A Public Space

Issue 18

2013-05-15T18:02:45Z

Announcing Issue 18

2013-05-14T22:03:44Z

As Constantine listened to the men talk, he understood for the first time that his uncle wasn’t just a tinkerer or an amateur animal breeder: he made things. Something that helped bind the bamboo into a sturdy frame; a refinement of the varnish spread on the wings to seal the cloth. The little crook in the tubing controlling the rudder was his design as well. In the same way that Taggart tinkered with cows and fowl, cross-breeding and selecting until he’d improved some aspect, he joined inanimate objects—screws, oil, guncotton, rubber, parts from those tubs and bins at home—until something new emerged. —ANDREA BARRETT, “THE INVESTIGATORS”

Before I actually wrote a poem, I pretended to write poetry. I don’t mean this as an aesthetic or qualitative judgment, rather as fact; I declared things written by others as my own. Really, it only happened once, in a love letter to a girl in my fourth grade class. —BRETT FLETCHER LAUER, “A SUPPOSED PERSON”

“Mania is not the aspect of religion that we should emulate,” he continued. “There’s such a fine line between sainthood and mania. It’s best not to try for either and simply do the best you can.”

Edwin did not entirely understand what Father Naylon was telling him, probably because Father Naylon did not entirely understand what Edwin was actually feeling. The fainting was not, he had decided, from his own desire to talk to God. Perhaps—Edwin was still formulating this theory in his mind—something (and perhaps that something was God) wanted to talk to Edwin. —KEVIN WILSON, “A SIGNAL TO THE FAITHFUL”

new fiction by KATE WALBERT and BONNIE NADZAM

introducing MAGDALÉNA PLATZOVÁ

MARTHA COOLEY on the Costa Concordia

poems by RAE ARMANTROUT, JOANNA KLINK, ADAM FITZGERALD, DU FU, TERRANCE HAYES, and MICHAEL MORSE

cover photograph by JAKE STANGEL

Issue 18 is here. Renew or subscribe today.

Book Party: Tom Drury—Pacific

2013-05-14T17:47:43Z

Join us to celebrate Tom Drury's latest novel, Pacific (Grove Press). There will be a reading and Q&A, with a book signing to follow.

Tom Drury is the author of The End of Vandalism, Hunts in Dreams, The Driftless Area, and The Black Book. You can also find his work in issues 17, 12, and 7 of A Public Space.

This event is co-sponsored by A Public Space and Grove Press.

Michael Morse + Will Schutt + Dore Kiesselbach

2013-05-14T17:33:06Z

Join us for a reading with Dore Kiesselbach, Michael Morse (APS 18), and Will Schutt (APS 6).

More information here.

Lit Crawl: Monkeying Around in Japan

2013-05-14T16:03:45Z

As part of this year's Brooklyn Lit Crawl, Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica and editor of Monkey Business International, and Yoko Sawai of The Hard Nips host readings and performances from issues of Monkey Business, the English edition of the Japanese literary magazine, co-published by A Public Space.

Find more information and a full schedule of events here.

Lit Crawl: Getting Personal with A Public Space

2013-05-09T19:16:01Z

As part of this year's Brooklyn Lit Crawl, LitCrawl and A Public Space team up for readings with APS and Graywolf authors, including John Haskell, Brett Fletcher Lauer, J. Robert Lennon, Fiona Maazel, and others.

Find more information and a full schedule of events here.

7 Questions

2013-04-29T20:54:20Z

Fiona Maazel is the author of two novels, Woke Up Lonely and Last Last Chance. She is a contributing editor at A Public Space.

1. Can you describe your daily routine, any rituals or habits?

My routine is so boring, you might die of boredom from having to read about it. But since you asked: I get up around 7:00. I have some mint tea with soy milk. I eat a gummy vitamin. I check my e-mail, read the New York Times online, though I end up reading only the top articles, knowing someone will tweet or Facebook any other articles of note throughout the day. I check my calendar to see what's on deck for the day. Usually what's on deck is having to prepare for some class or other. So I prepare. Around lunchtime—one-ish—I leave the house in search of food, which is usually a roll or a can of lima beans. Shtetl mentality. Then I come home and work some more. Maybe I stop to practice my guitar. Maybe I check e-mail. Maybe—and by maybe I mean almost never during the school year—I write a sentence.

2. Where do you go to people-watch?

Just leaving my apartment is an occasion for people watching. They are everywhere!

3. What are your anxieties about language?

That I don't know how to use it well enough. The language is fine, great, actually—English is so flexible!—but I worry about my facility with it. So I practice whenever I can.

4. Is there a character, a scene, a moment that you dream of conveying, but haven't figured out how to yet?

Funny you should ask since on the plane today, there was a rather large woman sitting next to me, and by large I mean giant, who slept the whole way, and who slept so deeply, I began to get alarmed. I suddenly had the idea she was going to stop breathing. Right next to me, at thirty thousand feet up, and then what? So I started to imagine how I might dramatize this in scene. And I imagine I will keep thinking about it for some time. I once overheard a man tell his friend that he woke up that morning on the back of a horse. Then I thought about that for four years until making the image the start of a novel I'm working on now. The same might happen with the large woman next to me on the plane.

5. What landscape do you most often fantasize about?

The canyons of Tucson. Often, at night, I close my eyes and remember running through the canyons until I fall asleep.

6. What is the last book you didn't finish?

That is a cruel question. I can tell you the last book I finished, though, which is The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante. Very disturbing. I liked it.

7. What are you looking forward to?

Change.

BRAVERY: THE OPENING NIGHT READING FOR THE PEN WORLD VOICES FESTIVAL — 20% OFF

2013-04-25T16:37:32Z

The PEN World Voices Festival Opening Night Reading: Bravery kicks off the festival with a fantastic line-up of authors, including Najwan Darwish, Joy Harjo, Mikhail Shishkin, Jamaica Kincaid, Earl Lovelace, Ursula Krechel, A. Igoni Barrett, Vaddey Ratner, Lt. Col. David Frakt, and Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld. The event is hosted by comedian Baratunde Thurston.

More information about this event here.

For 20% off of your tickets, use the code PEN13 here.

Monday, April 29
7-8:30 PM
The Great Hall, Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street, NYC

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, April 29-May 5, 2013. Chaired by Salman Rushdie, this year’s festival explores bravery in art, politics and personal life. Join us for a variety of events including panel discussions, one-on-one conversations, participatory workshops and performances at venues crisscrossing the city. Find a full schedule of events here.

PEN World Voices Indie Book Fair

2013-04-17T20:39:52Z

Visit our table at the indie book fair during the PEN World Voices Festival. The all-day "festival within the Festival" will take place in the Washington Mews, and will feature workshops in the morning and readings in the afternoon. NYU's International Houses will be open, and there will be busking musicians and puppet shows alongside other literary magazines and independent presses. More information here.

The Ninth Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, New York City, April 29-May 5, 2013. Writers from across the globe convene in New York City to explore bravery in art, politics and personal life. Join us for a variety of events including panel discussions, one-on-one conversations, participatory workshops and performances at venues crisscrossing the city.

Monkey Business at Asia Society

2013-04-10T21:05:02Z

Monkey Business International editors Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen host a conversation with Paul Auster, Charles Simic, Gen'ichiro Takahashi, and tanka poet Mina Ishikawa (all MB3 contributors).

Find more information here, buy tickets here, and join this event on Facebook here.

Monkey Business: A Cabaret with APS

2013-04-10T20:41:19Z

PEN World Voices, Asia Society, Monkey Business International, and A Public Space join up for a cabaret-style night of readings, discussion, and music, featuring Genichiro Takashi (MBI 3), Kevin Brockmeier, Mina Ishikawa, Neo Blues Maki, the Hard Nips, and others. Hosted by Roland Kelts (APS Issue 1).

Find more information here, buy tickets here, and join this event on Facebook here.

Monkey Business 3 Launch Party

2013-04-10T20:01:02Z

Monkey Business International volume 3 is here! Join us to celebrate. Contributors Kevin Brockmeier and Mina Ishikawa will read their favorite passages from the new issue. Ted Goossen and Motoyuki Shibata (editors of Monkey Business) will join them in conversation.

Copies of the issue will be available.

7 Questions

2013-04-10T16:57:53Z

Mara Faye Lethem is the translator of Pablo de Santis's The Paris Enigma and Javier Calvo's Wonderful World, among others. She has translated much of Patricio Pron's fiction, including the short story "Something In Us Wants to Be Saved," which appeared in APS 17. Mara Faye is based in Barcelona.

1. Can you describe your daily routine, any rituals or habits?

It seems to be a constant negotiation between getting my ass glued into the desk chair and then not getting complacent that whatever I do sitting in front of the computer counts as work. Deadlines help.

2. Where do you go to people-watch?

I don't go anywhere particular with that intent, but I usually enjoy the fauna on subways. My neighborhood is also a strange little village, where crazy-haired people walk around in their bathrobes and a dwarf mother pushes a stroller she can barely see over the top of; it makes me feel very Diane Arbus.

3. What are your anxieties about language?

Oy. I am quite angsty about language. One thing that I find troublesome is looking up a word and finding that the dictionary is claiming it has a different nuance than I have always thought. It forces me to acknowledge a certain fluidity that can be oppressive, reminding me that language is always part interpretation, or just the point where unknowable minds converge to define and share experience. I mean, who writes the dictionaries? I also get worked up about the impreciseness of much slang.

Lately I worry that I should be speaking English to my kids more. I find myself in ridiculous situations, like, "No, I will not translate One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish for you, off the cuff, at bedtime, for free."

4. Is there a character, a scene, a moment that you dream of conveying, but haven't figured out how to yet?

There are always those real anecdotes that are too good to make realistic fiction. But I use them in bars.

5. What landscape do you most often fantasize about?

I often catch myself daydreaming about beaches, Mediterranean coves, the sunsets and shooting stars of the Mexican or Venezuelan Caribbean. I also remember very vividly the busy, flamboyant underwater life of the Red Sea, how it seemed to make the world above pale in comparison. Then there are the English cottage gardens of my mind, the kind that are made to look like the wind just blew a pile of seeds there, with everything jumbled together and different heights.

6. What is the last book you didn't finish?

Oh, answering that would mean I won't pick it up again. I always have a pile of started books around. I'm more of a deserter than an executioner. The one on top of the pile right now happens to be Idiots First by Bernard Malamud. I haven't read the last story yet.

7. What are you looking forward to?

Sleeping in a hotel this weekend. I'm a sucker for those little bottles of shampoo.

Announcing Monkey Business 3

2013-04-03T21:45:14Z

The third volume of Monkey Business International has arrived. With Mina Ishikawa, Sachiko Kishimoto, Gen'ichiro Takahashi, Paul Auster, Hideo Furukawa, manga by the Brother and Sister Nishioka, and more.

Monkey Business International is the in-translation offspring of the Tokyo-based magazine Monkey Business, which was founded in 2008 by Motoyuki Shibata, one of Japan’s most highly regarded men of letters, who was interviewed in the debut issue of A Public Space.

Order your copy today, check out Volumes 1 and 2, and follow the magazine on Tumblr.

If you want even more Monkey Business, join us at the PEN World Voices Festival for two great events with MBI contributors, translators, and editors.

Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel

2013-03-27T16:31:53Z

Join A Public Space, Graywolf Press, and Electric Literature to celebrate Fiona Maazel's new novel!