Mariko Nagai Reading

The Carr Series is proud to host a reading by poet Mariko Nagai on Monday, March 3, 4:30pm at Illini Union Bookstore, Author's Corner, 2nd floor.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Mariko Nagai has lived in Europe and America most of her life, earning a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry from New York University, where she was the Erich Maria Remarque Poetry Fellow. She has been the recipient of the prestigious Pushcart Award twice, in both poetry and short story, and has received numerous fellowships and scholarships from art foundations and writers’ conferences. Her poems have appeared in journals such as The Gettysburg Review, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, among others. She also translates modern and contemporary Japanese poems and fiction into English. Currently, she teaches creative writing and literature at Temple University Japan Campus, where she also directs the Writing Programs.

Get Your Fixx Tonight

Fixx Reading Series

Thursday, February 28 - The Fixx Coffee Bar, 7:30pm

Ninth Letter editorial staff members Adam Deutsch, Micah Riecker, and Brian Kornell will read selections of work from the journal.

The Fixx Coffee Bar
3053 N Sheffield Ave.
Chicago, IL,

The Tournament of Books Approaches

so you may want to start reading now! The Morning News just announced their fourth annual Tournament of Books. The event begins on March 7th, but judges and brackets will be posted a week or so before that. Powells Books has delightfully reduced the list by 30%, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain in the gamble of great literature. And since this is a contest that proudly displays its bias - we'll predict a smashing victory by nominee Brock Clark's The Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, photo finish by a nose, slam dunk, hail mary pass in the last few seconds of the fourth quarter...and the crowd goes wild.

VOICE reading series TONIGHT

Brave the cold and warm up to a night of great readings! Guest faculty reader John Rubins and Creative Writing grad students Brian Kornell, Lillian Bertram, and Dana Birchfield will read from their prose and poetry.

The Channing Murray Foundation
1209 West Oregon St.
Urbana, IL

CAA in Dallas

If you happen to be attending the College Art Association Conference in Dallas now through Saturday, stop by the 9L table at the bookfair--say hi to Adam #1 and Adam #2 and pick up a cheap subscription if you don't already have one.

The Emancipation of Oronte Churm

Dear readers,
Get the who, what, and why of Oronte Churm right here. All your questions are finally answered. Then click on over to McSweeney's for his latest Dispatch. Big news and great writing all brought to you by your favorite blog!

Love You Some Leo? Look No Further...

Join the Champaign-Urbana community in taking part in the BIG READ, a community wide initiative encouraging people to discover the joy of reading classic literature. The program kicks off with the work of Leo Tolstoy. Watch for the phrase "Ivan Ilyich is dead, but you' re not," to appear on local billboards. In the meantime, dust off your copy of War and Peace, there's more to those crazy kids, Boris & Natasha, than "moose and squirrel".

Lost that Loving Feeling?

If you have no love for Valentines Day, then the Museum of Broken Relationships might just be the place you want to virtual visit! Check out Spiegel's online article here. Or you might try the mysterious Dead Cupid Society. As St. Valentines was once famously quoted (and we agree) "Forget Roses, Buy Books!"

Happy Valentines Day!

Help Celebrate the Publication of Vol. 4

Join with Ninth Letter staff and friends this Friday, February 15th, 6:30-9:00pm at Krannert Art Museum Auditorium to celebrate our latest volume. The night commences with readings and presentations followed by a reception with complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres.

Guest Readers:
Brock Clarke, author of four books, including the critically acclaimed novel An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England;
Douglas Kearney, poet and performance artist, author of Fear, Some; and
Nicole Walker, award-winning poet and creative nonfiction writer.

The evening will also include a special screening of "The Girl Detective," a video interpretation of the acclaimed short story by Kelly Link (currently available at ninthletter.com).

Call for Submissions

Quiddity Literary Journal, along with its companion public-radio program WUIS 91.9/WIPA 89.3 announce a call for submissions for their second print issue. Quiddity is seeking short fiction and poetry from emerging and established writers. International submissions are encouraged. Quiddity is published biannually by Springfield College-Benedictine University (inaugral issue available spring 2008). Submissions are read year-round. Contributors may be invited to read their work for Quiddity's companion public-radio program on WUIS/WIPA NPR member and PRI affiliate.

Click here for submission guidelines.

Ted Morrissey, Managing and Production Editor

Joanna Beth Tweedy, Founding and Acquisitions Editor

A Poem for the Day

Past Ninth Letter contributor Benjamin S. Grossberg has a poem, "One Last Thought" posted today on Verse Daily. Give it a click and read. The poem is from his book, Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath.

Mark Costello Reading

The Robert J. and Katherine Carr visiting writing series brings author Mark Costello to the University of Illinois on Wednesday, February 13, 4:30pm at Illini Union Bookstore, Author's Corner (2nd Floor).

Mark Costello is the author of The Murphy Stories and Middle Murphy. His work has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies. He is the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and five grants from the Illinois Arts Council. He is presently a professor emeritus here at the University of Illinois.

His work is described by Richard Yates as, "Nobody else in America writes like Mark Costello, and imitators had better not try. These brilliant stories are intimate, haunting, funny and sad, with the author fully in control of every sound and silence."

Audrey Niffenegger Lecture

The Center for Advance Study Miller Comm 2008 presents author Audrey Niffenegger on Wednesday, February 6th 4:00 pm at Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum. Her lecture is entitled, "Mr. Death's Ephemeral Pageant: The Work of Audrey Niffenegger."

Audrey Niffenegger gained international recognition in 2003 with her first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. In addition to her writing, she is a visual artist who has published several narrative visual novels created in traditional aquatint. She is currently working on a novel about identical twins.

Spurlock Museum is located at 600 S. Gregory in Urbana, Illinois. The museum strictly limits seating to 215. No one will be admitted after that limit has been reached.