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November 2012

Widening Empathy: Richard Ford

A Conversation with Richard Ford
Picture of Richard Ford

This interview is the fifth in the Crooked Letter Interview Series hosted by Prairie Schooner’s Southern Correspondent, James Madison Redd.

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Sherman Alexie Visits UNL!

Acclaimed author Sherman Alexie will be the featured author at the launch event for Prairie Schooner's Winter 2012 Issue, for which he guest edited a portfolio of poetry and prose by contemporary Native American authors.

2012 Pushcart Prize Nominations

Congratulations to this year's Pushcart Prize Nominees! Best of luck to these contributors--stay tuned for the results!

"'The Killing State'/The Murdering State," a poem by John Kinsella from Summer 2012
"God, God," a poem by Fleda Brown from Summer 2012
"Choice," a poem by Sudeep Sen from Winter 2012 (forthcoming)
"It Takes Nine Lives to Cross Nebraska," a poem by Daniel Wideman from Winter 2012 (forthcoming)
"Wars of Attrition," a poem by Laura Da' from Winter 2012 (forthcoming)
"If Gold is Drilled in Bristol Bay," a poem by dg okpik from Winter 2012 (forthcoming)

Meet Your Senior Reader: Creative Nonfiction

This series introduces you to the people who are reading your stuff

Sarah Fawn Montgomery holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from California State University-Fresno and is currently a PhD student in creative writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work has been listed as notable in Best American Essays and her poetry and prose have appeared or are forthcoming in various magazines including DIAGRAM, Fugue, The Los Angeles Review, New South, North Dakota Quarterly, The Pinch, Puerto del Sol, South Dakota Review and others.

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Briefly Noted

A monthly book review in brief from PS staff and associates

Volume 1, Issue 6. November 2012.
Dawes on Sadie Jones' Small Wars
Moritz on Eddie Chuculate's Cheyenne Madonna
Orsi on John Brandon's Citrus County
Parms on Amy Leach's Things That Are

"I just want to be in love with everything."

Blog Editor Claire Harlan Orsi interviews CNF Contest Winner Natalie Vestin on her essay, "How To Own a Building"

Natalie Vestin, a writer and health researcher based in St. Paul, won Prairie Schooner's first Creative Nonfiction Contest. We're releasing this interview as a preview to her essay, which will appear in the Spring 2013 Issue of Prairie Schooner.

This essay goes so many different places, literally and metaphorically: Minnesota, Hiroshima, Hamburg, New York City; anecdotes and abstract reflections, past and present meditations. I’m curious about your composition process. Did you know you were going to bring together these disparate elements in the way you did? From where did the form of the essay emerge?

Charlene Spearen Recap!

PS Intern Alex Barrett describes the poet's visit

Indigo Bridge Books hosted the third installment of Prairie Schooner's Visiting Writer Series on Thursday, November 15. Guest poet Charlene Spearen read selections from her first poetry collection, A Book of Exquisite Disasters, as well as some new work. Introducing Spearen’s reading was Kwame Dawes, once her mentor, who called her poetry "at once moving if even at times disturbing."

Spearen’s witness of the illness and eventual death of her brother, Charlie, was the inspiration for the first segment from her book. Charlie coined the title that became the first poem she read, “Magic Inside a Hell Box.” Helplessness and pain wove through all her “Charlie poems.”

Veterans Writing War

Dispatches from Blog Editor Claire Harlan Orsi

As the troop drawdown in Afghanistan continues (albeit amid internecine conflict, an uncertain Afghan government and security force and a recently and ignominiously-departed CIA director), it’s worth reflecting on a fascinating offshoot of our country’s 10-year involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan: the growth of creative writing programs specifically catering to veterans.

Winter Cover Preview!

 

Check out this arresting cover image, titled "Downwind from Hanford." It's by the Pawnee/Yakama artist Bunky Echo-Hawk, an Oklahoma-based, internationally known artist who has exhibited in major galleries worldwide.

Find out more about Echo-Hawk's work at www.bunkyechohawk.com. And stayed tuned to the Prairie Schooner website for the upcoming unveiling of our Winter 2012 Issue, which includes a special Native American writing portfolio curated by Sherman Alexie.

 

 

 

Nebraska Library Tour Dates!

Last week we announced an exciting effort by Prairie Schooner to reach out to Nebraska readers: the 2012 Nebraska Library Tour!
Here are the dates, times and locations Prairie Schooner Editor in Chief Kwame Dawes and Managing Editor Marianne Kunkel will be visiting in December.

Saturday, Dec. 8, 2 p.m.
Keene Memorial Library
1030 N Broad St
Fremont, NE 68025

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.
Potter Public Library
333 Chestnut
Potter, NE 69156

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 7 p.m.
Broken Bow Public Library
626 South D. St.
Broken Bow, NE 68822

Thursday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
Alliance Library
1750 Sweetwater Avenue
Alliance, NE 69301

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