Andrew Foster Altschul’s Lady Lazarus

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Hannah Tinti

One Story author Andrew Foster Altschul has just released his first novel, Lady Lazarus. Andrew Sean Greer says, “Altschul is one of our great young writers, and Lady Lazarus is the proof. A poetic satire of rock and roll, and a rock and roll ode to poetry, it mirrors its heroine: smart, gorgeous, and funny as hell.” And Heidi Julavits says, “”Lady Lazurus brilliantly examines the cultural allure of the famous dead. Many ghosts haunt the pages of this gripping novel; it casts over the reader that same spell cast by the real-life stories of the talented and the doomed.”

Visit Andrew’s website!

Read an excerpt!

Buy the book!

One Story Staff–Reading!

Posted on March 29, 2008 by Hannah Tinti

(One Story readers Yuka Igarashi, Karen Friedman, Jesse Hassenger and managing editor Pei-Ling Lue get ready to read.)

Last week One Story’s staff got together and read some of their own work. A great crowd came out to the Old American Can Factory (where One Story has our offices). Thanks to everyone who stopped by and shared a glass of wine with us. If you missed it, you can listen to it online by going here and clicking on the staff member you’d to hear.

(First up was One Story publisher Maribeth Batcha)

(Next our managing editor Pei-Ling Lue took the stand)

(Reading Series coordinator Elliott Holt tried her own hand at reading)

(Reader Jason Watt read from his resume)

(Reader Karen Friedman didn’t let her eight month pregnancy slow her down…)

(Reader Jesse Hassenger made us all laugh)

(Reader Yuka Igarashi read for the very first time!)

(Assistant Editor Marie-Helene Bertino stunned the crowd with her fashion, and her fiction)

(One Story editor Hannah Tinti turned the camera on the crowd)

One Story Staff Reads!

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Hannah Tinti

Ever wonder about the people behind One Story?

Tomorrow night @ 7:00 pm–Tuesday, March 25th–One Story will be hosting a staff reading at the Old American Can Factory (where our office is). Reading their own work with be One Story publisher Maribeth Batcha, Assistant Editor Marie-Helene Bertino, Reading Series Coordinator Elliott Holt, Readers Jesse Hassenger, Yuka Igarishi, Jason Watt, and Karen Friedman, and One Story Editor Hannah Tinti. Come and join us for a glass of wine and check out the Can Factory, one of the coolest art buildings in Brooklyn.

One Story Staff Reading

Tuesday, March 25th @ 7:00 PM

Old American Can Factory

232 Third Street (& Third Avenue)

Brooklyn, NY 11215

This Reading is FREE and open to the public. For more information go here.

Charles Lambert’s Little Monsters

Posted on March 17, 2008 by Hannah Tinti

One Story author Charles Lambert (issue # 64, The Scent of Cinnamon–which won a 2007 O. Henry Award) has a new book out, Little Monsters. This novel is currently only available in the U.S. and Canada, so to order your copy, go here. Listen up, American publishers–Little Monsters has already been chosen by UK Good Housekeeping as one of their best reads for this spring!

Andrew Porter on Selected Shorts

Posted on March 16, 2008 by Hannah Tinti

One Story author Andrew Porter (issue # 72, “Azul”) will have his work read on an episode of Selected Shorts, celebrating the Pushcart Prizes. The live audience recording will be made on March 26th in New York City and will later be broadcast on NPR across the country. The stories will be read by actors led by Alec Baldwin. To buy tickets, go here.

The Story Prize

Posted on March 16, 2008 by Elliott Holt

(Lam, Shepard & Hadley share a drink after the event)For those of us who write short stories but are under constant pressure to write novels because story collections don’t sell, The Story Prize is a welcome reminder that short fiction still matters to some people. The Story Prize gives $20,000 to the author of an outstanding story collection published in English during the previous year. This year’s three finalists, selected by Story Prize director Larry Dark and Story Prize founder Julie Lindsey were Sunstroke and Other Stories by Tessa Hadley, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam, and Like You’d Understand, Anyway by Jim Shepard. On Wednesday, February 27th, at an award ceremony at The New School, literati gathered to hear each of the three finalists read an excerpt from one of their stories and then join Larry Dark on stage for a short conversation about their work. It was like being at a story writers’ version of the Oscars, where, instead of Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep, the dazzling stars in attendance included Amy Hempel, Jayne Anne Phillips and David Gates (who was a judge this year.) One Story Editor Hannah Tinti, Managing Editor Pei-Ling Lue and I were in the audience to savor every word. Any of these three phenomenal collections would have been worthy of the prize, but this year’s winner is Jim Shepard (who read for One Story on January 4th.) Jim’s acceptance speech was so generous in its praise of the other two collections that it was a reminder that every great writer is also a great reader. And speaking of reading, if you haven’t read these three collections, buy them now. You won’t be disappointed. To see a webcast of the entire event, go here.

LA Times Loves One Story

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Marie-Helene Bertino

The LA Times showed some left coast love for One Story recently in their Books section. They called us “little geniuses,” and “portable-ish.” LA Times, we love you, too. Read the article here.

Amelia Kahaney reads for One Story

Posted on March 8, 2008 by Elliott Holt

March 7th was another rainy night in New York City, which made those of us who work for One Story wonder why it always rains during our readings. Is there something about rain and short fiction that go together? Feel free to share your thoughts. Luckily, the wet weather couldn’t put out Amelia Kahaney’s fire. A large crowd gathered at Pianos to see Amelia read from One Story issue 98, “Fire Season.” The story is stunning (the Luna Park Review is “in awe of” Kahaney’s fiction debut) and most of the audience realized that. There was one disrepectful patron who chose to talk on his cell phone for much of the reading. And because the rude dude was sitting right next to the mike, his chatter was distracting. But Amelia was poised and kept reading beautifully. Click on our audio archive to hear the story.

Earth, Wind and Fire Season

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Marie-Helene Bertino

One Story Issue 98, Amelia Kahaney’s charming “Fire Season,” is igniting hearts and minds all over the country, no pun intended (none achieved). The lovely editors of Luna Park, an online blog dedicated to wrangling the best news from the country’s literary magazines, has seen fit to stop, drop and roll out the red carpet (now we’re just being silly) for Amelia’s debut story. Check out their write-up here. And, check out Amelia Kahaney herself tomorrow night at Pianos, as she reads from her incendiary story (that’s the last one, really).