text:
I'm packed and I'm holding
I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden
She lives for me, says she lives for me
Ovation, her own motivation
She comes round and she goes down on me
And I make her smile, like a drug for you
Do ever what you wanna do, coming over you
Keep on smiling, what we go through
One stop to the rhythm that divides you
And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse
Chop another line like a coda with a curse
Come on like a freak show takes the stage
We give them the games we play, she said
"I want something else, to get me through this
Semi charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye"
The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips of it through my nose
And I wish, I could get back there
Someplace back there
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal myth, will lift you up until you break
It won't stop, I won't come down
I keep stock with the tick-tock rhythm, I bump for the drop
And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given
Then I bumped again, then I bumped again, I said
How do I get back there
To the place where I fell asleep inside you
How do I get myself back to the place where you said
"I want something else, to get me through this
Semi charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye"
I believe in the sand beneath my toes
The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
And the four right chords can make me cry
When I'm with you I feel like I could die
And that would be all right, all right
And when the plane came in, she said she was crashing
The velvet it rips in the city, we tripped on the urge to feel alive
Now I'm struggling to survive
Those days you were wearing that velvet dress
You're the priestess, I must confess
Those little red panties they pass the test
Slide up around the belly, face down on the mattress
One and you hold me, and we're broken
Still it's all that I wanna do, just a little now
Feel myself, head made of the ground
I'm scared, I'm not coming down, no, no
And I won't run for my life
She's got her jaws now, locked down in a smile
But nothing is all right, all right
And I want something else, to get me through this life
Baby, I want something else
Not listening when you say..
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye
The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips of it through my nose
And I wish, I could get back there
Someplace back there, in the place, we used to start
I want something else
GUYS! If you swing by the Braddock Avenue Books table (Y17), you can get a SIGNED copy of my novel and PLAY NINTENDO WITH ME. That's right. We're going to play NES.
I'll be there 10:30 through noon on Thursday, and then a few other times throughout the conference. This is your opportunity to challenge the 1995 Video Game Championship II Scranton Branch Winner.
Last week, I covered the panels of AWP 2013. This week, I'm focusing on the offsite events. For me, this is always the best part of the conference. The panels are enjoyable for the most part, but it's really at the readings where you get to meet the people whose work you've been following all year. There's a ton of amazing events as per usual, so I've only listed the ones I'm going to try my hardest to attend. Guess what? They all conflict. It's AWP, guys.
Oh, and if you want to check me at an event, show up on Thursday night at 8pm for:
A Night of Presidential Fiction Readings
Location: Sweetwater Tavern
Cost: Free
Hear original flash fiction about America's presidents, originally featured at Melville House. Readers include: Steve Himmer, Lincoln Michel, Matt Bell, Robert Kloss, Matthew Salesses, Tara Laskowski, Ben Loory, Aubrey Hirsch, James Tadd Adcox, Greg Gerke, Alan Stewart Carol, John Minichillo, Amelia Gray, Katrina Gray, Joseph Scapellato, Rion Amilcar Scott, Erin Fitzgerald, Tim Horvath, Laura Ellen Scott, Gabriel Blackwell, Christy Crutchfield, Mel Bosworth, Anne Valente, Sal Pane, Ben Tanzer, JA Tyler, Mike Meginnis, and Lauren Becker.
6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Gold Wake Press Reading
Location: Trident Booksellers Cafe
Cost: $0
This year Gold Wake is hosting an off-site reading at AWP Boston in 2013! Come over to Trident Books (3-5 min walking from the event center), and hear a slew of terrific authors from Gold Wake Press including Erin Elizabeth Smith, Andrea Witzke Slot, Nick Courtright, Kathleen Rooney, Donora Hillard, Kristina Marie Darling, Joshua Young, T.A. Noonan, Sarah E. Colona, Anne Champion, Brian Mihok, Jeannie Hoag, Kyle McCord.
6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Monster Mags of the Midwest reading
Location: Back Bay Social Club, 867 Boylston
Cost: Free
Cincinnati Review, Mid-American Review, and Ninth Letter invite you to an AWP offsite reading, with Steve Almond, Tarfia Faizullah, Roy Kesey, Mary Miller, Sarah Rose Nordgren, and Marcus Wicker. Cocktail hour from 6-7 pm (Back Bay Social Club has both food and drink available for purchase), readings to start at 7
4:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
a reading eXperiment presented by Festival of Language
Location: LIR, 903 Boylston Street
Cost: Free and Open to the Public
Come and witness words and artistry in motion, distorting meanings and kicking expectation to the curb at Festival of Language's first annual reading eXperiment conducted game show style with Jane L. Carman, Ryan Clark, Andy Farnsworth, Jenny Ferguson, Beth Gilstrap, Sonya Huber, Kathryn Kysar, R.B. Moreno, Theresa O'Donnell, Ted Pelton, Erin Rhodes, Anita Schmaltz, Sarah Stonich, Ben Tanzer, Meg Tuite, and Robert Vaughan.
5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Co-Book Launch: Shane McCrae and Matthew Salesses
Location: LIR, across from Hynes
Cost: Free
Join Shane McCrae, author of Blood (Noemi), and Matthew Salesses, author of I'm Not Saying, I'm Just Saying (CCM), for the double launch of their books. Warning: drinks will be drunk, books will be shared, and good times will be had.
6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
A Table X Reading: Anomalous, Les Figues, Gold Line, Tiny Hardcore, & Rose Metal Presses
Location: CCTV Studio, 438 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 0213938 (near Central Square)
Cost: Free as a bird
Anomalous, Les Figues, Gold Line, Tiny Hardcore, & Rose Metal Presses hosting a reading and book launch. Free snacks and drinks! Sandra Doller, Mike Schorsch, Liat Berdugo, and Sarah Tourjee reading from their forthcoming Anomalous books; Casey Hannan, Ashley Farmer, and James Tadd Adcox from Tiny Hardcore Press; Bradley Harrison, Matt Kirkpatrick, Heather Aimee O'Neill, and Glenn Shaheen from Gold Line Press; and Adam Golaski and Aaron Teel from Rose Metal Press.
7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Drunken Boat Book Party for Lisa Russ Spaar's "The Hide-and-Seek Muse"
Location: The Lily Pad Inman Square (1353 Cambridge St in Cambridge)
Cost: FREE
Join Drunken Boat, online journal of the arts, during AWP at Cambridge's Lily Pad to celebrate the launch of Guggenheim fellow and award-winning poet Lisa Russ Spaar's "The Hide-and-Seek Muse: Annotations on Contemporary Poetry," featuring her memorable micro-essays on some of America's finest poets such as Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Wright, Carl Philips, Carol Muske-Dukes, Claudia Emerson, and Philip Schultz, and younger writers such as Kazim Ali, Kyle Dargan, and Paul Legault. The reading will feature contributors to the book including Debra Allbery, Talvikki Ansel, Jennifer Atkinson, David Baker, Jill Bialosky, Randall Couch, Kate Daniels, Monica Ferrell, Gabriel Fried, Rachel Hadas, Brenda Hillman, Jennifer Key, L. S. Klatt, Joanna Klink, Erika Meitner, Amy Newman, Meghan O'Rourke, Eric Pankey, Kiki Petrosino, Bin Ramke, Mary Ann Samyn, Allison Seay, Ravi Shankar, Ron Slate, Mary Szybist, Brian Teare, David Wojahn. Free and open to the public.
7:00 p.m.
Sundress Publications / Connotation Press / Boxcar Poetry Review / Best of the Net Reading at The Greatest Bar
Location: The Greatest Bar | 262 Friend Street | Boston, MA 02114
Cost: Free!
Join us in Boston for a night of reading and general revelry in celebration of Sundress Publications, Connotation Press, Boxcar Poetry Review, and the release of the 2012 Best of the Net Anthology! Readers will include Traci Brimhall, Al Maginnes, Laura McCullough, Alex Pruteanu, Angela Woodward, Marcel Brouwers, Peauladd Huy, Doug Anderson, Sara Lippman, Danny M. Hoey, Jr., and more!
8:00 p.m.
Barrelhouse, Hobart, PANK & Friends: Not Reading
Location: LIR, 903 Boylston St, Boston
Cost: Free
It's a quirky Cinderella story about three fashion-savvy, thrift-loving litmags who fell for rich, sumptuous AWP readings only to discover it's the partying they've loved all along. The threesome comes across many social obstacles, but things come together in the end thanks in large part to a ragtag group of unlikely friends, a Boston bar, and absolutely no pretense of readings or literary gimmickry whatsoever.
8:00 p.m.
East / West Reading
Location: Bell In Hand Tavern, 45-55 Union Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Cost: Free
East Coast writers match off against West Coast: Pam Houston, Deb Olin Unferth, Joseph Salvatore, Matthew Vollmer, Scott Cheshire, Christopher Kennedy, David Hollander, Kim Chinquee, Sam Ligon, Lily Hoang, Carmen Gimenez-Smith, Robert Lopez, Aurelie Sheehan.
8:00 p.m.
Sarabande Books Reading
Location: LIR: 903 Boylston St
Cost: Free
Brief readings by Elena Passarello, Steven Cramer, Cleopatra Mathis, Lauren Shapiro, and L. Annette Binder. We'll be debuting Sarabande's signature bourbon cocktail. Free drinks!
8:00 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Mission Creek Festival & the Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review
Location: Club Passim
Join Iowa's Mission Creek Festival and Johns Hopkins' The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review at historic Club Passim for words, music, and drink. Featured Author: Steve Almond. Featured Music: TBA.
8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
VIDA Prom: a Reading and Dance Party
Location: Daisy Buchanan's, 240 Newbury Street, Boston MA 02116
Cost: $10 donation to VIDA at the door
Show off your prom dress, boa, and fascinator at the swankiest speakeasy dance party & reading during AWP! Headliners include: Cheryl Strayed, Robert Pinsky, Pam Houston, Alexander Chee, Roxanne Gay (more TBD). Schedule: Doors open at 8pm, Readers read at 9pm, Dance party from 10pm-midnight. Cash bar. Prom attire encouraged but not required. Feel free to wear your roaring '20s gear and come out to support VIDA!
8:00 p.m.
Words & Music presented by Curbside Splendor, Other Voices Books, AGNI, Emergency Press, Counterpoint, Artifice
Location: 738 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridgem MA
Cost: FREE
Readings and or music at Boston's iconic Cantab Lounge by: James Greer (Detective / Guided by Voices), Jessica Keener, Rob Roberge, Jillian Lauren, Joshua Mohr, Caroline Crew, Chris Fink, Ben Tanzer, Tyler McMahon. Word.
6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Bread Loaf Waiters Reading
Location: LIR
Cost: Free
Join the 2012 Bread Loaf waiters at LIR, a bar right across from the Hynes Convention Center, for a showcase of speed readings in poetry and prose.
6:00 p.m.-7:45 p.m.
Crossing The Line: A Reading Co-Sponsored by The Drum Literary Magazine and the Boston Book Festival
Location: Storyville, 90 Exeter St.
Cost: Free
Come join us at the Storyville nightclub for tales of law-breaking, rule-bending, and genre-busting. The evening will feature bestselling/award-winning authors Matt Bell, Jenna Blum, Christopher Castellani, and Marie Myung-Ok Lee. There will be a short, fun (anonymous?) transgression-oriented questionnaire – best answer wins a free drink! Hosted by Dawn Tripp & Henriette Lazaridis Power
6:30 p.m.
A Strange Object and Nouvella Buy You a Beer
Location: Back Bay Social Club, Upstairs, 867 Boylston St.
Cost: Free
The gals of A Strange Object and Nouvella want you to come have a Sam Adams with them. Come on. You're in Boston. Don't even think about not being there. (And get there early, because they're buying for the first 50 folks to show up.)
8:00 p.m.
Ampersand, YesYes, and Engine Books
Location: McGreevy's Irish Bar: 911 Boylston Street
Cost: Free
Ampersand Books, Engine Books,and YesYes Books celebrate literature and mayhem with readings by Carrie Causey, Nan Cuba, Nicelle Davis, Luke Goebel, Darby Laine, Courtney Elizabeth Mauk, Gregory Sherl, Nate Slawson, Gregory Spatz, J.A. Tyler, and Angela Veronica Wong
For the third year in a row, there will be a Literature Party at AWP.
Sponsored by HTMLGiant and Submittable and Publishing Genius.
Sermon by SCOTT McCLANAHAN
Responsive reading by MELISSA BRODER
Special music by MIKE YOUNG
… and the evil deeds of Boston's own THE GREAT BURIERS
PLUS more hijinks like: SARAH JEAN ALEXANDER's live booze art, MARC KUGINI explains Marie Calloway for your Twitter friends and ALL your hunting and fishing questions answered by JEFF SNOWBARGER
Security provided by Andrew Weatherhead
This year it's free
Beers and wines for cheaps, like $2 or whatever
4:30 p.m.
Brookline Bookstore Reading Featuring Steve Almond, and friends
Location: 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA
Cost: FREE
Chicago's Curbside Splendor and Other Voices Books (OVB) present an intimate reading with the following fantastic authors at Boston's Brookline Booksmith: Steve Almond, Amber Sparks, Rob Roberge, Thea Goodman, Stephen Dau. Wine and other goodies will be served.
5:30 p.m.
Literary Firsts
Location: Middlesex Lounge
Cost: Free
Join us for a special installment of Cambridge's sexiest reading series! Readers include: James Tadd Adcox, Sam Cha, Melissa Febos, Elisa Gabbert, Robert Kloss, Vanessa Veselka, Adrian Todd Zuniga, and John Cotter as the confessional reader! Hosted by Carissa Halston.
7:00 p.m.
There's Still Good in You!
Location: Daisy Buchanan's: 240 A Newbury Street, Boston MA 02116
Cost: Free
Heavy Feather Review, Big Lucks, Magic Helicopter Press, and Factory Hollow Press present There's Still Good in You! an AWP 2013 offsite reading, featuring Jensen Beach, Gabriel Blackwell, Rachel B. Glaser, Evelyn Hampton, W. Todd Kaneko, Seth Landman, Jordaan Mason, Caryl Pagel, Adam Robinson, and Amber Sparks.
I've been blogging about AWP for the last four years. You can check the previous guides here (2012, 2011, 2010). So I'm not going to ramble on too much with advice. You know how I feel about AWP. For me, it works best when I plan less. There's too much to do, and every year it seems like I have more obligations and more friends and writers to meet. I'm never able to do even a fourth of what I'd like to, and often, my favorite moments of the conference have nothing to do with writing. Some of my favorite moments from last year were catching up with old classmates over a tray of deep dish pizza, or the time Kevin Tassini and I dragged Katie Coyle all over Chicago to look for video games. Just go and have fun. Be productive, but don't overstress.
If you want to see me at AWP, there's a few options. I'm doing a book signing at the Braddock Avenue Books table from 10:30 to 11:45 on Thursday. Come on down. Buy my book. Hug me? I'll probably do a few more, and I'll keep you posted here or via Twitter. I'm also participating in a panel on Thursday from 9-10:15am in Room 108 of the Plaza Level:
R109. Landing the Tenure-Track Job without a Book: What to Expect in the Job Market. (Kevin McKelvey, Salvatore Pane, Keya Mitra, Robert Long Foreman) In a competitive academic job market, how do you make yourself stand out without a book? Writers will discuss their diverse paths to tenure-track jobs and how to develop pedagogy for newer fields such as graphic novels and established fields like professional writing, screenwriting, composition, editing, and publishing. Panelists will discuss publications and teaching loads, how a visiting or contract position can turn into a permanent job, and whether or not you need a PhD.
If you want to see me read, come to this:
So let's party. Let's hang out. Let's be cool. Below is my list of all the panels I'm interested in attending. Remember, these aren't the "best" panels–I don't even know what that would mean exactly. These are just the ones I'm going to try and make. Just relax and be cool. I'll have an off-site guide posted soon.
Room 200, Level 2
R167. Only Half as Crazy as We Seem: Exploring Unconventional Strategies for Indie Lit Startups. (Steve Westbrook, Matty Byloos, Carrie Seitzinger, J.A. Tyler, Skyler Schulze) At present, the notion of developing an independent literary startup tends to be perceived as a naïve dream or a bad business idea. Defying conventional wisdom, contributors to this panel discuss their recent experience of founding successful new journals, presses, and a reading series. As they examine how their efforts toward sustainability intersect or contradict industry lore, they offer strategies for developing alternative funding structures, distribution models, and marketing techniques.
Room 206, Level 2
R172. Literary Writers Writing Popular Fiction: What's Up With That? (Ed Falco, Julianna Baggott, Lise Haines, Benjamin Percy) What exactly are we saying when we refer to a novel as literary or serious fiction, as opposed to popular or commercial fiction? Can clear distinctions be made? What do these commonly used terms—literary, serious versus commercial, popular—mean to writers? Is it possible to write a commercial novel that is also literary? Writers who have published literary works as well as novels that might be considered popular fiction explore these and other relevant questions.
Room 313, Level 3
R185. Too Much or Not Enough? Expectations in the Introductory Multi-Genre Creative Writing Classroom. (Carrie Shipers, Laurel Gilbert, Heather Kirn Lanier, Casey Thayer) Five teachers from two-year colleges will discuss best practices for teaching introductory-level multi-genre creative writing classes. What are the unique challenges of teaching creative writing in this setting, and how do we respond to them? Panelists will address how much (and what kind) of writing students should do; the appropriate role of reading student and published texts; expectations for revision; and the efficacy of full-class workshop.
Room 102, Plaza Level
R187. Party Down: Effective Fundraising Events on the Cheap. (Steph Opitz, Maribeth Batcha, Paul Morris, Eric Lorberer) Fundraising events don't need to be fancy dinners and formal wear—learn from folks from One Story, PEN America, and Rain Taxi about producing effective and novel small fundraising events and strategies on a budget.
Room 104, Plaza Level
R189. Nothing but the Truth: Perspectives on Creative Nonfiction in the Classroom and Beyond. (Catherine Cortese, Michael Martone, Diane Roberts, Robin Hemley, Debra Monroe) Creative nonfiction continues to grow in popularity among readers and students of writing. The genre, however, lacks a standard definition. Some believe the slippery nature of perception affords writers infinite liberties, while others see the genre as one that artfully deploys stable facts. This disparity makes the genre tricky to write and trickier to teach. The writers on this panel will discuss the freedoms and constraints of the genre in their classrooms, as well as in their own work.
Room 200, Level 2
R196. From Parts to a Whole: Turning a Bunch of Essays into a Unified Book. (David Giffels, Chuck Klosterman, Sean Manning, Chuck Klosterman, Meghan Daum) Why do some books of essays feel like collections of B-sides, outtakes and orphans, while others carry the thematic and narrative satisfaction of a good concept album? Drawing from their own experiences, this panel of successful authors discusses vital techniques for conceiving, organizing, developing, and enhancing a collection of creative nonfiction essays into a unified whole. We will address how to balance recurring themes, maintain voice and tone, how to build bridges, and other topics.
Room 103, Plaza Level
R218. Does Place Still Matter? The Relevance of Regional Fiction in the 21st Century. (Brett Boham, Stewart O'Nan, Susan Straight, Alex Espinoza, Michael Jaime-Becerra) Attempts to categorize American literature often begin and end with region. Southern fiction. New England poetry. Midwestern novel. But to what extent is regionalism a useful lens through which to understand contemporary American literature? How do so-called regional writers conceptualize place? And has the expansion of the American counterculture and social media forever changed the landscape of regional fiction? Panelists will discuss the advantages and limitations of thinking regionally.
Room 105, Plaza Level
R220. All the Young Dudes: A Reading from Four Debut Collections. (Jared Yates Sexton, Eugene Cross, Andrew Scott, Jensen Beach) It's said that everyone has stories, but publishing those stories, particularly a book-length collection of them, is proving more confounding a process than ever. Join four emerging writers with debut collections for a short reading from their work, followed by a Q&A session detailing how they got their first book deals, their experiences in attracting presses and navigating contracts, and an array of advice for aspiring scribes.
Room 200, Level 2
R226. Second Sex, Second Shelf? Women, Writing, and the Literary Marketplace. (Christine Gelineau, Erin Belieu, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lydia Diamond, Meg Wolitzer) Statistics suggest a gap still exists. But is there a problem, and if there is, what is its nature? What changes/remedies/metamorphoses can/should be imagined? Do you think about this issue differently in terms of your writing and in terms of your career? Accomplished writers, who happen to be women, theorize and report out of their own experiences and analysis of the current literary scene.
Room 206, Level 2
R231. The New Kids in the Class—Teachers Under 35. (Michael Croley, Laura van den Berg, Erica Dawson, David James Poissant, Holly Goddard Jones) Five professors discuss their transition from graduate student to faculty member and the advantages and difficulties their age has posed in negotiating—and finding—their teaching styles with undergraduate and MFA students as well as what role(s) they take on in their courses and departments. The session offers insights and best practices regarding the first few years on the job in and out of the classroom, while also discussing how gender may affect the perception of a young teacher.
Room 305, Level 3
R238. Oh, Grow Up: Writing Kids' Voices in Literary Fiction. (Alexi Zentner, Alison Espach, Aryn Kyle, Haley Tanner) A lot of literary writers are writing young adult novels, but what about writing the voices of young adults and children in literary fiction? Five novelists talk about how to create believable young voices in adult fiction, how to avoid the imitative fallacy, the power of narrative distance, and how to balance grown-up needs while having kids in the story.
Alice Hoffman Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall D, Level 2
BF16. Major Jackson's Ploughshares Issue Reading. (Ladette Randolph, Major Jackson, Maggie Dietz, Emily Bernard, David Huddle) Ploughshares literary magazine editor-in-chief Ladette Randolph will host a reading to celebrate Major Jackson's guest-edited issue. Jackson will read from his work and speak briefly about his experience selecting work for the magazine. He will be joined by contributors from his issue, including Maggie Dietz, Emily Bernard, and David Huddle.
Hynes Ballroom, Level 3
R244. Alice Hoffman & Tom Perrotta: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by Grub Street. (Christopher Castellani, Alice Hoffman, Tom Perrotta) Internationally best-selling writers Alice Hoffman and Tom Perrotta, authors of over thirty books between them, read from their recent fiction. After the reading, Grub Street artistic director and novelist Christopher Castellani moderates a discussion that focuses on how these authors continually appeal to wide audiences with novels and stories of great depth, subtlety, and cultural relevance. The discussion will also touch on how these authors use humor and magic in their work, the creative roles they've played in their film adaptations, and other topics related to the craft of fiction.
Room 104, Plaza Level
R248. Eros in the Classroom. (Heather McNaugher, Michele Morano, BK Loren, Eileen Myles, Barrie Jean Borich) More than a few academic careers in literature and writing were ignited by a crush on a teacher. But desire in the classroom is constructed, often for good reason, as threatening and inappropriate; we therefore don't acknowledge or talk about it. This panel, inspired by Michele Morano's recent Ninth Letter essay, "Crush," speaks plainly and honestly about the overlap of desire and pedagogy, and how the writer-teacher has constructively channeled it into her/his creative work.
Room 200, Level 3
R255. Thoreau's Granddaughters: Women Writing the Wild. (Suzanne Roberts, Cheryl Strayed, Pam Houston, Gretchen Legler, Li Miao Lovett) Do women approach writing both the wildness of the land and the wilderness of their own bodies differently from men? Do women have a uniquely feminine vision of what it means to be wild? Are they judged by a different set of aesthetics? These five women panelists, including memoirists, novelists, and poets, will discuss their literary influences, the joys and challenges, and the internal doubts and external criticism they face in writing the wild.
Room 208, Level 2
R262. What to Do Before You Debut. (Randy Susan Meyers, Nichole Bernier, Jane Roper, Carleen Brice) Authors are often naïve about their role in finding readers, and they are rarely taught the iterative steps involved in the process of a book launch. Panelists will share specific methodologies, from best practices for websites, publicity, marketing decisions, and working with publishing houses, to assessing the line between awkward hawking and reasonable audience building. Timelines, methods, and tools offered will be balanced with discussion of the art of finding comfortable promotional voices.
Room 309, Level 3
R270A. Southern Writers in Exile. (Michael Croley, Richard Bausch, Michael Griffith, Steve Yarbrough, Brad Watson) Writers who identify as southern don't often stray far from home, but as some have moved into teaching positions, they find themselves now living all over the country, out of their comfort zones. This panel explores how that distance has affected each writer's approach to their craft and teaching, as well as what it means to be a southern writer no longer living in the South, and what role regionalism plays in the landscape of American literature.
Room 103, Plaza Level
F134. Courage, Craft, and Cunning: From MFA Thesis to Published Book. (Jayne Anne Phillips, Will Schutt, Christa Parravani, Ryan McIlvain, Akhil Sharma) This panel features poets and fiction writers whose manuscripts began in their MFA thesis and progressed through revision and invention to first books published by respected presses. Each will read for four minutes, discuss mentorship in their MFA programs, and compare notes on structuring first books, publishers, and the cunning (as in artful, resourceful) required of writers whose lives embrace far more than writing. Audience Q&A will follow.
Room 109, Plaza Level
F139. The Geek in Me: Writing from the Cultural Fringe. (Ethan Gilsdorf, Lizzie Stark, Peter Bebergal) Geek and fringe subcultures such as Dungeons & Dragons, Larping, psychedelia, punk rock, and comic books can be ideal portals through which to examine the self, construct narratives, and comment on the culture at large. In this session, three panelists whose books mix memoir, pop culture, and ethnography discuss best practices for breaking into subcultures conducting fringe culture reportage and using that research to tell powerful and poignant stories about the human condition.
Room 101, Plaza Level
F161. Experimental Fiction Today. (John Parras, Daniel Green, Alissa Nutting, Ted Pelton, M. Bartley Seigel) Editors, writers, critics, and teachers discuss recent trends in experimental fiction and how such work enriches the publishing landscape, the creative writing workshop, and the direction and function of literature itself. What are some of the more exciting trends in innovative fiction? What are the special challenges and rewards for writers testing fiction's limits? How does fabulist work work? If all literature is innovative, what distinguishes the experimental from other types of fiction?
Room 200, Level 2
F171. Does the World Need Another Literary Magazine? (Tom Bligh, Catherine Dent, Dave Essinger, Karolina Gajdeczka, E. Ethelbert Miller) Undergraduate literary journals encourage students to take responsibility for the shape and form of their work and to learn about publishing through firsthand exposure to the process. Panelists share unconventional wisdom on ways to help print and online journals survive and thrive while sustaining enthusiasm and maintaining high standards. Editors discuss the advantages to joining the Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) and explain how to start your own FUSE chapter.
Room 202, Level 2
F173. How to Build a Successful Kickstarter Campaign for Your Publishing Project. (Meaghan O'Connell, Benjamin Samuel, Mat Honan, Joshua Mandelbaum, Laurie Ochoa) Kickstarter moderates a panel of editors from Electric Literature, Words Without Borders, Slake, Longshot, and Tomorrow Magazine for an instructional and informational session on developing a successful Kickstarter campaign for your periodical or publishing project. We'll walk you through the process step by step and discuss how to best represent your brand, set a fundraising goal, shoot a video, create rewards, engage backers, and promote your campaign.
Room 210, Level 2
F180. The Urge Toward Memoir. (Elisabeth Schmitz, Jill Kneerim, Michael Thomas, Jeanette Winterson, Lily King) Novelists Jeanette Winterson, Emily Raboteau, Michael Thomas, agent Jill Kneerim, and editor Elisabeth Schmitz discuss the writer's urge toward memoir. What defines memoir and is it any more "true" or less creative a process than fiction? Panelists will talk about a favorite memoir and the forms they invented for their own.
Room 206, Level 2
F205. A Point of View on A Point of View. (Daniel Menaker, Amy Hempel, Bret Anthony Johnston) Point of view is the lens through which a writer conveys the vision of a story. But what is it about point of view that makes an editor pick an unknown writer out of a pile of unsolicited submissions? And what is it about point of view that makes a series of short stories cohere into an original and memorable collection? In A Point of View on A Point of View, distinguished editor Daniel Menaker and much-anthologized writers Amy Hempel and Bret Anthony Johnston turn a lens on the lens itself.
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
F219. Don DeLillo & Dana Spiotta: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by The Center for Fiction. (Noreen Tomassi, Don DeLillo, Dana Spiotta) Celebrated novelists Don DeLillo, author of Underworld, Libra, and White Noise, and Dana Spiotta, author of Stone Arabia, present readings, to be followed by a discussion moderated by Noreen Tomassi, Executive Director of the Center for Fiction.
Room 108, Plaza Level
F227. Write Short, Think Long: Exploring the Craft of Writing Flash Nonfiction. (Kathleen Rooney, Sue William Silverman, Peggy Shumaker, Judith Kitchen, Ira Sukrungruang) In celebration of this popular emerging genre, as well as the publication of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers, edited by Dinty W. Moore, five of the book's twenty-six diverse contributors gather to discuss what makes good flash nonfiction memorable and unique, and to offer up ideas and techniques for writing, publishing, and reading the brief essay form well.
Room 202, Level 2
F233. Women on the Road: Exploration, Inspiration, and Imagination in Fiction. (Tara L. Masih, Mary Akers, Jessica Anthony, Midge Raymond, Laura van den Berg) An exploration of crafting stories and novels that place characters in distant regions and countries, and how travel abroad helped shape the countries of the panelists' imaginations. Panelists will share travel experiences and photos, inspirations, readings, and the process of creative observation. Tips will be offered on using research to fill in travel gaps, both in contemporary and historical contexts, and on negotiating the complexities of writing about cultures different from one's own.
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
F250. Alison Bechdel & Jeanette Winterson: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by Emerson College MFA. (Alison Bechdel, Jeanette Winterson, Elisabeth Schmitz) Alison Bechdel, author of the graphic memoir Fun Home and the ground-breaking comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, and Jeannette Winterson, author of Written on the Body and the memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, present readings from their work followed by a discussion moderated by Elisabeth Schmitz, Executive Editor at Grove/Atlantic, Inc. The events will be introduced by Emerson College's Steve Yarborough, author of the novels Safe from the Neighbors and The End of California.
Room 202, Level 2
F263. Blue-collar College Students and the Creative Writing Degree. (Jerry Wemple, Lawrence Coates, Claire Lawrence) Faculty from creative writing programs in rust belt regions that traditionally serve students from blue-collar backgrounds ponder what, exactly, they are preparing their students for, since most undergraduates will not become "professional" writers. The panelists discuss what they are trying to accomplish in their programs, what their graduates feel they've learned and how they are using that knowledge, and potential revisions to a program after re-assessment at the ten-year mark.
Room 206, Level 2
F266. Bring Out Your Dead: Writing Ghosts (and Zombies) in Literary Fiction. (Rebecca Makkai, Tea Obreht, Lauren Groff, Dan Chaon, Alexi Zentner) The ghost story thrives in literary fiction as well as the oral tradition, defying genre. How do we keep these compelling tales fresh? How do we frighten without resorting to cheap tricks? How do we navigate the borders between spirituality, science, doubt, and a reliable narrative voice? And why are we drawn to these themes again and again? Five writers introduce you to their ghosts and tell you how they summoned them.
Room 207, Level 2
F267. What We Write About When We Write About Music. (Laurie Lindeen, Rick Moody, Will Hermes, Jen Trynin, Jacob Slichter) All art aspires to music because it touches our hearts, souls, senses, and imaginations This panel of writers, musicians, and writing instructors loves, appreciates, knows, and plays music. They have written passionately about music in memoirs, essays, novels, songs, poetry, and blogs. Each individual on this panel would like to share his or her unique path with prose and music, and share their collective beliefs in the emotional, rhythmic importance of musicality when writing and when teaching writing.
Room 102, Plaza Level
F269. The Literary Legacy of Andre Dubus. (Matthew Batt, Andre Dubus III, Melanie Rae Thon, Nancy Zafris, Bruce Machart) Andre Dubus (1936-1999), author of nine volumes of fiction and two collections of essays, including Meditations from a Moveable Chair and Dancing After Hours, was a long-time resident of Haverhill, Massachussets, and is widely recognized as one of the greatest practitioners and teachers of the contemporary short story. Panelists, including Dubus's son, a former student, a close friend, and a lifelong fan, will discuss their relationship with Dubus and what they learned from his work and life.
Room 110, Hynes Convention Center, Plaza Level
F283. Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) Caucus. (Catherine Dent, Michael Cocchiarale, Esme Franklin, Andrew Baker, Sarah Gzemski) Are you an undergraduate interested in editing and publishing or a faculty member working with undergraduate students on a literary journal or small press? Come join FUSE for its annual meeting, which includes national elections and FUSE chapter updates, followed by a roundtable discussion. This year's topic is the interdisciplinary nature of undergraduate publishing, i.e. how and why to forge good relationships among departments. Bring ideas and journals to exchange.
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
F284. Amy Bloom & Richard Russo: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by Lesley University. (Leah Hager Cohen, Amy Bloom, Richard Russo) Amy Bloom is author of the New York Times best-selling Away: A Novel, and Where the God of Love Hangs Out, a collection of short fiction. Richard Russo is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls, Straight Man, and Nobody's Fool. The reading will begin with an introduction by poet Steven Cramer, director of the Lesley University Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, and will be followed by a discussion moderated by novelist and critic Leah Hager Cohen, author of The Grief of Others and House Lights.
Hynes Ballroom, Hynes Convention Center, Level 3
F285. Language at the Breaking Point, Sponsored by Blue Flower Arts. (Kwame Dawes, Jorie Graham, Terrance Hayes) Pulitzer Prize-winner Jorie Graham and National Book Award-winner Terrance Hayes stretch language past the barriers of mind and limitations of personal experience to reinstate a kind of dignity to the world. Their creative tensions puncture the commonplace allowing the familiar to dislocate, laying bare our tenuous connection to life. Yet grace and a vivid, wakeful presence abide. Their poems demonstrate how the excavation of language itself can shape new possibilities for imagination to evolve.
Room 303, Level 3
S123. Puritan Scar, Scarlet Letter: Contemporary Writers on Hawthorne's Masterwork. (John Domini, Amy Wright, Heidi Julavits, Jennifer Haigh) No novel so established Boston as a literary center as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850), and few have left such an indelible trace across the American project since. Hester Prynne's struggle raises core issues of outsider and community in all their moral contrariness. As art, too, the novel sets a rare challenge, working cross-gender and cross-genre, at once romance and realism, transcendental and ambiguous. Panelists assess the impact the book had both locally and worldwide.
Room 111, Plaza Level
S137. The Art and Craft of Short-Form Nonfiction. (Sarah Einstein, Joni Tevis, Brian Oliu, Chelsea Biondolillo) Can you write an essay in 140 characters? In 750 words or fewer? And can you get it published once you have? Join the managing editor of Brevity, two authors of short-form collections, and a graduate student working in this exciting new form as they share techniques and strategies for writing and marketing short-form nonfiction—from the lyric to the expository.
Room 200, Level 2
S138. The Lake Effect: A Celebration of Fifty Years of Creative Writing at Syracuse University. (Sarah Harwell, George Saunders, Arthur Flowers, Brooks Haxton, Christopher Kennedy) Syracuse University's creative writing program celebrates its fifty-year anniversary with a reading by current faculty. The faculty will read from their own work as well as highlight work from a diverse and celebrated group of alumni and past faculty. Readers will include poets Brooks Haxton, Christopher Kennedy, and Sarah Harwell and fiction writers Arthur Flowers and George Saunders.
Room 207, Level 2
S144. Agents, Editors, and the State of Publishing. (Mary Gannon, Jofie Ferrari-Adler, Jennifer Joel, Chuck Adams) Agents and editors share behind-the-scenes perspective about what authors need to know about the changing industry of publishing. How have e-books, e-readers, and self-publishing affected the industry? With the closing of Borders and the growing influence of Amazon, how have changes to distribution channels affected the way publishers market books, and what does this mean for authors? How have the best practices for submitting work to agents and editors changed?
Room 302/304, Level 3
S148. Breaking the Jaws of Silence. (Sholeh Wolpe, Kim Addonizio, Tom Sleigh, Quincy Troupe, Yusef Komunyakaa) Poets are a threat to despotic regimes as light is a threat to darkness. In a project to benefit PEN USA's Freedom to Write program, prominent American poets raise their voices and call on poets to bear witness, to collectively engage, to activate, to call, to give texture, to demand, to caress, to shatter, to build, and to never let the world forget.
Room 306, Level 3
S150. If These Walls Could Talk… Oh Wait, They Do! (Eleanor Henderson, Stewart O'Nan, Tea Obreht) The whole world is a stage, but as fiction writers we get to choose where and when to set a story. That decision can influence everything else in the novel, for better or worse. Four novelists talk about the pressures that settings, both urban and rural, can place on our fiction, and how and why to make choices about landscape.
Room 209, Level 2
S172. From the University of Nebraska Press: Readings from The Prairie Schooner Book Prize Anniversary Reader. (Hilda Raz, Shane Book, Brock Clarke, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Susan Blackwell Ramsey) A perfect time capsule of the diverse, experimental trends in American poetry and short fiction over the last ten years, The Prairie Schooner Book Prize Anniversary Reader pulls together excerpts from all twenty winning books of Prairie Schooner's Book Prize Series. The Press will launch this anthology at AWP 2013; come listen to four of the most successful winners read and hear Hilda Raz, legend and influential founder of the Book Prize Series, discuss finding work that speaks to our living moment.
Room 302/304, Level 3
S174. Write Where You Know: When Setting Serves as a Main Character in a Novel. (John Roche, Jennifer Haigh, Thomas Kelly, Richard Russo) Richard Russo's bestselling novels, including Pulitzer-winner Empire Falls, uniquely capture a sense of place, whether it's dying blue-collar towns in upstate New York or New England enclaves. Thomas Kelly, the author of three novels praised for their authentic depiction of New York City, and Jennifer Haigh, whose four novels include Faith, set in Boston, will join Russo in discussing the importance of setting in their fiction, at times to the point where place itself becomes a main character.
Room 306, Level 3
S177. Reading by Grand Central Authors. (Benjamin Percy, Julianna Baggott, Ed Falco) Discover three of the strongest voices in contemporary fiction at a reading by Grand Central's finest. Julianna Baggott is the author of Pure, the first book in a postapocalypic series which was a New York Times Editor's Choice. Ed Falco's most recent novel, a prequel to The Godfather titled The Family Corleone, is based on material excerpted from screenplays by Mario Puzo. Benjamin Percy's new novel, Red Moon, is an epic and terrifying story of lycans set in the American West. Prepare for a thrilling night—and take the cannoli.
Room 306, Level 3
S204. How to Lose Friends and Alienate Loved Ones: Exploitation vs. Documentation in Creative Nonfiction. (B.J. Hollars, Roxane Gay, Marcia Aldrich, Ryan Van Meter, Bonnie J. Rough) Not every story is flattering, nor is every character. Nevertheless, nonfiction writers continue to document their lives and the lives of others, often at the risk of violating personal relationships. How should writers navigate between revealing the true nature of their subjects without alienating the people themselves? Join four writers as they explore the fine line between documentation and exploitation, among other ethical dilemmas inherent in writing of friends, family, and loved ones.
Room 103, Plaza Level
S211. Video Games, Fan Fiction, and Comics: Alternative Genres as Legitimate Literature. (Leslie Salas, Jim Miller, Elaine Phillips, Kirsten Holt) Alternative forms of narrative are often perceived with disdain or suspicion even though they address the same plots, themes, and conditions of respectable literary forms. Comics have begun to break away from this stigma, but what about more mainstream genres, such as fan fiction and video games? How do all three of these alternative forms both threaten and reinforce ideas about originality and narrative? This panel will make the case for alternative genres as creative literature.
Room 200, Level 2
S219. A Reading by Matthew Batt, Jen Percy, and Rob Currie, Jr. (Matthew Batt, Ron Currie, Jr., and Jacob Paul) Matthew Batt, author of Sugarhouse, Ron Currie, Jr., author of God Is Dead, Everything Matters, and Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles, and Jacob Paul, author of Sarah/Sara, will read from their recent work, all of which deals with, in the face of catastrophic loss, the sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing ways we try to mend our lives.
Room 210, Level 2
S228. Art vs. Commerce: Writing for Love and Money. (Elizabeth Benedict, Stephen McCauley, Stephen Elliott, Maud Newton, Steve Almond) Grace Paley's advice to writers: Keep your overhead low. But when teaching doesn't lead to tenure, how do literary writers cobble together a living and a life while writing work that matters? Panelists who have had unconventional careers largely outside the academy examine their decisions and discuss the role of money, literature, and serendipity in their creative pursuits: editing an online literary magazine, writing soft-core porn, and creating advice columns, TV shows, and yoga books under a pseudonym.
Room 302/304, Level 3
S229. Z.Z. Packer & Meg Wolitzer: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by VIDA: Women in Literary Arts. (Cheryl Strayed, Z.Z. Packer, Meg Wolitzer) Fiction writers will give a reading followed by a conversation about race, literature that happens to be written about women (as Wolitzer puts it in a recent New York Times essay), and the realities of the contemporary publishing landscape, moderated by Cheryl Strayed, VIDA board member and author of Wild. AWP participants are encouraged to join a brief Q&A period to be held afterwards.
Room 302/304, Level 3
S256. Smart Girls. (Terry Ann Thaxton, Terese Svoboda, Bobbie Ann Mason, Kelly Cherry, Elissa Schappell) Girl does not denote age but power—no men in it. No ladies-first either. A girl's got gumption. A pre- and post-feminist name for great girl lit. Different from the chick kind, the just-hatched; we've been around, we're serious. This is for women and men who go for it, featuring readings from our books that qualified us for The Smart Girls club. We represent a diversity of age, region, and genres.
Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
S263. Augusten Burroughs & Cheryl Strayed: A Reading & Conversation, Sponsored by the Wilkes University Low-Residency MA/MFA Program in Creative Writing. (Bob Morris, Augusten Burroughs, Cheryl Strayed) Augusten Burroughs, author of memoirs Running with Scissors and Dry, and Cheryl Strayed, author of the best-selling memoir Wild and the voice behind the Rumpus's beloved "Dear Sugar" column, will present readings of their work, followed by a discussion moderated by columnist and commentator Bob Morris, author of the memoir Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad. The authors will be introduced by playwright and novelist Bonnie Culver, director of the Wilkes University Low-Residency MA/MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be part of the "Vampire by Vampire: Genre Writing and the Creative Writing Workshop" panel at AWP with Jeffrey Condran, Alissa Nutting, Elizabeth Weber, and B.J. Hollars. It went so much better than I hoped for and lots of interesting–and frustrated–students asked questions and stopped to talk with us even after the panel ended. A few days later, Matt Bell asked me to share my opening statement from the panel, and I figured I might as well put it here so that anyone who missed the panel interested in genre and the writing workshop could check it out. I've also included B.J. Hollars' opening statement below, and if anyone else wants to contribute–from the panel or otherwise–please e-mail me and I'd be happy to publish them here on my website. I'd love to continue the amazing discussion we began at AWP. So, without further adieu, here's B.J.
Genre fiction can be a colossal failure in the creative writing classroom, but so can more conventional fiction. 'Failed' attempts are not monopolized by any one genre. There's a grand tradition of 'failure' in the workshop, none more so because a vampire makes an appearance in the prose. In short, 'failure' takes on many forms.
Yet the workshop's 'successes' are diverse as well. The ability for students to give birth to multiple characters in less than a nine-month gestation period is a feat that not even nature can top. And so when undergraduates do this, it's something to be admired, regardless of whether these characters have razor-sharp canines or black capes or a B.A. in blood transfusion from the University of Transylvania.
Placing too many restrictions on genre—telling students what they can and cannot do—is almost like asking them to write stories with half the alphabet. And writing is hard enough.
When a student leaves my classroom, I hope for two things.
1.) That the student has a greater exuberance to write than when she first stepped through the door.
2.) That the student has a greater exposure to the many genre possibilities available to her.
As such, in my creative writing classroom, students have few restrictions other than that I encourage them to write in more than one genre. I call this my 'shoe shopping theory.' After all, how many of us walk into a shoe store and find the perfect pair of shoes on the first try? Sometimes we need to walk in them for awhile, break them in, earn a few blisters. By toying with genre, out students have more tools at their disposal, more opportunities for success, a greater versatility.
I am 'pro' genre fiction in the workshop for three reasons.
1.) Genre fiction adds much needed diversity into the creative writing classroom.
2.) It gives students the opportunity to write what they love, though it also encourages them to discover new loves as well.
3.) In the end, the class is about the student, and I am only one person in it. And frankly, I don't want to be the teacher that told a seventeen-year-old Stephen King to knock it off with the horror, informed a young Nora Roberts that romance has no place in the world, asked Louis L'amour to holster his six shooters. Sometimes a student has already found her niche, and I don't want to 'unfind' it.
However, I acknowledge three 'cons' as well.
1.) When workshopping genre fiction, I've observed the occasional pushback from other students. They're forced to recalibrate beyond a 'normal' aesthetic, which can be difficult.
2.) For sci-fi and fantasy, it's quite hard to create an entire world and its people in twelve double-spaced pages. Similarly, it's hard to workshop these pieces.
3.) Finally, many professors feel that since they aren't experts on genre fiction, they're uncomfortable providing feedback to students that may lead the students in the wrong direction. This seems fair. However, I don't want my own ignorance to stifle anyone else's creativity. Arguable, every story—regardless of genre—has a plot and characters and a setting. All of these skills can be easily transferrable. To quite Robert F. Kennedy (who may or may not have been talking about genre fiction), 'That which unites us is far greater than that which divides us.' And I think this applies quite well to genre fiction in the workshop setting as well. "
And now my statement:
My experience with genre writing is a little different than most in that I not only write literary fiction, but I also write very genre heavy comic books. Even my prose is varied in style. Sometimes I'll write really realistic stories and other times there will be ghosts and haunted Nintendos. The schools I've taught at so far have been resistant to allowing student writers to produce genre fiction. On one hand I see their point. My experience with students who come into writing workshops who only want to write genre hasn't been super positive. They're often frustrated by the outside readings that are so unlike what they're attempting to create, and their stories usually focus 100% on plot and often ignore characterization or any attempt at emotional complexity. On the flip side, I understand their frustration. They recognize that the university doesn't value the kind of writing they most admire, and in so many ways, we're discouraging them from producing the type of work they most care about. I can definitely relate to that as an undergrad. Whenever I brought in something to workshop that was slightly left of realism, the students and professor would essentially spend the entire workshop reconstructing the story minus those elements. That type of environment can be pretty demoralizing.
So far, I've mostly taught intermediate and advanced levels of creative writing, and one of my biggest concerns about genre fiction is that it sometimes isn't allowed in senior and cap stone classes. Am I doing a disservice to students by allowing them to write in a mode that's deemed totally unacceptable in upper-level classes? The best solution I've come up with so far is to first make it very clear that students can't critique a story simply because it's realism and they hate realism, or on the flip side, because it's fantastic and they hate the fantastic. Then, I try right from the outset to include a lot of writers who are experimenting with genre elements in literary fiction. We read Etgar Keret's "Fatso", essentially a reworking of a traditional werewolf story. We read Matt Bell's "His Last Great Gift", about a 19th century minister building a techno robot savior. We read the ghost-laden craziness of George Saunders. And we read "Porn Star" by Alissa which involves anal sex on the moon. The key for me with genre students has been to show them that character still matters in genre writing and is the most important element of all writing. I ask them to think about any story they like, be it a movie, comic, novel, whatever. They always have memorable, interesting characters even if they're not likable. I tell them that literary fiction is the ultimate umbrella genre. It can include elements from realism, sci-fi, western, horror, you name it. When students begin to understand that they hopefully start to see the university's focus on literary fiction as an opportunity to experiment and not as some kind of arbitrary restriction meant to guilt them for liking what they like. When students put up straight genre for workshop, I'll often discuss the differences between the original Star Wars trilogy and the prequels. One has memorable characters doing interesting things with emotional consequences. The other has one-dimensional names moving around in a video game. I ask them to aspire to the former, and I think they respect that.
Now that I have a tenure track job and a forthcoming novel, I've decided to turn this blog into a tumblr about all the retro video games I find.
Ok. I'm not going that far, but I do think it might be fun if I document some of the games I find in my travels. Most people who know me in real life know I'm a huge retro game collector. I don't much care for the new systems–I have a Wii that I mostly use for Netflix and occasionally NBA2K12–and instead prefer the games of my youth or earlier: the Nintendo Entertainment System and games where you go right and jump. I started collecting in 2004 and my ultimate goal is to own all 750 NES games. So far I'm a little over 200 mostly because I've dipped into collecting Super Nintendo, Atari 2600, Intellivision, and most recently, Sega Saturn games.
What most laypeople find relatively interesting about retro gaming is the way I go about finding them. I personally think buying them online is cheating and half the fun of the hobby is finding these things in the wild. That means flea markets, pawn shops, and thrift stores. You can find old games via retail outlets, but those are growing rarer and I try to avoid them because of the marked up prices. Nintendo games are not worth more than $5, and I do my best not to pay more than that.
Recently, I visited Chicago, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Here's what I found along with a few things tracked down in Pittsburgh. Everything was purchased within the last two weeks.
I found these in an Exchange chain store in Chicago. They're Super Famicon games–the Japanese Super Nintendo equivalent. Dragon Quest I & II, Dragon Quest V, and Dragon Quest VI. They're text heavy and completely in Japanese and I have no way to play them, but at $5 a pop, I couldn't pass them up–my friends Kevin and Katie were with me when I purchased these and when I told them they were completely impossible to play they just blinked at me; even the store clerk sassed me.
I also picked these up during AWP at a different retail store that had tons of retro games. I nabbed Wall Street Kid for 95 cents and A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Bloblonia for $2. I regret nothing.
These were total no brainers. Complete, in-box Intellivision games from the same Chicago retail store as above. Star Strike was $5 and Demon Attack was $2. The later is my favorite Intellivision game that I currently own, and the former was promoted by the Paris Review's George Plimpton.
I picked these up at the Exchange a few blocks away from my apartment. $2 each for Viper and Wrath of the Black Manta, common but fun games, and $5 for King of the Ring, a pretty uncommon, bordering on rare, late generation NES title. Plus it has Bret Hart on the cover.
Intellivision games are wildly overpriced, so I was ecstatic to find these three titles for $1 each at a retail store in Columbus, Ohio. BurgerTime is an all time favorite, and I'm curious to see what 1982 NBA action looks like on Intellivision. Tron Deadly Discs is the steal of the group, as I've seen it go complete, in-box for over $25. Plus, it yells at you. I have the Intellivision voice module and greatly look forward to being verbally abused by the Master Control Program.
Both of these gems cost $2. I picked up Marble Madness at the same Columbus store from above, and I found All Pro Basketball–developed by one of my favorite NES companies, Vic Tokai–at a flea market in Pittsburgh, Trader Jack's.
Professional Idiot Chris Lee left his Nintendo 64 at my house last year, and I'm never giving it back. At Trader Jack's, I haggled some bro eating a sandwich into giving me Perfect Dark and Wave Race 64 for a combined $4. Eat it, Chris Lee.
This is easily my best thrift store find–surpassing Double Dragon III for $1 in 2005–and my best system find ever–surpassing an Odyssey 3000 at Trader Jack's for $6. I purchased this Sega Saturn with all the hook ups and a controller at Goodwill for $13. They clearly didn't know what they had. Saturns can set you back $50 normally, and the clerk thought that a stack of Atari 2600 games would work on it. I MEAN COME ON.
The system has a broken watch battery inside, so every time I turn it on it asks me if it's 1994–my girlfriend saw this and burst out laughing–but other than that, it works great.
Another steal at Trader Jack's! I bought the turbo pad and multi-controller adapter for Saturn at $5 combined, and I found the regular pad in Columbus for $7. Now I can play Sega Saturn with five other friends. The only difficulty is finding a single other human being on earth who wants to play Sega Saturn in 2012.
Saturn games are pretty difficult to track down these days, but I managed some good deals. I found Dayton USA for $2 in Indianapolis and Fighting Vipers for $8 in the Dormont Exchange. Scud–based on a comic written by Community creator Dan Harmon–and The Horde—a strategy adventure starring Kirk Cameron as a medieval servant named Chauncey–set me back $6 combined at Trader Jack's.


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How to avoid moving disasters?
It's never great to go looking for horror stories about a major event, but just sometimes it is better to be pre-warned about possible problems, so that you can pre-empt them. Here at Man with a Van London we have seen everything, and have done a quick round up of moving day disasters and came up with this list of ten. See if you can head disaster off at the pass by taking action now.
Damage to Possessions or Property
Damage to your possessions is always a risk, with any move. This is why it is particularly important to read up on packing tips and insurance cover before you proceed with your move. Sometimes it is unavoidable that your furniture or property is damaged – for example, if an item of furniture is too large to enter through a doorway. The important thing is to check for damage as soon as possible, because in most cases you will only have a week to make an insurance claim. Unpack fragile items first to check on their condition. Photograph any damage you see to offer as proof for the insurance company.
Things Going Missing
A number of people reported that boxes had gone missing during a move. Usually it was due to theft by a passer by. In the confusion of the move it is not unlikely that boxes and other items will be left on the pavement or road as removal men work to find the best way to fit everything into their van. Keep a close eye out for people loitering near your house.
Not Enough Space in the Removal Van
This is rare, but it can happen. This is why it is essential that you use a reputable removal firm, and have them visit your property to see your house contents for themselves. They are experts in assessing what size van they will need, so you must show them everything. There's nothing to be gained from suddenly revealing you have a trampoline and a full sized snooker table in the shed that you forgot to mention.
Leaving Things Behind
The number one item that people forget to pack is clocks! Bear this in mind as you do a last sweep of the house checking for items that may have been overlooked. There are plenty of horror stories about people forgetting pets, documents and other personal possessions, which make for disturbing reading – it can cause real headaches. Make sure you have checked every room, drawer and cupboard before you set off for your new home.
Late Arrivals
If there is bad weather or an accident, if you have trouble packing the van, or if there are problems with the solicitors, you may find yourself running late. This can cause a number of problems. If it is a long distance relocation, you could find yourself forced to book into a hotel for the night while things are sorted out. Find out the position your removal company takes on delays, since some charge for every hour over the allotted time. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to complete the move. Start early, and begin the day fully prepared.
Related Blogs:

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday, May 30, 2008
Yeah, I'm the party pooper...
A couple of years ago, I got a 'spot' on my face. Just a ring of dry skin on my upper lip, between my nose and where the color begins. I asked my doctor about it and he said it was just dry skin. I am prone to that. This 'spot' (I don't know what else to call it) was just a small ring of dry skin. It would be red and scaly, clear up, get red again...a continuous cycle. The doctor prescibed creams and kept telling me it would clear up. I trusted him...for a year! Finally I went to a dermatologist. She took a biopsy. I waited 3 weeks for the results, not thinking it was really anything. Well, it was cancer. Not melanoma (thank goodness), but squamous cell carcinoma (still scary...sounds even scarier, huh?)
So...I had to have it removed. The dermatologist sent me to a plastic surgeon. She said it had to be removed immediately. I had a friend take me to the hospital, because hubby was working out of town...not that he wouldn't have come home...but I hate surgery (have had 5 in the last 2 years) and would rather do it alone...I'm not a good patient! The surgeon did a MOH's surgery on me. He removed one layer of skin at a time, looking at each layer until he saw no more cancer cells. Then...he had to take a skin graft from my neck and sew it onto my face. Really...not pretty. Just a big piece of meat sewn onto my face. I have pictures, but I don't want to gross anyone out...it grosses me out! Now, I have a big scar the size of a half dollar on my face (not to mention the scar on my neck). But, thanks to God and Mr. Surgeon...it's gone.
Please don't take this wrong. I'm not writing this for pity (that's why I don't talk about it), but mainly as a warning. Don't let your babies go into the sun without a really high SPF sunscreen, don't let your teenagers tan for hours at a time, and YOU-check yourself out! I got cancer from burning and blistering as a child and that is how most of us (older folks!) get it.
And yes, the self tanners may smell, but the alternative is...
So, if you see that stinky, orange woman wandering around the drug store looking for sunscreen...it's me!
(I'll post a happier, though remodeling woe post tonight if I have time!...Gotta go call the plumber (another sad story!).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Dead tired...
Quilt - hand quilted $5
Close-upCan you believe someone would basically throw this away? I always wonder about things like that. Who made it? Did they give it to someone who really didn't know how much time and love was put into it? Maybe it's just me.
Ugly wallpaper...what was I thinking?
Well, enough of that! At least for tonight. And I'm really having trouble getting this to space right, it's double spacing everything. I'm beginning to have a complex...nothing is going right! And yes, I know I use {...}'s too much...sorry! I write the way I talk!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
You get three guesses about what I've been doing.
Did I mention I'm painting all the rooms and removing wallpaper? Well, here's what I've done between all the running around:
And this is a 2"x 2" crushed glass decorative tile insert. Pretty, huh?Okay, don't believe I can tile? Look at my kitchen, uh huh!:
But, I may have to rip this out for the new countertops.
Sorry all of you are having to suffer through this. Mostly it's for my husband, because as you know he's in Wyoming and is having hardly any say in the matter, so i though he'd want to see my decisions! So, this is for you, babe!
But, Debbie is not all work and no play, I'll show you later my finds from the thrift stores that 'Bama girl and I hit today...don't look tomorrow, honey!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
New Roomie!
Soooo...it's just us girls (with the exception of Chance!). 'Bama girl and me! She will be home at least until the end of July when she'll have to go back to "the University" for band camp. She's going to be taking a couple of classes at the local community college to get ahead so she can concentrate on her degree classes when she goes back. And yeah!!!! She has a 4.0 (excuse me...a 4.099) for her first year! APPLAUSE!!! Thank you very much!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Same song, second verse, a little bit louder and a whole lot worse...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Going, going....Gone
Now...I want to take a few minutes to show my age!
I was in the 'hateful, stand-in-line the rest of your life' discount store that I only go into once in a blue moon and almost lost my religion!
Here's my version:
1. Was moving into a check out line, when a man pushed my buggy (cart) aside and jumped in front of me! Oh no he didn't! I said "Excuse me"! and proceeded to give him a lesson in manners, while all the time he stood there staring as if I had lost my mind! (I had!)...of course, he didn't speak English. Oh well...my bad.
2. So...I moved into another line (20 items or less...I had two...2!) The two men ahead of me had 57 items...I counted! At first there was another lady ahead of me (she applauded the first incident!)...but, she forgot cat food and left the line. Back to the men... Of course the check-out clerk would not say anything about the number of items, and after 15 minutes of checking them out, she put their check through....and....it was declined! Manager is called...takes another 15 minutes of explanations and they were finally moved from the line. I was steaming and asked the clerk why she took that many items in this line? I was told it is the policy not to say anything. Then why have this line? My bad for getting into a 'speedy' check-out!
3. In the line (from which I had moved previously) was a mother and son buying a small bike (about 2 feet high with training wheels - the bike, not the boy). The child grabbed candy and the mother said no put that back. The kid balls his hand into a fist and hits the mother on the back (he's about 4 years old)...did she do anything? NO! Would I? Oh yeah...bring child protective services on...'cause somebody would have been crying all the way to the car!
4. Finally got checked out and was thankfully leaving the store when...dum da dum dummm...the above mother was sitting on a bench while kid was riding the bike and blocking the exit. I tried to maneuver aound them, but...he ran all over me...okay, again....My bad!
Side note: Yes, my darling family I know you're glad you were not with me (especially Alabama Girl - she would have dug a hole and crawled in!)
Is it too much to ask for a few manners? Can people not control their children? If you don't have money, don't you know you can't buy anything?
My point: Is it me? Am I just too old and grouchy to be let out of the house? Have I lost my mind? Maybe so!
The next thing you know I'll be telling little kids that there's no Santa Claus!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Busier than a one-legged man in a butt kickin' contest...
I'm thinking about opening an etsy shop soon...seems like everyone else I know has one, so why not? We'll see.
I went to Huntsville today with a friend and forgot the mexican restaurant we love is closed on Sunday. We went to Jason's Deli instead. I love the muffaletta's (they remind me of New Orleans - have I ever said I grew up in Louisiana? That's another story for another time!) If you've never had one, try it..but only if you like olives! It's ham, salami, cheese and an olive relish...ummm good! And their salad bar is to die for!
Well, with relatives coming for Auburn Guy's graduation, I've still got a lot of things to do...I have to mow the grass, grocery shop, cook...and on and on and on! And this is not just for the relatives...Alabama Girl is coming home for summer, Auburn Guy will be here two or three weeks (maybe) and my darling husband will be here a week! Yay! He's taking some time off for graduation and so that we can go to Auburn and find 'the graduate' an apartment! Hmmmm, wonder what needs to be fixed while he's here? Seems like there's always something!
I smell coffee, so I guess I'll fix me a cup and get back to sewing...just for today - back to chores tomorrow!
As Scarlett O'Hara said, "I shan't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow. After all....tomorrow will be another day."


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If only I lived nearby, I would go daily. One of my favorite food stops in the world. I never go near Tomales Bay without stopping here. It is an important ritual and it should be yours too. The BBQ oysters are simply divine. Tried the Fish Stew this past time and it was equally well prepared. The are juicy, perfectly prepared and the flavors of their sauces are downright delicious. Served with tangy hot fresh Sourdough bread. We tried the raw Kumamoto as well and they were super fresh and as good as they usual. I do think the Preston Point are best BBQ'd than raw. But, I will not tarnish this review with anything but glowing opinion of their food. Read More
The Marshall Store & Oyster Bar, a seafood shack perched on timber pylons, we found a dining experience that's even more low-key, the ultimate example of a certain kind of meal: unfussy, delicious, relaxed. It's nominally a general store, and though they sell beer and wine—including some inspired selections from importer Kermit Lynch—they can't legally serve it, though they will lend you a corkscrew. The store farms its own exquisite oysters, and prepares them three ways: raw, Rockefeller (piled with spinach and cheese), or, the local specialty, barbecued (grilled with house-made barbecue sauce).
Parking is on the shoulder, ordering is inside the store, and seating is first come, first serve, but once you're hunched over a glorious plate of oysters (you'll get used to the traffic zipping behind you on Highway 1), it's all worth it. Bivalves are offered half a dozen ways — including with chorizo or smoked with crostini — and they all come directly from their own beds at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company, which couldn't be a closer connection to the brine of the bay. Informal to the max, the Marshall Store is everything seafood and a particularly great place to indulge in Dungeness crab while it's still in season.


text: Auto, Home & Health Insurance - Indiana & MichiganSouth Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, IN & Niles, MIWe are committed to helping you saveAt TCU Insurance Agency, our main focus is to protect the assets you have taken years and even generations to accumulate.TCU Insurance Agency is proud to be an independent insurance agency in communities across the states of Indiana and Michigan. We serve dozens of communities ? including Elkhart, Granger, Mishawaka, Plymouth, South Bend and Valparaiso in Indiana and Niles in Michigan. Our goal is to bring you knowledge, experience and resources to help you select the correct insurance for your individual and business needs. We offer many lines of insurance, including home, auto, business and life & health insurance. We are proud to represent an abundance of ''A'' rated insurance carriers. Our staff takes the extra effort to ensure our clients receive the coverage they need along with exceptional service.TCU Insurance Agency believes the best way to help you obtain the right coverage for the right price is to learn about you and your business. Get a customized insurance plan that will fit your unique needs and budget. Our relationships with multiple carriers allows us the freedom to competitively shop your insurance and put together a plan that protects you and your assets at the best available priceTCU Insurance Agency is your one-stop shop for all your insurance needs!


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FCD Events will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in 2016 with First Contact Day 2016.
FCD Events are back with our 3rd Sci-Fi event this time bigger and better.
We are bringing together some fine Sci-Fi actors to join us as we celebrate Star Trek's 50th Anniversary. We will also have some of the best love actors from Star Trek as we journey through 50 years of TV and movies.
The event is also moving to a new home in Telford in 2016.
Friday April 1st – 3rd April, 2016 at The International Centre Telford.
FCD Events have announced that John Carrigan will be attending First Contact Day 2016.
John Carrigan is an actor, martial artist, and stuntman who appeared as a command division officer in an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He played two Klingon officers in the fan made Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, and appeared in the fan-made series Star Trek: New Voyages as Klingon Captain Kargh.
He recently appeared in the upcoming film Star Trek Renegades, as Starfleet Admiral D'agosto and the Klingon Captain.
John was part of the security team that looked after some of the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series. He was introduced to Gene Roddenberry who inspired him to become an actor.
Follow First Contact Day via:
- Facebook: FCD Events
- Website: www.fcdevents.com
- Twitter:
@fcdevents & @FCD2016


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Try Curling
You've seen it on TV, now try it for yourself! Experience the Olympic sport of curling at Ardsley Curling Club's open house.
Spend 30 minutes on the ice with an experienced instructor, learning the basics of the game. No experience necessary, ages 12 & up -- it's great for families!
$20 per person
For more information email firstname.lastname@example.com
Four 30-min time slots for each date -
Tuesday, September 26 - 7-9pm
Thursday, September 28 - 7-9pm
Saturday, September 30 - 7-9pm
Sunday, October 1 - 2-4pm
How to get to Ardsley Curling Club:
Ardsley members come from all over New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to play at this dedicated curling facility. You can find driving directions here and you can also take MetroNorth to Ardsley-on-Hudson or Dobbs Ferry, which are only a few minutes away by cab.
Wait, what's curling?!
Curling is a team sport played by 2 teams of 4 players sliding stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area. Watch a quick intro to this fun, social sport here.
Do you offer private parties or events?
We sure do! You can find out how to book a "Curling Experience" for your party or corporate event here.
Website: http://ardsleycurling.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ardsleycurling/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ardsleycurling


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Children Sunday Programming
In this dark world we live in, we understand only the light of Christ can cut through the darkness. Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. " God made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This year our focus is on Showing Kids Jesus' Path.
We hope your child(ren) can join us each week as we study God's Word – the light to our path!


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- >About Us
- >Location
- >Contact Us
- Phone: (801) 796-3503
Richard LeRoy Gunn traveled extensively to every continent showing its beauties and teaching world cultures to countless people. On March 28, 2013, at 94 years of age, he traveled on to his next great adventure. He was born on September 28,... View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary & Service
Richard LeRoy Gunn traveled extensively to every continent showing...View More
Photos & Videos
Share and view memories of Richard...View Photos & Videos
Family Tree
Add family, history, photos and more...Visit The Family Tree


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Google+ Followers
Thursday, September 13, 2012
breakfast time
3 comments:
I've never heard of that type of bread, but it sounds delicious!ReplyDelete
I mostly just have sandwiches on my table, or a scrabbled egg from time to time. I should spend more time on a proper breakfast, but I often don't have the time.
Ohh the naan looks delicious. :)ReplyDelete
For breakfast, I love drizzling honey on plain greek yogurt and putting fruit chunks in it. I usually slice up a banana or if I'm feeling adventurous, some peach slices or blueberries.
i LOVE naan bread!ReplyDelete
last time i ate it i had the one that is called peshwari naan. it is with chopped nuts and raisins inside...SO good :)
on my breakfast table today:
orange juice
green tea
boiled eggs
spring onion
how pretty and fragile little flower on your table. i have some pink roses left in my garden, think i will cut them off and take them inside today to decorate my table. windy and rainy so it is an inside house day today.
wishing you a good weekend
hope your father is doing fine.


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I've been running the farm as Mike is away and so far I'm 3 for 3.
3 days he's been gone, 3 dead chickens.
The first must have died of old age and it just fell over and died. So that one went in the dumpster because it was trash day.
The 2nd was likely crushed by the meat birds in the storm. It was a laying hen that got crushed. This is also extremely common with birds in corners and extremely common with turkeys. This chicken got buried in a shallow grave up the hill near the deer.
The 3rd today got shoved down a fox or a groundhog hole and covered with some straw. This one might have been an injured bird that didn't make it from the fox attack 5 days ago when Mike was here... so this one might not count as a chicken death today.
So either I'm at 1 a day or I'm at something worse like an exponential curve. Let's hope its not....
I'm happy to report all other 380 or so birds are still alive and quite happy. I think they are happy that I'm the one feeding them as I talk to them and they talk to me. They like singing as well and they don't care that I'm a horrible singer.
We will be getting turkeys August 5th.... Mike will be back to keep those alive!!


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The fastest growing city in the Balkans cascades across a barren slope forested with thousands of white tents. New residents arrive each day and a new terrace of tents goes up, each one facing the mountains that separate everyone here from Kosovo.
It is a city of people waiting to go home. "Everything I am is over there," said Abadin Mirena, who came last month with his family, except one brother who they said was shot to death by Yugoslav troops. "Once the NATO forces intervene and the Serbs leave, I will go back. All the world is trying to solve this problem, and I believe they will."
But as tens of thousands more ethnic Albanians staggered out of Kosovo last week and thousands of NATO troops were dispatched to the region with the mission of eventually resettling them, the prospects for the repatriation of 800,000 refugees are being complicated by enormous obstacles of timing, logistics and politics.
A sense of urgency is spreading among the refugees and citizens of Macedonia and Albania, the countries where most refugees are living. Families are trying to calculate when and how the conflict will end to decide whether to endure another dislocation and take refuge in a third country. Humanitarian groups and governments are studying whether to transform the precarious tent cities into more durable accommodations, while worrying that such action might signal weakening resolve to return the refugees to Kosovo.
Relief agencies have just begun planning the huge task of rebuilding camps so refugees can survive a brutal winter if a solution is not found by then. In most camps, conceived in an emergency, tents are too small for stoves, water pipes are uninsulated, and latrines will freeze with the first snow in October.
From the start, the Clinton administration and its NATO allies have made the return of all the refugees the central goal and most objective measure of success of its military campaign against Yugoslavia. The timing and extent of the repatriation have serious consequences for a variety of key participants in the Balkans crisis. In Macedonia, the continued presence of refugees could determine the outcome of presidential elections in November. For the Kosovo Liberation Army -- the ethnic Albanian rebels fighting for Kosovo's independence -- delays could make the exiles a troubled base of support. For NATO commanders, the camps could present a humanitarian disaster on the flank of a military operation -- peaceful or otherwise.
"When winter comes, who will be responsible for these people? Nobody!" said Vasil Tupurkovski, a possible contender for Macedonia's presidency. "It will be very difficult to save people in winter conditions, even more difficult than saving them from the Serbs."
Some Kosovo Albanians predict a crisis will come earlier, during a long, hot summer of confinement, or, in the case of Macedonia, in response to the hostility and fear of local authorities and a domestic population worried that the refugees will permanently alter a precarious ethnic balance.
"I don't think people will wait until September," said Baton Haxhiu, the editor of Koha Ditore, a Kosovo newspaper now being published in exile and distributed in the camps. "People will clash with police and that will be it."
Even if a diplomatic solution is reached soon, many refugees will closely examine the terms before deciding when and how to return, according to interviews over several days with Kosovo Albanians in this camp of 42,000 people and in other tent cities in Macedonia and Albania. Refugees said they would not go home if they did not feel that Kosovo had been made secure for them, and that they could not imagine a secure Kosovo without a dominant NATO force. Many also said they would rely on the KLA to tell them when it is safe to go back, providing the guerrilla force with a major source of leverage as any peace settlement unfolds.
Refugees also said that if Serbian security forces remain in the province -- or are present in any visible way at border crossings, as is now being discussed in talks by Balkan envoys -- they were unlikely to return. They uniformly rejected Russian troops as adequate on their own to guarantee the refugees' security.
"Only the ground troops of NATO, together with the KLA, would convince me," said Shaip Ramandani, 52, a school janitor from the village of Ferezai, now living in a cramped tent with a dozen relatives and seeking to find his way at least temporarily to Europe. "We have no faith in the Russians, because they are friends with" Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
Even if a settlement resolved such anxieties, the history of refugee returns offers little reassuring precedent. In most refugee crises, United Nations specialists said, a large number -- sometimes a majority -- of exiles do not go home again. They either disperse to third countries or settle in the haven that first took them in. In the Bosnian war, the return of tens of thousands of refugees who had been expelled because of their ethnic identity was also a Western goal, but resettlement remains very sparse even four years after a peace accord and despite the presence of 22,000 NATO troops in the country.
NATO commanders in the Balkans argue that if Kosovo were reconstructed with a large infusion of Western money after a settlement or a military victory, large numbers of refugees would return. Unlike in Bosnia, they said, Kosovo returnees would be moving back to a region where they would be an overwhelming ethnic majority.
Bosnia "was very difficult," said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John Hendrix, commander of Task Force Hawk in Albania and a veteran of the Bosnian resettlement effort. "The trouble was getting ethnic cooperation. . . . Frankly, this would be easier."
Some refugees were not as optimistic.
"It was five years in the case of Bosnia, and nobody's gone back. I think that it will be like that," said Afrim Berisha, an engineer from the city of Djakovica now living in a tent city at a municipal swimming complex in Tirana, the Albanian capital. He said he would try to settle his children in Europe in the meantime, but would not go to the United States because, he said, "People who go over the ocean don't come back."
Yugoslavia's official position is that it wants all the refugees to come home as soon as possible. The government declares it never wanted them to leave in the first place and blames NATO bombing for the mass migration. But there is broad evidence from the testimony of thousands of refugees and various other sources that the government planned to smash the KLA's civilian base and to alter Kosovo's ethnic balance by systematically expelling hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic.
If Belgrade accepted that the refugees were to return, would it try to manage the repatriation in a way that suits the overall goal of extinguishing the prospect of an independent, ethnic Albanian Kosovo? Exiled Kosovo Albanians fear that Milosevic would manipulate population data, property and immigration laws, and other means to limit the return flow.
"The main point of the Serbs is to block people from coming back," surmised Ylber Hysa, executive director of the Kosovo Action for Civic Initiatives. "This is why they are trying to destroy refugee documents and identities."
After 1989, when Milosevic revoked Kosovo's political and administrative autonomy, the province's ethnic Albanian majority developed a parallel government outside the official Yugoslav system. While their population at the beginning of this year was estimated at about 2 million, Kosovo Albanians did not participate in the last two official Yugoslav censuses. Milosevic "will play with the figures," Hysa predicted. "He'll say there were only 1.5 million ethnic Albanians" before the war began, and that economic migrants from Albania disguised as refugees must be kept out.
Even leaders of the democratic opposition in Belgrade seem uneasy about a full-scale return of the refugees. Some argued that a complete return would promote instability regardless of how Yugoslavia emerged from the crisis.
Full repatriation of the refugees "would fulfill your sense of justice, but I don't think it would be stable," said Predrag Simic, an adviser to Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic. "Besides, I think Milosevic would fight hard against this because if he were to allow it, it would be asked, `Why did we take bombs for two months?' "
Draskovic himself worried during an interview that repatriation "could be used by Tirana to send hundreds of thousands of `real' Albanians into Kosovo as refugees." He added, though, that the problem could be managed through civil administration that included Serbian representatives, and that he was not overly concerned.
Still, this sort of talk chills exiled Kosovo Albanians, many of whom are pouring across the borders with Macedonia and Albania without passports or other official papers. Many said they were deliberately stripped of their documents by Serbian forces. Others said that in the speed of their departure or the hardship of their journey they lost whatever papers they had. Either way, there are now tens of thousands of exiles, mostly in Albania, who lack proof of their identity.
"It's a big, big problem," said Benny Otim, a legal specialist with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Macedonia. In early June, with support from Microsoft Corp., Otim will help launch a new program of registration to produce U.N.-endorsed identity cards for refugees. The cards could be used for elections and other purposes after a settlement agreement, the United Nations hopes. But Otim and others worry that even with scores of computers and special software, it may be difficult to register all refugees, including those who live outside the larger camps, especially amid Albania's erratically governed civilian population.
If the refugees do return in large numbers, it will be to villages and towns that in many cases have been razed and burned beyond recognition -- 500 towns in all have been damaged, according to the State Department. Property reclamation disputes will have to be settled and reconstruction funds allocated. It's not clear what sorts of property and other civil records remain in Kosovo. Some were reportedly carted out by Serbian forces just before the bombing began. Others exist in a confused gray area between the Yugoslav government and that of the former parallel Kosovo administration.
A larger issue is what kind of society the refugees will reenter after months of atrocities, displacements and bombing. Regional governments and the refugees themselves expect the World Bank and other Western donors to fund a massive reconstruction effort once a stable peace is achieved. But rebuilt homes, roads and bridges alone cannot restore Kosovo to its prewar state.
Will justice be meted out to Yugoslav police, army and paramilitaries, and if so, who will administer it? How will the province's prewar Serbian population be accommodated? Who will control the KLA and how? Where in all of this will postwar Serbia find the breathing space it needs to finally democratize, and what will happen if its politics are further radicalized by its growing isolation?
Hysa foresees an interim phase, in which refugees are perhaps resettled first in camps resembling those in Macedonia and Albania, but on the Kosovo side of the border. Beyond that, he worries about what kind of society will emerge in Kosovo from the pieces of a world blown apart.
"The old institutions . . . the middle strata were absolutely destroyed," he said. "Even in a developed society it would be impossible to reorganize life based on the elements of a civil society."
CAPTION: As new refugees arrived at Cegrane camp earlier this month, those already there looked for familiar faces.


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The excitement is heating up on this week's episode of The 100. Now that almost everyone is down on the surface of Earth, it's becoming a battle for survival. Clarke (Eliza Taylor) who has been suspicious of her new seemingly utopian environment, demands some answers from President Dante Wallace (Raymond Barry). When she's not satisfied, she starts … [Read more...]
THE 100 Advance Review "Inclement Weather"
NEW SERIES "SQUAD 85" OUT NOW "Squad 85" live on Justin Lin's Network YOMYOMF Check out the brand new comedy series from YOMYOMF, "Squad 85." The series, created by Gregory Bonsignore, stars Parvesh Cheena ("Outsourced") and Travis Van Winkle ("Transformers") along with a multi-ethnic cast of characters. The series also features guest stars and … [Read more...]


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hey what's up
i like the chat line but we need a time we can all go on .
can you please give one?
We have been having a problem sending e-mail to hotmail and msn mailboxes. We're working on getting this resolved, however in the meantime you may not receive emails originating from this system (including e-mail verifications). If you're trying to activate your account and have not received an automated email, please feel free to use the Contact Us link to send me an email. I will manually send you a reply to verify your email and when I receive your reply, I will activate your account.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
hey what's up
i like the chat line but we need a time we can all go on .
can you please give one?
please tell me now!!!!!!!
are you there?
I think this issue is resolved. I haven't seen any more kick back emails from Hotmail and have successfully tested emails going across. If you are still having any problems, please contact me through the Contact Us link.
but still told hotmail to autofilter pen and paper games email to the junkmail folder.
Warm Regards,
Nok, MBA
Chief Barbaric Officer (CBO)
Stone Age Technical Consultancy
"We brought you fire, and it burned! Now try our latest offering - the wheel! You'll swear it goes round and round! Ask me about it - TODAY!"