October 9, 2013 – Peace Corps Worldwide

New Republic Book Issue

Oct 09 2013

The October 21, 2013 issue of The New Republic has a detailed section on “The Book Industry Is Thriving! Somehow.” There are articles on Publishing, Agents, Editors, and Writers. (Them too!) You can down load the whole issue on your iPad, by the way. Or you can buy it. Some interesting tidbits. The book industry see 3 reasons for optimism 1) The crash is over–just like everywhere else. 2) Great literary novels are still marketable–and can still make money. 3) Awesome, quirky novels get lost in the din–but the Internet bails them out. Particularly interesting is an essay by Lionel Shriver entitled, “The Rancid Smell of Success” that is a most read. Her most recent novel is BIG BROTHER. Check out the issue.

Fairfield University Notes 2013 Peace Corps Poetry Award Winner

Oct 09 2013

Fairfield University MFA alumnus wins Peace Corps award for poetry Matthew Hamilton, a 2013 alumnus of the Fairfield University MFA in Creative Writing Program, has won the Peace Corps Writers 2013 Best Book of Poetry award for his first book, “The Land of the Four Rivers” (Cervena Barva Press, 2012). Hamilton, who has been both a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill and a Benedictine monk, volunteered with the Peace Corps in Armenia (2006-08) and the Philippines (2008-10). His book contains 30 poems dealing with what he saw and experienced in Armenia. Readers have praised his poems’ evocative clarity and accessibility. “Expedition into Mystery” opens: I walk over to a woman selling apricots and buy half a kilo. Her gold teeth thank me. Then I walk to Gorki Park, pluck one of my treats out of the bag and take a bite. Some of the juice falls on the sidewalk. A . . .

Archive - October 9, 2013