Archive for October, 2010
SPAM OTD: CHRISTIANS ARE IN DANGER
IT IS TIME TO SAVE THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY AND THE VALUES OF CHRISTIAN LIFE! We are being attacked at every front. False religions and anti-Christian beliefs are taking over our World. If we don’t act now the Christian society will … Continue reading
Breeding and Writing: Mortal fear combat tactics
Yeah, it’s hard as hell. And yeah, it’s raw to write them. But we all have nightmares. It’s sharing them that releases the fear into the ether and strips its power over us, and of course, if we do it right, the fears belonging to our readers, too. Continue reading
A Brief List of Important Cultural Artifacts
Jen Gann brings her considerable talent to Everyday Genius–a fitting match. She is joined by Elissa Gabbert. Listen to xTx read in the  Orange Alert podcast #33. She is joined by Adam Moorad. The Hint Fiction Anthology, edited by Robert … Continue reading
PANK seeks iPhone/iPad developer
Dear Hive Mind, PANK is seeking a iPhone/iPad developer for a PANK App. PANK has awesome ideas for its app, but no skills. Any suggestions? Warmest Regards, PANK
the unfirm line – Ben Tanzer
“It is also clear to me that age brings fear, and there is no doubt that everything scares me more than it used to.” Ben Tanzer, 99 Problems Never been a scaredy cat, never been worried about what went bump … Continue reading
Adam Ford’s Heroes and Civilians: A Review by Thomas DeMary
Novelty is relative. The newness of style, of language, in literature is wholly dependent on the reader’s exposure, limited or otherwise, to various texts. “If I haven’t seen it, it’s new to me,” so goes the mantra. While flash fiction … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Isabell Serafin
Isabell Serafin’s lush writing graces the September issue. She talks with us about what she’s been up to, where she is in the world, and things stuffed with savory meat. What have you been doing since you found out your … Continue reading
Airplane Mode
Third (and final) installment of a micro-series. Parts one and two. Meanwhile, Electric Parade is on a two-week hiatus due to the author getting married. Gone ’til November… * “Lately, I’ll sit down with a blank pad and feel like … Continue reading
Poets & Writers likes us – they really, really…
Actually, I still don’t think P&W knows we exist. Otherwise we would have had a cover by now, no? Regardless, on page 82 of the new Nov/Dec issue, in an article titled “The Journals Agents Are Reading,” Diana Finch of … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Tara Laskowski
Tara Laskowski’s remarkable story with a very long title appears in the September issue. She talks with us about naming children after rock stars, the junk she studies and much more. 1. What musician would you name a child after? … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Kristina Knappett
Kristina Knappett rants in the September issue and talks with us about unitards, the influence of high school on her writing, and the allure of Degrassi. 1. Could a unitard also be a mentally handicapped unicorn, one who breaks dreams … Continue reading
Breeding and Writing: A peek into new territory
Talking with folks who have successfully charted in YA waters, I realized quickly that none of my hard-wrought publication credits matter. I mean, sure, I can say that I’ve sold tons of work to someone who isn’t my mother and doesn’t have to like me. There’s that, and that helps. But in juvenile book circles? I have no pull. I know no one well. Nobody owes me favors, has read my work, or remembers meeting me at a workshop. They don’t. They haven’t. They wouldn’t. I’m a novice all over again. Continue reading
Ask the Author: Robin Lee Mozer
Robin Lee Mozer’s intense and moving work appears in the September issue. She talks with us about talking to the past, her stylistic choices, and the absences that scare her. What would your 23-year-old self tell your 16-year-old self? What … Continue reading
Kickstart Pop Serial #2
Stephen Dierks has aunched a Kickstarter to fund Issue 2 of Pop Serial, a new, truly exciting magazine out of Chicago. He is trying to raise $1,000 or more in 21 days. The first 100 people to donate $10 or … Continue reading
Don’t Be Frightened, These Are Only Words, Words For You
Our Queer Issue, edited by Tim Jones-Yelvington, is live. Check it out. Karamaneh by James Tadd Adcox appears at Metazen. Check out Octopus #14 where you will find Molly Gaudry and other lovely poets. Molly is also interviewed at Fringe … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Sunshine LeMontree
Sunshine LeMontree’s fiction appears in the September issue and she talks with us about the veracity of her name, dancing, the use of fact in fiction and much more. 1. Are you operating under a nom de plume? If not, … Continue reading
Matt Salesses’ OUR ISLAND OF EPIDEMICS coming at you!
Production has been produced, the printers dance concluded, shipments shipped and received and without further ado we release to you Matt Salesses’ Â Our Island of Epidemics, a PANK Little Book we are exceedingly proud of. The first printing is fast … Continue reading
Help Knee Jerk Magazine Go Offline
A note from our fine friends at Knee Jerk Magazine: KNEE-JERK OFFLINE, THE PRINT EDITION IS COMING! WHICH MEANS IT’S TIME TO FUNDRAISE Knee-Jerk is a literary journal that publishes new fiction and creative nonfiction by both emerging and established … Continue reading
Ben Spivey’s Flowing in the Gossamer Fold: A Review by Melissa Chichester
“The walls felt colder, and I sat shoulder to shoulder with the world.” Get ready, because  it’s a tight squeeze. While reading Ben Spivey’s Flowing in the Gossamer Fold, be prepared to enter the vortex that is Malcolm Blackburn. Wait, … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Patrick Carberry
Patrick Carberry is a natty dresser. That’s not the point here, but it’s worth mentioning. You can read his work in the September issue, then listen in as we talk to him about clear aviation, the leaving of inappropriate fluids … Continue reading
Touch-Down In London-Town: Morning Sickness
Part two of a three part micro-series. Part one is here. II. Nausea hit me mid-morning. In the middle of a team meeting at work, giving the rundown on the day’s priorities, I place a hand on the wall and … Continue reading
J. A. Tyler interviews J. A. Tyler: A Re-Review of Stephanie Barber’s Re-Release of These Here Separated to See How They Standing Alone Or the Soundtracks of Six Films
JAT: When did your original review of Stephanie Barber’s These Here Separated— appear in Mud Luscious? JAT: Issue six. It went online January 2009. JAT: And this was part of your full-press review of Publishing Genius Press right? JAT: Right. … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Burnt Filament
Burnt Filament’s amazing poem appears in the September issue and he chats with us about the smell of whiskey, faking orgasms, and phone numbers on dirty bathroom walls. 1. What whiskey would you like to smell like? Maker’s Mark. One … Continue reading
The Queer Issue is Here and… Queer
Several months ago, I forget quite when, we thought it would be a good idea to publish a guest-edited issue of queer writing and there was only one man for the job, Tim Jones-Yelvington, who has assembled a truly unique … Continue reading
Rose Metal Press Chapbook Contest
Rose Metal Press’s  Fifth Annual Short Short Chapbook Contest submission period begins October 15 and ends December 1, 2010. This year’s 2010 judge will be  Kim Chinquee. During the submission period, please email your 25—40 page double-spaced manuscript of short … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Tania Hershman
Tania Hershman was a finalist in our first 1,001 Words contest. Today she talks with us about brave questions, running away, and other such concerns. 1. What is the bravest question you’ve asked? “Will you marry me?” (Not revealing to … Continue reading
Ask the Author: James Merenda
James Merenda’s poetry is featured in the September issue and he talks with us about proper sex research, corrective footwear, and the poetry of playwriting. 1. What are the benefits of marrying a hater instead of a lover? It makes … Continue reading
There Is More Than Fall in the Air
You have until midnight Friday night/Saturday morning to enter our contest. You know you want to. Take a chance. Congratulations to Gregory Sherl who won Dark Sky’s first chapbook competition, as well as runners up Mike Meginnis, Christy Crutchfield, and … Continue reading
Literary Los Angeles: Interview with Aimee Bender
Aimee Bender is one of our city’s best-loved writers, a teacher of creative writing at USC and UCLA, and a fellow L.A. native. Â Her most recent novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, is set in the center of … Continue reading
MONKEY BARS, Briefly
Monkey Bars by Matthew Lippman Published by Typecast Publishing, 10/06/2010 ISBN-13 (cloth): 978-0-984-49610-5 Pages: 72 Size: 6.5 x 8 I am not going to linger long on Matthew Lippman’s new poetry collection  Monkey Bars because Typecast Publishing is also publishing … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Travis Hessman
Travis Hessman makes another appearance in PANK with another uniquely formed story. He talks with us about meta commentary, pick up lines he won’t use, and thin walls. 1. What would be your meta commentary on the impending nature of … Continue reading
Submit to Super Arrow 3
Super Arrow is a fine magazine in need of fine submissions, from you, from people you know, from people they know. They are looking for fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, experimental criticism, and any hybrid thereof. They are also looking for … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Megan Falley
Spoken word poet Megan Falley’s amazing poetry appears in the September issue and is forthcoming in PANK 5. She talks with us about Jello, wearing injuries, and much more. 1. What is your favorite Jello mold? I actually loathe Jell-o. … Continue reading
Mary Hamilton’s We Know What We Are: A Review by Martin Macaulay
Mary Hamilton’s ‘We Know What We Are‘  is a collection of thirteen short-short stories, beautifully crafted and condensed into microcosms of  life, love, death and dream. Some of the places this writer takes you, you’ll already know; some you won’t. … Continue reading
The Day Job – A Writer’s Malady
I step outside and drag a blade of cold air into my lungs. Â 5:35 AM. Â In two hours, I’ll sit at my desk, wait for my laptop to boot up and stare at the pictures, the papers, the … Continue reading
We Can Do Better Than to Say It Gets Better
This is not a literary post but today is National Coming Out Day and on Friday we debut our Queer Issue and there’s a lot of buzz and chatter about the It Gets Better project so we thought we might … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Jenny Bitner
Jenny Bitner’s imaginative Is This Part of the Love Ritual? appears in the September issue. She takes on our questions today with similar flair. 1. How do you think an alien would abduct you? That’s the strange part, aliens can … Continue reading
Ben Brooks’s An Island of Fifty: A Review by Thomas DeMary
There’s a scene in Spike Lee’s film Mo Betta Blues in which the two main characters, jazz musicians in a quartet, quarrel over the juxtaposition of artistry and pleasing the fans: one wants to do his thing, the other wants … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Phil Estes
Phil Estes’s poetry appears in the September issue. He talks with us about the benefits of a PhD in creative writing, loneliness and aloneness and more. 1. What does one do with a doctorate in Creative Writing? Emergency surgery in … Continue reading
Prayers, Poetry, Prose, Perfections
Who has a chapbook? xTx has a chapbook. He is Talking to the Fat Lady will be released on November 15. You want this chapbook, I assure you. She also wrote the honest, quite touching and insightful  introduction to the … Continue reading
Ask the Author: P. Scott Cunningham
Read P. Scott’s poetry in the September issue and then listen in as we talk about sleeping with tiny lesbians, searching for the good in Miami and the Florida lit scene. 1. What would a poem about not concentrating for … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Bonnie ZoBell
Bonnie ZoBell has a name you just want to say over and over. Her fine writing appears in the August issue and she talks with us about her favorite borough, the things she has run from and abandonment issues. Would … Continue reading
Touch Down In London-Town*: A Honeymoon In Three Parts
*Title borrowed from Estelle featuring Kanye West “American Boy” I. While I continue work on the best writer apps for the iPhone review (dammit, I said it’s coming), I figured it’ll be a good time to start a micro-series. If … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Lisa Aldin
A fantastic story from Lisa Aldin opens the September issue and today she talks with us about love, birth control, and other disasters. 1. What kind of natural disaster does a monogamous girl cause? A celibate girl? I imagine a … Continue reading
Ask the Author: DeWitt Brinson
DeWitt Brinson’s prose  appears in the September issue and the author talks with us about the men who kiss his sister, moose battles, and more. 1. Now that you are older, what would you do to the man who kissed … Continue reading
Ask the Author: Katie Jean Shinkle
Katie Jean Shinkle appears in the August issue and talks with us about the shape of the heart, monogamy, and leaving someone. 1. What geometrical shape is your heart in? A deep freezer or a decapitated doll’s head or a … Continue reading
Contest Extended!
The 1001 Awesome Words contest will be accepting submissions until 10/15 instead of 9/30 so there’s still time to send us your awesomeness. Full details can be found here.