Patrick Wensink’s Sex Dungeon For Sale: A Review by P. Jonas Bekker

Patrick Wensink’s story collection Sex Dungeon for Sale came out last year from Eraserhead Press‘s New Bizarro Author Series, or NBAS. The philosophy of the NBAS is interesting. Normally, the editor’s foreword states, Eraserhead would only have room for one … Continue reading →

Etiquette and the Rejection of a Rejection

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the summer kickoff and barbecuing and otherwise being festive. I’m not but that’s okay. As long as you all are having fun, I will live vicariously through you. Did you … Continue reading →

Guilty Pleasures: A Review of Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror

Everyone has a guilty book pleasure. Maybe yours is Harlequin romances about Greek tycoons and Regency fops making all the bosoms quiver. Maybe it’s chick-lit books with pink glittery covers or doorstop fantasy series about psychic dragons. Maybe it’s Jeffrey … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Adam Tessier

Three poems by Adam Tessier appear in the May issue. He talks about barista history, recent beverages he has prepared, and strange things he’s run in to. What would being a barista historian entail? Oddly enough this question seems utterly … Continue reading →

Gary Fincke’s The Canals of Mars: A Review By Salvatore Pane

To call Gary Fincke prolific would be an understatement. He is the author of sixteen books of fiction, poetry and nonfiction (one of which won the 2003 Flannery O’ Connor Award). His latest, the memoir The Canals of Mars (published … Continue reading →

Pindeldyboz, You Are Awesome

All things considered, it is very easy to start a literary magazine. It is infinitely more difficult to start and then sustain a great literary magazine and do so for ten years.  Pindeldyboz managed to do so with wit and … Continue reading →

The Difference Between Lay and Lie

It seems to me that when people have conquered the two/too/to fiasco, or the there/their/they’re conundrum, they give up, convinced of their mastery of the English language. And I know I’m probably going to sound  kind of like an  asshole … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Kathleen Heil

You can read or listen to three of Kathleen Heil’s poems in the May issue and she talks to us about the sound of a hug, megalomania and much more. 1. What does a hug sound like? A hug sounds … Continue reading →

Breeding and Writing: Grandpa knows what you’re doing in there

If you’re comfortable with something you’ve written, it probably sucks.

Yet no one can make us as uncomfortable as our families. That’s what they’re for. Watch any Thanksgiving episode of any sitcom. It happens.

That’s the real question I’m asking. As a parent, as a sibling, as the adult child of someone else who will likely be hurt by your actions—how do you marry the two worlds? Continue reading →

It’s a Celebration, All Around

The Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions for 2010 have been announced. Congratulations to PANK contributors Jensen Beach, Matt Bell, Randall Brown, Aaron Burch, Blake Butler, Jimmy Chen, Molly Gaudry, Karen Gentry, Barry Graham, Brad Green, Shane Jones, Sean Lovelace, … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Blake Butler

“If I’d listened, in those soft days, I would have taken other pictures to show my children (the children I’ll never have). I’d flip through the photo album backwards and watch my father’s head grow full again – and me … Continue reading →

Why Do Writers Write About Writers?

It’s really interesting (for me, and me alone of course) to see how my editorial tastes have evolved while reading submissions. As I have amply documented, stories and poetry about cats are difficult for me. This feline aversion began years … Continue reading →

CSI Svalbard Episode 3: A Review By Mark Welker

You might think that by the third episode, the pool of 2,000-odd inhabitants of the Svalbard islands might be running a bit short on murder suspects. And judging by the opening scene of this episode, “ËœDoomsday Vault’, you mightn’t be … Continue reading →

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, No, It’s an Ampersand Super Hero by Nicelle Davis

Loosening the Grip, Letting Go

It has been a week since we started using readers to help manage our submission queue. Making the decision to work with readers was not easy. Matt and I both have control freakish tendencies because we’re really invested in PANK … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Eileen Escabar

Eileen Escabar’s Fortune Cookies is part of the May issue and she talks with us about the subject of her prose, grand theft, and a recipe. 1. Is it just me or are fortunes in fortune cookies not really fortunes? … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Robert Swartwood

Robert Swartwood, editor of the forthcoming Hint Fiction anthology (BUY IT), is featured in the April issue with a story that placed as a finalist in our first 1,001 Words contest. Today he talks with us about Bruce Willis classics, … Continue reading →

Celebrating Sport: A Review of Stymie Magazine by Mike Revell

Reading Stymie, it occurred to me that you do not often find sport and literature in the same place. Not this kind of literature, anyway: not fiction or poetry. Disregard, for a moment, that childhood staple of soccer stories looking … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Ryan W. Bradley

Ryan Bradley’s ode to body hair appears in the May issue. He talks with us about the naming of a child conceived to a poem, follicular preferences and the weird, adorable ways of his wife. 1. When a child is … Continue reading →

I Almost Forgot, But It’s Friday, So We’ll Give Away Some Books

We’re going to mix it up today. First, a copy of Hobart 11. Secondly, the next five person who comments get to pick a book $15 or less, from any small press of their choice and it shall be yours. … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: J.P. Dancing Bear

J.P. Dancing Bear has two poems with us in the May issue and he also takes a moment to chat with us about this and that. 1. What are you crafting at this moment? Paper hats, broaches and pterodactyls (Airplane: … Continue reading →

The Word Kick is Cool. PANK Writers are KICK ASS.

Congratulations To Summer Block and Rachel Swirsky. Their short stories, which appeared in Wheelhouse and Tor.com respectively, have been named 2 of the top 10 online stories of 2009. Kyle Hemmings kicks this thing off with a story at Staccato … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Rachel Swirsky

Rachel Swirsky’s lush Tipping the Velvet is a masterful addition to the April issue. She talks with us about the dangers of research, the magic she believes in and secrets we don’t want to keep. 1. How important is research … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Gregory Sherl

Gregory Sherl is becoming a regular in these here parts. Two excerpts from his Oregon Trail series appear in the April issue and he talks with us about the things in his pants, disease and the strength of the iPhone. … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Morrissey

“Come back, come back to Camden, and I’ll be good.” Morrissey – “Come Back to Camden” ‘Being good’ was always such a childly endeavor. Christmas depended on it.  So to hear a grown man singing that he will be good … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Chris Tarry

In the April issue, read or listen to Chris Tarry’s Hole. We talk to him about fixing life problems, interpreting the system 1. What problem in your life would you like a multi-national team to fix? Whoever the team is, … Continue reading →

Matthew Simmon’s A Jello Horse: A Review and Interview By Salvatore Pane

A Review I came home from AWP with a lot of books, but the one I like best is definitely A Jello Horse by Matthew Simmons. Distributed by Publishing Genius, A Jello Horse is a novella about a young man … Continue reading →

We Need Readers + A Couple Announcements

We’re looking for readers. We are raising the white flag. Too many submissions, not enough hours in the day. What we’d like is 2 or 3 people who have the time to read submissions regularly. We’re pretty committed to fast … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Michelle Menting

Michelle Menting is one of our April poets and she talks with us about mythical beasts, forced conversations and turns the table on us. 1. If Smarch was a mythical beast, what mythical beast would it be? Would you wear … Continue reading →

Review: Howards End Is On The Landing by Susan Hill

I love books about books. I mean, I really fucking love them. Book-books are my chosen topic of non-fiction writing, and there just aren’t enough of them. I go on Amazon specifically to look at Listmania lists titled ‘books about … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Andrea Kneeland

Two fictions from Andrea Kneeland are part of the April issue, one of which has the longest title we’ve ever published. She talks with us about the length of attention spans to titles, hate collections and more. Is your attention … Continue reading →

You Know What? It’s Friday. BOOKS, FREE

PLEASE READ: If you want a book, just say what you want in the comments, then e-mail your address to roxane at pankmagazine dot com. Please e-mail me your address. Please. Also, you don’t have to ask, just claim. The … Continue reading →

May We Enchant You With the May Issue

The May issue is up, it is outstanding, and it includes writing from J.P. Dancing Bear, Ryan Bradley, Catherine Zobal Dent, David Erlewine, Eileen Escabar, Seth Fischer, Shanna Germain, Kathleen Heil, Elizabeth Hildreth, Aubrey Hirsch, David LeGeault, Kyle Minor, Nancy … Continue reading →

May Will Be Mighty

ANNOUNCEMENT: First it was Elephant Summer and the Elephants, they rumbled mightily. It was a gigantic event! Enormous!  Colossal! Monumental! I have run out of synonyms for large! This year will be the year of the ZOMBIE!!!! Go to xTx’s … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Jonathan Papas

Three of Jonathan Papas’s poems appear in the April issue and today we talk video games, the decline (or not) of ska, and mixtapes. 1. Who did you use the most in Street Fighter II? Blanka, without a doubt. I … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Brett Fogarty

“A steamroller of a forget-me-not (they say don’t forget don’t forget but I do a little every day and I am sorry).” –     Brett Fogarty in Nicole Elizabeth’s “the 12 am project.” Memory issues are crushing, repainting the … Continue reading →

Gutter #2: A Review by Euan McClymont

Gutter is a brave and important venture. It focuses on contemporary Scottish writing but not in any limiting sense of those born in the country; rather in the healthy sense of all and any writers currently based in Scotland.  The … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdao

Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdao has work in the April issue and forthcoming in PANK 5. He talks with us about construction materials for a poem, hotstepping and brands to avoid. 1. What would you make a poem out of? Memory, fantasy, … Continue reading →

Dissecting the Paper Monster by Nicelle Davis: A Review of Peter Schwartz’s Old Men, Girls, and Monsters Part 2

Dissecting the Paper Monster by Nicelle Davis: A Review of Peter Schwartz’s Old Men, Girls, and Monsters Part 1

It’s Friday! Let’s Give Some Books Away

PLEASE READ: If you want a book, just say what you want in the comments, then e-mail your address to roxane at pankmagazine dot com. Please e-mail me your address. Please. Adam Robison and Other Poems by Adam Robinson We … Continue reading →

May May May We Show You a Garden of Literary Delights?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, J. BRADLEY. Inquire within for your gift. The Broadset Collective has wisely chosen to shine their spotlight on xTx. Ethel Rohan’s The Current That Crackles is the May Hot Opener at The Potomac Review. Tim Jones-Yelvington is featured … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Vonnegut

“What kind of a man would turn his daughter into an outboard motor?” –  Rabo Karabekian, Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions I have a daughter and have never thought of her as an outboard motor, or any other sort of internal … Continue reading →

James and Kirsty Talk We’re Getting On

James Kaelan wrote a book, We’re Getting On. Kirsty Logan, our fantastic Reviews Editor shared her thoughts on the book. People (though not the author or the publisher, who have been class acts) had surprisingly strong reactions to the review … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Brian Kubarycz

Brian Kubarycz’s Bone Lagoon is included in the April issue and today he talks with us about piloting a better instrument and so much more. 1. What instrument do you moan like? My moan is like Czerny’s “School of Velocity,” … Continue reading →

Death to February: Shane Jones’s Light Boxes

In honor of Light Boxes being re-released by Penguin Books on May 25, we’re reposting our review of Shane Jones‘s Light Boxes. Having just read the Penguin version, I can safely say I love this book even more the second … Continue reading →

Review: Michele Leggott’s Milk & Honey

Most people I know don’t read poetry. My girlfriend, my mother, my workmates: they say they don’t ‘get’ poetry. They say it excludes them, it doesn’t mean anything to them. Even some of my writer friends are leery of poetry; … Continue reading →

Ask the Author: Jamie Iredell

Jamie Iredell is no stranger to PANK and in the April issue we get three amazing excerpts from his forthcoming Book of Freaks. 1. What fluid would you want to sweat? Probably a fairly saline water, with much the same … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Radiohead

“What would I do? What would I do, if I did not have you?” “”Radiohead, I Might Be Wrong I recently read in a comment/review of Sally Weigel’s, To Young To Fall Asleep that Radiohead only made depressing music. I … Continue reading →