Rudyard Kipling Award for Young Writers
June 8, 2016 § Leave a comment
What a fun privilege it was to serve as a judge for the Rudyard Kipling Award for Young Writers, the culminating ceremony for which was held this past weekend at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro. The purpose of the award is to encourage local youngsters to engage with writing and literature, and to celebrate the significant and little-known legacy of Rudyard Kipling in the local area.
And if you get a chance to visit the great writer’s historic home, Naulakha, near the base of Black Mountain in Brattleboro, it’s a magical place and I highly recommend it. The contest winner’s prize included an overnight with her family and friends!
Cuba Writers Program!
May 4, 2016 § Leave a comment
Very excited to be heading down to Havana for the first annual Cuba Writers Program, which I’m launching in partnership with two astoundingly talented writing colleagues, Alden Jones and Ann Hood. If you’re feeling a bit of “FOMO,” never fear! We’ll be offering it again next year.
And if you want to explore the idea of setting up your own trip to Cuba, either independently or in a preexisting program, don’t hesitate to send me a note. I’m happy to point you in the right direction and/or help you to make the soup-to-nuts arrangements. There’s never been a better time to go to Cuba!
New article out on current situation in Cuba
December 28, 2015 § 1 Comment
If you’re wondering what the situation is on the ground in Cuba right now, in the aftermath of the Obama Cuba policy shift, here’s my take, published recently in Cuba Journal. It’s based on frequent first hand observations since 1999, and especially on the four trips I took to the island in 2015.
If anyone is interested in going, by the way, it’s easier than ever to do so legally as a US citizen, though there are still a number of hoops you have to jump through. Send me a note and I can either help you set up a trip or point you in the right direction.
If you’re interested in traveling to Cuba independently or with a small group, read this first.
“The Knife” is a Finalist for the 2015 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award
December 15, 2015 § Leave a comment
Honored to report that an unpublished story, “The Knife,” has been selected as a finalist for Cutthroat Magazine’s 2015 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award. There are 19 finalists out of 300 entries. Stuart Dybek is the judge. Fingers crossed!
Green Writers Press nominates “Mouth of the Tropics” for Pushcart
December 1, 2015 § Leave a comment
Received this good news recently. “Mouth of the Tropics” is a short story I had a great deal of fun writing, about an American biologist in Venezuela’s Orinoco Basin who sets out to discover a new amphibian species and gets a great deal more than he bargained for in the process.
It’s a special honor to be nominated by Green Writers Press, which has a unique vision and has been putting out an exciting array of new books over the last few years. Keep your fingers crossed!
Collection is Semifinalist for Subito Press Book Prize
November 26, 2015 § 2 Comments
Pleased to note that my short fiction collection, “A Field Guide to Murder and Fly Fishing,” was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Subito Press Book Prize. So far, earlier versions of the same book have also been shortlisted for the New Rivers Press Many Voices Project, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, and the Lewis-Clark Press Discovery Award. Stories within the collection have won a Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Award and the Grand Prize of Outrider Press’s The Mountain anthology, and have been shortlisted for many awards including the Lightship Publishing International Literature Prize, the Glimmer Train Short Story Award, The Richard Yates Short Story Award, and others.
It’s been a long road for these stories, all of which have appeared previously in literary magazines and/or anthologies, but a final home may be in sight. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the collection . . .
New review of Howard Axelrod’s The Point of Vanishing up at The Rumpus
October 22, 2015 § Leave a comment
It was such a pleasure to introduce my good friend Howard Axelrod recently at the Brattleboro Literary Festival, and I very much enjoyed reviewing his new memoir, The Point of Vanishing, for The Rumpus.
I can’t recommend this book more highly, even if memoir is not your typical reading fare. Read the review here.
New Short Fiction out in Saranac Review
September 28, 2015 § Leave a comment
Hey everyone, very pleased to announce the publication of my story, “The Dragon of Conchagua,” in the latest issue of Saranac Review.
In the story, a troubled former Peace Corps volunteer returns to Ecuador to climb a high-altitude volcano, where he is plagued by disturbingly vivid memories. This is a subject that has been haunting me for a long time, since the early nineties, in fact, when I was doing quite a bit of work in Ecuador and exploring the evocative páramo in the “Avenida de los Volcanes” near Quito. Its interesting how long actual experiences have to gestate before they can emerge as fiction—although the truth is that this story, like most of my published stories, has gone through literally dozens of drafts, often over a period of many years.
An earlier version was shortlisted for the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards, but this is the first time it’s been released to the world at large. I’m especially thrilled about this one because Saranac Review is a well-regarded, well-put-together literary journal, and this issue looks particularly good. You can order the paperback or PDF copy of the journal here.
Northern Spain by Rail with National Geographic
September 15, 2015 § 3 Comments
What a privilege it is to be heading back to Spain, the country that I’ve long considered my home away from home. This is a special trip, too, my first time on National Geographic’s fascinating Northern Spain by Private Rail. We’ll be starting in Santiago de Compostela and making our way across the northern breadth of the Iberian peninsula to San Sebastián, all aboard the extremely well appointed Transcantábrico Gran Lujo.
Of course we’ll be stopping quite a bit along the way, to explore Romanesque chapels, mountain villages, and prehistoric cave art. I’ll be giving a series of lectures focusing on Spanish history, the life and times of Francisco de Goya, and Ernest Hemingway’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War, and of course I’m hoping to be able to get a bit of good writing done too. All in all, much to look forward to!
Follow me on Instagram or Facebook if you’d like to see photos from the experience!
Fall Writing Classes at GrubStreet and the Brattleboro Literary Festival
August 28, 2015 § Leave a comment
Very excited for this fall’s fiction classes. At Grub Street, I’ll be teaching four installments of a brand new eight part Novel Revision series. If you’re working on a novel, it would be great to have you in Boston for a class! Here’s the link. Check ’em out!
To kick off this year’s Brattleboro Literary Festival on Friday, October 2, I’ll be joining two very talented fellow writers, my Grub Street colleague Howard Axelrod and my good friend and local Salonista shaman, Suzanne Kingsbury, in offering these exciting workshops. For a podcast of a radio interview with Festival director Sandy Rouse and yours truly discussing the workshops, click here. If you’re planning to be anywhere near Vermont on that day—and it’s a great time to be here—I highly recommend that you take one!
