Endicott Redux

Reading on the Borders

" 'If the reader, while reading a story of this kind, thinks that the waiters are playing a joke or that they are involved in some collective psychosis, then we have lost the game. But if we have been able to give him the impression that we are talking about a world in which these absurd manifestations appear as normal behaviour, then he will find himself plunged all at once into the heart of the fantastic.' " — Jean-Paul Sartre (Cafe Irreal, Issue #26)

It's always good to remember how much excellent free fiction there is out there -- brought to you by passionate and creative editors who produce terrific issues, almost every month. I'd call it "reading on the borders" (or "interstitial " for those of you in the movement!) because the fiction is unique and experimental, fantastic and magical all at once. So here's a quick round up and I hope you stop by to give all of these hardworking online journals a glance.

Cafe Irreal: publishes wonderful short-short pieces, bordering on the surreal, from an international crop of writers. Favorites from this issue (#26) are Thief of the Moon, by Srinjay Chakravarti and Selections from Fabulosae Aves, by Flavia Lobo (with whimsical drawings by John Digby, such as the one above). And then there's that fabulous quote from Sartre above that I couldn't resist.

Farrago's Wainscot: Volume II, #6 offers a range of emotionally intense self-reflective tales and road stories. Favorites here were Running the Road, by Nancy Jane Moore and Three Views of the Maiden in Peril, by Catherine Lundoff. (Congratulations on their recent award for Best New Online Magazine or Journal.)

Clarkesworld has a fabulous new story from Catherynne Valente, a mystical geographical lesson in A Buyer's Guide to the Maps of Antarctica and Garth Upshaw has a killer tale of crows and aliens in Birdwatcher.

Serendipity, specializing in magic realism, continues to offer a handful of new stories (and a competition here and there) every month. In this issue favorites were Blue, from Elaine Walker and the very quirky Party Line from Phyllis Anderson.

On ghosts and giants. . .

I hope y'all are familiar with Fantasy Magazine, the weekly webzine devoted to high fantasy, contemporary and urban tales, surrealism, magical realism, science fantasy, and folktales. The magazine is co-edited by the indefatigable Sean Wallace and Cat Rambo (of Prime Books), along with the stellar team of Paul Tremblay, K. Tempest Bradford, Paula Guran and Stephen Segal.

They've published some terrific fiction recently, but of particular interest to mythic fiction readers is Paul Jessop's fine tale "A Word Without Ghosts" (with its delicious allusions to fairy tales, animal bridegroom myths, and the story of Peter Pan), and Richard Bowes' enchanting fable "The Cinnamon Cavalier." Don't miss them.

The charming painting above is "The Artist at Work," from K. Tempest Bradford's profile of illustrator Kat Beyer.

Speaking of Prime Books, did you know that they're republishing the "Snow White, Blood Red" fairy tales series in new trade-paperback editions? Black Thorn, White Rose is available now, with more volumes to follow.

   

January Issue of Serendipity

The monthly magical realist journal Serendipity is now available on line. (Wow... I got to hand it to them putting out an issue a month.) Once again there is quite a  nice collection of tales that hover between fantasy (such as, "Magpie Sisters" by Craig Laurence Gidney and "Here There Be Monsters" by Lynn Bartels) and the more retrospective tales of magical realism ( such as "All That Remains is You" by Steven Savile). There is also a classic tale from Lady Charlotte Guest, "The Story of Lludd and Llevelys," and do check out the competition question for this month -- first prize is a copy of Gratia Placenti (an anthology of dark fantasy tales) published by British publisher Apex Publications.

Winter Fruit: New Issue of Goblin Fruit Poetry

Goblin Fruit has just posted their new Winter Issue and it is a poetry-packed issue. There are twenty-two delectable poems from new and established poets of mythic and fairy tale poetry. Here is a sample of the many wonderful offerings you can read: Maureen McQuerry depicts a sensual meeting with a Selkie (in "Selkie"); Sonya Taffe combines folklore and the senses in her piquant "Cherries in Winter"; "Step (and Turn)" by J. C. Runolfson is a dark history of famous fairy tale women and their shoes; "Kitsune" by Joshua Gage is a sleek, shimmering glimpse of the fox wife, while in "Sedna" C. S. E. Cooney sings the epic tale of the Inuit goddess of the ocean.

Once again, I heartily congratulate Goblin Fruit on another terrific issue (poems marked with a little dot have audio!) and wish them a productive and creative New Year. (Artwork is by Oliver Hunter.)

Read it on the web

I take my hat off to all the online journals who manage to put out an issue between December and January. So let me invite you to stop by these industrious sites and spend a little time reading the wide range of literary offerings.

Serendipity's new issue has five original short stories that range from a Japanese fox story, a contemporary Indian "Romeo and Juliet,"  and a terrifying take on the fate of Circe's pigs. There is also a thought provoking article by Yasmin Huda on Magical Realism and the cinema.

Clarkesworld currently has an absolutely gorgeous story, The River Boy, by new father Tim Pratt. Don't miss it. There is also a fascinating interview with Daniel Abraham by Tobias Bucknell, a twisted surreal tale by Brian Ames, and a critical article on the work of Vernor Vinge by Shaun Farrell. The cover art is by Ray Toh.

Farrago's Wainscot continues to offer high octane experimental fiction. My favorite of the bunch this issue is "Mr. Water Bones and His Wife" by Paul Jessup -- a dark comedy depicting the outrageous lengths a man will undertake to become immortal. Joselle Vanderhooft offers three poems on the life of Bluebeard, and Krystal Hart has a terrific interview with Scottish author, Duncan McLean.

And the ever wonderful Words Without Borders starts the new year off with a bang by offering a collection of international stories that mine the literary potential of the seven deadly sins. Too many wonderful stories to mention here -- but all the pieces are quite short and pack a punch, so stop by and sample a few.

Green Man Review celebrates 20 years of Years Best Fantasy and Horror

The Green Man Review librarian Iain Nicholas Mackenzie has put together a terrific collection of reviews, interviews, and personal responses to celebrate the past 20 years of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant. There is a rare and wonderful interview with artist Tom Canty, who designed the wrap around covers, always a beautiful combination of elegant fantasy and smoldering horror. There is a lively interview with current editors Ellen Datlow, Gavin Grant, and Kelly Link here, and, holy cats, there are reviews for every volume produced.

*Art banner above by Tom Canty.

Serendipity's Halloween Specials

Ok, I promised not to double-post on this and my own new blog...but I simply must do it today as I am really enjoying Serendipity's new issue. So here's today's post from the Labyrinth:

Just wanted to make sure folks stopped by the second issue of Serendipity, a new online journal featuring works of magical realism. The short fiction selections are great (ranging from dark to outrageous, and one classic from the Grimms), and there is a kicking interview with Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat) discussing her work (with some very interesting insights into food and magic realism -- totally the sort of thing I think about). And to get you in the mood, there is an annotated Halloween reading list with some excellent titles. Don't like reading online? The good folks at Serendipity have also provided a print function so you can read it in hard copy.

Autumn fruits...

     The veil between the worlds is thin, they say, tonight.
     And if we walk now to the marketplace
     (we fancy it built of fog and fireflies)
     the goblins will smile, cry hail and welcome!
     They nod their heads, stroke our hair, grasp our fingers,
      whisper, yes, the veil grows thin, grows thin...

         - from "Transplendent We" by Peg Aloi

The Autumn 2007 Issue of Goblin Fruit is now online, featuring "poems about ghosts and memory, poems about animate place and music. We have poems that are bare-tree spare and poems that are harvest-lush. This season’s issue is our fattest yet, so swallow a spoonful of honey or olive oil and prepare to read aloud for a while."

In addition to the Peg Aloi poem quoted above, there are many other magical offerings (my personal favorites are Jennifer Crow's "Bear Clad" and Corey Mesler's wry fairy tale poem, "The Wolf Hungry for Connection"), and a discussion of dark fantasy in poetry of the Romantic period. The webzine is edited and designed by Amal Ah-motar, Jessica P. Wick, and Oliver Hunter (a talented young trio that I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with this summer), with illustrations by the latter.

    

Mythic Passages: October

The new issue of Mythic Passages, the webzine of the Mythic Imaginations Institute, is now online. Focusing on "Educating the Imagination," the 'zine includes articles on the art of teaching by David L. Miller and Jay D'Ambrosio, on Haphaestus the blacksmith by Wilhelm Oosthuizen, and on the mythic imagination by William F. Doty, plus a look at Derek Beres' Burning Man film and an interview with playwright Sidney Perkowitz. There's also mythic fiction, poetry, and more -- such as a fine sequence of poems by Ari Berk, and reviews of Stardust and Brian Froud's World of Faerie by Brenda Sutton. The cover art this month is "The Magic of Books" by Martin Springett.

Our Sonnets From the Portuguese

The new issue of Words Without Borders is focusing on the Lusophone world -- those speakers of Portuguese throughout the world, spanning three continents and a half dozen countries from Europe to Brazil to Mozambique. The site currently features a selection of Lusophone authors writing fiction and essays.

The short stories are compelling and edgy -- written in a magic realist style. Two stories in particular knocked me out: Portuguese author Teolinda Gersão's "The Woman Who Stole the Rain" (in which the narrator overhears an unsettling tale), Brazilian author, Augusta Faro's "The Ants" (a very creepy tale about a woman going mad), and, as I have been reading lots of Chandler and Hammett of late, I also enjoyed Rubem Fonesca's Latin noir-ish sendup in Mandrake.

There are also poems, book reviews, and some wonderful short nonfiction pieces. October is packed with events celebrating the Lusophone world and you can find a schedule here.

Short Fiction on the Web

Got a little time to spare? Stop in at any one of these terrific online fiction journals and take a few moments to read some great stories.

Serendipity is marking it's debut as a monthly online journal, offering magic realism and light fantasy fiction, book reviews, interviews, and a competition. Included in this issue are stories from Jeffrey Ford, Catherynne Valente, Rhys Hughes, Alia Whitely, and a classic from Charles Dickens. The site is sleek and very pretty!

Cafe Irreal, known for its Kafka-esque offerings, has a new issue up as well.  Here you will find surrealist stories ("Dinosaur Evolution" by Sharon Wahl and "More Pieces for a Small Orchestra" by Norman Lock), a gentle, quirky story, "The Rabbi's Magic Wagon" by Harry White, and an announcement about a really interesting collective project, "Finding Kafka in Prague," set for the 125th anniversary of Kafka's birth. (You'll find more on the project here.)

Clarkesworld Magazine has two new offerings for September: "Little Conversations" by Caitlin R. Kiernan, an eerie story of a young biographer and his subject -- an aging diva who refuses to tell him the one thing he most wants to know, and "Lost Soul" by M. P. Ericson, a "bring her back from the dead" tale -- with a twist at the end.

Mythic Passages

The Autumn Issue of Mythic Passages, the webzine of the Mythic Imagination Institute, is now online. The theme this time is "The Price and Rewards of Sacrifice," with a wide range of articles, stories, and poems on the subject -- including Phil Cousineau on the Art of Pilgrimage, William F. Doty on Neil Gaiman's 1602, Wilhelm Oosthuizen on mysticism and art, Brenda Sutton on the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, Marilyn Strong on death, and much, much more. The cover image (above) is "The Corn King" by Charles Vess.

Summer and Fall

The Summer Issue of Faerie Magazine is now available, and following on yesterday's post, you can read an article where Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess talk about their film Stardust. Also included in this issue, Chandra Cerchione-Peltier writes about one of Endicott Studio's favorite performing troupes,  Daughters of Elvin (check out their awesome MySpace page), and Surlalune covers Tales of Sleeping Beauties.

And if you are already thinking Fall, Clarkesworld Magazine will be publishing Realms, an anthology collecting the best of the fiction from their online journal. The stories "step into a world of wonder, epiphany, and danger. From the return of old gods to the adventures of the last dragon on Earth, from quantum physics to manticores trained for the circus, this unique anthology takes readers on journeys to realms both distant and oddly familiar. . . ."

There are some wonderful writers in the book, both acclaimed authors and those newly published. Here's the line up: "Realms collects the work of 24 visionary writers of short fiction, including such World Fantasy, Philip K. Dick, Tiptree, Hugo, and Campbell Award winners and finalists as Jay Lake, Jeff VanderMeer, Elizabeth Bear, Catherynne M. Valente, Caitlin Kiernan, Ian Watson, Sarah Monette, and Holly Phillips — and amazing stories from up-and-comers like Ekaterina Sedia, Cat Rambo, Barth Anderson, and many more!"

You can pre-order the anthology in hardcover or trade paper from Wyrm Publishing; and if you order by August 17th, there is a 30% discount off the cover price. The anthology will debut at the World Fantasy Convention (Halloween weekend).

Web Reads: Two Tales of Dreams

It seems I am always recommending stories that appear in two terrific online speculative fiction journals: Clarkesworld Magazine, which publishes two original short stories every month, and Strange Horizons, which, astonishingly, publishes a new story, articles, and poems every week (and has done so with unfailing consistency since its founding in 2000).

This time I recommend two tales of dreams -- the first by Russian author Ekaterina Sedia (one of my new favorite writers), "The Taste of Wheat," in Clarkesworld's August Issue. Sedia's writing is a rich mixture of Russian folklore and contemporary surrealism. In this tale a young peasant woman falls into dream states where she encounters the Buddha and his dogs, a moment of enlightenment, and a journey as a mouse.

The second tale, "Wake-Up Call" by Leslie Brown, appears in the July 30 issue of Strange Horizons. This is a deftly written story of a young girl who waits for her "sleeping beauty" mother to periodically wake from a coma. In their brief moments together, the daughter learns of her mother's other, more magical life in the fantastic realm of her comatose sleep.

If you like these tales, do have a look at past offerings -- such as, in Clarkesworld, Cat Rambo's "I'll Gnaw Your Bones," a wonderful story of a traveling circus in trouble, narrated by an animal trainer who keeps a manticore among other fantastic beasts; and, in Strange Horizons, "Gift of Flight" by Nghi Vo, a modern and very poignant retelling of the Swan Maiden tale.

Both of these online journals depend on readers' generosity to do what they do so well. In fact,  Strange Horizon, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is nearing the end of a huge fund drive -- so if after looking at their incredible archive of over 300 stories online, along with reviews and articles, you are as impressed as I am, consider a donation to show your appreciation.

The images on this post are (top)"Apples" by Albert Moore, (middle) "Bad Dream" by Victor Zamirailo,  and "The Manticore" by Edward Topsell (History of Four Footed Beasts, 1607).

New Issues: JoMA and Mythic Passages

The Summer 2007 issue of the Endicott Studio's Journal of Mythic Arts is now online -- focused this time on mythic fiction for Young Adult readers. What's special about this issue is that it contains thirteen short stories, rather than our usual two or three, along with our regular mix of nonfiction, art, and poetry.

You'll find stories by Christopher Barzak, Steve Berman, Holly Black, Gwenda Bond, Elizabeth Genco, O.R. Melling, Will Shetterly, Ellen Steiber and Catherynne M. Valente, among others -- ranging from fables to re–told fairy tales; from fantasy to contemporary realism; from stories rooted in specific cultural myths to those that weave new mythologies out of the colored threads of the old.

Our poetry this time includes works rooted in Cuban folklore by Margarita Engle, two mythic poems by Jeannine Hall, and fairy tale poems by Nan Fry, Neil Gaiman, and others.

In nonfiction, Colleen Mondor (YA reviewer for the fabulous Bookslut website) discusses Geraldine McCaughrean's YA novel The White Darkness, Virginia Borges takes a close look at "The Little Mermaid" fairy tale, librarian Julie Bartel recommends works of mythic fiction that YA readers shouldn't miss, fairy tale scholar Helen Pilinovsky revisits her teenage years, and I write about the "orphan hero" archetype from ancient myth to Harry Potter.

In the gallery, we have "Magic x 4," featuring enchanting works by artists from four countries: Kelly Louise Judd, Lisa Linnea, Nathalia Pierandrei and Julia Jeffrey (whose painting "Ashputtle" is just above).  The other artists who have contributed to the issue include James Graham (whose photograph is at the top of this post), Theo Black (whose drawing is above, right), Leland Purvis, Stu Jenks, Brian Froud, Charles Vess and Greg Spalenka.

We hope you enjoy the issue!

Mythic Passages (the web journal sponsored by the Mythic Imaginations institute, edited by Brenda Sutton) also has a brand new issue online. Their topic this time is a particularly timely one: Freedom and Incarceration. The issue contains terrific, wide-ranging articles on Prometheus, the Terezin Ghetto, 9/ll, Walt Disney, The Matrix, Chinese myth, virtual reality, and more -- along with short stories, poetry, and video clips. The art on the right is "Her Prison is Her Freedom" by Charles Urbach.

Farrago's Wainscot: Summer Issue

A short while back, I posted on Farrago's Wainscot, a fascinating and very interstitial online journal. The new Summer Issue is out and it's full of wonderful, quirky, and edgy work. The common thread among the short stories is the unusual perspective of the narrators. In Beth Bernobich's Of Moon Dust and Starlight, "moon sprites" live briefly in the waxing and wanning of the moon, fleeing earth's shadow. The Life and Times of Penguin by Eugie Foster gives the naive viewpoint of a balloon penguin struggling to survive the horrors of a tempestuous child owner, while Ekaterina Sedia in Source of Gravity provides an edgy twist on the Little Mermaid, as she returns to the sea and finds an unusual solution to her alienation as a human girl.

By far my favorite story is Oma Dortchen and the Pillar of Story, by David Schwartz. I love the new post-modern take on story telling -- nesting stories within stories, turning them inside out like pockets. Here the stolid tavern keeper Oma Dortchen has grown up listening, listening, listening to stories -- but never speaking, until one day inspired, she begins to tell (in a nonstop fashion!) the hoarded stories and leaves home on a wondrous journey of tale-telling to most unusual audiences. There are hilarious touches: the gaggle of intrusive ethnographers trying to track down Oma Dortchen and consume her stories, Ham -- her simpleton foster son who transforms into the wise fool -- and Oma Dortchen herself, a cask on her shoulder, stopping by a pond to drink black beer from a leaf cup offered by the Frog King's court.

This issue also contains three poems from Catherynne M. Valente  -- including the brillant, "The Immigrant" -- an imagined biography of Baba Yaga's youth, and her immigration to the United States (where her name is changed to "Barbara Young.") Also powerful is "Rampion," Valente's very organic take on Rapunzel.

Finally, enjoy the language experiments such as,  Animals by Richard Lederer, where he creates a poem about kangaroos that structurally mimics the shape of that pouched animal, with little words nestled inside longer words, and an amusing invented professor of Sanguinary History offering a course on Proto-Vampiric Folklore (complete with invented texts and books reviews.) And check in on Mark Teppo's oneiromantic (dream doctor) Harry Potemkin and his ongoing adventures (all hyper-linked) as he enters the Sixth Dream.

All art is from the issue: above is the cover art by Melanie Little Gomez while the one, below is "Kings and Queens from Neal Von Flute. The "Elephant Man" is from Fortunio Leciti's "Dei Mosntris (1665)

Farrago's Wainscot

Along with Senses Five Press (recommended last week), Terri and I are especially impressed with the unusual, highly interstitial approach to fantasy and speculative literature in the online journal Farrago's Wainscot. This creative conglomeration of articles, poetry, fiction, and strange experiments with language is the brainchild of Darin Bradley, Aaron Leis, and Michael Constantine McConnell. Between them are numerous degrees in literature, literary theory, poetics, linguistics, and semiotics (accompanied by riffs from McConnell's 20-button Anglo concertina, on which he is an accomplished player).

The journal describes itself as an "exhibition of weirds, an almanac of experimentation, decay, and the problems with form. We present ideas: stories that estrange themselves, articles on anything from wormholes to haberdashery, poetry that makes of metaphor a transubstantial sigh -- a hesitation at the thresholds of contemporary consciousness and interstitial art." Over the course of a year, the journal collects works to create issues that are "studio exhibitions" of articles and art.

The current issue offers a number of fascinating short stories. I especially enjoyed Hannah Wolf Bowen's "The Midnight Train -- She'll Take You There," in which a young woman is compelled to journey nightly on a fantastic train until she can finally summon the courage to disembark at "the Mound" and meet the ghost of her dead lover. She isn't alone, however, and each one of the passengers on this midnight train has his or her own peculiar story and destination.

Samantha Henderson's quirky tale "Extreme" centers on a bewildered narrator who discovers the world is slowly transforming (or is it revealing?) itself as a wild jungle. It begins when the narrator's wife gleefully battles vampire daisies and a groping Tasmanian Devil vine.

My favorites in the "other" category (which is hilarious in a journal devoted to the "other" in literature) are two short pieces on language. Michael Constantine McConnell explains the "Magic Square Palindrome"  that creates a "cube" palindrome (the palindrome reading magically vertically and horizontally), and Richard Lederer demonstrates some quirks of Letter-Perfect Verse using homophones, puns, and lopping off of letters to create clever bits of diminishing verse.

One of the most remarkable offerings in the journal is The Oneiromantic Mosaic of Harry Potemkin by Mark Teppo. This serial narrative delves into dreams as "oneirnaut" Harry Potemkin invades the dreams of his patients and attempts to sort out nightmares and psychosis. But within each dream, hyperlinked words bring the reader to another nested piece -- a fragment of another patient's dream, or an explanation of a mythic symbol embodied in the main dream. The entire experience of reading the layers is nonlinear, gathering ideas in a mosaic fashion -- much like a dream itself.

After all this, there is still more: Behind the Wainscot which offers additional articles and reviews, and submission guidelines for the 2008 exhibition. Great stuff. A good deal of the art on the site is produced by Darin Bradley. The image of the hands (above) is the work of Richard Bowes, while "Ribbon" from the First Dream (immediately above) is by Neal Von Flue.

Senses Five Press and Sybil's Garage

While attending Wiscon, Terri and I were introduced to a few new (well, new to us!) writers, editors, and artists -- incredibly talented and creative people working in contemporary urban fantasy and speculative fiction. The world of small press and interactive webzines has just exploded, and what a rich world it is. Over the next few days, I will be introducing the editors, small presses, and online projects that caught our eye.

Matthew Kressel is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Senses Five Press, which publishes Sybil's Garage, a unique small press magazine of speculative fiction, poetry, and art. The current issue contains "brooding, intelligent, heart-stopping fiction from veteran masters such as Steve Rasnic Tem and Rick Bowes, trips into the bizarre from Leah Bobet and Ekaterina Sedia, haunted dreams and disturbed visions by Cat Rambo and Barbara Krasnoff, and much more. Poems by masters of the craft Bruce Boston, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Aurelio Rico Lopez III and others delight, amuse, disturb. Interviews with Jeffrey Ford & Stephen H. Segal." The journal is handsomely illustrated and provides suggested musical accompaniment for each title.

In addition to Sybil's Garage, Senses Five Press also has a new anthology of contemporary urban fantasy coming out this November. We will of course review it closer to its publication date, but I wanted to alert our readers to what promises to be a stellar anthology of innovative fantasy. Paper Cities, An Anthology of Urban Fantasy is edited by Ekaterina Sedia and contains "original fiction from Forrest Aguirre, Barth Anderson, Steve Berman, Darin Bradley, Stephanie Campisi, Hal Duncan, Mike Jasper, Vylar Kaftan, Jay Lake, Paul Meloy, Richard Parks, Ben Peek, Cat Rambo, Jenn Reese, David Schwartz, Cat Sparks, Anna Tambour, Mark Teppo, Catherynne M. Valente, Greg van Eekhout, and Kaaren Warren." And to celebrate the upcoming anthology, Senses Five Press has made Catherynne Valente's dense and wonderfully strange "Palimpsest" available online.

Poetry: The Translation Issue

I've just received the April issue of Poetry Magazine, which features a fabulous collection of translated poems along with short essays by the translators. While the poems range in subject matter, many of them employ mythic imagery and allusions in the work. In "The Mermaid in the Hospital," Irish poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill wryly evokes the problems of identity as a mermaid awakes in a noisy hospital on New Year's Eve, only to discover the doctors have removed her tail and replaced it with human legs. Arthur Rimbaud's poem "Antique" attempts to infuse life and motion into the painting of a faun. A poem fragment from the ancient Greek poet Alcman is a gorgeous and melancholy hymn to old age in a world of beauty and youth. The Syrian poet Adonis meditates on Noah's biblical trials and wonders in "The New Noah" what might have happened if Noah had refused the call of God to "rescue the living."

In addition to the poems are the wonderful brief essays by the translators, which not only comment on the poems (opening up their meanings further for the reader), but also the pleasures and frustration of translating the ambiguous and textured language of poetry. Ewa Hryniewicz-Yabrough, translating Janusz  Szyuber's poem "Klara" from the Polish, says: "Reading a poem and loving it aren't enough for translators; they have to translate it, since translation brings them closest to owning the object they love. But the translator's love has nothing selfish about it; he or she desires to possess the object of that love only to share it with others."  Daniel Weissbort, translating Regina Derieva's poem from Russian, writes about the frustration of never being entirely satisfied no matter the effort:  "You may, of course, re-engage, as it were, with the same source material later; after all, cliche though it may be, it is a fact that no translation is ever finished, it is only abandoned."

This collection also introduces western readers to new poets. Franz Wright and Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright offer a translation of "New York," from the Belarussian poet Valzhyna Mort whose first collection of poems will be published in English in 2008. In the final stanza of this jaunty poem about America's most recognizable city, "even time is sold out/when to the public's "wow" and "shhh"/out of a black top hat/a tailed magician/ is pulling new york out/ by the ears of skyscrapers."

I heartily recommend purchasing the issue, especially as it is National Poetry Month. (Have you sent an Endicott poetry e-postcard yet to someone?) But if you want a further glimpse of the collection first, stop by the website. You will be able to read some of the featured poems (and the translators' essays) from the April Issue on the site. And if you have the time, browse through some of the earlier issues of magazine. They're all good.

The Wheel of Time

The January issue of Mythic Passages (the e-zine of the Mythic Imaginations institute) is now on-line. Editor Brenda Sutton has gathered articles, essays, fiction, poetry, interviews, reviews and art on the theme of time in myth and modern life. Jonathan Brockman interviews Stewart Brand (creator of The Whole Earth Catalog); Derek Beres discusses Time, Rhythm, and Sound in mythology; James Wanless looks at Time and the Tarot; other contributors include Bill Bridges, Marie-Louise von Franz, Rebecca Armstrong, William F. Doty, and Stu Jenks.

Emerging Visions

Emerging Visions, an e-zine for visionary art, edited by Laurie Corzett, has posted its Winter Issue on the theme of Ritual Journeys, and is seeking submissions of poetry, essays, flash fiction and visual art for future issues.

The art here, from the Winter issue, is by Aaron Staengl. "I grew up in the mountains of Virgina," he writes. "I have always loved to draw and paint otherworldly things. The mysteries behind the mysteries....I have been in New Mexico for the last few years studying Ayurveda and Tibetan painting."

Goblin Fruit: Winter Issue

  The Winter Issue of Goblin Fruit is now live and as always has a great selection of new poetry. Among the many wonderful offerings there is work from Catherynne Valente, whose poem "Flax" is a disturbing re-imagining of the Seven Swans fairy tale, and JoSelle Vanderhooft has written a terrific Handless Maiden poem, "Handless Came the Maiden." Sonya Taaffe offers a lovely poem of mythic exploration in "Crossing the Line," and J.C. Runolfson's long poem, "Windborne," pulls threads from ballads and fairy tales concerning the friction between siblings. Once more, Oliver Hunter's delicate sketches and evocative paintings illustrate the issue.

On the Web Now

Consider dropping by Prime's Best American Fantasy website and nominating a favorite short story from 2006 for the new anthology to be published by Prime Books. (The deadline is January 15th!) Here is a description of the new anthology, which will premier in June, 2007:

"Prime Books announces the establishment of a prestigious new anthology series, Best American Fantasy, guest edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, with Matthew Cheney serving as the series editor. The inaugural volume will be published in June 2007, showcasing the best North American fantasy short fiction from the preceding year. The editors will apply as wide a definition of the term "fantasy" as is necessary for the integrity and quality of Best American Fantasy—including magic realism, surrealism, postmodern experiments, and all other applicable permutations."

Clarkesworld Magazine, the on-line journal from Clarkesworld Books, has just posted their January, 2007 issue. I highly recommend Elizabeth Bear's tale Orm the Beautiful, which deftly manages to combine the fantasy of dragons with a modern urban museum. Elizabeth Bear is currently nominated for the 2006 Phillip K. Dick award for her novel Carnival (which I have just received). Jeff VanderMeer has posted the entire list of nominees for the award here.

Fairy Tale Review: The Green Issue

Once again editor and author Kate Bernheimer has brought together a stellar collection of contemporary short fiction, essays, and poetry in the annual Fairy Tale Review. In the "Editor's Note," Kate explains the focus of this "Green Issue": "In fairy tales, all things are interdependent, mysteriously and insanely entwined. I often describe them as containing a deeply ecological world. The Green Issue is devoted to new fairy tales, with a special consideration for nature."

And what a rich collection it is. While traditional fairy tales drive emotionally through well-traveled rites of passage, in these modern fairy tales, the emotions are darker, more ambiguous, the outcomes of each narrative journey uncertain. In Lydia Millet's "Walking Bird," a child ponders the magic of a flightless bird, while her parents silently battle in a troubled marriage. In "The Tree" by Stacey Levine, a gay couple tests the bonds of love and identity in a perilous fantastic journey in a world atop a huge tree. Wendy Brenner's story, "The Predicament," is a twisted tale of unstable identities. The narrator is trapped in a complex game of shape-shifting, yet longing for authenticity.

In "The Inheritance,"  Jedidiah Berry offers a wrenching story of a man who must decide what to do with his inheritance, a Neanderthal man whose presence threatens to upset his orderly, mundane life. In "On the Palace Steps, She Pauses," Kat Mead's reluctant Cinderella pauses to consider her fate, while  Ayse Papatya Buck wryly manages to suggest the whole complexity of a doomed fairy tale love affair in a minimum of words in "Once There Was, Once There Wasn't."  Stacey Richter (whose My Date With Satan is a wickedly brilliant collection of short stories) offers a chapter from an unpublished novel,  Fairyland. (For more on this novel, have a look at a comment Stacey left on Gwenda Bond's "Shaken And Stirred" blog.) This is a chilling story of a girl raised by Meth-addicts -- as dark and violent as any Baba Yaga or ogre parents.

There is also excellent poetry from Jeanne Marie Beaumont (editor of Poets Grimm, Twentieth Century Poems from Grimm's Fairy Tales), Paula Bohince, Daniel Khalastchi, Swedish poet Ann Jaderlund, Andrew Morgan, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Carmen Giminez Smith, and Arthur Rimbaud.

Please visit the Fairy Tale Review website to order a copy of the Green Issue, and to view the full table of contents. (Also have a glance at The Fairy Tale Review: The Blue Issue, which premiered last year.)

Mythic Passages: December

The December 06 issue of Mythic Passages is now on-line, with articles, book excerpts, reflections, fiction, and poetry on the theme  "Animal Powers, Winter Solstice". The issue features a podcast about mythic winter traditions from Honorah Foah and Ellen Kushner, a look at myths and tales in the film The Big Fish by William F. Doty, a survey of fairy tale forests from Karen Elizabeth Guerin, a discussion on animal metamorphosis from Carolyn Dunn, Charles de Lint and me, an article on Shakespeare and the English holiday cycle by Kristen McDermott, and much more from Jean Houston, Arsenio Rodriguez, Cecelia Woloch, Stu Jenks and others.

New Fiction and Poetry

Here at Endicott, we're dedicated to supporting small 'zines and journals that provide markets and showcases for emerging writers. Two on-line journals have new issues up now that are worth checking out. First, the December issue of Clarkesworld Magazine (edited by Nick Mamatas and Sean Wallace) features magical new stories by Catherynne M. Valente and Jenny Davidson. The December cover art is by Leszek Kostuj, a wonderful surrealist painter from Pleszew, Poland. Second, Goblin Fruit (edited by Amal El-Mohtar and Jessica P. Wick) contains new poetry by emerging writers such as Roi Le Moignan and JoSelle Vanderhooft. Many of the poems, Ms. El-Mohtar explains, straddle "a line between this world and another, more so than usual for us: here you'll find necromancers getting married, ancient gods being conjured up in empty parking lots, and witches in need of hip replacements." The featured art in this issue is by Desirée Isphording, a talented young painter from Pennsylvania.

The art in this post is an illustration from Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market by Arthur Rackham.

Beasts! A Born Magazine and Fantagraphics exhibit

Here's a recent announcement about a new exhibit from Born Magazine in collaboration with Fantagraphics in Seattle:

Belle and Wissell Co. Grand Opening, this Saturday, December 2 (5-8pm)

Presenting "BEASTS!", an experimental exhibition and book release event -- a collaboration between Born Magazine and Fantagraphics Books. "BEASTS" will run until February 17th at Belle and Wissell, Co. 6014 12th Avenue South Seattle, WA, 98108 (206-322 7908) Gallery Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 4-8pm. This Saturday and Sunday only: 11am-4pm, with a reception on Saturday from 5pm-8pm.

Lady Churchill's 10 Year Old Rosebud

Turns out that we're not the only ones with an impending anniversary. We've just learned that Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet -- the excellent, edgy, and thoroughly addictive 'zine put out by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant of Small Beer Press -- is publishing its 10th anniversary issue. Has it really been ten years???  Over on the Not a Journal blog, Gavin describes the issue as "a warty little number with chocolate overtones," containing "fiction about birds, brides, bath(tubs), and, yes, wrestlers by fave writers such as Ray Vukcevich and Carol Emshwiller as well as new-to-these-pages peeps such as Daniel Rabuzzi and Katherine Beutner," plus nonfiction and poetry. The cover art is by Eric Shaeffer. Here's a champagne toast to everyone involved!

Mythic Passages: November

The November issue of Mythic Passages is now online, and once again this webzine from the Mythic Imaginations Institute is well worth perusing. The theme this time is Death and the Underworld, including articles on Hermes the Psychopomp, Native American Burials, Ghost Dancers, All Hallow's Eve and other autumn celebrations, poetry on death, short fiction by Tanya Huff (and others), re-tellings of myths and folktales, M.I.I. news, and more.

They've also posted a very cool trailer for a forthcoming film of the 2006 Mythic Journeys conference. (Don't forget to mark your calendar for the next Mythic Journeys conference in June, 2008.)

To further explore the theme of Death and Rebirth, see the Spring '06 issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts, which includes articles, art, poetry, and fiction by Alan DeNiro, Karen Joy Fowler, and Jane Yolen. Also recommended is the Death issue of Parabola Magazine (Volume 02:1), with articles by P.L. Travers, Conrad Hyers, and William G. Doty, and a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. You can order it online here.

Flytrap #6 now available!

It seems like all the small presses got on their best party clothes and published their latest 'zines in time for the World Fantasy Convention. And are we lucky! Do stop in and get yourself a copy of the very excellent new issue of Flytrap, edited by Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw. Flytrap offers a collection of surreal, experimental, fantastical, and just plain original short fiction -- along with poetry, essays and book reviews. It is wickedly funny in parts -- Nick Matamas' hilarious notes from his MFA program in Creative Writing reminded me of my own excruciating experience, John Hansen's poem "Seven Songs A Fantasy Writer Sings to His Newborn Baby" is a quick belly laugh, and in this the football-slash-halloween season, "The Goblin Party" is a scream. "Corn" by Elie Moser is strange and gorgeous (reminiscent of Julio Cortazar's work), and "419 Memoirs" by Michael Canfield is a clever palimpsest of short-short biographical pairs. Here's the full table of contents:

Stories:

"419 Memoirs" by Michael Canfield
"The High Chair" by Steve Rasnic Tem
"When We Slew Dragons" by Jennifer Schwabach
"Corn" by Elise Moser
"The After-Life" by Jan Wildt
"Discovery's Wake" by M.K. Hobson
"Grandma Charlie and the Wolves" by David J. Schwartz
"The Sun Diary" by Lavie Tidhar

Poems by Featured Poet Jon Hansen:
"Seven Songs the Fantasy Writer Sings to His Newborn Baby"
"The Goblin Party"
"Universal Language"
"The Laundromat Advances the Plot"

Nonfiction:
Life Among the Obliterati #6: "MFA Cliché" by Nick Matamas
Words and Stuff: "Overstressed, Understressed" by Jed Hartman

Don't delay! Click here to order your issue on line and help support another terrific small press magazine.

New Fiction On-Line