The Writer's News Reprinted from the March/April 2008 issue of the Writer's Chronicle. Joyce Carol Oates is Nominated in Two Categories for National Book Critics Circle Award
Academe can be Murder Defendant Jay Glosser, a former professor at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty “to commit murder-for-hire, solicitation and conspiracy to commit extortion,” according to the Virginian Pilot. In an effort to prevent co-worker Kimberly Perez from following through on a sexual harassment complaint Glosser felt might cost him his job, Glosser recruited the help of his neighbor, Raymond Groves Sr., the owner of a Chesapeake trucking company. Glosser offered Groves between $3,000 and $4,000 if Groves could successfully convince Perez to withdraw her complaint, or $10,000 if, according to testimony, Groves agreed to “take her out.” Groves, in turn, hired F. Devin Scott, a fellow truck driver, to kill Perez, a plot that failed when a June 2006 State Police sting uncovered the men’s plan. Glosser will serve six months longer than his co-defendants, who each received eight-year prison sentences through plea agreements with the prosecution.
The Arab World is the Market Focus for the 2008 London Book Fair The London Book Fair will run from April 14–16, 2008. According to the British Council of Arts, the Arab world encompasses the twenty countries and two states which have Arabic as their registered official language. The main objective of this focus is to strengthen cultural relations with the Arab World, to educate the global publishing industry about Arab literature, and allow Arab publishers to promote their books and literature to all parts of the world via the Fair. March Marks Small Press Month. A celebration featuring a variety of literary events will be held throughout the United States. Featured authors include: Walter Mosley, Mike Farrell, Eileen Myles, Lynne Tillman, Hatti Gossett, and Steve Katz. March 6 marks the beginning of the month-long celebration, featuring readings at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York, the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, and the Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee, among others. Small Press Month is co-sponsored by The New York Center for Independent Publishing, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and PMA, The Independent Book Publishers Association, as well as many other additional sponsors. For more information, and for a complete list of events, please visit: www.small pressmonth.org.
EKU Magic Bus
Statistics Baffle Word Works The Word Works Washington Prize, an annual poetry book contest, announced that among its 257 manuscript entries in 2007, 25% of the manuscripts came from only two states: 40 from New York and 24 from California, despite the contest being open to all U.S. and Canada residents. The Word Works has been offering the Washington Prize since 1981, when it was a single-poem prize, and changed the contest to a book prize in 1989. The 2007 winner is Prartho Sereno of San Anselmo, California, with his novel, Call from Paris. Previous winners include Enid Shomer, Fred Marchant, Jay Rogoff, Richard Lyons, and John Surowiecki. For more information, please visit: www.wordworksdc.com.
Richard Ford Leaves Knopf For Ecco
Another Nonfiction Narrative Embroiled in Controversy Memoirist Ishmael Beah, author of the bestselling A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, is the most recent writer under scrutiny for alleged inaccuracies in his story, which has sold nearly 700,000 copies. Beah’s memoir tells the story of his separation from his family during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s. Beah spent months as a homeless twelve-year-old driven from his home cities before being forced to fight for the government. During those years, Beah describes a period of violence and drug-use, raising eyebrows at his ability later to recall with accuracy the details of his preteen years. In early 1996, UNICEF rescued Beah, who, in 1998, emigrated to the United States and went on to graduate from Oberlin College. He is now a spokesperson for human rights, and he was appointed UNICEF’s Advocate for Children Affected by War. Though no one is contesting the truthfulness of his horrific childhood, the controversy surrounds a timeline that some believe would “affect the balance of a book praised as an unprecedented narrative of a child turned soldier,” according to the Associated Press. In a New York Times article regarding the dispute, writer William Boyd addressed the controversy, stating, “Indeed, Beah’s time in the army, and the accounts of the patrols and firefights he was caught up in, represent only a small portion of this book. And who can blame him? The blood-lust of a drug-crazed adolescent on the rampage with an assault rifle would challenge the descriptive powers of James Joyce.” The duration of Beah’s military surface and related details will likely remain a matter of conflict, as records of Beah’s whereabouts during the period, including his school records, were destroyed during the civil war. Beah has confirmed with the Associated Press that he will “stand by” his memoir, and has addressed the allegations via cell phone, stating, “I have tried to think deeply about this…and my memory only gives me 1993 and nothing more. And that’s what I stand by.” It is not uncommon for memoirs to include disclaimers as legal safeguards, especially in recent years, stating that names, dates, and events may have been changed or altered. Beah chose not to include a disclaimer in his memoir, acknowledging that no research went into the book, and no written records, including journals, were available to him during his writing. Beah claims to have written the memoir based entirely on memory, explaining, “I wanted to write about how I felt about war.”
Literary Journal Donates Copies to Troops Courant.com reports that Connecticut Review, a literary journal edited by faculty members of the Connecticut State University system, will provide 400 copies of its latest edition to Connecticut-based members of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed overseas. The semiannual journal, published since 1967, includes fiction, plays, translations, creative nonfiction, essays, poetry, artwork, and photography. The concept was initiated with Connecticut Review editors and Shane Matthews, a student who was recently inducted into Golden Key, as part of a larger program to promote world literacy. The books will be donated to Connecticut units deployed overseas, primarily the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Danbury, that is working to help rebuild the infrastructure in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The 2008 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
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