The new issue of Story South dedicated its “Special Feature: Southern Poets” section to the work of Kathryn Stripling Byer. To wit, you can check out two of her poems – “Waiting for Bob” and “Making Myself at Home” – as well as an interview between her and Terry Kennedy, and a review of her latest collection, Descent.
Special Feature: Kathryn Stripling Byer
Review of Sonya Chung’s Long for This World
Lisa Peet at Open Letters Monthly / Likefire blog on Millions contributor Sonya Chung's novel Long for This World: "When a novel, particularly a debut novel, is referred to as 'ambitious,' there’s usually an implicit 'but' present... Chung takes on the dynamics of family—what draws it together and what pulls it apart—through the eyes of a number of players, male and female, old and young, Korean and Korean-American. Both her subject matter and her approach are ambitious, to say the least. The only 'but' in my reaction, however, is but she pulls it off—and admirably." Read the full review.
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Not Sure
Are people losing interest in fiction that “offers more questions than answers?” In her book Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, Jane Smiley suggested that modern readers have little taste for uncertainty. At The Rumpus, Rob Roberge asks how much this contributes to popular disinterest in literature.
Dostoevsky’s Fall from Grace
How long did it take Dostoevsky to go from being heralded as the “heir of Gogol” to being denounced as a “bad joke”? 15 days. Apparently he never recovered.
Good Luck
Your inner monologue is whip-smart. You can’t imagine life outside Manhattan. You've had multiple husbands, all of whom left you for other women. Is it possible you’re in a Grace Paley story?
Poetic Graphics
This week in book-related graphics: An image-heavy test that combines poetry with traffic signs from Ploughshares, and an infographic breaking down the most fearsome (and most useless) characters in The Iliad.
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The Power of Social Media (And Sexts)
Poet Elisa Gabbert recaps the warm-your-heart generosity of poet (and “Poet Laureate of Twitter”) Patricia Lockwood’s Twitter followers.
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