“Embrasser” means to hug and kiss in French, but the new literary journal of the same name is about embracing unique varieties of international French. Embrasser is a Louisiana-based literary translation journal that aims “to highlight and preserve varieties of French that have been marginalized,” founder Emily Thibodeaux said. The journal is accepting fiction poetry, nonfiction, and criticism submissions in English or Louisiana French for its first issue coming out during Mardi Gras 2014.
Parlez-Vous Français?
Housing Crisis: Solved
Can’t afford a house? Print one.
●
●
I Mean, Why Not?
Two minutes of gorgeous West Indian manatee footage, and you'd better believe I'm linking to it.
Inferno (A Poet’s Recommendation)
Looking for some new poetry? Inferno author Eileen Myles pens a ringing endorsement of Erica Kaufman's Instant Classic. The book has "haunted and befuddled" her for over a year, she writes.
Stay Away from the Semicolon
“The Crested Asterisk camouflages itself in poor syntax, relying on this tactic to confuse its predators and prey. It is the only specimen known to cause injury by way of over-emphasis.” Introducing a field guide to rare punctuation.
●
●
“Fresh” Perspective
"Just because I’m a woman, don’t assume that I automatically empathize with a brooding 20-something Elizabeth-Bennett-type protagonist. (Trust me, I don’t.) This doesn’t mean I can’t design ... a biography on Susan Sontag—or, for that matter, a spy novel, a political satire, or a memoir about a Japanese game show host set in outer space. I can do all of these things. Because it’s my job to design book covers." Over at The Literary Hub, a cover designer wonders why she's always offered a particular type of book.
Joseph Roth’s Letters
"Among the 457 letters in Joseph Roth: A Life in Letters, there is not one love letter," begins Stefany Anne Goldberg's review of the author's collected--and often outright misanthropic--correspondence.
●
●
Early Buzz
In his look ahead to interesting books coming out in 2011, Scott Esposito includes the book I co-edited, The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books, which features pieces by Jonathan Lethem, Rivka Galchen, Benjamin Kunkel, and several other great writers and is due out in March.