#glimmer train

“It’s entirely conceivable that life’s splendor surrounds us all, and always in its complete fullness, accessible but veiled, beneath the surface, invisible, far away. But there it lies, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If we call it by the right word, by the right name, then it comes. This is the essence of magic, which doesn’t create but calls.” Franz Kafka, from his diaries

HAPPY…

Westport Writers’ Rendezvous – December update

Our final meeting of the year was surprisingly well attended, considering how close it was to Christmas. Maybe people were taking a break from the seasonal rush. In any event, we covered a lot of ground, with authors asking each other for practical advice (what constitutes plagiarism?), fact-checking their WIP (where do women officers carry their guns?) and celebrating successes around the table.

June 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up!

Hello hello and welcome to this month’s Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up, presented by Moss.

First off, there are plenty of active submission opportunities at the moment that may be worth a look. On June 30 we have deadlines for both the Short Story for New Writers award from Portland-based Glimmer Train and for fall internships at Port Townsend’s Copper Canyon Press. Village Books and Paper Dreams, a bookstore in Bellingham WA, is accepting job applications through July 1. ArtsWA is seeking nominations for “outstanding artists, arts organizations, and cultural leaders” for the Governor’s Arts Awards and Governor’s Heritage Awards through July 7. Finally, don’t miss the chance to submit your chapbook to the contest judged by Matt Bell (Scrapper) and run by Portland-based press The Conium Review, closing September 1. 

Ghosts of Seattle Past is partnering with Seattle’s Center for Architecture and Design on the BOOM! exhibit which opens July 7 (with a party!) and will run through the summer. This interactive multimedia installation will bring to life Seattle’s changing urban landscape through text and image. More info available right here!

Several Northwest-based writers are celebrating recently-released books. Portland’s Chuck Palahniuk releases Fight Club 2, a hardcover graphic novel collecting issues 1-10 of the sequel to his 1996 novel. Alexis M. Smith, also of Oregon, has published her second novel Marrow Island, set on the San Juan Islands twenty years after a cataclysmic earthquake. She spoke with Tobias Carroll of Vol 1 Brooklyn about the novel’s setting and inspiration. Spokane’s Shawn Vestal and his debut novel, the Idaho-set Daredevils, are featured with an in-depth interview with The Rumpus. And Monica Drake shares a Portland-themed playlist for her collection of short stories set in the city and published by Portland’s Future Tense Books with David Gutowski at Large-Hearted Boy.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell visited Portland for his CNN show United Shades of America, examining the ongoing issue of race and gentrification in cities with a thorough yet gentle eye. The show highlights Oregon’s complicated racial history and features the gorgeous photography of Portland’s Intisar Abioto. Watch the United Shades of America videos and read Bell’s thoughts here, then take a look at Abioto’s photographs on The Black Portlanders. 

The Northwest showed its strength as a center for alternative journalism when the 2016 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards finalists were announced this month. There were eight nominations for Portland’s Willamette Week, four for Spokane’s The Inlander, and three for Eugene Weekly. See the full list of finalists in all categories here. Mike Bookey’s profile of novelist (and Moss contributing editor!) Sharma Shields for The Inlander was nominated in the category of Arts Feature in a paper with circulation exceeding 45,000. Congratulations to these papers and people!

Portland’s Revolution Comedy and The Q Center are presenting a night of comedy to benefit OneOrlando in the wake of this month’s mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub. The event will feature Northwest comedians Andie Main, Nick Sahoyah, Barbara Holm, Nariko Ott, Whitney Streed, Caitlin Weierhauser and Susan Rice, and will be held on July 6. More details on Facebook. 

Finally, Washington’s inimitable Poet Laureate Tod Marshall reminds us that submissions are open through January 2017 for Washington 129, an print and online anthology collecting poetry from the people of Washington State. Learn more, consider submitting, and spread the word! 

Glimmer Train Fall 2014: “The Hate,” by Mehdi Tavana Okasi

I mentioned in a previous post that Glimmer Train wants stories from places other than America. Let me expand on that: they really like stories about the Middle East, especially Iran, through an American lens. We started the Fall 2014 magazine with the Arabic boy, continued with the Iranian immigrant, and now have a story about a visit to Iran. And that story, “The Hate,” is the only one I’ve…

Glimmer Train Fall 2014: “Walang Hiya, Brother,” by Melissa R. Sipin

Hey, I finally posted something that doesn’t take a billion years to read! How about that. “Walang hiya” means “(you have) no shame,” in the Tagalog language. You can probably guess that translation when reading this story, since this is a story about Filipino-Americans trying to fit in with America while maintaining their culture and honor. What surprised me was finding out that “walang hiya” is…