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How, you ask? We pick our favorites, in order of their appearance:
1. Teresa turns it up loud, takes an acidbath and gets sweaty.
2. Marco tears in with tongs and staple guns.
3. Bob follows the Way and does it ’til it’s done.
4. Â Cameron accomplishes it with panache, mustachioed.
5. Vaughan first undoes the leather.
Our favorites take home a copy of Burch’s HOW TO TAKE YOURSELF APART, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF ANEW. Thanks for spinning the wheel, young shiny people.
PANK 3 contributor Clay Matthews’s Runoff is now available from BlazeVox. 
Clay Matthews currently lives next door to the Bristol Motor Speedway in East TN. He has one previous full-length, Superfecta (Ghost Road Press), and two chapbooks: Muffler (H_NGM_N B_ _KS) and Western Reruns (End & Shelf Books). He thinks highly of his friends.
With Runoff, Clay Matthews solidifies his claim as the only real successor to the narrative, discursive line of Richard Hugo while extending that range to include the kind of hard & sparkling bursts of revelatory truth-won-through-trauma that punctuate the landscape of the best of Larry Levis.
There’s a howling emptiness that runs through these lines like a river washing through a prairie canyon — but there’s a hopeful certainty too: Â that where it’s going is simply where it’s going & there’ll be sunshine & clear skies someday.
— Nate Pritts
Clay Matthews’ Runoff is ambitious, recursive, and tenacious. Part weather journal, part calendar, part hiding place, Runoff is dense with Americana: skee ball and social security cards, spark plugs and scissortail flycatchers. Beverly’s Pancake House and Roseanne reruns. A chicken-fried, not-quite-countrified Hamlet-of-sorts, Matthews says, “I got some kind of faith / in some kind / of something,” which is tender and optimistic in a world constantly “making up neo- and post- and pre- and new names for itself.” Combining the cultural, natural, and metaphysical with ease, here is a voice that ultimately just wants us to “witness the world / you little fools / and love it.” Literally letting his days run onto the page, an ordinary man takes us through a year of his (extra?) ordinary life. “And stranger,” he says, “you are welcome to it.” Welcome we are, indeed.
— Brandi Homan
To learn more or order the book, go here.
Our first issue of the year is quite remarkable and leads off what we are confident will be a year of writing that moves, you, amuses you, Â challenges you, inspires you. Enjoy words from Maureen Alsop, Andrew Borgstrom, Doug Paul Case, Mark Cunningham, Geordie deBoer, Sutherland Douglass, Dave Housley, Stephanie Johnson, Carolyn Kegel, Thomas Patrick Levy, Amy McDaniel, Carrie Murphy, Joseph Murphy, Alec Niedenthal, Ani Smith and Janey Smith.
PANK continues to grow. We’re interested in bringing a Reviews Editor on board. Your job would be to write reviews of magazines, books, chapbooks, etc. Â for the blog, at least once a week. Some books we would ask you to review in addition to your being able to review texts of your choice. If you’re interested, please send a brief letter of application to awesome at pankmagazine dot com detailing relevant experience and your interest in the position and ideally, a link to a review you’ve written or the text of a review you’ve written pasted in the body of the e-mail. That sounds pretty formal but it isn’t. We’re looking for someone who is a great writer, passionate about reading, and interested in sharing their opinions, whatever those opinions might be. The most important criterion is that you are reliable. If you have questions, leave them in the comments or e-mail me at the above address.
Accessible and engaging, the poems in Randall R. Freisinger’s Nostalgia’s Thread are provocative reconsiderations of the American experience as depicted in ten of Norman Rockwell’s best known paintings. Arguably the only serious collection of poems inspired by Norman Rockwell’s images, they were conceived just prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and written in their wake. These poems remind us that visual art is never static, the beholder’s eye never innocent. They bear witness to the fact that each cultural era must inevitably reinterpret its rich artistic inheritance within the context of its current collective experience.
The publication of Nostalgia’s Thread coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Norman Rockwell Museum as well as recent critical reappraisals of Rockwell’s as an illustrator and artist. These poems, in keeping with the venerable, centuries-old tradition of ekphrasis, give eloquent voice to Rockwell’s art, but they refuse to remain fixed within the paintings’ frames. Instead, the poems explore alternative narratives, setting aside simplistic readings of the images and opening them up to a more nuanced response.
With unflinching honesty and deep compassion, these poems present a personal and collective past which is both comforting and disturbing, both “nostalgia’s thread” and “the barbed wire / of memory.”
Buy the book here.
As part of this week’s focus on new books, Nicelle Davis interviewed Molly Gaudry, author of the lush novella We Take Me Apart, out now from mud luscious press.
1.The flow of We Take Me Apart appears effortless. How were you able to bring all of the book’s imagistic strands together to create such a tightly woven structure?
First, I’d like to credit J. A. Tyler for his editorial contributions. Without his help, I’m sure the book wouldn’t be as “tightly woven.” We went back and forth on the ending for months, discussing the pros and cons of two possible last chapters. It was great to have him as a guide from start to finish, and I’m not sure there’s any other writer I trust as much as I do him. Another way of saying this might go something like this: my vision for this project only benefited from having an editor who was willing to trust me and my creative impulses, and I am grateful for, first, his initial vote of confidence (signing on before seeing a full draft), and, second, helping me to transform the first draft into what became the final. Additional thanks are due to several first readers who each suggested the further development of different storylines or themes. The fairy tale aspect, as well as the mother/daughter storyline, became particular points of interest after receiving feedback from these readers, and I am very grateful to them.
As for the “imagistic strands,” I can thank only Gertrude Stein and her baffling Tender Buttons. After discarding an early version of We Take Me Apart, I turned to Stein and began making lists of words from her text, which opens with “A CARAFE, THAT IS A BLIND GLASS.” If you refer to the opening chapter/poem of WTMA, you’ll recognize what I did with the word “glass.” Later in the novella, “carafe” and “blind” also come into play. Same goes for so many other words from Tender Buttons. In this way, WTMA‘s images emerged as a result of my desiring to recast Stein’s objects as well as recast key, recognizable objects from the well-known versions of different fairy tales.
We were so excited about the response to the giveaway that we’re going to offer three copies each of One Hour of Television, We Take Me Apart, and Inconceivable Wilson. Even more exciting, Molly Gaudry has generously decided to give everyone who requested WTMA a copy of her book. Yay Molly. Yay Holiday Spirit!
We assigned everyone a number and then used a random number generator, put those results in the Hadron Collider, then had a deep meditation. Half of this statement is true. Thanks for playing and congratulations!
We Take Me Apart (from PANK)
Dan Brady
Michael J. Martin
Yvette Ward Horner
One Hour of Television
Sabra Embury
Erin Fitzgerald
Rob (no last name listed)
Inconceivable Wilson
BL Pawelek
Danny Barron
Greg Gerke
Kristina Born’s One Hour of Television
Molly Gaudry’s We Take Me Apart
JA Tyler’s Inconceivable Wilson
Also, we want to thank Joseph Young who donated our last giveaway’s copy of Easter Rabbit.
We’ll do a drawing. Leave a comment with your favorite hour of television, that is, your favorite show. Also indicate which book you’d like. Well draw randomly tomorrow at noon.
We are having an epic holiday sale.
PANK 4: $8.00
PANK 4 + 5: $12
PANK 4 + 5 + 6: $20
How to Take Yourself Apart, How to Make Yourself Anew by Aaron Burch: $6
Chapbook + PANK 4: $14
Go to our merch page to get in on the goodness.
An old friend asked me recently what we’re looking for in stories we accept for SmokeLong Quarterly. Since we’ve changed to a rotating editor on a weekly basis, it’s a little different. I can’t speak for every editor, but here are some tweets I made over the course of three nights drinking scotch and reading submissions. Most of these are of the “Do NOT” variety, but a few, at least, are of the “Yes, please” variety.
And again: scotch was being consumed. Also note: the piece I refer to as accidentally rejecting? That’s the piece I wound up choosing for our first installment of SmokeLong Weekly. Woo! And should you want to follow me semi-regularly making an ass of myself on Twitter, I’m at http://twitter.com/SmokeLong.
Havin’ a wee dram o’ scotch, reading submissions. 7:26 PM Dec 2nd from web
@ryancall My wee dram is gone. Another? Maybe so. 7:55 PM Dec 2nd from web
Fucking hell. I just sent a rejection to the wrong person. One downside to an online submission center: too easy to click the wrong link. 7:46 PM Dec 2nd from web
tip to writers: don’t have a typo in your first sentence. or your title. gives eds a quick reason to say “nope.”
Thankfully, writer of piece wrongly rejected is very cool. Piece still under consideration (and I really, really like it). 8:16 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip 2: Don’t refer to another writer in the first sentence of your story. Tonight’s references so far: Tao Lin (barf) and Alice Munro. 8:19 PM Dec 2nd from web
Jesus, ANOTHER misspelling in the first sentence. “Thank you, but no.” 8:20 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip mothafucking 3: read the guidelines. If we say we publish stories under 1000 words, don’t send a 5000-word story. 8:24 PM Dec 2nd from web
Realization: at the best of times, I can be a dick. When drinking wee drams o’ scotch and reading subs? I can be a serious dick. 8:29 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip 4: unless submitting to Bulwer-Lytton, don’t use all caps on things like BOOM. http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ 8:31 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip 5: (and this may just be me) In a flash… it’s never necessary to give a character’s full (first and last name). 8:32 PM Dec 2nd from web
second “wee dram” is gone. I’d like a third, but I’d hate myself tomorrow. 8:33 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip 6: I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure “thus” isn’t a word that ever does much for a flash. 8:34 PM Dec 2nd from web
Tip 7: busses are kisses. If you mean the vehicle, it’s buses. If it’s important enough to have in your title, you should know the diff. 8:49 PM Dec 2nd from web
switched from wee drams and reading subs to cold Chinese and reading subs. Let’s see if my asshole quotient goes down. 8:55 PM Dec 2nd from web
Okay. Churned through over a week’s worth of subs. I think that’s good for tonight. 9:19 PM Dec 2nd from web
reading subs again. today’s tip #1: A cat should never be the main character. 9:53 AM Dec 3rd from web
Tip #2: I try to read blind. Putting your contact info right in the field for the story itself makes this impossible. 10:17 AM Dec 3rd from web
Tip #3: Putting “The End” at the end of your flash? Not really necessary. Also not necessary in a sub? Copyright notice. 10:21 AM Dec 3rd from web
Tip #4: Check your email provider’s settings to make sure that communications from mags you submit to aren’t being sent to your spam folder. 10:27 AM Dec 3rd from web
@beanglish There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. 🙂 11:00 AM Dec 3rd from web in reply to beanglish
scotch and subs again tonight. 7:48 PM Dec 6th from web
sub tips again (at least when I’m the reader): starting a story Every day, every month, every x amount of time… almost never works for me. 7:49 PM Dec 6th from web
tip 2) (not a negative) Drop me in scene fast, please. 7:50 PM Dec 6th from web
3) Be exlicit. Show, don’t tell blah blah blah, but seriously… capture the single event w/in the larger series and just rock it, k? 7:53 PM Dec 6th from web
expanding on #3, some cool stuff happening in some of the subs, but related at too great a distance. get in there and bleed. 7:59 PM Dec 6th from web
4) Metaphors? A million times stronger than similes. 8:00 PM Dec 6th from web
And, of course, as a writer, I break all these rules myself. When it’s intentional: good. When it’s not: I should know better. 8:02 PM Dec 6th from web
5) OK, this is picky. But I really don’t like exclamation points in fiction. Let the words exclaim for themselves. 8:04 PM Dec 6th from web
6) Pop culture in lit fic can be great. But… don’t hang the whole story on a song/movie/whatever. 8:10 PM Dec 6th from web
7) confusing “your” for “you’re” in tweets? maybe borderline acceptable. In submissions? No. 8:23 PM Dec 6th from web
driving home from dropping off kids, saw a woman hitchhiking outside a cemetery. on 99, which, but for the cemetery, is prostitution street. 8:23 PM Dec 6th from web
(that last not a tip, obviously. just grabbed my attention.) 8:24 PM Dec 6th from web
unfair to submitters: reading subs the night after reading Pasha Malla’s “The Slough.” Because that? is fucking brilliant work right there. 8:27 PM Dec 6th from web
8) For God’s sake, love your characters: http://smokelong.com/interview/66.asp 8:31 PM Dec 6th from web
Ooh! Just read one I really like! 8:34 PM Dec 6th from web
9) You’re a writer, you have a good vocabulary. Got it. No need to show off. 8:35 PM Dec 6th from web
10) (hugely subjective) If you’re writing prose poetry, can you sing it? Dance? Howl? Can’t? Re-write. Sing/howl/dance anew. 8:44 PM Dec 6th from web
11) Ennui is my day job. Not really interested in reading/publishing it once I clock out. 8:45 PM Dec 6th from web
12) Oh, for God’s sake. Using an online sub form? Make sure your email is right. Just got 3 delivery failure messages. 8:51 PM Dec 6th from web
For God’s sake again (not even labeling this a tip): First sentence, two typos. 8:52 PM Dec 6th from web
Also: I’d reject Steph Meyer a million times given the chance. And yet, she accounted for 16% of book sales last year, so what do I know? 8:56 PM Dec 6th from web
@shaindelr Absolutely. The painfully bad ones are easy. The good, but not good enough ones are brutal. 8:58 PM Dec 6th from web in reply to shaindelr
13) Not sure why, but re-imagined fairy tales almost never work. 9:21 PM Dec 6th from web
14) Ever notice that friends look bored when you talk about your adventures on drugs? Yeah. So do editors. 9:24 PM Dec 6th from web
@pankmagazine I think the good but not great may be more common than the obviously bad, in fact. 9:28 PM Dec 6th from web in reply to pankmagazine
The sad fact: when one reads 100 submissions and can only accept 1, one must read with an eye to rejecting, not accepting. Sorry. 9:36 PM Dec 6th from web