Ask The Author: Riley Michael Parker

Riley Michael Parker’s “Silver Dagger” appeared in the November Issue. He answers a lot of questions about houses for us.

[PANK]6 Cometh

This week, [PANK]6 begins showing up in bookstores and mailboxes all around our little blue globe. Watch out or order it here now. Look to the February 19 New York Times Style Magazine for a little [PANK]6 love, as if you didn’t … Continue reading →

The Third Reich by Roberto Bolaño (A Review by Joseph Michael Owens)

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux $14.95/288 pgs I made a mistake in writing this review, or, perhaps more specifically, before writing this review: I read a couple reviews online. I did it on a whim and it was only because I … Continue reading →

A Forsley Feuilleton: The seducing letter I got in the mail from Marie Calloway

Give The Rumpus five buckaroos a month and they’ll send you a Letter in the Mail almost every week from a more important person than yourself – like Dave Eggers, Nick Flynn, Emily Gould, and Jonathan Ames.  By buckaroos I … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Mary Jane Newton

November showed these four poems by Mary Jane Newton. Mary Jane talks about comic strip characters, Duran Duran and stanza building.

If All They Had Were Their Bodies?

I’ve returned several times to the title of Michelle Reale’s new chapbook, If All They Had Were Their Bodies (Burning River, 2011), posing it as a question of its characters. What if these characters—these vulnerable, sometimes cruel, and often-mistreated children, … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Jesse Damiani

In November, three great poems from Jesse Damiani. Read the subtleties of our questions and in Jesse’s answers here. 1. Will you drink what we give you? Any drink that PANK wants to give me is a drink worth drinking (unless … Continue reading →

Call For Submissions: Specter Magazine’s Hip-Hop Issue

Submissions for Specter Magazine’s first themed issue, The Hip-Hop Issue, are now open. We’re looking for fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and art/photography which embodies a hip-hop aesthetic. The Hip-Hop issue is scheduled for a June 4th, 2012 release (subject to change). … Continue reading →

Jason Bredle’s Smiles of The Unstoppable (A Review by Joseph Goosey)

Magic Helicopter Press $11.95/76 pgs. “AT NIGHT WE’D BANDAGE OURSELVES WITH GAUZE AND VISIT RESTURANTS / TO DELIGHT OTHER’S OF STORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED:” REGARDING JASON BREDLE’S SMILES OF THE UNSTOPPABLE.” When Mike Young said hey will you review Jason … Continue reading →

It Was a Curious Object, Indeed

You can’t miss Melissa Chadburn’s outstanding essay at The Rumpus. Huzzah! Jason Jordan’s The Dying Horse, is now available from Main Street Rag. More epitaphs from Matthew Vollmer in Fringe. Jules Archer and Rose Hunter have work in A-Minor. Lots … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Rachel Bunting

Two amazing poems from Rachel Bunting were in the November Issue. Rachel discusses the poems and how life is an act of collection in our interview. 1. What have you pulled of your mouth lately? The obvious (and truest) answer … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Jennifer A. Howard

In November, “The Fiber Optic Heart” by Jennifer A. Howard. Jennifer answers questions about throwing, swimming and drinking. 1. What is the download speed of your heart? What would you like it to be? The units here would be love … Continue reading →

This Modern Writer: I Got Your Crazy: On Estrogen, Neuroses, and Britney Spears by Megan Burbank

I am writing a love letter to pop music. Not particularly respectable pop music. I am not even talking about the Robyns or the Adeles or the Kate Nashes of the world, nor anything that you might feel even remotely … Continue reading →

PULP AND PAPER By Josh Rolnick (A Review by Sara Lippmann)

University of Iowa Press 192 pgs/$16 Reading is a solitary experience. We sit alone, we read alone; and yet, in the hands of an adept and gifted writer we are never alone. We are in the trusted company of characters … Continue reading →

A Forsley Feuilleton: He was eating my prose as the typewriter shit it out

William F. Buckley, the conservative writer from the right ruling class, owned a King Charles Spaniel named Rowley.  Eli Cash, the Western writer from the film, The Royal Tenenbaums, ran over a Beagle named Buckley.  Because the title character in … Continue reading →

For Your Monday Coffee

1.  Only 8 more days of waiting until the release of PANK 6! You can still pre-order your copy here. 2. If 8 days is too long to wait for some PANK goodness, order our iPhone app. Send us proof … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Susan Lago

“Songs From the River” by Susan Lago was in the November Issue. She discusses the story, and herself, in this interview. 1. If you could swim through anything, what would it be and why? If I could, I would swim … Continue reading →

Are Your Fingers Cold?

Our January issue is up up and away! Oh this is a fine issue. It really is. Let’s start with the four short stories by Ashley Farmer where the writing evokes the surreal and fables. You also don’t want to … Continue reading →

Theater State by Jack Boettcher (A Review by P. Jonas Bekker)

Blue Square Press 198 pgs/$12 In Theater State, Jack Boettcher’s debut novel, published by Blue Square Press, the world has become what we wanted it to be. And yet, it isn’t exactly what we thought it would be. Although Boettcher … Continue reading →

the unfirm line – Sarah Rose Etter

“Then the pinholes move and I can only see the wall, but I know he is still there …” Sarah Rose Etter, Chicken Father. Every now and then, the simplest lines mean the most to a reader. They pull memories … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Sam Martone

Sam Martone’s “A Map/A Method” was a wonderful part of the November Issue. Sam maps out some of his thinking by answering our questions. 1. What would motivate you the most to go into the woods? A girl wanting me to … Continue reading →

This Modern Writer: Fragments on Openness by Amanda Silbernagel

* One commits a categorical error when one says that artists create out of an inherent masochism. Masochists enjoy pain despite consequences, artists enjoy consequences despite pain– generally speaking. * One creates art not because one believes it is worth … Continue reading →

A Forsley Feuilleton: I believe he once claimed to have reeled in a marlin with one hand and beaten a bear in arm wrestling with the other

Even though Woody Allen is still sticking his wrinkled pecker into Soon-Yi, his ex-girlfriend’s adopted daughter, I support the great filmmaker unconditionally.  It’s time to forget about his scandal and start shunning those writers that still use it as an … Continue reading →

Blackwash Canal by Jason Labbe (A Review by Jana Wilson)

H_ngm_n Books 33 pgs At first glance Jason Labbe’s new chapbook Blackwash Canalis a faulty play with form. In the first section entitled “Six Poems for X” Labbe’s exemplary language is lost in the over-reliance of form that it becomes … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Andrea O’ Rourke

Two great poems by Andrea O’ Rourke were a part of the November Issue. Andrea responds to questions about a variety of things. 1. Would you rather be the first woman or the other woman? Why? Neither. Both of these … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Sarah Malone

Sarah Malone’s “Light At New Latitude” appeared in the November Issue. Here, Sarah answers questions about time, awkward jokes and walks of shame. 1. What is the most awkward joke you have ever told? My subconscious is probably using this … Continue reading →

An Unexpected Warmth of Words in January

January decomP offers writing by Tess Patalano, Marcus Speh, Suzanne Marie Hopcroft, and more. Dawn West has a story in the Winter 2012 issue of Midwestern Gothic. She is joined by Christopher Linforth. Red Lightbulbs 6 will light your world up with … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Lauren Schmidt

Two Poems by Lauren Schmidt were part of the October Issue. Lauren answers questions about her face, her purse and her poems. 1. How do you wish you were disfigured? I don’t know if this makes me dull, but I … Continue reading →

Henge

I was three when my biological mother left me. I don’t remember her leaving. I don’t recall a feeling of loss. I remember a book from my childhood, Are you My Mother? A baby bird hopped between animals asking, “Are … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Mike Miner

In December, Mike Miner’s “The Rematch”. Mike took the time to answer questions about robberies and convenience stores. 1. Who would you fight again? What would be the outcome?   I would not fight my little brothers again. I have … Continue reading →

Books We Can’t Quit – S.F.W. by Andrew Wellman

Random House January, 1991 Chosen by David Atkinson I have to admit, I’m a little nervous to talk about this book.  For a lot of people, certain books take on an almost sacred character.  They speak to a part of … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Barrett Bowlin

“Pictures From the Coast of France” by Barrett Bowlin is a wonderful piece of fiction that graced the November Issue. It is an absolutely engaging story, much like Barrett’s answers here. 1. How would you react if you found a … Continue reading →

In Case You Need Reminding

1. PANK 6 is now available for pre-order. Our annual print copy of wonderfulness has a cover that is sure to engage and 280, twohundredandeighty!, pages of awesome writing so dense it may fall through your coffee table. 2. The Science and Fiction Special … Continue reading →

This Modern Writer: I Would Not Be in the Least Surprised… by Christopher Forsley

I Would Not Be In The Least Surprised To Learn That My Wife Is A Kangaroo, For Any Hypothesis Would Be More Tenable Than The Assumption That She Is A Woman Flann O’Brien, author of At Swim-Two-Birds, was one of … Continue reading →

territories of folding by TC Tolbert (A Review by j/j hastain)

Kore Press 38 pgs, $13 In territories of folding TC Tolbert saying “needless to say I am hegemony” is pleasantly destabilizing in the same way that a crystalline or jeweled brick that one comes upon by surprise while meandering might … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Peter Kispert

In November, Peter Kispert’s “Lowndes County, GA”.  Answered here are questions posed to him about his writing and this piece. 1. Why would someone start a fire in a paper mill? How would you do it?   Well, I imagine … Continue reading →

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (A Review by Joseph Michael Owens)

Farrar, Straus and Giroux 416 pgs, $15 “In Professor Saunders’s opinion, the novel had reached its apogee with the marriage plot and had never recovered from its disappearance. In the days when success in life had depended on marriage, and … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Grace Hobbs

“Fortune’s Conjecture” by Grace Hobbs is in the November Issue. Grace answers questions about the structure of the story and marraige, among other things, for us here. 1. Why did you choose to structure your story using mathematical concepts? If … Continue reading →

New This, New That

January Hobart offers two stories from Gregory Sherl. Lisa McCool Grime has a truly remarkable piece in DIAGRAM 11.6. Click click click!  She is joined by Jenny Gropp Hess and Suzanne Scanlon. Salt Hill 28 is bound to be amazing … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Mike Rosenthal

In November, was Mike Rosenthal’s “Crumbles and Gumbles”.  Mike answers questions about his ideas, boats and drinking with his parents. 1. What nickname would you be called if you were in a power couple? Guy Fieri. 2. What do you … Continue reading →

From the Special Science & Fiction Issue Editors

Let’s face it: Science fiction gets a bad rap. Just utter the words and people’s eyes glaze over as they imagine literature built on formulaic plot twists, over-explanatory dialogue, and two-dimensional character archetypes piloting space shuttles to distant galaxies. As … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Stacy Lynn Austin

“Mount Bonnell” is a piece by Stacy Lynn Austin, a part of the October 2011 issue. Stacy answered all kinds of interesting questions for us, and for you. 1. What would you do on a second honeymoon? I’ve never been … Continue reading →

This Modern Writer: The Year I Lost Math by Art Edwards

At the end of my freshman first semester at Northern Illinois University, I was shocked to receive my first ever D on a report card. I’d flirted with Ds a little during high school. There was the typing class in … Continue reading →

Etcetera’s Mistress by Thom Ward (A Review by Brian Fanelli)

Accents Publishing 57 pages, $10 Thom Ward’s latest collection of poems, Etcetera’s Mistress, isn’t a book to merely breeze through. Like all good poetry, Ward’s poems demand time and energy on behalf of the reader. The poems range in scope … Continue reading →

If the news is to be believed, it’s a new year

Therefore, a recap, a look ahead. 2011 rocked our socks at [PANK]. In our Little Books Series we published Ethel Rohan’s wonderful little collection, Hard to Say. We held Invasion Readings in Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Brooklyn, and New … Continue reading →

Ask The Author: Tessa Fontaine

Tessa Fontaine’s “There Are Places To Reach That Are Equal And Violent” is a piece of the October Issue. Here, Tessa answers questions about triangle boobs, dictators and Communism. 1. Why did you choose to have the title also be … Continue reading →

Hush, children, greatness draws nigh