From the monthly archives:

August 2009

Interview with Author D. Harlan Wilson

August 31, 2009

D. Harlan Wilson in Dark Sky Magazine

New Fiction from D. Harlan Wilson

D. Harlan Wilson is the author of three new books. Recently he caught up with Dark Sky Magazine to discuss his work, influences, and the type of television that inspires him.

DSM: Your writing is often described as futuristic and nontraditional. Why is that, and do you agree?

D. Harlan Wilson: Yes, definitely. As long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in nontraditional modes of storytelling, and I like writing and reading speculative fiction that’s set in futuristic or alternate universes. Together, these elements sanction the most viable forum for narrative creativity and imaginative exploration, I think. I consistently try to push boundaries and chart new (or at least unique) territory in my writing. Setting stories in strange, estranging worlds, and stylizing and playing with the language used to map and articulate those worlds, allows me to do this.

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Tagged as: Literature in the Media

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Baram Writer

August 31, 2009

A Story-Screenplay by Finn Harvor

EXT. AN URBAN WOODLAND. WINTER. LATE AFTERNOON.

Wind blows through trees, rustling their dead leaves and making their branches sway back and forth in a creaking, slow dervish.

VO [male]: The wind has its own tone, its own feeling. It’s like … coldness, thinness.

It’s like hunger.

The wind has a body. The wind is someone.

Baram Writer in Dark Sky Magazine

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Tagged as: Literature in the Media, Selected Online Writing, Short Story

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Monday’s Body of Work

August 31, 2009

Seattle in Dark Sky Magazine

It's Clear and Blue in the Emerald City

We are home. We visited D.C., a long, enjoyable and frenzied weekend of family and friends. We huddled in a hot house and counted the minutes until the main event: an August wedding. And it went off without a hitch! That’s the good news. The bad news is that traveling so many miles for just one weekend is big-time taxing. Our energy is sapped and now our duties runneth over. Hence today’s tardy posting. But we know our readers are compassionate, right? You forgive us, right? Great. Let us look forward then. Der Spiegel shows us what to do with all those spare body parts. The Wall Street Journal says good reading shouldn’t be hard. Margaret Atwood gets the English treatment, Jacket Copy draws the line between writing and rock n’ roll, and a Bookslut goes Down Under. Finally, Nigeria hosts a regal literary prize and the esteemed journalist Leonard Pitts’ new book is excerpted in NPR. Ah home, it’s where all the best stories are found. — Kevin Murphy

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Tagged as: Literature Contests, Literature in the Media, Monday's Body of Work

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Vow

August 31, 2009

by J. Michael  Wahlgren

Peter opened the book: a little city
was built inside, a way to see through
this gossip, the drinking of dipper to dipper.

But I don’t believe in fortune.

And then, in a moment of silence, staring
back at him from the binding,
was the deepest blue of ocean waiting to be wet.

We’re right behind you: a halo of winters.

We were leaving Geneva: a home green, a little
machina where someone sputtered out; sputtered out
words & it sounded clever.

No lip. No lip. Don’t you dare give me lip, tonight.

The music begins in rectory now: a mere
baptism of light, from one heavenly
triad to another someone.

Peter flipped the page: a little lamp as given name.

And somehow the narration disappears,
like a star in a black cloud, waiting
to orbit a finger in gold, a ring, a ring, crossing vows.

But I don’t believe in fortune.

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J Michael Wahlgren is the author of two chapbooks: Chariots of Flame (2007) & Pre-elixir (2008) both on Maverick Duck Press & the full-length poetry collection Silent Actor (BeWrite, 2008). He was influenced early on by the fiction of Hermann Hesse. He resides in Boston, MA where he edits & web designs Eight Octaves Review. J Michael studied philosophy for two years in upstate New York & returned to Boston to pursue other interests. He can be found playing guitar for his gray & white feline or reading an array of modern poetry.

Tagged as: Literature in the Media, New Literature Online, Poetry

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Saturday’s Derision

August 29, 2009

Recently we made a cross-country move. We were forced to downsize our possessions. This meant books. Over the years we had amassed a considerable library, one which brought to us many nights of literary satisfaction, as well as a daily dose of ownership pride. We donated dozens of books to Blue Bicycle Books, a worthy [...]

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Friday’s Literary Grab Bag

August 28, 2009

The best and worst thing about writing is the hope. Writers hope for success passionately, blindly, like little kids on Christmas. Hope is never dormant, and it’s always right around the corner. But sprinting to that corner is dangerous. Often, failure trips us up. But writers are dreamers, and we’re determined. We have a stomach [...]

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Thursday’s Flurry of Words

August 27, 2009

We’d like to say we’re done moving, painting, signing our life away. After the purchase of our first home, we’re descending into a life that’s more Shining and less Barney’s Great Adventure. But that’s another story. It’s on to the Flurry! Big media stories usually rely on three interwoven topics: politics, business, and crime. We [...]

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Wednesday’s Writerly Happenings

August 26, 2009

Today, experts find they are spinning prescient hula hoops. But it seems nobody knows what will happen next — be it the economy, media, war or literature — and when it will all end. Uncertain times are good for spin, and new experts continue to emerge. The good old boys, too. They’ve got advice, and [...]

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Wednesday’s Tears

August 26, 2009

Oh, how our fellow Boston Irish Catholics weep. Teddy Kennedy, despite your obvious flaws, you were a good man. To us, this video clip of your eulogy for Robert is one of your many shining moments.
Video: TK’s Eulogy For Robert Kennedy

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Take Care

August 25, 2009

A Short Story by Keith Lord
Stiff-spined before the barn, Rex Turney regarded its pale amber halo, the iconic inverted trident of peace, with a measure of satisfaction. Just above the barn-door, it was an illusion of course – like the ideal it represented – rendered by the uneven weathering of the wood. Enough to put [...]

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