Fiction Dinner with Helon!

Thanks to 2nd years Norah and Kirsten we've got one more fiction dinner before the semester's end! This one will be Helon's first.

When: Sunday May 3rd 5pm
Where: Norah's house, directions on listserv

We're limited to 20 people on this one, so send Norah an email to rsvp. We'll keep a waiting list...if you are past the 20th person, we'll add people off the waiting list in case someone cancels.

And as always this will be potluck, so figure out what you'll bring...

April Cheryl’s Gone

On Thursday April 16, Cheryl's Gone features terrific readers Ed Davis and Sheri Sorvillo, both current GMU MFAers, and Nancy Pearson, a GMU alum who recently published her first book, Two Minutes of Light. The free event is at the Big Bear Cafe.

Candid Yak Friday April 17

On Friday, April 17 at the Prose House at 7:00 pm, the Candid Yak features a great lineup:

Nat Foster (fiction)
Pat Martin (fiction)
Emily Viggiano (poetry)
Kirsten Clodfelter (fiction)

Ice Cream and Books and Alan

The last post's mention of the Washington Post Magazine reminded me of an article I read a while back that is worthy of sharing here. The story is about Andrew Gifford, a D.C. publisher who's family founded and ran Gifford's Ice Cream and Candy, a franchise of old-fashioned ice cream parlors that once thrived in the D.C. area. Gifford's went from being the hottest spot on a Saturday night in the 1950s to bankrupt in 1985.

Despite suffering from a long-time painful chronic illness, in 2002 Gifford began a small literary press, the Santa Fe Writer's Project. Writer Ray Robertson is quoted in an interview, "Publishers like Andrew Gifford at SFWP are [expletive] heroes." The press published The Fires, written by GMU's own Alan Cheuse. Cheuse is mentioned and quoted in the article. (Also, interviewed here by SFWP, on his novellas.)

Check it out here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081401431.html

Washington Post fiction contest

Hey! There’s less than a month left to enter the Washington Post Magazine’s short story contest. Write 1,500 words or less inspired by, based on, or tangentially connected to the photo here by May 4. As far as I can tell the prize is publication in the 2010 Valentine’s issue of the magazine, but you’d get to appear in the same issue as a bunch of established writers. Submission information is linked to this sentence, if you missed it.

Last year’s winner was Sam Esquith, a writer and teacher in Middleburg, Virginia, and the year before that it was Dean Hebert of the University of Maryland—one of us should win one!

Review GMU’s program

Hey everyone, go to this graduate school review site gradinsider.com and write a review of the George Mason University MFA Creative Writing program.

Update—hey, cool, we have five stars! I’ll write a review, too, if someone else will . . .

Philip Levine Interview w/ Brian Brodeur

Hi Everyone,

Brian Brodeur has interviewed Philip Levine about the creation of a poem. I just discovered Brian's blog. Brian appears to have decided to interview as many poets as possible about the creation of their poems. Others interviewed include Eric Pankey, Sandra Beasley, Dorianne Laux, etc. Visit if you haven't already.

This post is short because I am very tired and must now go wash dishes.

Goodnight,
Ryan