Spelled Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri, not Jumpha--ouch

KIte Runner

Yeah, we read it; we watched it. Something else. I'm open to Filipino titles, too. We've read When the Elephants Dance. I'm open to suggestions.

Andrew Lam

Go to You Tube and watch Andrew Lam's video about his return to Vietnam. It's very interesting. I worked with him for a while in a writing group. Check out his book Perfume Dreams, about the Vietnames Diaspora. I'm looking for books, plays, poems about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, India--you get the picture. Stuff I can use with my high school students? We just finished reading Fences by August Wilson and they liked it, but the comment was--Ms. Genna, why are we always reading black lit? And I said, that's what's in the book room. I have some short stories by Jumpha Lahiri but really I need some diversity. Poems by Rammi? Any ideas? Current stuff that kids can relate to?

Eclectic

Reading the Tobias Wolff collection still and enjoying the newer works. I felt punched out with "That Room." I had read several of these stories here and there already and was surprised at how much I've followed Toby's work. It's like that line in Catcher in the Rye, which those of you who know me, know I cannot quote exactly, but it's about wishing you could call a writer up and talk to him. I've also recently visited the website Eclectic (eclectic.com) and found a great website for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, etcetera. It's great. It's been around for a long time and I've missed out. I'll be sending something their way and keeping my fingers crossed.

Classes coming up: Fiction class at the Writing Salon in Berkeley--if you've taken the class before, it's the same format, but I'll be using new material. I always like to try new things. Of course, some of the basic material will be the same. I like Burroway's chapters on writing from several of her textbooks, but I'm still reading up on the craft of writing and intend to infuse the class with lots of ideas. It starts this Wednesday and there is still space available. Go to writingsalons.com. One thing I did after graduating from an MA program was I continued to take classes through the salon and other venues because I need the excitement and energy of a group and to share my work with others. I always learn something new. So don't feel intimidated by taking a class even if you have "GRADUATED."

I'll also be teaching Flash Fiction on April 26th, all day. We'll be reading some of the latest work that's out there and trying all kinds of creative writing exercises. The thing about flash that I like is that the kernel of the idea comes from that, but sometimes I get together two or three flashes and they become a longer story, so the art form is not limiting. I don't like gimmicks either. I'm not especially focused on word count, but more on the idea that we'll come up with a story by looking at other short-shorts, both classical stories and newer stuff that's coming down the pike.


So check out Tobias Wolff, Eclectic (Or is it Eclectica?), and check out my Fiction and Flash Fiction classes at the Writing Salon. Yes, this is a sales pitch, but you get your money's worth.

The latest

Just a few minutes to check-in: Farallon Review is out with myself and five former USF MFA students from different years. (By the way, I have a masters from there--missed my chance to turn it into an MFA by a year.) My story in there is called "A Good Swim." Check it out at farallonreview.com (To purchase). The magazine is not limited to receiving submissions only from USFers--it's just that this is the first issue and that's who submitted. Tim Foley and friends have turned out a tidy, professional magazine. I especially like Ken Rodgers short story "Brown Sparrows." More on a possible reading later. Vestal Review has my flash fiction in Issue 31, titled "Quitting Smoking." This is another one that needs to be ordered.

I'm reading Tobias Wolff's collection, Our Story Begins. Went to a reading/interview at the Herbst Theatre in SF--thanks for the tickets. It was wonderful and refreshing. T. Wolff seems like a very genuine, lightly humorous, sweet person. I, of course, have been a fan of his for a while, but it's nice to reread some of my favorites of his: "The Rich Brother," "Powder," "Bullet in the Brain." I'm excited to see what he's writing now. He reminds me of a softer Carver, whatever that means. Did you read the article about Tobias Wolff in Poets & Writers? He's very accessible and he also talks about Carver's recent republications of his work by his widow. Controversial, but the argument is a little passe'. (I'm trying on this word, so give me a break.)

Waiting anxiously for my May 2008 edition of The Iowa Review, which contains my short-short "Dry and Yellow."

As for teaching, I'm reading a collection called PP/FF from Starcherone Books in order to expand my repertoire of flash fiction for the flash fiction class I'll be teaching through the Writing Salon in Berkeley. I like it--order it if you're so inclined. Two other classes I'll be teaching are Fiction Writing class (9 weeks) and a publishing seminar on Friday, April 18th. The publishing seminar is a discussion of on-line and print venues for short fiction and poetry. We'll also touch on where, how to send out work to contests--this includes longer manuscripts such as collections of short stories and poetry. Probably you already know this information, but it is always nice to touch base with an instructor and other writers who have run the gamut of trying to get published. You get to ask questions about those bothersome little ideas like should I publish on-line? Isn't that considered "not as nice" as print? What are some of the "better magazines?" Is there such a thing? How do I know when to send a piece out? I don't know if we'll have exact/right/correct answers to these questions but we will have a forum for discussion! I've met lots of people who needed this venue. Feel free ask questions via this blog.

Coming UP

The University of Iowa's on-line venue "Iowa Writes" for writers from Iowa or writing about Iowa got ahold of me and asked if they could publish my flash fiction "Dry and Yellow" in The Iowa Review. Hell yes! Suhweet. In the May, 2008 issue. Then I got my copy of Vestal Review, issue 31 with my short story "Quitting Smoking" in it and was thinking how there's room enough in this world for all of us. I received my first paycheck for a story, too--$15 for a flash fiction story. What a pretty paycheck. Tim Foley and friends new SF lit magazine The Farallon Review is going to be out in a couple of weeks. Who wants a copy? Get a hold of me to order. The --logo-- for it is rather cool. Check out his website: farallonreview.com. If you're a writer, you might think about submitting. They want SF writers or writers who have a specific Western take. BRAG BRAG. I have a soft spot in my heart for the story I submitted to it--it has blow jobs and boulder fights in it. Same old, same old, Ms. G. Hey, calling all on-line lit mag readers--nominate your favorite short story for the storySouth's Million Writers award. (Hint, hint: "Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral" Storyglossia, Issue 24). Well, my daughter nominated me already, but she honestly loves that story. I have 9 brothers and sisters to put me up for it, too. But I do like that story. Actually, read Stephanie Dickinson's "Where the Flashlight Girls Run" on Storyglossia. It's an amazing story. Still reading Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock. C.J. Singh loaned me his copy of Deepening Fiction and I'm slogging through that, too. But really, too busy grading essays, group roles for novels, and reflective essays. Those personal reflection essays are cake--I learn the most interesting stuff about my students and I wonder how it is I don't even know who they are. This is the facade we all adopt . Go to class, behave, or act out, but who are we, really?

Girl Scout Cookies

Ayeee, I am overwhelmed with fat and sugar--GSCookies. Impossible to eat just one. BUSY grading those Great Gatsby essays, reading work from the writing class, and figuring out how to do an on-line signature for the FAFSA for my daughter's education. I say live at home and eat the parent's food and get free room and board, but independence is knocking. Not much new on the lit scene--I went to a reading by the USF alumni and was very impressed and entertained. I especially liked a story about a woman in a recovery type place. I'm reading Alice Munro's View From Castle Rock. At first, I didn't care for it, but once I got into it, I started enjoying it, appreciating the sense of history blended with story. Still trying to finish Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. This is not to disparage the quality of his writing--I'm just a short story reader. I am looking for several novels to read this spring and summer and am thinking of writing a novel, always thinking about that, but I think I'd need an MFA program to get it done. Every time I read a novel, I start thinking about writing one. Glad the primaries are winding down (or are they). I am not married to either Clinton or Obama, but I am worried about McCAin getting into office after hearing him speak on the radio today. It didn't sound like he'd be in any too much of a hurry to get us out of Iraq. or look into diplomatic and communicative ways to solve our country's issues in the Middle East. SCARY!