

–Marie Bertino

Mohan Sikka reads for One Story

Posted on December 9, 2007 by Elliott Holt

On Friday, December 7th, Mohan Sikka read from One Story issue #94, “Uncle Musto Takes a Mistress.” It was a real treat to hear Mohan read the dialogue aloud; his portrayal of the Grandma in his story was Oscar-worthy. (You can listen to it here.) Mohan’s special cocktail of choice was the Dirty Bloody Martini, a drink that prompted some skepticism from the experts behind the bar at Pianos (though they pulled it off with their usual panache–this is one of the many reasons we love Pianos!) but several fans declared it delicious. “It’s basically a bloody Mary martini,” said one, but a Dirty Bloody Martini sounds much more exciting, doesn’t it? There’s a reason that Mohan is such a good writer: he knows how powerful words can be–even when naming cocktails.

Mohan Sikka sips his Dirty Bloody Martini

Laura van den Berg wins first Dzanc Prize

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Hannah Tinti

Upcoming One Story author Laura van den Berg was awarded the first annual Dzanc Prize today, which gives $5,000 to an author volunteering in their community who is also trying to complete a manuscript. Laura will be teaching creative writing to prisoners and putting together an anthology of their work. Look for Laura’s story, “What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us” when we publish it, early next year.

One Story authors with “Notable Books”

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Hannah Tinti

Congratulations to Rebecca Barry (One Story issue # 17, “Midnight Soup”) and Dalia Sofer (winner of the 2007 Sirenland Fellowship). Rebecca’s novel in stories, Later at the Bar, and Dalia’s novel, The Septembers of Shiraz, were both picked as top 100 “Notable Books” of 2007 by the New York Times. See the full list here.