Orbital Vacations

If you enjoyed last week’s sneak peek at Elisa Gabbert’s forthcoming poetry collection, you’ll want to check out her collaboration with Kathleen Rooney at Nailed Magazine.

Vanishing Point, which I’ve praised in the past, is offering an editorial fellowship in digital documentary publishing, and it’s open to people who live near Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, as well as to those who live far away.

A few months ago, I wrote about Norwegian Granta, which included stories by Jennifer Egan, Roberto Bolano and Alice Munro in its first issue. Now the magazine is launching Granta Portugal, which debuts with five sonnets by the poet Fernando Pessoa.

“Stop smoking, first of all, and then don’t hold your breath, don’t cough, do not for any reason pick up heavy packages, boxes, suitcases. Never lean over, or dive headfirst into water. The carnal throes of passion were forbidden, because even an ardent kiss could cause my veins to burst.” At long last, Lina Meruane’s semi-autobiographical novel Seeing Red has been published in English. Meruane has long been hailed as one of the most brilliant South American writers that American readers had probably never heard of.

A while back, I mentioned the prescient timing of Walter Isaacson’s forthcoming biography Steve Jobs. As you await its publication, content yourself with Forbes and JESS3’s graphic novel The Zen of Steve Jobs.