Thursday, August 11, 2011

2011 1/2 K Prize Winner

Photo by John Menard


Announcing our winner of the
2011 1/2 K Prize

"When You Look Away, The World"
Corey Van Landingham
Lafayette, IN



& Runner-Up:

"American Charity"
Jenny Forrester
Portland, OR




Congratulations to our contest winner, Corey Van Landingham, our runner-up, Jenny Forrester, and all of our wonderful finalists. We would like to extend our gratitude to Ander Monson, our contest judge, as well as all of our entrants. Thank you for your submissions and support. You made the 2011 Indiana Review 1/2 K Prize a success!


JL

Monday, August 8, 2011

July Trivia Contest Answer to Question #4:

Here is the last and final answer to the last and final trivia question!

In Peter Pan, the roles that are generally played by the same actor are Captain Hook and Mr. Darling!

Unfortunately, there is no winner for the last trivia question. We hope you have enjoyed July's trivia questions and that you have all learned something you didn't before. Thanks to all who participated! Even though the contest is over it is never too late to order a copy of our latest issue 33.1!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Hats Off!




Congratulations to Ryan Teitman and Marcus Wicker, two of Indiana Review's former poetry editors (2008-2009, and 2009-2010, respectively), who were both chosen as 2011 Ruth Lilly Fellowship finalists.

Ryan is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University. His first collection of poems, Litany for the City, was selected by Jane Hirshfield for the A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize, and will be published by BOA Editions in March 2012. Marcus' poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry, Beloit, jubilat, Crab Orchard Review, Ninth Letter, Hayden's Ferry Review, Harpur Palate, Rattle, Sou'Wester, DIAGRAM, and cream city review, among other journals.

Wanna know the coolest thing about this double-victory? These guys are collaborators...and buddies, too. Read more here.

JL

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

July Trivia Question #4

Last chance everyone!  Here comes the last trivia question.

Since it's stage debut in 1904, Peter Pan has kept the child alive in all of us.  From the Disney film in 1953 to the Broadway show starring Mary Martin to Steven Spielberg's Hook, the story has seen many changes. but one tradition remains honored from the debut of the play to the 2003 Peter Pan film.  Two roles are played by the same actor.  Which two roles are they?

Monday, August 1, 2011

July Trivia Contest Answer to Question #3:

It's Monday and the first day of August! However, Monday also means it's time to answer the trivia question from last week!

Here it is: In Frank Baum's novel the Emerald City is called so because of the green-tinted glasses that they are required to wear upon entering the city. They are told to wear them in order to protect their eyes from the dazzling lights of the city. The green tint makes it appear as though the whole city is green, even though not everything is.

Unfortunately, we don't have a winner this week. There will, however, be ONE last question posted later even though it is no longer July. So keep a sharp eye on our blog for your last chance to be our next winner!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #7

In round 7 of our contributor interview series we spoke with Hadley Moore. Hadley is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She is at work on a novel and a collection of stories.

What are you reading right now?

Michael Parker’s The Watery Part of the World. (Full disclosure—he’s one of my former teachers.)

I think the first thing I require of fiction is to be engaged, and the second is not to be distracted by lazy sentences. I can—and like to—do craft analysis, but first I have to be taken in by the story and the language. Parker’s new novel has taken me in.

What else have you been reading this summer?

I reread Denis Johnson’s Angels and Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban because I’ve lately been fascinated by short novels (The Great Gatsby, The Hours, On Chesil Beach, The Age of Grief, A Simple Heart, and Pale Horse, Pale Rider—I see some of these are veering into the territory of the novella—are other favorites.)

"Classic" you’ve been meaning to read?


Oh, lots, but the one I’ve been thinking about lately is Ulysses. I used to be afraid of the classics, but now they’re a regular part of my reading life. Undisciplined, I would gobble up contemporary fiction, mostly novels, so I try to read in groups of six: one contemporary novel or collection, one classic, one book of poetry, one literary journal, one craft book, and one book by someone I know (these categories often overlap). I’m not perfect about it, and I do give myself a break sometimes—I went on a contemporary-fiction binge last winter after reading War and Peace, the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation—but I think my six-book rotation encourages me to think more broadly

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

July Trivia Contest Question #3:

Everyone remembers the classic movie of The Wizard of Oz, adapted from the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum in 1900. From Dorothy's ruby slippers to the Emerald City, the movie is alive with color. In the movie the Emerald City is actually emerald, but in the book only the walls are green, why then, is the city called such?

Know the answer? Then hurry up and be the first to shoot an email to us at inreview@indiana.edu!

Monday, July 25, 2011

July Trivia Contest Answer to Question #2:

It's Monday so that means it is time to post the answer to the second question of our July Trivia Contest!

The answer is...drum roll please...Stephen King! His books and short stories has been made into over 30 movies. Sound impressive? Very much so, however, this isn't even counting the number of works converted to short films, TV miniseries, or works made into television episodes of other TV series, which is also over 30!!! 

Unfortunately, we don't have a winner this week, but there is always the next question so keep an eye out on our blog later in the week.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #6

In round 6 of our contributor interview series we spoke with Hilary Leichter. Hilary earned a BA in English at Haverford College. She is currently an MFA candidate in the writing program at Columbia University, and this is her first published story. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

What are you reading right now?

 
I am going back and forth between two books: THE PORTABLE DOROTHY PARKER, and BEST-LOVED FOLKTALES OF THE WORLD. Both books are like having a date with a group of friends who happen to know the greatest stories of all time, and then sitting and listening to them talk until dawn.

What else have you been reading this summer?

I just reread Shirley Jackson's WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE, which is dark and gorgeous and haunting and thrilling. Besides, there is a new edition with beautiful cover art by Thomas Ott, and I am a sucker for beautiful cover art. Who isn't? I was reading about the Blackwood sisters and their "castle" while simultaneously heading out on a crazy, madcap apartment hunt. It turns out that Brooklyn doesn't have many affordable castles for rent on craigslist - go figure!

Also, Neil Gaiman's SMOKE AND MIRRORS, which I borrowed from a friend and has been sitting on my bookshelf for way too long. I will give it back to you soon, friend! This book is diabolical. The stories are satisfying in an unhealthy way.

Also, also: the short story collection BOYS AND GIRLS LIKE YOU AND ME, by Aryn Kyle. If you like things that knock you out of your chair, you should probably go buy a copy, immediately. I loved this nuanced and elegant book, especially the first story, "Brides."

Which upcoming book releases are you most looking forward to?

Steven Millhauser's WE OTHERS: NEW AND SELECTED STORIES. Marisha Pessl's NIGHT FILM. I am waiting with bated breath for my copy of Alan Hollinghurst's THE STRANGER'S CHILD. I loved his most recent book, THE LINE OF BEAUTY, which is another great summer read. I can't wait to find the new one in my mailbox. And I won't come up for air until the binding is broken, the pages are smudged and I hit the back cover.

I can't stand the suspense, so I am pre-ordering THE FLAME ALPHABET, by Ben Marcus. And you can't stop me. In fact, you should probably pre-order it too.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

July Trivia Contest Question #2:

This past week, the last of J.K. Rowling's Potter books were adapted to the big screen. While Rowling has seven books adapted, she's no where near this author's numbers. Which author has had the most novels and short stories adapted into film?

Monday, July 18, 2011

July Trivia Contest Answer to Question #1:

The answer to the previous week's trivia question is: Scarlet O'Hara has 3 children in the 1936 novel.

Congratulation to this week's winner, Kris Underwood!

Didn't get a chance to participate in this week's trivia contest? Never fear! The next question will be posted shortly so keep a watchful eye out on our Blog!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #5

In round 5 of our contributor interview series we spoke with CJ Evans. CJ is the author of The Category of Outcast, selected by Terrance Hayes for the Poetry Society of America’s New York Chapbook Fellowship. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Boston Review, Colorado Review, Open City, Pleiades, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Web Conjunctions. He is the managing editor of TWO LINES: World Writing in Translation and contributing editor for Tin House.

What are you reading right now?

I'm slowly working my way through a bunch of great things right now, including:
Anja Utler's "Engulf-Enkindle", translated by Kurt Beals (Burning Deck Press) a dense but playful book. A great one to read aloud.
Adam Fell "I Am Not a Pioneer" (H_NGM_N BKS) a first book, but Fell reads like a very mature poet. Some really amazing lines and turns, and the imagistic and linguistic threads that run through the book are excellent.
Lydia Davis's "Collected Stories", a perfect commute book—every story is small, but so intricate and so well-conceived and -written. I read just a couple on the train every day.
"Senselessness" by Horacio Castellanos Moya, translated by Katherine Silver (New Directions) a very odd little book about politics, sex, genocide and a narrator that might be going crazy. It was recommended to me by a few people I trust, and I think Katherine Silver always picks wonderful books to translate, but I'm not super into it.

What else have you been reading this summer?

Well, the summer is just getting underway here in San Francisco, but prior to this I've been re-reading all of David Foster Wallace. I was invited to write an essay about Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" for the Quarterly Conversation and it got me back on a Foster Wallace kick. I've gone through everything but the Pale King, which is staring at me from my desk. I'm a little hesitant to try it, since reading something of his finished by somebody else strikes me as heretical. Curiosity will probably overtake me soon, though. For the rest of the summer, I'm going to try and catch up with new american poets. I just ordered Harmony Holiday's Negro League Baseball from Fence Books, which I'm excited about. Also on the docket are Matthea Harvey's "Of Lamb" (McSweeney's), and a friend just recommended Dora Malech's "Say So" (Cleveland State University Press).

A "Classic" you've been meaning to read?

I just had a daughter five months ago, and one of the best things about it is she is a captive listener. So far, the two of us have gone through Whitman, Dickinson, and T. S. Eliot. Eliot was her favorite. Next up is either Wallace Stevens or HD.
I'm also just beginning Ulysses (again), so we'll see how that goes. The classic I want to read is Joao Guimaraes Rosa's Grand Sertao: Veredas, which the Brazilian critics voted as the best book in recent Brazilian history and is sometimes called Brazil's Ulysses. It was only translated in English once, and (I hear) poorly and heavily edited. It's huge and a lot of it is written in Brazilian street slang, so it's a tough one. If anybody is translating it, send me a copy—I want to read it.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

July Trivia Contest Question #1:

In the 1939 film Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara has one child. How many does she have in the 1936 novel?

The contest is off and running! Be the first to email the answer to us at inreview@indiana.edu.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

It's Summertime!



According to weather.com, it is currently ninety degrees Fahrenheit in Bloomington, IN, with a heat index of a sweltering one hundred. After I'm done sweating it out in the office, I think I'm going to treat myself to some delicious froyo. In the meantime, though, I'm going to try and remind myself of all the reasons (well, ten of them) that summer should be celebrated. So, here goes:

1. As mentioned, frozen yogurt: the real thing.

2. Lounging by the pool with a good book: most recently, Cottonlandia, by Rebecca Black (this Rebecca Black), and In the Blue Pharmacy, by Marianne Boruch.

3. Listening to nineties jams (like this one and this one) that remind me of awkward, pre-adolescent summers in the suburbs of Ohio.

4. Reading publications like People, In Touch, and US Weekly without (too much) guilt.

5. Dancing it up to Lady Gaga's new album.

6. Orange nail polish.

7. Hammocks.

8. That the sun doesn't set until 9 pm, so there's lots of time in the day to write. Right?

9. Spending time with great friends.

10. Working at Indiana Review!

What are some of your favorite things about summer? Stay tuned for a new trivia question, coming tomorrow!

JL

Thursday, July 7, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #4

In round 4 of our contributor interview series we spoke with Jim Daniel’s. Jim’s new and forthcoming collections include Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry, (Carnegie Mellon University Press), From Milltown to Malltown, a collaborative book with photographer Charlee Brodsky and writer Jane McCafferty (Marick Press), and All of the Above (Adastra Press).



What are you reading now?

I’m reading Memory Wall, stories by Anthony Doerr. He’s one of the best short story writers to emerge in recent years. I taught at Carnegie Mellon’s campus in Qatar a couple of years ago. One of my students gave me a copy of his earlier book The Shell Collector, and I loved it. He’s just a complete original, and I learn a lot from reading him. On the poetry side, I’m finally getting a chance to sink into the books I bought at the AWP Conference way back in February I think. I tend to read a lot of books of poetry simultaneously rather than read one all the way through, so I’m in the middle of a number of them.


What else have you been reading this summer?

A couple of smaller presses, Red Hen Press and Anhinga, have both been publishing some great books: Vanishing Horizon, which I think is Gerry LaFemina’s best book so far, and Michael Hettich’s Like Happiness. He’s one of those poets who has flown beneath the radar but has consistently produces strong work. Same with Bill Trowbridge’s Ship of Fools. He’s one of our great comic poets. I should give a shout out to Tropicalia, a very impressive debut book I just finished by Emma Trelles, who was my student back at Florida International University in 1993. Two other books I have my markers in now: Working in Flower by Jeff Friedman and Closing the Hotel Kitchen by Robert Bohm. Both strong, spirited voices.

I’ve got a big stack of summer books lined up. As usual, I expect not to get through them all, despite my best intentions. I’m always looking for fresh, new voices, and I hope to find some more this summer.

Blogs We Love

Recently, a writer friend of mine passed on a link to a pretty wonderful blog called ABOUTAWORD. Once a week, from January through June and August through November, this blog publishes a new short essay by a contemporary writer. I started with the most recent post--a remarkable essay on gardening written by our very own Ross Gay -- and I've been working my way back. Definitely consider adding this one to your Google Reader!

JL

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Announcing the Fourth Annual Blue Light Contest

It's July once more, and you know what that means, Blue Light Readers.  It's time for our annual trivia contest!  We had had so much fun with questions and answers last year, and we're very excited about this month's contest.  Winners will receive a free copy of our summer issue 33.1.

Here's all the info you need to know to win: the contest will run from July 6th to August 10th, with questions posed on the 13th, 20th, 27th, and 3rd. Answers should be emailed to us with the subject "Blue Light Contest."   We'll announce the winner each following Monday. Winners will be determined first by accuracy and then by response time, and will receive a free (that's right, free!) copy of our latest issue: Summer 2011 33.1.

This year's theme: Adaptations. Round 1 will be posted on July 13th.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

July, July

Photo by brit_robin

Summer whisks by so fast! Lately: sparklers and personal fireworks available at the nearest grocery store, hours with Tetris (a dangerous game), and lots and lots of reading -- Alexander Theroux's The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, Ellen Lupton's Thinking with Type, 2nd edition, Min Jin Lee's Free Food for Millionaires, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, to name a few. I marathon-read Lee's and Ishiguro's wonderful novels, but usually, I can't stick with one book; I go between stacks of them. I can't seem to read enough. I'm intrigued by The Millions' newest Book Preview and, particularly, The Atlantic Wire's media diet profiles, because when someone asks you what you're reading, you usually think of books. But what about the newspaper, RSS feeds, blogs, magazines? Not to mention: the visual, the auditory. And how does that play into your writing? People take from headlines, clip words from dictionaries, scroll through their social network feeds. Sometimes, I feel as though my reading gets in the way of my writing, but I like to think that the words and ideas and images lie in wait, somewhere, until they reappear.

Up next: our annual Trivia Contest!

DK

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #3

In round 3 of our contributor interview series we spoke with Tyler Meier, a poet whose "One Way to Fill Up a Sky" appeared in our latest issue. Tyler’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in AGNI Online, Bat City Review, Forklift, Ohio, jubilat, THERMOS, and Washington Square. He works as the managing editor of the Kenyon Review and co-directs the Kenyon Review Young Writers Program.


What are you reading right now?

Right now, I'm 100 pages in to Jonathan Franzen's Freedom (FSG). I really think the whole thing so far is both hilarious and chillingly dead-on, and if I didn't need sleep and wasn't latently attention-challenged, I might have been sucked into reading it straight through. Franzen knows how to make a moment that flips ironic and then earnest, ironic then earnest, depending on your vantage point, or how hard the moment was flung. They are like rogue coins ripping through the wishing well of your head. Aren't irony and earnestness mutually exclusive? (If one exists, doesn't it negate the other?) How does he get them to show up in the same spot so easily and so often?

I've also been re-reading Zach Savich's The Firestorm from Cleveland State University Press. (When I typed this, I typed Firestory, which it may also be?) It's so good: the last poem "The impossibility of sleeping alone" is worth the price of admission. These are poems about precision and imprecision, about mistakes-as-maker. And while they churn and wonder, they are also suddenly gorgeous: "Spend enough time looking at the beautiful and you may think you are too." That's right, isn't it?

What else have you been reading this summer?

I also read New Impressions of Africa by Raymond Roussel and translated by Mark Ford, from University of Princeton Press. It's a gem of parathetical twists, and worth getting tangled up in. If you are having boring dreams, this will help.

Ish Klein's Moving Day is in my bag and coming up soon--I'm excited for it.

We just published some new Alice Fulton poems in the Summer 11 issue of The Kenyon Review, and reading back through Cascade Experiment has been a gift. "What I Like" is a poem I want to memorize. My two year old had moved it on the bookshelf; it took a small rescuing to find it. But I'm also really happy that my two year old chose this book to put in a secret hiding place. Fulton is a touchstone; I'm really really excited for her next book.

Which upcoming book releases are you most looking forward to?

Andy Grace's new book Sancta is coming out from Ahsahta Press soon; I'm so excited for this book. I've been a sucker for Ondaatje for a long time, and liked the excerpt from The Cat's Table in the New Yorker, so I'll be excited to see his new novel in print in October from Knopf. Heather Christle's What is Amazing, her third book, will come out from Wesleyan in the near future, and I will find a copy.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Tupelo Press 2011 Snowbound Chapbook Award

Photo by Peter Lee


Congratulations to our contributors for placing in Tupelo Press's 2011 Snowbound Chapbook Award! Lillian-Yvonne Bertram's machine gun villa, Malachi Black's Evening With An Edge Of Bone, and Jacob Shores-Argüello's Orange Revolution are Finalists, and Sara Michas-Martin's Particles Collide is a Semi-Finalist. Check out their incredible work in our latest three issues!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #2

Round 2 of our contributor interview series finds us talking with Dustin M. Hoffman, whose story "Lysol Fights” is in our latest issue, 33.1! Dustin has an MFA in fiction from Bowling Green State University. He is currently working on his PhD in creative writing at Western Michigan University. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Takahe, Palooka, Echo Ink Review, Marginalia, Black Warrior Review, Gargoyle, The Southeast Review, and Cream City Review.

What are you reading right now?

Right this second, I’m reading Nabokov’s Pale Fire, which is hilarious and brilliant.

What else have you been reading this summer?

I’ve been getting jazzy with Toni Morrison’s Jazz and my annual rereading of Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” I’m reading through my mentor and friend, Jaimy Gordon’s new novel Lord of Misrule. Also, some Vonnegut, some Atwood, some Barth, and more Nabokov.

Anything else you would recommend for our readers?

Some of my favorites:
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
Donald Ray Pollock’s Knockemstiff
George Saunders’ Civil War Land in Bad Decline
Daniel Orozco, everything, wherever you can find his stories

Stay tuned for the next installment of Contributors Read & Recommend.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Steve Scafidi featured on The Poets Weave

Recorded at our Blue Light Reading Series last spring, now available on The Poets Weave! Listen to Steve Scafidi read his poems, "The Ten-Letter Word for a Lucky Man" and "The Junebugs."  And "The Cake" and "Rockingchair Bookcase."

dk

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

From the Blue: Contributors Read and Recommend #1


It's officially summer time here in Bloomington, IN and the Indiana Review staff is excited about the latest issue 33.1. With that, we began to wonder what everyone else was reading this summer, since it does seem to be a time for reading and looking forward to new works coming out in the fall. So, to celebrate the new issue and the wonderful writers it contains, we thought it would be fun to ask our contributors a few questions about what they are reading.

Our first contributor "interview" is with John Gallaher, whose piece "In Your Neighborhood Dream" appears in our latest issue. Gallaher is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Map of the Folded World, from The University of Akron Press, and Your Father on the Train of Ghosts, co-authored with G.C. Waldrep, from BOA Editions. He’s co-editor of The Laurel Review.



What are you reading right now?

I just arrived home from a week away and these three books were waiting for me:
Kathleen Ossip. The Cold War (Sarabande, 2011)
Lisa Fishman. Flower Cart (Ahsahta, 2011)
C. Dale Young. TORN (Four Way Books, 2011)
I’m reading all three at something like the same time.  I like doing that.  It makes it feel like a dinner party.  Yes, Kathy, and what do you think about that C. Dale, Lisa? 

What else have you been reading this summer?

I was really interested in what the new book by Michael Palmer, Thread (New Directions, 2011) was going to be like, as well as the new book by Dean Young, Fall Higher (Copper Canyon, 2011).  I read them while travelling.  I also read John Beer’s The Waste Land and Other Poems (Canarium Books, 2010).

What book started it all for you?

This is a fairly complex question, depending on how I think of “started it all.”  The first books of poetry I owned were back in High School, two anthologies.  The Caterpillar Anthology, edited by Clayton Eshleman.  And Chief Modern Poets of England and America, edited by M.L. Rosenthal, et al.  That probably started it all, I guess. 

The first single-author collection I bought with my own money was Robert Lowell’s Selected Poems, followed by Charles Wright’s Country Music: Selected Early Poems, and then Jorie Graham’s Region of Unlikeness.  By that time I guess I was already hooked.  But there are always new books I come across that start it all all over again.  John Ashbery’s first Selected Poems.  Martha Ronk’s Eyeshot.  Rae Armantrout’s Up to Speed. 

And then going back and reading the actual books from the modernists, rather than just their selections in anthologies.  Wallace Stevens’s Collected Poems.  Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons.  A big revelation was reading William Carlos Williams’s Spring & All in its original.  It’s a much more radical book than his Selected Poems would suggest. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of Contributors Read & Recommend.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

New!

Our latest issue, 33.1, Summer 2011, is out! If it's not already in your mailbox or at your local bookstore, you can order your very own copy!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Happy 71st Birthday, IUWC!


It's June, and that means Indiana University's Annual Writers' Conference is in full swing! In addition to lounging by the pool and reading our beautiful, brand-new issues of Indiana Review, we here at IR are celebrating an awesome week of events hosted by one of the oldest writing conferences in the country. This week, writers from near and far have come to Bloomington to participate in daily workshops and classes led by esteemed writers Dan Chaon, Tony Ardizzone, Patrick Rosal, Lynda Barry, Julia Story, Jill Godmilow, and Gary Ferguson. The evening reading series is free and open to the public, so if you're in the area, come join us at the Bloomington Playwrights Project tonight at 8pm to hear Lynda Barry and Gary Ferguson read from their work. Tomorrow, conference participants will have an opportunity to share their writing, and Thursday, Dan Chaon and Patrick Rosal will close the conference with what's sure to be a remarkable reading!

To find out more about IUWC, you can visit the website or listen to their feature on Indiana Public Media's Noon Edition.

JL

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

June 1st is the 2011 1/2 K Prize Deadline!

Photo by RanjithSiji

Attention, writers! You have one (1) day left to submit your short-shorts and prose poems to Indiana Review's 2011 1/2 K Prize, judged by the illustrious Ander Monson. Submit up to three pieces of non-lineated prose per entry (each piece must be 500 words or less). What is non-lineated prose, you ask? It means, quite simply, that the words extend from the left margin of the page to the right margin of the page (no line breaks allowed). Make sure to read the full guidelines, and then submit away!

JL

dear midwest, no more storms, please!

I've experienced only two years' worth of tornado warnings and tornado sirens, which never fail to terrify me. Friends from the Midwest brush them off, continue walking down the street, say: Oh, nothing ever happens. It's a classic case of boy-cried-wolf. Last Wednesday night, the university issued so many emergency alert texts and emails (Take shelter. No, wait, all clear. Take shelter! All clear. No. Take shelter, really) that I thought it was an error, some glitch in their system.

Well, this time, the wolf hit town, felled the trees, and tore the asphalt.

But we survived (less a car window). Apparently, it wasn't even a tornado -- just "a severe thunderstorm." Our little office is just fine. Now the summer song is chainsaws, leaf blowers, and cranes. And the weekend finally cranked up the sunshine and the heat!

DK

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

All Things Go

Photo by Robert S. Donovan

Some call it Chi-town. Some call it the Windy City. This weekend, some former and current IR editors drove to Chicago and fell in love again. Here are just a few reasons we're psyched about AWP 2012 happening in this glorious place.

1. The live music—jazz and blues, especially.
2. Family Matters was set here.
3. Quimby's Bookstore has an eclectic collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, lit mags, zines, comics, graphic novels, etc.
4. The amazing architecture.
5.The stunning skyline.
6. Lake Michigan.
7. Bennigan's on the loop.
8. For some of us, the joint where you can build your own custom burger. For others, sushi and Jamba Juice. For all of us, the food in general.
9. The good, salt-of-the-earth people of the Midwest!
10. A super exciting event, TBA in the months to come. Stay tuned!

JL

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Keep'n It Real

Even though poetry and fiction submissions are closed for the summer, we are still accepting your nonfiction submissions! Need some inspiration? Here are a few of our favorite online and print journals of creative nonfiction:
What about you, readers? Have you read any great creative nonfiction, lately? Please share! 

JL

Monday, May 16, 2011

2011 Poetry Prize Winner

Photo by Robert Steadman


Announcing our winner of the
2011 Poetry Prize

"Because the Birds Came"
John A. Nieves
Columbia, MO


Our esteemed judge, Marie Howe, said:
"I kept coming back to this poem because of the music and the feeling of it and the sound. A hushed transformation was happening, and it kept happening after I stopped reading. It seems like a love poem, not only for a person, but for the world itself (which keeps transforming) and a true song for what can't be said, but can be understood."

& Runners-Up:

"The Sea of Too Far is Unmapped"
Jill Osier
Greene, IA

"The Fall of Communism"
Craig Blais
Tallahassee, FL




Our warmest congratulations to John Nieves, amazing runners-up, and fantastic finalists. We would also like to thank all entrants for your submissions and your support!


dk

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I Say Hello


It’s beginning to feel a lot like summer break! Most of IU’s undergraduates have gone home, and the campus is quiet and the lilacs are in full bloom and already the humidity has made my hair untameable. Hello, hairspray. Hello, ponytail. 

Hello, readers. I’m Jen, the new Associate Editor. I am so happy to be here! I’ve spent the past year as an associate genre editor for IR, and I’ve come to know and love this magazine in each of its stages of production: from reading the manuscript submissions and falling in love with the poems and stories you send us, to meeting each week with the IR staff and other associate genre editors to discuss the poems and stories we want to see in IR, to helping review the proofs, to holding the finished product in my hands and smelling the pages and reading the issue cover to cover and falling in love with the poems and stories and essays all over again. 

This past year’s amazingly intelligent and articulate (and fun!) staff  have set the bar super high, and I’m excited for the opportunity to follow in their footsteps. Lucky for me, I get to work under the fearless leadership and expertise of Editor Deborah Kim, and alongside three uber-talented genre editors: Rachel Lyon (fiction), Catie Lycurgus (poetry), and Sarah Suksiri (nonfiction).   


While I don’t love anything more than I love a good poem or story, a good song comes awfully close, and one thing I should probably say going into this job is that I have a small obsession with boy bands. So, what better way to start off the summer than with a song by what is, arguably, the most iconic “boy band” of all time?

Hello, IR. Hello, Summer!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

450+ ways to say goodbye

Cheerio!
This is it! No more almost. My tenure is officially up. I'm packing up, signing out, handing over my keys. Thank you to everyone who has made my stay at IR the inspiring, fun, amazing year it has been. Keep your eye out for the Summer 2011 issue, which should be back from the printers in a couple weeks. (BTW, its not too late to order a copy, just click here). I'm super excited to see it and be able to hold it. As more and more things become virtual, only housed inside the computer, its quite gratifying to have worked so long on something that one day I will hold in my hands.

Thank you to all the submitters in all genres, it's been a pleasure reading your work! Thank you to this year's staff! Y'all kick a$$ as co-workers, writers, and friends. Only more good things are around the corner as Deborah Kim steps up as editor, Jennifer Luebbers as associate editor, and our fearless genre editors to come: Cate Lycurgus for poetry, Rachel Lyon for fiction, and Sarah Suksiri continuing the art of nonfiction. Which reminds me: nonfiction will remain open for most the summer so submit your essays, challenge the genre, reinvent, reminisce, re-imagine the splender of our nonfictional world and send in your essays.

Peace, love, and fabulous reading,

Alessandra

If ever wondered how to say Goodbye in Texas, or just about any place in the world, here's the site for you.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Announcing the 2011 1/2 K Prize


2011 1/2 K Prize
NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS.
Send us your short-shorts & prose poems!

Deadline: June 1, 2011. Full guidelines.

Final Judge: Ander Monson

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Never Can Say Goodbye

IR readers,

I hate leaving parties early, because I always feel like I’m going to miss something. And I hate being the last one to leave, because that just means the fun is over. So it’s safe to say that I have a problem with goodbyes. Having to write this last blog post makes me realize how much I’ve enjoyed my time here at IR. It’s been a pleasure reading the works of the writers that have made it into the summer and winter issues during my tenure. I’ve gotten the chance to work on an extraordinary journal with people who aren’t just co-workers but really some of my best friends. I can’t think of a better editor than Alessandra Simmons, who has managed to get us through so many problems from an ice storm to the first (and hopefully annual) Blue Light Reading Series, all while staying calm and patient. For a person that’s prone to worry, Alessandra has definitely kept me level-headed. Among the things I’ll miss the most will be Saturday reading sessions in the office with Keith. While we might have been there for hours, it never felt like work. And to Deborah Kim who will be taking over as the new editor, I don’t think I could have made it through all the fiction submissions this year without you. Thanks for the amazing eye.

With Deborah Kim, returning non-fiction editor Sarah Suksiri, and the two new genre editors Rachel Lyon and Catie Lycurgus, Indiana Review has a bright future.

This has been an incredible experience. To the readers, thank you for all the ways you contribute to helping IR stay great by continuing to read and submit.

-Kurian

Friday, April 29, 2011

Adieu, mon blog...


Poetry Peoples,
This will be my last blog entry from this poetry editor. I am genuinely saddened by the ending of my tenure here at our faithful magazine. It's be a pleasure and a half. Being able to read new work by some of my favorite authors and building a store of authors I plan on looking out for over the new few years has been an exciting process. Plus, working with the editing team here has been a dream. Good people abound.
No worries, though. I’ll be passing the torch to Catie Lycurgus, a stellar poet and top-notch critic. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing two workshops with Catie and I can tell you she is one of the best readers I’ve ever encountered. I’m excited to see the issues she helps throw together. Guaranteed to be the hottness.
As a sort of greatest hits to play me out, I’ll lay out the poetry related websites I’ve featured on this blog all in one awesome list for you to peruse. Thank you for reading, poetry peoples.

Be well,
Keith

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Publication celebration

We're pleased to to announce Bob Thurber, who wrote the evocative  "Belly Breathing" in 32.2, has a novel out on May 1st! Paperboy will be published by Casperian Books and sounds fascinating. He says:
It's an odd book, unconventional in the sense that its 262 pages are made up of 157 chapters, many of them that could stand alone as very small fictions or vignettes. Many are only a page or less of text, and though there's digression in the story line, the book still resists being a "novel in fragments." As one reviewer put it the sections or mini-chapters "build upon, echo, reflect, and shatter each other." 
Check out some early reviews at B&N, Good Reads, and 3G1B.

dk