Our 30th anniversary is just around the corner

And Sean Mclaine Brown, whose work appeared in 25.1, our 25th anniversary issue, is giving us an early anniversary treat. Brown, along with Maxine Hong Kingston and several others, is interviewed in Bill Moyers’s Journal regarding the book Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. This new anthology collects some of the finest creative works of the veterans that Kingston has worked with over the past 14 years. You can either watch a video of the interview or read the transcript.

Brown is now at work on his Dailyness Project, for which he writes a new piece every day.

National Endowment for the Arts

Congress is considering a pair of bills that would increase funding for the NEA. The proposed increases range from $9 million to $35 million.

Which do you think is better?

Before you answer, please remember that the NEA provides crucial funding to artists, literary presses, and arts organizations (including local and state arts councils).

Advocate for the Arts has some simple ways for you to meaningfully express your preference.

Let's poesy.

The metaphor.

It's an abstraction that's compared, explicitly or implicity, to a concrete image, and the purpose is to get at something bigger than the two of them, to get at something metaphysical. It's one of our most valuable tools as writers.

No man is an island? Indeed, John Donne, indeed.

But metaphors can be quite vicious. As here: watch the meta-free-phor-all that ensues between Stephen Colbert and Sean Penn, which Robert Pinsky graciously moderates.

It's time to get metaphysical.

What's the Deal With the Blue Light?

No one has asked us this yet, but we're sure it's on the minds of the thousands upon thousands of intelligent, talented, witty, irreverent, beautiful people who log on to the Indiana Review blog every day.

In order to fully understand the story of the Blue Light, you must first understand the story of a man named Elisha Ballantine, a former president and mathematics professor at Indiana University in 1854. Well, maybe all you need to know about Elisha Ballantine is that Indiana Review is housed in a building, Ballantine Hall, that was named after him.

When it was first constructed in 1959, at an eye-popping price tag of over six million dollars, the building was the largest academic building in the world. What's that got to do with the Blue Light? Well, Ballantine's hallways are longer than allgetout, so we put the lamp out in front of the office to let people know when we're in. And thus, a legend was born.

What's your type?

Serif or sans?

Times Roman? Times New Roman? Courier? The folks at Slate have an interesting piece on typefaces up. In it, you can read which typeface that authors such as Jonathan Letham and Nicholsan Baker use to compose.

Surely you're not Psychedelic-Fillmore West?

Bluecast: Devon Branca

In this edition, Devon Branca reads his poem, "Thanksgiving," featured in our 29.1 summer issue. Remember, if you'd like to hear previous entries (from Sherman Alexie, Stuart Dybek, Wendy Rawlings, and others) , just press "posts" and select the entry you want.

A benefit for the community and your bookshelf

CLMP's Lit Mag Marathon kicks off this weekend! The fun starts with the Magathon from 4:30-6:00pm on Friday, June 9 in the New York Public Library's Periodicals Room. The editors of (almost) all your favorite journals will read their favorite pieces from recent issues.

Moreover, if you’re in need of some lit mags (and who isn’t?), be sure to stop by the Lit Mag Fair at the Housing Works Used Book Café where you can get them at only $2 a copy and be philanthropic at the same time. Proceeds go to Housing Works, a nonprofit organization serving homeless people living with AIDS, and to The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, a nonprofit organization serving independent literary publishers. The Lit Mag Fair lasts from 12:00-5:00pm on June 10, and you can be sure you’ll find issues of Indiana Review there, and hundreds of others.

Kudos & Congrats: Jeanne M. Leiby

Former IR contributor Jeanne M. Leiby was recently awarded the 2006 Doris Bakwin Award Contest sponsored by Carolina Wren Press. Prize judge Quinn Dalton selected Jeanne's short story collection, Downriver, for the $2000 prize and publication in late 2007. "Vinegar Tasting," a story in the prize-winning collection, was first featured in our Spring 1997 issue. Congratulations, Jeanne!

Going Postal

Although we've become accustomed to the minor irritation of postal rate increases every few years (and what are you supposed to do with those leftover 2 cent stamps, anyway?) a rate increase slated to take affect in July could seriously affect the ability of small presses (like yours truly) to operate financially. According to the LA Times:

For this latest round of rate hikes, the U.S. Postal Service proposed a 12% increase that would have affected magazines more or less equitably. Then, in an unprecedented move, that plan was rejected by the Postal Regulatory Commission, the body responsible for setting rates. Instead, it approved a complicated pricing system based on a proposal by Time Warner Inc., the largest magazine publisher in the country. Rather than base rates on total weight and total number of pieces mailed, the new, complex formula is full of incentives that take into account packaging, shape, distance traveled and more.

The Times editorial says rates could increase as much as 30% for some small presses. Freepress has an online petition and more information about how to get involved.