A-to-Z Blogging Challenge, April 2013

The A-to-Z Challenge is a yearly blogging event: every April, a growing group of bloggers attempts to post every day inspired by the Alphabet. The challenges: for the month of April, blog daily, corresponding with the letters of the alphabet. The challenge starts with "A" on April 1, and ends with "Z" on April 30 (sundays are free).

A to Z history 
The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the event took place for its first time in 2010, with 100 bloggers joining. In 2011, nearly 1300 bloggers signed up. 2012 saw 1700 participants - and for 2013, so far almost 1400 bloggers signed up.

A to Z links
 There's a whole challenge website online at: A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Here's the link to the sign-up list (sign-ups end March 31). The story of the event is online at What is blogging from A to Z. The original post is still online at 200 for me and a challenge for you

Connect 
The Facebook-page of A to Z is A to Z Challenge, the Twitter Hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

 Thanks to the Bathroom Monologues for monologuing about the challenge.

Indefinite Space 2013

from minimalist to avant-garde ---
open to innovative, imagistic, philosophical, 
experimental creations---
poetry drawings collage photograph--
Indefinite Space.

The 2013 edition of Indefinite Space contains work from 27 poets + artists: Eric Hoffman, E.J. Evans, Matt Dennison, Andrea Moorhead, John Sibley Williams, Emily Strauss, M. Pfaff, Haley Rene Thompson, Guy R. Beining, Jenny Drai, Gary Lundy, Michael Berton, Dorothee Lang, Keith Dunlap, Lewis Gessner, Denny E. Marshall, Alan Catlin, Ruth Berman, Jessie Janeshek, Raymond Farr, John Marvin, G.A. Scheinoha, Bruce McRae, Changming Yuan, Felino A. Sorriano, Holly Day, Mark Young

Indefinite Space is edited by Marcia Arrieta. Her first book of poems triskelion, tiger moth, tangram, thyme is available through Otoliths (+ was reviewed by Melusine, here). Her chapbook experimental: was published by potes & poets press, and another collection the curve against the linear is part of The Quartet Series— An Uncommon Accord, published by toadlily press. She has a MFA in poetry from Vermont College.

About Indefinite Space
Marcia Arrieta founded Indefinite Space in 1991 after receiving a grant for her work from the Pasadena Arts Council. She has continued to publish the journal independently for 22 years. Indefinite Space has a penchant for the avant-garde, the philosophical, the minimal (but not always), the natural, and the intangible.

Indefinite Space 2013
single issue $7
ISSN 1075-6868

related links: poetry, art

The Art of the Book Review - a series of interviews by Karen Lillis

Karen Lillies is currently posting a series of interviews with small press writers and reviewers about the art of book reviewing, and the state of book reviews.

Update: there's a new interview up now with author & reviewer Lavinia Ludlow, who reviews small press books for several publications, links are included directly here for the joy of browsing & reading:
- Small Press Reviews
- The Nervous Breakdown
- Smalldoggies Magazine
- Plumb Blog
- American Book Review

Book Review Interviews - a quote from the introduction: "Has new media itself degraded (or evolved) the idea of a book review? To some writers, the blog format seems like a good excuse to write a casual review that may be even less thoughtful than a blurb. To other writers, a Goodreads account is a fine platform to write intelligent responses to steady reading. And there are plenty of writers, young and old, who are writing well-considered book reviews and getting paid much less than they were a decade ago, or not getting paid at all."

Interviews: The interview series so far includes interviews with  Spencer Dew (a writer of short and long fiction),  Barrett Warner (poet and reviewer), Lynn Alexander (edior of Full of Crow), and Djelloul Marbrook (writer and poet).

Book Review Debate: Following the rich discussion of the state of bookreviews in August and September, the series also includes an annotated timeline of the key essays: "Book Reviews Debate Rages On"

Karen Lillis is a writer of novels, poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, and journalism. She lives in Pittsburgh. Her novella Watch The Doors As They Close has just been published by SD. She is currently finishing her first book of nonfiction, Bagging the Beats at Midnight: Confessions of a New York Bookstore Clerk. She blogs at Karen the Small Press Librarian.

The Art of the Book Review
all entries / blog post tag: The Art of the Book Review

Story Tapes

Story Tapes is a space for writers to voice their work. Edited by Eliza Smith and Faith Gardner, the page publishes monthly podcasts and videos featuring established and emerging writers.

Contributors so far include: Lauren Becker, Josh Denslow, Berit Ellingsen, Sarah Rose Etter, Casey Hannan, Tania Hershman, Molly Laich, Scott McClanahan, Mary Miller, Alicia Mountain, Delaney Nolan, Alissa Nutting, Owen Poindexter, Matt Rowan, Sean Schlemmer, Amber Sparks, xTx, Buzzmutt, Doom Dong, High Anxiety, Jonathan Mann, Moonwatcher, Sean Pierce, Ben, Shakey Graves, The Shants, Patrick McGilligan.

Submissions
Storytapes is currently open to submissions: "We like stories that beg to be read out loud. We take stories under 2,000 words. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are fine. Send one story at a time via Submittable."

Recent Story Tapes:

• Story Swap #6: Berit Ellingsen and Tania Hershman trading flash pieces
• Podcast Episode 7: Alissa Nutting talks about fairy tales, flash fiction, and ineffable sadness.