Here.

There’s still time to get submissions in for consideration for PANK No.3, the print edition. But not much. Reading for online content and for PANK No.4 continues unabated.

See what PANK is reading and share your books with us at www.goodreads.com.

“There are seven incarnations (and six correlates) necessary to becoming an Artist: 1 Explorer (Courage) 2. Surveyor (Vision) 3. Miner (Strength) 4. Refiner (Patience) 5. Designer (Intelligence) 6. Maker (Experience) 7. Artist.  

“First you must leave the safety of your home and go into the dangers of the world, whether to an actual territory or some unexamined aspect of the psyche. This is what is meant by ‘Explorer.’

“Next, yo must have the vision to recognize your destination once you arrive there. Note that a destination may sometimes also be the journey. This is what is meant by ‘Surveyor.’

“Third, you must be strong enough to dig up facts, follow veins of history, unearth telling details. This is what is meant by ‘Miner.’

“Fourth, you must use your intellect to conceive of your material as something meaning more than its origins. This is what is meant by ‘Designer.’

“Six, you must fashion a work independent of everything that has gone before it including yourself. This is accomplished through experience and is what is meant by ‘Maker.’

“At this stage, the work is acceptable. You will be fortunate to have progressed  so far. It is unlikely, however, that you will go any farther. Most do not. But let us assume you are exceptional. Let us assume you are rare. What then does it mean to reach the final incarnation? Only this: at every stage, from 1 thru 6, you will risk more, see more, gather more, process more, fashion more, consider more, love  more, suffer more, imagine more and in the end know why less mean more and leave what doesn’t and keep what implies and create what matters. this what is meant by ‘Artist.'”

 

(Thanks, Jen. -M.)

A friend and I were recently talking about indie music, indie lit, and whiteness. Again. The former we talk about a lot. The latter less so. The former is written about more than a bit. The latter, not so much, or not as much. In our latest discussion of the former, he reminded me of an October 22, 2007 article from the New Yorker, “A Paler Shade of White: How indie rock lost its soul,” by Sasha Frere-Jones. Rereading it, I thought of the latter, that if you swap out rock and roll for poetry, change the references appropriately, the thesis holds. Read it here.

Powell’s Books interviewed Open City editor Joanna Yas (read  here). She said: “I’m afraid that even though more and more people decide to be writers every day, I’m not sure if the same amount decides to be serious readers.” If that don’t strike to the heart of it, I’m not sure what does.

That said, a lack of serious readers ain’t because there’s no good readin’ out there. Check out the current installment of Powell’s Books Indiespensible series, bringing you four of PANK’s favorite lit mags to your doorstep – The Believer, The Paris Review, Open City, and Tin House. Indiespensible here.  

Of course, you could read PANK, too.

 

BELLDAY POETRY PRIZE

$2,000 PRIZE TO WINNING POET

 

Submission Deadline:  March 16, 2009

 

CONTEST FINAL JUDGE: Linda Gregerson

Linda Gregerson is the author of four poetry collections:  Magnetic North  (2007),  Waterborne  (2002),  The Woman Who Died in Her Sleep  (1996), and  Fire in the Conservatory  (1982). She teaches creative writing and Renaissance literature at the University of Michigan. Linda has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Poetry Society of America, and the Modern Poetry Association, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study, the National Humanities Center, and the National Endowment for the Arts.    Magnetic North  was a finalist for the National Book Award, and she won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for  Waterborne.    She is also the author of two volumes of literary criticism and her essays on lyric poetry and Renaissance literature appear in many journals and anthologies.

 

Bellday Books will publish the winning book and award $2,000 and 25 copies of the book to the winning author.

 

Contest Rules:

–Submit a manuscript of 60-90 pages of original poetry in any style in English. The manuscript must not have been published in book or chapbook, but  may  contain poems that have appeared in print or on the Internet.   Entries  may  consist of individual poems, a book-length poem or any combination of long or short poems.

–Submitted manuscript must contain 2 title pages: Name and contact information should appear on first title page only. Name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript.

–Manuscript should be typed, single-spaced, paginated, and bound with a

spring clip.

–Include a table of contents page, but do not send an acknowledgements page.

–Enclose an SASE for announcement of the winner.

–Manuscript cannot be returned.

–Postmark deadline:  March 16, 2009.

–Include a check or money order for $25 reading fee, payable to BELLDAY BOOKS.

–Bellday Books reserves the right not to select an award winner, in which case all reading fees will be refunded.

 

CONTEST MAILING ADDRESS:

Bellday Books, Inc.

P.O. Box  3687

Pittsburgh, PA 15230

ROOMS announces its inaugural chapbook contest.  The winning submission, chosen by  ROOMS’  editors, will be published by Articles Press, its parent non-profit organization and publisher.  The chapbook will receive a first printing of 200 copies to be sold for $5 each on the  ROOMS and Articles  websites.  

 

FEE:  There is a $15 reading fee.  Each entrant receives a one-year subscription to  ROOMS.  Make checks or money orders payable to Articles Incorporated.  Fees collected will be used solely for printing, distribution, and advertising costs.

 

WINNER:  The winner of the contest will receive half the proceeds from the contest and 25 copies of the chapbook.  We keep a running tally of the number of submissions received.  

 

DEADLINE: The deadline for submissions is  March 15th, 2009.  

 

GUIDELINES:  Submissions should be 20-30 pages.  No more than one poem per page. Include your name, mailing address, email address, and a contact number on the cover letter.  Your name and contact information should not appear on any pages of the manuscript.  Make sure you put enough postage on the envelope you use to mail your submission.

 

ADDRESS:

Rooms Chapbook Contest

Articles Incorporated

10822 Santa Clara Dr.

Fairfax, VA 22030  

 

WINNER: The winner will be notified by  July 1st, 2009.  If you are not the winner, we will not notify you individually.  You will discover the winner by checking the website after he or she has been notified and has accepted.  This saves you the trouble of sending us a SASE and wasting some postage.  Manuscripts will not be returned.  They will be recycled.  

OK, so I just finished Deb Olin Unferth’s new novel, Vacation, published by the good folks at McSweeney’s. For the second time. Did you catch that? Twice, that’s right. Because the first time it just freaked me out so I gave it a second go. And it freaked me out again, only worse. By freaked out, I mean, mind blown, world view shifted. That may be hyperbole, but not by much. I won’t bother trying to explain all the ways this book is beyond awesome. If you’re not reading Unferth, you’re a loser. At Powell’s Books  here.

Speaking of Powell’s, I just got the new Indiespensible mailing — Ian Bank’s The Crow Road and a mix CD of Portland, OR, musicians performing songs about the Lone Fir graveyard, Dearly Departed. I don’t get excited about much, not much makes me feel like a better, smarter, sexier person, but my Indiespensible subscription does. If I didn’t live 1,966 miles away from Powell’s, I’d drop in and kiss somebody. Indiespensible here – that thing I said about not reading Unferth and being a loser, that applies in this case, too.  

And speaking of indie bookstores, but a little closer to home, if you’re in Chicagoland, check out our very mostest favoritest of all, Quimby’s, where you can get PANK, the mark of true excellence.

http://www.pank.se/index1.htm