Jake Adam York

All of us here at Ninth Letter are heartbroken by the loss of Jake Adam York, a talented poet and editor as well as a beloved member of our literary community. He will be missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. 

Contributor Round-Up

Hello out there! We have some news for you. Actually a lot of news that we can't wait to share. We have not one, but two new issues coming out soon (print and web editions). There will be more on both of those issues very soon, so stay tuned.

Congratulations to our "Study Question" contest winners, Jacqueline Doyle and J.M. Gamble! Head on over to the main site to read contest judge, Patrick Madden's comments as well as the winning submissions.

Okay, time for an update on what some of contributors have been up to!

Congratulations to all the 2013 NEA Fellows! We're exited and proud that the following poets, who have appeared in Ninth Letter, are on the list:

Traci Brimhall (vol, 7, no. 2)
Lisa Fay Coutley (forthcoming in the web edition)
Ansel Elkins (vol. 8, no. 1)
John Murillo (vol. 4, no 1)
Rachel Richardson (vol. 3, no. 2)
Ryan Teitman (vol. 8, no. 1)
Jake Adam York (vol. 8, no. 1)

Genine Lentine's Poses: An Essay Drawn from the Model, a portion of which appeared in Ninth Letter (vol. 3, no. 1) is now available from Kelly's Grove Press.

The Rumpus reviewed The Lost Episodes of Revie Bryson by Bryan Furuness. You can pre-order the book now. "Man of Steel," which featured Revie appeared in vol. 6, no. 1.  Also, be sure to check out this interview with Bryan about his journey to becoming a writer.

If you haven't already, you should check out Ryan Van Meter's (vol. 8, no.1) essay collection, If You Knew Then What I Know Now, which was a finalist for the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards in the Gay Memoir/Biography category.

Keyhole Factory, a novel by William Gillespie (vol. 7, no. 2), was recently released by Soft Skull Press.

Again, congratulations to all!

If you're a contributor and have some news to share, be sure to drop us a note at info@ninthletter.com

Now, stay tuned this week for information about both of our upcoming new issues!

Winter Break

Please note that we will be closing our online submission manager next Thursday, December 15, and it will remained closed for the duration of the U of I's winter break. This is just give us a chance to catch up on reading submissions we already have. Never fear, the submission manager will be back online in January.

In the meantime, be sure to check the blog for submission manager reminders, news regarding our next issue, and contributor updates.

Hope everyone out there is having a great holiday season.

Contributor Round-Up

Next week is a busy week for The Carr Reading Series and by busy, I mean awesome! On Monday, October 17, John Warner (vol. 6, no. 2) will be reading from his novel, Funny Man. Then on Wednesday, October 19, two U of I MFA alums, Andrew Ervin and Andy Frazee, will be giving a joint reading. The events will be in the Author's Corner of Illini Union Bookstore at 4:30pm. Both are free and open to the public.

Best American Essays 2011 is out now and we are thrilled that T.A. Noonan's "The Trouble with Correspondence" (vol. 7, no. 1), Peter Orner's "Horace and Josephine" (vol. 7, no. 2), and " Margot Singer's "A Natural History of Small-Town Ohio" (vol. 7, no. 2) were all listed as notable essays of 2010! Congratulations to all three of them. The notice is very well deserved.

Rachel Richardson (vol. 3, no. 2) has new book of poetry, Copperhead, which is out now.

Also out now is Blake Butler's (vol. 5, no. 1) new memoir, Nothing: A Portrait of Insomnia.

Bookworm did an interview with Kevin Wilson (vol. 8, no. 1) about his new novel, The Family Fang. You can listen to it here.

Jensen Beach (vol. 8, no. 1) read at the most recent Stories & Beer and if you weren't able to make it, you can watch a video of his reading here.

Also don't forget that our October subscription special is still going on. You can get a two-year subscription for the price of one! To get in on the deal, pick the one-year subscription in the webstore and enter OCT241 in the special instructions box.

Contributor Round-Up

Northwestern University Press had published Freedom Hill, the new verse-novella from L.S. Asekoff (vol. 3, no. 1).

John Warner (vol. 6, no. 2) has a new novel out, The Funny Man. He'll be giving a series of readings to promote the book, including a stop in Urbana-Champaign as part of The Carr Reading Series on October 17.

Be sure to check out this profile of Benjamin Percy (vol. 6, no. 2).

Congratulations to Bryan Furuness (vol. 6, no. 1) on winning The Laurel Review Midwest Short Fiction prize for his story "The Lost Episodes," which is excerpted from his forthcoming novel, The Lost Episodes of Revie Bryson.

Laura van den Berg interviews Matt Bell (vol. 7, no. 2) for the Innovators in Lit series over at Ploughshares.

Christiana Chae, one of the designers for vol. 7, no. 1 discusses the designs for T.A. Noonan's "The Trouble with Correspondence," Stephen Marche's "What Rough Beast," and Katherine Vaz's "Below the Salt."

The musical adaptation of Cathy Day's (vol. 6, no. 2) The Circus in Winter opens this weekend at Ball State University. Tickets can be purchases at the box office or by calling (765) 285-8749.

If you're a contributor and have some news to share, be sure to email us at info@ninthletter.com, so we can past it on.

Contributor Round-Up

T.A. Noonan's (vol. 7, no. 1), The Bone Folders, about a coven of Louisiana witches is now available! Check out this video of T.A. reading "Lily in a Sundress" from the book.

The 7th Annual Printers' Ball is this Friday, July 29, in Chicago. In addition to many wonderful events, and their awesome logo (pictured at the left), they will be previewing an animated version of César Aira's novel, Ghosts. An excerpt of the novel appeared in vol. 5, no. 2.

The Great Frustration by Seth Fried (vol. 6, no. 1 and vol. 3, no. 2) was chosen by Poets & Writers as one of this summer's best fiction debuts. Check out an excerpt from the collection here and be sure to pick up a copy of Poets & Writers to read Hannah Tinti's interview with Seth.

Mud Luscious Press will be publishing Matt Bell's novella in stories, Cataclysm Baby in 2012. Three of the stories from the book appeared in our vol. 7, no. 2 issue.

Speaking of 2012 books, Dan Chaon (vol. 4, no. 2) returns with a new short story collection, Stay Awake, which is scheduled to be released in February 2012.

Benjamin Percy (vol. 6, no. 2) and Ira Sukrungruang (vol. 1, no. 2) will be reading at St. Olaf college as part of the Hamline Summer Writers' Conference. The event is free and open to the public.

Finally, and excuse a little bragging, here is a terrific review of the summer/spring 11 (vol. 8, no. 1) issue: "Art, Design, Defamiliarization: A Lit Mag for the Avant-Garde." We're very happy to know readers are enjoying the issue.

I also want to remind you that there is a week left to get in on our July Subscription Special. If you buy a 1-year subscription you get vol. 8, no. 1 issue for free! More details are here.

Did I miss something? If so, let me know because we love sharing good news from our contributors. If you're a contributor and have a book or a reading or another event coming up send me an email at info@ninthletter.com

Contributor Round-Up

Congratulations to Benjamin Percy (vol. 6, no. 2) and Jehanne Dubrow (vol. 5, no. 2)! They were recently announced as the winners of Author Awards from the The Society of Midland Authors in the fiction and poetry categories respectively. Percy won for his novel The Wilding and Dubrow for her poetry collection Stateside.

Also, congratulations to Adam Levin (vol. 1, no. 1)! His novel, The Instructions, won the New York Public Library's 2011 Young Lions Fiction Award.

The Spring 2011 online edition of Barrelhouse is guest edited by Mary Miller (vol. 7, no. 2). Be sure to check out what she has to say about the hotness (kind of) of reality TV stars.

Publisher's Weekly has an interview with Kevin Wilson (forthcoming in the soon to be released vol. 8, no. 1) about the potential of children to kill their parents' art and his new novel, The Family Fang.

Vol. 7, no. 2 contributor, Matt Bell is presenting a ton of good Short Story Month related posts on his blog. Some examples of the cool stuff you'll find there include: Brian Evenson (vol. 2, no. 2) discussing destabilization in stories, Michael Czyzniejewski (vol. 7, no. 2) reviewing "Wife Leaves Left" from The Southern Review and a review of Kathrine Vaz's "Below the Salt" from vol. 7, no. 1 by Megan Fink.

Don't forget to tell us about your favorite 9L story for our Short Story Month Contest. Leaving a comment here on the blog or on Twitter or our Facebook wall automatically enters you into the drawing to win a 9L prize pack.

Contributor Round-Up

T. Zachary Cotler (vol. 6, no. 2), Olivia Clare (vol. 6, no. 1), and Michael Rutherglen (vol. 7, no. 1) have co-edited The Winter Anthology, an anthology of 21st century American and international literature featuring, among others, Yves Bonnefoy, Lucie Brock-Broido, Jamie Luis Huenun, and Jean Valentine. Also be sure to check out details on their contest.

April 9, 2011 is National Dzanc Workshop Day. A few 9L contributors will be leading workshops around the country as part of the event. Jedediah Berry (current issue, vol. 7, no. 2) in Stonington, CT, Mary Biddinger (vol. 5, no. 1) in Akron, OH, John Domini (vol. 2, no. 1) in Des Moines, IA, Brian Oliu (vol. 6, no. 1) and B.J. Hollars (forthcoming in vol. 8, no. 1) in Tuscaloosa, AL.

The Rumpus has a new edition of The Lonely Voice column from Peter Orner (current issue, vol. 7, no. 2).

If you haven't been reading Cathy Day's (vol. 6, no. 2) blog, The Big Thing, now is a great time to check in!

Curious about vol. 4, no. 2 contributor Dan Chaon's writing habits/space? Now you know.

The Collagist, edited by Matt Bell (current issue, vol. 7, no. 2), has an excerpt from Blake Butler's (vol. 5, no. 1) upcoming new novel, There is No Year.

One Story has chosen Seth Fried (vol. 6, no. 1 and vol. 3, no. 2) as one of their 2011 Literary Debutantes.

And finally, if you'll excuse a little bragging, New Pages has posted a very nice review of the current fall/winter 10-11 (vol. 7, no. 2) issue. Not only does the review compliment the design, but reviewer Sima Rabinowitz writes, "....plan to stay awake all night reading!"

Thank you Sima! And thank you to all of our readers!

Contributor Round-up

Here are some contributor updates:

Dan Chaon's (vol. 4, no. 2) novel Await Your Reply has been chosen by the Mesa County Public Library for their One Book, One Mesa County project. If you click over, you can read more about the project and see the excellent trailer for the novel.

The Staff Recommends put together a reading list of Midwest literature, "Readings from the Flyover Country," which includes The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day (vol. 6, no. 2 and vol. 7, no. 1) The list was necessary because as they put it, these are "books and writers who would be better know if we Midwesterners believed in horn tooting, but we don't because no likes a horn tooter, and there's nothing so special about you that deserves tooting about anyway." Perhaps this is a call to start horn tooting about all the great Midwest writers!

Jedediah Berry (current issue, vol. 7, no.2) is profiled as part of the feature, "The Pleasures of Strangeness," about the wonderful Small Beer Press.

Dark Sky announced their updated list of forthcoming books and The Novelist and The Rapper by Mickey Hess (vol. 4, no. 1) will be released on March 1, 2012. Congratulations!

News Round-up

Here are a few news items about 9L contributors and staff member alums:

Congratulations to Chris Abani (vol. 4, no. 1) and Lillian Bertram, former 9L staffer, for being named to Narrative Magazine's list of 20 Best New Writers.

Former 9L CNF editor, Steve Davenport, guest edited the current issue of Arsenic Lobster.

Mike Czyniejewski (vol. 7, no. 2) has "Top 10 Tops" on over Dzanc Books blog detailing his favorite things of 2010 in categories like, best scene, best short story chapbook, and best trend, among others.

Today's AWP 2011 news: 9L editor, Jodee Stanley, will a part of the "Beyond Times New Roman: The Literary Journal as Object" panel on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 4:30pm. The panel also includes the editors of 1913, 6x6, The Lumberyard Magazine, Luna Park Review, and Versal.

9L Staff News

We have some good news to share from current and former 9L staff members!

Current 9L staffer, Lindsey Drager's story, "A Brief Outline of Theories Not Addressed" is up on Elimae.

Over at HTML Giant, Kyle Minor writes about former CNF editor, Steve Davenport's poetry collection, Uncontainable Noise, in an article called, "Here is an Obscure Book of Poetry I Like."

Ted Sander's essay "To Scale" from the Cincinnati Review was listed as one of the 100 notable essay of 2009 in Best American Essays.

Micah Riecker's "History Lesson" from Mid-American Review and Steve Davenport's "Rivers to Gilead" from The Southern Review both received special mentions in the 2011 Pushcart Prize.

Congratulations everyone!

Contributor Round-Up

9L contributors Gary L. McDowell (vol. 4, no. 1) and Kathleen Rooney (vol. 4, no. 2) list their picks for best poetry books of the year over at No Tells.

Iowa Public Radio spoke to Benjamin Percy (vol. 6, no. 2) earlier today about his new novel, The Wilding.

Dan Chaon (vol. 4, no. 2) is auctioning off the chance to name a character in his next novel after you to benefit the First Amendment Project. Margot Livesey (vol. 6, no. 1) and Dave Eggers (vol. 1, no. 1) are also participating in the auction.

The Rumpus Book Club interviews Adam Levin (vol. 1, no. 1) about his book, The Instructions.

Contributor Round-Up

It's time to look around the web and see what our contributors are up to these days:

This Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010 includes "Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre" by 9L contributor Seth Fried (vol. 6, no. 1 & vol. 3, no. 2). The story originally appeared in One Story.

9L triple threat, Robin Hemley (vol. 6, no. 1, vol. 3, no. 1 & vol. 1, no. 1) has started a new online literary magazine, Defunct. Check it out!

Over at The Walrus, you can read a new interactive novel called Lucy Hardin's Missing Period from Stephen Marche (vol. 7, no. 1).

Essay Daily takes a look at Joshua Schriftman's essay "On Silence" from vol. 7, no. 1.

WORD Brooklyn talks with vol. 4, no. 1 contributor Kim Dana Kupperman about her new book of essays, I Just Started Buying Wings Recently.

Thalia Field reviews Ander Monson's "Decidousness: The Mechanism" (vol. 6, no. 2) over at CutBank Reviews.

Adam Levin (vol. 1, no. 1), author of the recently released The Instructions discusses the novel with Riverfront Times.

The Pushcart Prize 2011 will be available soon, so congratulations again to Sarah Einstein for her essay "Mot" (vol. 6, no. 2) being awarded a Pushcart. Also congratulations to Bryan Furuness ("Man of Steel") and Kim Adrian ("Five Photographs) for receiving special mention for their work that appeared in vol. 6, no. 1.

If other 9L contributors out there have good news related to their creative lives (e.g. new books, readings dates, etc.) please let us know, so we can pass it on.

And don't forget our Halloween Special (you can get a 2-year subscription for the price of 1!) continues until Nov. 1. Details here.

Ninth Letter at P&W's Lit MagNet

Ninth Letter's new design gets noted in Poets & Writers Sept/Oct. issue as part of their regular Literary MagNet news round up. Also featured in this issue of P&W is an interview with Martin Riker, Associate Director of U of I's Dalkey Archive Press.

Have YOU seen our new look? Get your copy of our Spring/Summer 2009 issue today!

Dalkey Archive Interview

The Los Angeles Times interviewed Dalkey Archive Press publisher and our U of I colleague, John O'Brien, about how the Press acquires books, their mission, the state of publishing today, and much more. Follow the links below to read the two part interview.

Part I

Part II

AWP Chicago

Ninth Letter will be at AWP Chicago! You can find us at booth #219 in the Southeast Hall. We'll have AWP specials on the current issue, back issues, and an awesome gift with subscription purchases. And, we're really excited about this, stop by for our silent auction of wickedly cool, limited edition Ninth Letter merchandise.

There are great events all week, sponsored by Ninth Letter, the Carr Reading Series and The University of Illinois Creative Writing Program. Featured events include a tribute to William Gass (Friday, February 13), a reading by internationally acclaimed poet Tomaz Salamun (Saturday, February 14), and readings by University of Illinois creative writing faculty (Thursday, February 12, and Saturday, February 14). Visit awpwriter.org for a complete schedule and more information.

See you in Chicago!

New Issue!

The new issue of Ninth Letter (Vol. 5, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2008-09) is out and on its way to subscribers. The issue is also available for purchase in our Webstore.

The new issue is very cool! We have fiction that deals with the psychological turmoil of a man finding a cigarette in his kitchen, a double date gone awry in ways that can only happen in a George Singleton story, and a father reconnecting with his son while searching for the inventor of the new toy in “Cute Monster Spirit Pet Fluffy You Up.” The nonfiction takes us into the world of U.S. synchronized swimming and what happens when a man tries to live without testosterone. We have poems in this issue that retell the Abraham and Isaac story from the point of view of Sarah, and that explore the mysteries of the Mary Celeste.

In addition to all the outstanding fiction, nonfiction and poetry, be sure to check out the art feature on Katori Hall’s Oreo Girl: The Miscegenation of Miss Emma Brown and the Music Poetry Feature with poems that, according to Tyehimba Jess’s introduction, “…attempt to grasp the many ways that music bends and breathes us…”.

Here is a list of all the Vol. 5, Issue 2 contributors:

Fiction: Cesar Aira, translated by Chris Andrews, Mai Al-Nakib, Keith Lee Morris, George Singleton, B.R. Smith, Allison Titus and James Warner

Nonfiction: Naton Leslie, Bruce Petronio, Mike Scalise, Julie Wittes Schlack and K.G. Schneider

Poetry: Neil Aitken, Tara Betts, Joseph Campana, Peter Cooley, Patricia Chao, Curtis Crisler, Kwame Dawes, Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Christopher DeWeese, Jehanne Dubrow, Megan O'Reilly Green, Eamon Goekel, Terita Heath-Wlaz, S. Whiteny Holmes, Michael Lauchian, Adrian Matejka, Louis McKee, Cheyenne Nimes, Ed Palvic, Hannah Louise Poston, Isaac Pressnell, Anne Marie Rooney, Patrick Rosal, Patricia Smith, Barbara Buckman Strasko, Rob Talbert, Frank X Walker, David Welch, Marcus Wicker, and Ryo Yamaguchi.

Keith Lee Morris

9L contributor, Keith Lee Morris will be a featured reader on Wednesday, October 22, at The Happy Ending Music and Reading Series in NYC. The show starts at 8pm and is free and open to the public.

In other Keith Lee Morris news, his new novel,The Dart League King, is now available from Tin House Books.

The Best Creative Nonfiction Vol. 2

9L contributors, Ander Monson (Fall/Winter 2004) and K.G. Schneider (forthcoming in Fall/Winter 2008), are featured in the recently released The Best Creative Nonfiction Vol. 2.

Breadloaf’s Wait Staff aka Future Literary Stars

The Washington Post has an AP article about the wait staff at the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference. 9L staffer and Bread Loaf attendee, Lillian Bertram is quoted in the article.