August PANK Will Scorch You

It’s hot. These words will get you hotter. Put your hand in the fires of Zack Bean, Eric Bennett, Nicelle Davis, Sean Doyle, John Fischer, Luke Geddes, Luke Goebel, Melissa Goodrich, Brett Elizabeth Jenkins, Matt Lapata, Lindsay Merbaum, Teresa Milbrodt, Colleen O’Connor, Matt Salesses, Katie Jean Shinkle, B.R. Smith, Beth Thomas, Robert Alan Wendeborn and Bonnie ZoBell. Get started here.

Check it Out: The WBEZ Blog

WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio has a quirky blog I’ve been enjoying this week. In addition to the posts you might normally find on a blog (news, supplements to WBEZ programming, other miscellany), each week author Amy Krouse Rosenthal creates a mission for the blog readers to complete. This week’s mission is six-word memoirs. What’s yours? Go to the WBEZ blog and let them know! Add the blog to your reader and see what Amy K.R. challenges you to do next.

We Want Readers for AWP 2011

We’re looking for ten readers for the PANK/Annalemma/mud luscious reading at AWP 2011 to join the five mud luscious press novella readers who have already been secured. This reading extravaganza will likely take place on Thursday evening at 7 or 8 pm. Details to follow. Priority given to writers who have appeared both in PANK and Annalemma but we’ll take all comers. If you want to read for us, send us an e-mail to awesome at pankmagazine.com.

We Do Not Demand You Write To Our Aesthetic

I’ve seen a number of cover letters lately alluding to our “edgy aesthetic,” and how stories are a good fit for that “edgy aesthetic.” You don’t have to write edgy stories for us to love your writing. My love of dirty realism is pretty well-documented but that is by no means the only kind of writing I love and M. Bartley has his own literary loves and between the two of us, there is balance. You don’t have to try and force things by trying to push your story artificially. We can tell when you’re doing this. It’s uncomfortable. If you’re writing about a fireman, for example, he doesn’t have to wear women’s underwear to be interesting though if he does wear women’s underwear because he likes the way it keeps him snug, we’re totally fine with that. We appreciate the gesture but would rather read what you think is your best work, what you think is the best reflection of who you are as a writer. Yes, we have an aesthetic and we are interested in curating that aesthetic but we would like to think our aesthetic is flexible enough to include all kinds of writing and in looking at the writing we publish that flexibility can be found. Our aesthetic is dynamic, not static. It evolves because our tastes evolve, because we grow and learn and try, every day, to become better editors who are open-minded. We are not necessarily looking for work that mirrors what we’ve published. When we say, “This isn’t right for PANK,” that doesn’t mean that you need to change your writing style. It means try again but be yourself. When we say, “Read PANK,” we are asking you to give us money by subscribing (which you totally should because PANK 5 is going to blow your head off) or to check out our monthly issues AND we’re asking you to understand that the bar is very high because our writers are, simply put, the greatest. We want you to get a sense of what we love but we don’t want you to feel like the writing we publish is all we love.

We are looking for writing we would have never thought to publish until your brilliance came long.

Unless you are writing about cats in which case, sorry.It’s not going to happen.

Also, we are having a contest with a very reasonable entry fee of $10 for one entry or $15 for two entries. There is a very nice prize. Take a chance! Support PANK!

The July Issue of PANK is Explosive

The writers in the July issue are blowing things up. They are shooting fire into the sky. Get down with Rachel Adams, Stace Budzko, Sara Crowley, Alana Dakin, Tim Dicks, Chris Erickson, Jen Gann, Kyle Minor, Ansley Moon, Gena Mohwish, Johnsie Noel, Tia Prouhet, Laura Read, Keith Rosson, Chris Sheehan, Robert Anthony Siegell, Robert Swartwood, Robb Todd, Brandi Wells, and Bill Yarrow.
Run, read, revel, rejoice.

2010 1,001 Awesome Words Contest

We are now accepting entries for our second annual writing competition, 1,001 Awesome Words. We think it suits the PANK ethos to leave it at that.

Not enough, you say? Need key words, you say? Explode. Excite. Intrigue. Surprise. Blow. Our. Pea. Sized. Brains. Any form or formlessness, 1,001 words or less. You know who you are. Now go to it.

Prizes and Fees

Yes! Prizes!

1st Place: $650* and publication in PANK 5.
2nd Place: $150 and Publication in PANK 5 .

Yes. An entry fee, too.

$10 for one entry; $15 for two entries; $25 for three entries. Each entrant will receive a copy of PANK No. 5, out in January 2011.

*For the sake of transparency— We realize entry fees are controversial—acknowledged. Whether you believe us or not, this isn’t a reading fee—we consider it a privilege and pleasure to read your work. While we are hoping this will make us some money, we mostly want to hold a contest and we want to pay the winners, and we want the winners to truly benefit from participation. That said, the announced prize money is predicated on getting enough entrants (we don’t anticipate a problem). However, if PANK draws a prize pool less than $800, we will announce how many entries we received, and we will pay the two winners on a graduated scale with the first place winner getting 50% of the prize pool.

If this doesn’t suit you, please do not participate.

To Enter

1.      Pay the entry fee. Go to here and click on the “Paypal Buy Now” button beneath “1,001 Awesome Words Contest”
2.      Make a note of your Transaction ID. You will need to submit a transaction ID with your contest entry.
3.      Email entry(ies) to contest@pankmagazine.com, subject line “AWESOME CONTEST ENTRY.” Include your PayPal transaction ID in the body of the email along with a brief bio and your preferred contact information. Attach entries as .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf attachment.
4.      All entries must be original and previously unpublished.
5.      All entries will be considered for publication in PANK.
6.      Deadline for entry is midnight, September 30, 2010. October 15, 2010.
7.      Winners will be announced on the website in October, 2010.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the contest, e-mail awesome@pankmagazine.com, subject “CONTEST QUERY”.

Our Island of Epidemics by Matthew Salesses is Available for Pre-Order

M. Bartley and I are pleased to announce that our second little book, Our Island of Epidemics, by Matthew Salesses, is now available for pre-order. You can buy Our Island of Epidemcis for $10, or bundled with PANK 5 for $20 + shipping and handling. The book will be released and pre-orders will ship on October 1.

Watch this space soon for big news about the artist who will be designing the cover.

Excerpts from Our Island of Epidemics can be found here and here and here and here and here and here among other places.

Make your way to our merchandise page and the Little Books button to make your purchase. We know you will love this book as much as we do. PANK Little Books also make great gifts!