Writing Your Family History: Five Hints from Chloe' Yelena Miller

My friend Chloé Yelena Miller will present a workshop on "Writing Your Family History" at the Ann Arbor Book Festival Writer's Conference, which will take place on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16, 2009. (Chloé is also coordinating the Author Breakfast that will take place as part of the Festival on May 16.)

If you can't get to Ann Arbor, you'll appreciate Chloé's guest post, featuring tips on her workshop topic. And if you can get to Ann Arbor, perhaps you'll want to check out the conference for yourself.

Writing Your Family History: Five Hints from Chloé Yelena Miller

On the first day of an adult memoir writing class I taught a few years ago, I asked the students what motivated them to take the class. One elderly woman said that she has been waiting for her children and grandchildren to ask her about her life story. They never did. She decided to take up the pen and write her own story.

Don’t risk losing your family’s stories. Here are five hints to help you collect, preserve and share family stories.

1. Start with what you know. Make a list of memories. Then, work step by step to add details and develop the narrative scene by scene. Try to include details that involve the five senses (What did the food taste like? Was there air conditioning?)

2. Expand on your memories by discussing them with family members. Inevitably, they will remember something differently. One technique is to share what you’ve written and ask them to fill in the blanks. Ask specific questions (What do you remember eating on your birthday? How did you find your first job?) Another technique, which is a more standard interview process, is to ask your family members very open ended questions. You could start with asking them about their earliest memories and what they enjoyed doing as children. Practice listening and don’t interject your own memories. See what they come up with.

3. Family history isn’t relegated to the past. Journal regularly to keep track of your life and what you witness. Include quotes from relatives that display their tone and speech patterns. Note where and when moments took place such as personal moments between you and a loved one and national moments, like Obama’s inauguration.

4. Learn (or remember) more about the past. If you are writing about something from your parents’ generation, read contemporary novels that they might have read as teenagers. Watch movies set in that period. Look at local newspaper ads. The word changes so quickly; remember what it was like then (without the internet, cell phones, etc.) Consider how daily life was different and use your findings as prompts for future questions.

5. Share your findings with family members. You may decide to make photocopies of your stories and documents, share scanned pictures on a website or even ask family members to write their own memories. This last holiday season, I asked family members to write a short piece about past Christmas celebrations. Each resulting piece was intimate and shared a slightly different experience. Being from a younger generation from most of the contributors, I loved learning about their past in their own words. They brought up details that I wouldn’t have known to ask about. Relatives had a chance to organize their memories and reminisce together, even across geographical boundaries.

My mother, a professional photographer, and I have compiled a collection of paired poems and photographs documenting our family’s emigration from southern Italy to New Jersey. These pieces are based on visits to the town where our family originated, oral histories collected with Americans and Italians, historical documents and cultural history about the towns and time periods involved. What we created contains an emotional truth and some facts, but the stories mostly contain facts as we experienced them or as they were told to us. We continue to translate the experiences in the form of our art.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Chloé Yelena Miller has poems published or forthcoming in Alimentum Journal, Lumina, Privatephotoreview.com, South Mountain Poets Chapbook, Sink Review and The Cortland Review. Her manuscript, Permission to Stay, was a finalist for the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry. She teaches writing online for Fairleigh Dickinson University and edits Portal Del Sol. She received an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a B.A. from Smith College.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Interested in The Cincinnati Review? Check out this interview with the journal's poetry editor, Don Bogen, over on Luna Park (which promises that this piece "is the first of our ongoing series of writers interviewing literary magazine editors"). Remember that The Cincinnati Review reads submissions between September 1 and May 31 and pays $30/page for poetry ($25/page for prose).
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Here's what looks to be a lucrative and impressive opportunity for college students. The Norman Mailer College Writing Award will provide a cash award of $10,000, travel and lodging for the winner to attend the Norman Mailer Writers Colony National Awards Ceremony, and a full scholarship to the 2010 Norman Mailer Writers Colony. This year's category is creative nonfiction. "Students may submit work in any of the many subgenres of creative nonfiction: memoir or autobiography, essay, literary journalism, profiles of people or places, and so on." The competition is open to students who will be college seniors, juniors, or sophomores in fall 2009. There is no entry fee. For more information/guidelines, please visit the Web site. (NB: Complementary award for high school students, too.)
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The Guide to Literary Agents blog introduces two new literary agents at Firebrand Literary: Stacia Decker and Danielle Chiotti. Learn more about them (and what they specialize in) here.
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But wait, there's more! The GLA blog also introduces agent Willy Blackmore, who has joined BLISS Literary Agency. Check out his fiction and nonfiction interests here.
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And yes, I have managed to find some jobs to share with you this week, too!
Professor of Latino Studies/Writer-in-Residence, University of Houston-Victoria (Texas)
Part-time Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing (preference for specialty in short fiction and/or interest in new media), Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta (Georgia)
Associate Director of Public Relations, Mercy College (New York)
Director of Communications, Villanova University (Pennsylvania)
Director of Communications, San Jose State University (California)

Saturday Special: Win A Book!

The giveaway is now closed! Thanks to everyone for participating. I'm particularly happy to welcome the blog's new readers! And I'm delighted to announce that KIMBERLY ZOOK has won a copy of Christina Katz's Writer Mama. Kimberly, please e-mail me with your mailing address, and I'll forward the info to Christina.

Saturday posts don't happen too often around here, but I've made an exception to help celebrate the two-year anniversary of the publication of Christina Katz's Writer Mama book. This post is for all my writing friends, whether they are "writer mamas" or not!

Please welcome our guest blogger, Christina Katz!

The Writer Mama Two-Year Anniversary Blog Tour Giveaway!

Post #28: Your Book’s Features

During the book writing process, you’ve made an effort to make your book as unique as possible, right? Well, now that your book is complete, you have your first opportunity to write down the features that makes your book desirable to your book’s targeted audience.

Features are the simple facts that describe your book like size, length, font choice, cover design, etc. Sure, features sound straightforward, but one of the advantages of working with a traditional publisher is that care and consideration are devoted to every aspect of your book’s production. If your publisher has gone to some lengths to make sure your book has unique features to suit your audience, you’ll want to highlight those features as you prepare to market your book.

For example, Writer Mama has some unique features. First of all, the book was intentionally designed in a small, chunky size so it would be easy to stash in a diaper bag or give as a shower gift to a new mom. Over the past couple of years, dozens of moms have commented to me that they appreciate the stash-able, sturdy size. Will your book have a unique size or shape? Or is size not a marketable feature?

How was your book written to particularly suit your readership? For example, the short chapters with lots of condensed information were purposeful to make Writer Mama easy for a mom to read while sitting in a waiting room or car-pooling. I just re-connected with a friend from sixth grade who keeps her copy of Writer Mama stashed in her car so she can read it while ferrying her four kids around town. Mission accomplished! Now describe your book. What’s special about the way it is written or organized? Have you taken the reader into account? Or is format not a feature you’ll highlight?

You’ve probably noticed that book covers vary greatly from the most simple, two-color text only cover all the way to the fully designed, four-color cover extravaganza. Another unique feature of Writer Mama is the colorful, stylish book design. So many how-to writing books are a turnoff because they are gray, businesslike, and boring. In contrast, Writer Mama is sassy, fun, with a starburst of color on the cover. The book designer, Claudean Wheeler, really outdid herself when designing the cheerful cover and bright inside designs. Does your book’s cover design reflect something about the book’s intended reader?

You’ll want to remind readers that care and consideration has gone into the design and production of your book. So be sure to pay attention during the production process so you can communicate the distinct features when you are ready to start promoting your book.

Today's Book Drawing: To enter to win a signed, numbered copy of Writer Mama, answer the following question in this blog's comments:
What unique features will your book have that will take the reader's needs into account? Or what book from your bookshelf do you love for the way it suits your unique needs as a reader?
Thanks for participating! Only US residents, or folks with a US mailing address can participate in the drawing. Please only enter once per day.

Where will the drawing be tomorrow? Visit http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/ to continue reading the rest of the Writer Mama story throughout March 2009!

Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids by Christina Katz (Writer's Digest Books 2007)
Kids change your life, but they don't necessarily have to end your career. Stay-at-home moms will love this handy guide to rearing a successful writing career while raising their children. The busy mom's guide to writing life, this book gives stay-at-moms the encouragement and advice they need including everything from getting started and finding ideas to actually finding time to do the work - something not easy to do with the pitter-patter of little feet. With advice on how to network and form a a business, this nurturing guide covers everything a writer mama needs to succeed at her second job. Christina Katz is also the author of the newly released Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer's Digest Books 2008).

Friday Find: Some Poetic Forms

It's almost that time of year: National Poetry Month! And to honor the occasion, Robert Lee Brewer has provided an updated list of poetic forms, for reference and for inspiration. Enjoy!

"Best Practices" for the Print-on-Demand Industry

Once upon a time I published a book via print-on-demand (POD), and I'm still occasionally asked to provide advice to others considering that route for their work. I'd recommend that anyone evaluating various POD companies read through this article on "best practices." The article's author is Angela Hoy, who certainly has a vested interest in promoting her own company (Booklocker.com). Still, there's no denying that much of what she says in this article--apparently the first in a series--is valid. For example, POD publishers "should never, ever, ever claim ownership of files that authors have paid them to produce." And companies should not "upsell authors on services they can get themselves for less or free." This is an article to bookmark and reread.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Congratulations to Krasikov, Writing to Change/Persuade, and New MFA Resources

Congratulations to Sana Krasikov, winner of the 2009 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature for her debut story collection (let's hear it for short story collections!), One More Year. (Over on my other blog, you'll find additional information about Krasikov and her work.)
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One of the most significant pieces of writing I've completed so far in 2009, in my view, is a letter I wrote to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. When I wrote it, I thought back to Mary Pipher's book, Writing to Change the World, which I had the pleasure of reviewing awhile back for The Writer. And I thought again about the importance of writing for change when I read Christina Katz's recent post on "Writing to Persuade."
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Over on Tom Kealey's MFA blog, you'll find two posts presenting new MFA-related resources: MFA Connect and Grad Insider.

PEN Online Translation Slam

Our world would be much less interesting without the work of talented translators. And their work, itself, is incredibly interesting. Check out PEN American Center's inaugural "Online Translation Slam." (Sure, I'd have been grateful if the original poem had been written in a language I can understand [French, for instance]. But whether you can read the original Chinese poem or not, you'll have to be intrigued by the differences between the two translations that emerged.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

A new "Silver Linings Contest," a partnership between Adams Media (the Cup of Comfort series publisher) and Redbook magazine, will award $1,000 for a winning personal essay "about finding comfort in today's tough [economic] times." There's no entry fee, and you have until May 15 to submit an essay. Many more details available here.
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HCI's "Ultimate" anthologies seek submissions for two forthcoming titles. One book will be aimed to "The Ultimate Runner," and the other will be targeted to "The Ultimate Bird Lover." Visit the Web site to learn more (pay rates are detailed within the FAQ). Deadline: June 15, 2009.
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There's still a week or so remaining to submit a manuscript for this year's Lotus Press Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award. Thie prize includes $500 and publication, and recognizes a collection by an African-American poet. There is no entry fee. Deadline: March 31, 2009. Details here (click "poetry award guidelines").
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Witness, a literary journal now published at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, publishes annually and is seeking submissions for its 2010 issue, which will feature "a special portfolio focusing on literature and film/video/photography. In addition to general submissions, we welcome work that addresses any intersection between these genres." Pays: $10/published page. Send one story, one essay, or five poems at a time. Guidelines here.
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Not surprisingly, it's getting tougher to find jobs out there. In part, that's due to the calendar: academic jobs in creative writing are usually not posted this late in the academic year. But I'll keep looking, for academic and non-academic positions.
Part-Time Positions in the English Department, Clarion University (Penn.)
Communications and Marketing Director, Massachusetts Bay Community College (Mass.)
Communications Coordinator and Writer, Oakland University (Mich.)

Friday Find: Tips on Rewriting

Thank you, Chuck, for soliciting tips on rewriting and posting some of what came in. Hope it helps all of us with our weekend writing!

Placing Your Jewish Short Stories

At the Jewish Fiction Writers' Conference held at the 92nd Street Y last weekend, I shared a handout with detailed profiles of a number of publications that will consider short stories on Jewish themes or subjects. I can't replicate the handout in its entirety here, but I can share with you the 11 publications whose editors supplied me with information and confirmed their interest in such work.

Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal (guidelines here)
The Forward (guidelines here)
Horizons: The Jewish Family Monthly (guidelines here)
Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion (guidelines here)
Jewish Quarterly: A Magazine of Contemporary Writing, Politics & Culture
Lilith (guidelines here)
New Vilna Review (guidelines here)
Pakn Treger
Poetica Magazine: A Literary Journal on the Jewish Experience (guidelines here)
Tiferet: A Journal of Spiritual Literature (guidelines here)
Zeek

NB: Magazines/journals that did not respond to my questionnaire include Guilt & Pleasure, Heeb, Jewish Currents, Midstream, and Mishpacha.And of course, please do remember that stories with "Jewish" content can certainly find homes in "secular" publications.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Small Press Month, Resource for Poets, and A Talented Writer

March is Small Press Month, and to mark the occasion, "Oronte Churm" checks in with several big names in the world of small presses.
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Sage Cohen announces the launch of a new resource for poets.
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A little-known fact about Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, President Obama's nominee for Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA—and my college classmate: Like our President, Dr. Sharfstein is a very talented writer. Back in college, I always looked forward to his articles and opinion pieces in the main campus newspaper. Here's one writing-themed piece I recall was a particular favorite among my thesis-writing friends (yes, we were a pretty intellectual group!).

Ten Tips for Formatting Short Story Manuscripts

Here's a snippet from my presentation on publishing short stories, delivered before the inaugural Jewish Fiction Writers' Conference at the 92nd Street Y last Sunday. The presentation was designed for fiction writers, but this segment happens to be relevant for essayists as well. More on the conference to follow here and at my other blog, My Machberet.

Top Ten Tips for Formatting/Preparing Short Story Manuscripts

1. Double-space your manuscript.

2. Print only on one side of the paper.

3. Use black type (no fancy colors).

4. Use a simple, conventional font (like Times New Roman 12-pt).

5. Number your pages, and unless you're told differently, include your name and/or the story title in the header.

6. Proofread. Reading the entire story aloud is an excellent strategy that helps writers "catch" mistakes computer spelling and grammar programs don't always find.

7. If the story is longer than a few pages (my limit is four, plus the cover letter), don't stuff it in a regular/business size envelope. Place it in a larger (in the United States, 9"X12") envelope.

8. Always include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) for a response. (Here's where those "forever" stamps really come in handy.)

9. Keep a copy of your submission for your own records.

10. Keep a copy of your cover letter. You might consider establishing a separate binder to track your submission correspondence. Otherwise it becomes all too easy to forget which story went to which publication when. And if you've submitted simultaneously, you'll need to tell all the other journals you've sent a story to when it's accepted elsewhere.

Anyone want to offer other suggestions, in comments?

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Teachers & Writers magazine "welcomes articles about teaching the art of writing in kindergarten through college and in non-classroom settings." The magazine also invites submissions on related topics, "such as oral history, translation, and teaching writing in combination with other arts. Articles should present innovative techniques and ideas or shine a new light on familiar subject matter." Pays: "small honorarium, payable on publication, and copies of the magazine." Click here to learn more.
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The Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets will confer two awards of £5,000 each, one to recognize a work in poetry published in "pamphlet form", and the other to honor a publisher of poetry in this form. "Pamphlet form" includes "pamphlets, chapbooks, small press publications, community publications, illustrated works, art books and nontraditional book formats." The deadline is coming up very fast: 5pm (London time) on March 20. Only for pamphlets published in the UK. There is no entry fee. Please visit the Web site for much more information.
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The Bottom Line Poetry Contest, sponsored by a medical group of 46 Florida gastroenterologists , seeks original poems about colonoscopies. Poems must be received no later than midnight on March 31, 2009. There's no entry fee. Pays: $500 cash, or a free colonoscopy. Visit this Web site for more information (click "Upcoming Events" to access the contest rules and regulations). Thanks to University Diaries for the tip!
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Chuck Sambuchino introduces us to agent Kelly Sonnack, who represents "all things kids stuff." Check out the interview here.
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And of course, some jobs!
Teacher and Program Coordinator for Continuing Education in Writing, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Director of Communications, Northwestern University (Illinois)
Public Relations Specialist, Murray State University (Kentucky)
Information Writer-Web Writer/Editor, Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania)
Multimedia Writer/Editor, University of Maryland University College

Friday Find: Book Launch Party Tips

The moderator of one of my online discussion groups recently shared a link to a post she recommends for planning a book launch. The post is two years old, but definitely still valid. Enjoy it, and have a wonderful weekend!

Ozone Park

Typically, I don't point you to calls for submissions from journals that don't pay their writers, but today I am making an exception, and that's for two reasons. First, Ozone Park is the journal of the Queens College (CUNY) MFA program, and I am a big fan of all the CUNY writing programs. Second, Ozone Park's new editor, Deonne Kahler, is a good friend.

Learn more about Ozone Park, which is taking submissions in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, and play excerpts until June 15, here. NB: Deonne tells me that the next issue will publish in May, and it will include an interview with Li-Young Lee.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Recommended Parenting-Related Writing

It's not exactly a secret around here that although I don't have children of my own, I'm quite interested in parent-child relationships and the infinite stories emanating from them. Today, I thought I'd point out some exemplary parenting-related writing.

First up: Recently, I reconnected with a friend who is now a mom to twin toddlers (and two wonderful older stepchildren). I was quick to recommend Jane Roper's excellent "Baby Squared" blog on Babble.com. I'm not exactly sure when I discovered this blog, but Jane, whose name I remembered from the Boston writing scene, instantly pulled me in with her smart, funny writing about life with her twin girls.
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Next: "Kelly James-Enger" is another name I've known for a long time, mainly from many years' worth of Writer magazine articles. The other day, I read Kelly's beautiful essay, "When Words Really Matter." It's an eloquent reminder that sometimes, our most significant writings won't earn us a penny of income. But they're infinitely more valuable than anything that might bring in a paycheck.
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Finally, Gene Weingarten's Washington Post article, "Fatal Distraction," is currently making the Internet rounds. This extended article is notable for its powerful writing (as well as its tragic subject matter). Warning: You may not be able to get through it. (For the record, I first found this article via Lisa Belkin's Motherlode blog at NYTimes.com.)

Any of you want to recommend similar/related writings or writers? Please do so, in comments!

Don't Worry, Be Happy, Practicing Writers!

I don't know about you, but I'm going to bookmark Nathan Bransford's "Ten Commandments for the Happy Writer." (I may need to refer back to it frequently now that Nathan has shifted over into "negativity week" mode.)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Updates from Tin House: "Tin House is now reading for the Fall, 2009 issue, which will have a theme of Hope/Fear. We are looking for fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that addresses the global tipping point - economically, culturally, and environmentally. What we are particularly interested in are personal visions, either optimistic or pessimistic. These can take on global concerns, but we are after singular voices. Please have your submission in by May 31 to be considered for this issue./We are also currently reading for our Winter 2010 issue, which is open (no theme). We recommend getting your submission in by September 30 to be considered for this issue; please also remember that we do not read unsolicited submissions between June 1 and August 31." Click here for more information.
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Teachers & Writers Collaborative has posted guidelines for its 2009-2010 Fellowships for emerging writers. There is no application fee. Deadline: June 19, 2009 (received). Details, including eligibility criteria, available here.
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LifeBytes seeks true stories of online dating. Deadline: June 15, 2009. Pays: $50-$100. Guidelines here.
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The Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City) seeks emerging local Jewish artists (including poets and spoken word artists) for an upcoming evening show. Winners will receive $250 for their performances. There is no application fee. Application deadline: April 13, 2009. I've reprinted the full press release on my other blog.
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The Cup of Comfort series is calling for manuscripts for two new anthologies. A Cup of Comfort for Couples seeks true stories "that celebrate what it means to be in love." Deadline: October 1, 2009. A Cup of Comfort for Golfers seeks true stories "that celebrate the follies, the triumphs, and the joy of the game." Deadline: December 15, 2009. For details/pay rates for these books and others currently under development, please click here and here.
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And a few more jobs to share with you this week:
Director of Rose O'Neill Literary House, Washington College (Maryland)
Continuing education instructors ("The Life of a Writer," "Cultural Journalism," and other courses), State University of New York (SUNY)-Purchase
Editorial Associate/Web Content Writer, SUNY-Brockport
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (poetry), Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and English, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Creative Writing, Northumbria University (UK)
Thanks to BJ Epstein for the leads on the UK jobs!

Friday Find: Hold this Thought

"Hold this Thought" is "a daily, 1-minute thought from literature, history, or culture designed to inspire reflection and conversation." I discovered it thanks to my friend Anne, and I've been checking on it from time to time since she pointed me to it. Apart from sheer reading/listening pleasure, Hold this Thought, produced by KSKA public radio in Alaska, can be a good place to promote one's book! Check it out here, enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Bolaño's Bio-Bibliographical Dictionary: A Review of Nazi Literature in the Americas

Although I haven't yet seen a copy of the latest (Fall 2008) issue of The Chattahoochee Review, I'm told by a reliable reader that my review of Nazi Literature in the Americas indeed appears there. I'm pleased to share the review with all of you as well.

Bolaño's Bio-Bibliographical Dictionary

Nazi Literature in the Americas. Roberto Bolaño. Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews. New Directions, 2008. 280 pp. $23.95

Review by Erika Dreifus

One of the first assignments I received as a freelance writer back in 1994 was a series of profiles intended for publication in a reference text titled Dictionary of Hispanic Biography. Not once in the course of researching, writing, and, later, proofreading entries — including a considerable number of entries focusing on writers — did I encounter the name “Roberto Bolaño.” Published by a highly reputable reference text company, the dictionary failed to account for this particular author, moving swiftly from Adolfo Bioy Casares (whose profile I was in fact assigned to write) to Jorge Luis Borges.

Today, five years after Bolaño’s death at the age of 50, it would be unthinkable to omit his name from any serious discussion of Spanish-language, or, for that matter, world literature. For those who cannot read Spanish (myself among them, I must confess), the Chilean-born Bolaño’s work is becoming increasingly available in English translation. I’ve lost count of the reviews that focused on The Savage Detectives (translated by Natasha Wimmer and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2007); at this writing, the blogosphere is already filling with anticipatory posts from readers awaiting 2666, also translated by Wimmer and scheduled for a fall 2008 FSG release.

Sandwiched and, I fear, somewhat lost between these two blockbuster titles is Nazi Literature in the Americas, the fifth translation, to date, of Bolaño’s oeuvre from New Directions (Australian Chris Andrews, who translated this book, also brought us the first four). It’s a work of fiction that doesn’t quite read like one. Rather, it’s constructed like a work of history: a reference work. Which is not to say that those who love fiction — not to mention those who write it — won’t be drawn in.

Nazi Literature in the Americas is an imaginative and, despite its apparent straightforwardness and simplicity, an intricate creation. Let’s begin with the characters at the heart of the profiles. The book’s title notwithstanding, these fictional men and women don’t all belong to the era of the Third Reich (although it’s true that “Luz Mendiluce,” we read, throughout her life “treasured the famous photo of herself in Hitler’s arms”); some, in fact, belong to the future, with death dates cited as far into the future as 2029. The narrator/biographer also alludes repeatedly to a “Fourth Reich” with which he associates several of his biographical subjects.

Thirty central characters emerge here, with half of them hailing from either Argentina or the United States. They write prose and poetry; they travel. Their lives are chronicled, for the most part, in just a few profile-format pages, and they are grouped into categories ranging from “Poètes Maudits” and “Wandering Women of Letters” to “Speculative and Science Fiction” and “Magicians, Mercernaries and Miserable Creatures.” After the 30 profiles, Bolaño appends a list of “secondary figures,” collecting the names of still more invented figures, individuals whom the reader may or may not remember from their appearances in the chronicles of the lives of others. For example, “Luz Mendiluce” receives a full profile; “Susy D’Amato”’s name appears within it, and D’Amato therefore merits a brief identification at the end: “Susy D’Amato. Buenos Aires, 1935-Paris, 2001. Argentinean poet and friend of Luz Mendiluce. She ended her days selling Latin American handicrafts in the French capital.” The inventions continue with a list of all the fictional publishing houses, magazines, and assorted places that have similarly emerged throughout this “history,” plus a bibliography of works by Luz Mendiluce and the 29 other primary “Nazi” writers in the Americas.

Sound complicated? Bolaño mixes it up even further by having his fictional writers interact not only among themselves, but also with “real” writers. For instance, “Juan Mendiluce Thompson” (born in Buenos Aires in 1920, we are told, and died in that city in 1991)

became known as the Argentinean Cato. He fought with his sister, Luz Mendiluce, over control of the family magazine. Having won the fight, he tried to lead a crusade against the lack of feeling in the contemporary novel. To coincide with the publication of his third novel, Springtime in Madrid, he launched a campaign against francophilia, the cult of violence, atheism, and foreign ideas. American Letters and Modern Argentina served as platforms, along with the various Buenos Aires dailies, which were keen to publish, although sometimes flabbergasted by, his denunciations of Cortázar, whom he described as unreal and bloodthirsty, and Borges, whose stories, so he claimed, were “parodies of parodies” and whose lifeless characters were derived from worn-out traditions of English and French literature, clearly in decline, “repeating the same old plots ad nauseam.” His attacks took in Bioy Casares, Mujica Lainez, Ernesto Sabato (who, in his eyes, personified the cult of violence and gratuitious aggression), Leopoldo Marechal, and others.

Elsewhere, we learn about American Jim O’Bannon, a “poet and football player” who “remained firm in his disdain for Jews and homosexuals to the end, although at the time of this death he was beginning, gradually, to accept African Americans,” and his rather complicated connection to Allen Ginsberg. Well-read readers can’t help being lured in.

A conventional novel or collection of short fiction, Nazi Literature in the Americas is not. But it’s undeniably an extremely intriguing exercise in literary imagination. And for some readers, who may also delight in reading about literary life in all its potentially inglorious, which is to say human, aspects, it may well offer a most enjoyable read.


This review was published in the Fall 2008 issue of The Chattachoochee Review.

The Wednesday Web Browser: "Our" Professor Matteson, Essay on John Balaban, and Suspicious Signs for Freelancers

The new issue of Harvard magazine includes this excellent profile of John Matteson and his book, Eden's Outcasts, a double biography of Louisa May Alcott and her father, Bronson Alcott. (Before he became an English professor and Pulitzer prize-winning author, Matteson was a lawyer, and he is a Harvard Law School graduate. (Please do not confuse him with the Professor John Matteson involved in this story.)
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John Griswold (alias "Oronte Churm") has published a moving essay about a mentor, writer John Balaban, in War, Literature & the Arts.
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And in the realm of freelancing, Michelle Rafter offers signs that a magazine is in trouble.

Final Reminder: Jewish Fiction Writers' Conference

This weekend, I completed the handout I've prepared for my presentation on "Publishing Your Jewish Short Stories," slated for Sunday, March 15, at the Jewish Fiction Writers' Conference right here in New York City. It's a pretty good handout, if I do say so, myself! And it can be yours—if you come to the conference! Registration continues until March 9. Details here.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

If you've seen the latest Poets & Writers magazine, you may have noticed a column describing New Ohio Review (NOR). That's where I learned that NOR is becoming a paying journal. From the NOR Web site: "Beginning with its fifth issue, New Ohio Review's contributors will receive honoraria of $10/page for prose and $15/page for poetry, $30 minimum, in addition to two copies of the issue and a one-year subscription."
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And if you're a student enrolled in a New England college, you might want to consider competing for the John Holmes Award. Conferred by the New England Poetry Club, this is a $100 prize for a poem. No fee. Details here.
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Meet literary agent Alanna Ramirez, who represents "literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, pop culture and lifestyle books."
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"Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas, a highly selective four-year liberal arts college, seeks a distinguished writer of fiction for its 4th biennial Visiting Fellowship in Creative Writing, a semester-long residency scheduled during the autumn 2009 semester. While the fellowship is considered mainly an opportunity for the writer to spend time on his or her own work, he or she will also give a public reading and teach a beginning fiction-writing workshop (3 hours per week). An honorarium of $5,000 plus campus housing and meals are provided, as well as a travel stipend of up to $350 for round-trip transportation to and from Batesville." There is no application fee. Deadline: April 1, 2009. Check here for more information.
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And what kind of Monday morning post would this be without some jobs to round out the picture?
Communications Administrator, Smith College (Massachusetts)
Web Writer/Editor, Quinnipiac University (Connecticut)
Writer, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY (New York)
Public Relations Specialist, Marymount Manhattan College (New York)
Public Relations Specialist, Georgia State University