A Few of My Favorite Things -- Archive

from A to Z

Aimee Bender on the roles of the unconscious mind and trust in writing -- revealed in an interview by Ryan Boudinot for pif magazine.

The Battle for Precision -- an essay by George Saunders about specificity, precision, and brevity at the sentence level.

Brain Harvest -- "an almanac of bad ass speculative fiction."

The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel -- a writer who tells the truth, one word at a time. Be sure to read the Powell's interview after you click. And listen to this WKCR interview.

Colm Tóibín reads Sylvia Townsend Warner's "The Children's Grandmother." Listen carefully.

Conversation between Aimee Bender and Alice Sebold -- about spiderweb structure, faith, and silencing those pesky little Shoulds.

Duotrope's Digest -- a database of over 1700 current markets for short fiction, poetry, and novels/collections.

Fairy Tale Review -- a new literary journal devoted to contemporary fairy tales. Take a bite; read "Appleless" by Aimee Bender.

Featherproof Mini-Books -- free little books you can download, fold up, and staple before you read! And they're good.

Fixed Forms for Narrative -- think sestina and sonnet, but for prose instead of poetry.

George Saunders radio interview on Bookworm -- "Taste repeated ends up being style."

Grace Paley interview in The Paris Review, Fall 1992 -- Why read it now? Grace Paley (Dec. 11, 1922–Aug. 22, 2007) short story writer, poet, activist.

Helvetica -- a documentary film by Gary Hustwit that looks at, you guessed it, the typeface Helvetica and its impact.

Here They Come by Yannick Murphy -- a very cool, very autobiographical novel narrated by a 13-year-old girl living in 1970s NYC (published by McSweeney's). Listen to YM's interview on KCRW's Bookworm.

Hotel St. George -- "rooms occupied by writers, artists, and musicians on a quarterly basis" -- a feast for the eyes and ears.

Jazz Messenger -- an essay on becoming a novelist by Haruki Murakami in the NYT.

Jeanette Winterson on Bookworm -- interviewed on April 5, 2012 about her memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal.

Kay Ryan, our poet laureate, interview in the Paris Review -- "I think extravagance in your life takes energy from the possible extravagances of your mind."

Kim Chinquee -- a prolific writer of short-short stories that pop up all over the place but, alas, haven't yet been published in book form (can't imagine why). She links to some of her stories from her blog. Click around and read.

Land-Grant College Review -- a twice-yearly lit journal of fiction and nonfiction that you'll want to read cover to cover. Seriously, it is that good. Nice to hold and look at too.

No one belongs here more than you. -- stories by Miranda July that are every bit as human and inventive as her film (the link takes you to the site she created to announce the book).

Luna Park -- a Quarterly and Occasional Review of Literary Magazines.

Passport and Minor Robberies by Deb Olin Unferth -- two memorably mysterious short-short stories published by AGNI online.

New Yorker Fiction Podcasts -- podcasts of recent NYer writers reading a story from the archives and discussing the story with NYer fiction editor Deborah Treisman.

Open Book -- short video interviews of writers on Slate.com.

Opium's Network of Writers Experiment -- a series of quotes about what authors have learned from other authors. Experiment started in Opium7. Go and order your issue now!

Pia Z. Erhardt interview by Matthew Simmons for Hobart -- read about the present tense.

Poets & Writers Top 10 Questions Writers Ask -- enough said.

Puppy -- recent story by George Saunders compliments of the New Yorker. Wow.

Quick Fiction -- a perfectly squared, mighty, little magazine filled with stories of 500 words or less.

Rebecca Curtis interview -- "You have to be having fun, saying 'fuck it' and writing what you feel like."

Save the Short Story -- a worthy campaign sponsored by the mag One Story.

Sentence: a journal of prose poetics -- a diversity of prose poems and what makes them tick.

Steal Like An Artist: Ten pieces of advice that turned into a book.

Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link -- a collection of fantastical stories that are witty, spooky, funny, and told in heart-stoppingly beautiful prose. And get this, you can download the whole book for free.

Tarpaulin Sky Spring/Summer '07 -- online lit mag guest edited by Rebecca Brown featuring work in response to images by Nancy Kieper. A must look-read.

The 3 A.M. Epiphany: Uncommon Writing Exercises That Transform Your Fiction by Brian Kiteley -- the title says it all. Be sure to read the front and back matter in this book too.

Titlepage.tv -- roundtable discussions with authors hosted by Daniel Menaker -- check it out!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle -- a wonderfully strange novel by Shirley Jackson, reissued by Penguin Classics. Here's the delectable start: "My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood...I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cap mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead."

Wholphin: DVD Magazine of Unseen Things -- from the makers of McSweeney's. Film is writing too!

Write Like a Motherfucker -- not-to-be-missed advice from Dear Sugar.

Writers' Rooms -- photos of writers rooms. Look inside.

Writers and Mentors -- a brilliant article by Rick Moody that ran in the Atlantic Monthly's 2005 Fiction Issue.

Yannick Murphy interview -- on Hobart the website by yours truly.