The Rumpus Interview with Adam Ross
Adam Ross discusses his path to writing, his books and influences, and what life is like in Nashville.
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Posts by: Nancy Smith
The Rumpus Interview with Colson Whitehead
“I write books and either people read them or they don’t read them. The rise of Facebook or e-books doesn’t change the difficulty level of writing sentences and thinking up new ideas.”
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Radio Ambulante: This Latin American Life
We talked with author Daniel Alarcón about Radio Ambulante, a monthly Spanish-language radio program showcasing compelling human stories from around Latin America and the United States.
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Magazine Review #12: Radio Silence
What is the impact on the human condition when we expect to have everything we want, whenever we want it?
So asks Zach Rogue in the first issue of Radio Silence. This is the question that will define my generation, and a question that I have struggled with for my entire adult life.
...moreThe Rumpus Interview with Tupelo Hassman
Girlchild, Tupelo Hassman’s stunning debut novel, follows Rory Dawn Hendrix through a rough childhood in the Calle.
“Just north of Reno and just south of nowhere is a town full of trailers
...moreMagazine Review #11: AWP Lit Mag Round-Up
The book fair was the highlight of AWP Chicago for me. Sure, there was the misguided, and somewhat enraging debate over John D’Agata’s The Lifespan of a Fact, or the fascinating discussion of the modern essay as it relates to Virginia Woolf and her contemporaries, or Ben Percy’s creepy/awesome reading of a story about a bear that kills a family in their house—also all highlights.
...moreMagazine Review #10: Esopus, Issue #17
Reading Esopus is more akin to walking around an art gallery than flipping through a publication. While technically a magazine, in the sense that it’s a bound stack of paper, Esopus is a carefully curated collection of art, photography, writing, music, and other creative projects.
Magazine Review #9: The Coffin Factory, Issue #1
The Coffin Factory bills itself as the “magazine for people who love books,” and there is no better way to describe this magazine. Based in Brooklyn, and published three times a year, The Coffin Factory debuted this fall, and the first issue is an outstanding collection of fiction, essays, poetry, art, and interviews.
Magazine Review #8: Boat Magazine, Issue 1
Boat Studio, a small creative firm based in London, packed up their office and moved to Sarajevo for a month to make a magazine. The idea: to get people to take notice of forgotten cities around the world and to update people’s views of these places.
...moreThe Rumpus Original Combo with Justin Torres
Justin Torres has had a lot of jobs. He worked on a farm. He walked dogs. He drove a truck, picking up donations around New England. He even had a stint at Brainwash, folding laundry. Thankfully, along the way he began writing, and his debut novel We the Animals was released in September.
...moreWe the Animals
We the Animals, the beautiful debut novel from Justin Torres, moves in small moments. Tiny chapters, spare prose, and meticulous sentences take us through the complicated, messy childhood of three brothers.
...morePoet or Storyteller?
Tom Waits on Tom Waits, a comprehensive collection of interviews and encounters spanning nearly forty years, is essential reading for any Tom Waits fan.
...moreMagazine Review #7: Annalemma, Issue 8: Creation
Annalemma’s eighth issue is dedicated to “the creators, the people who make things, the people who use ingenuity and creativity to work around barriers. To the people who adapt to fit their surroundings, to the people who aren’t satisfied with a problem, and instead of ignoring it, they face it and try to make it better.” Editor Chris Heavener writes, “This issue is devoted to the makers of the world.”
Creation is a fascinating theme for writers to explore, and every piece in this issue revolves around the act of making.
...moreNo One Can Take a Bath for You: Why I Write
The other day, a friend of mine said he was giving up writing. This friend happens to be a very good writer. Why? I asked. Too many people already write about the things I write about, he said. I thought about this for a long time, and while I understand (and even sympathize) with this idea, I feel compelled to call bullshit on it.
Magazine Review #6: Paris Review, Issue 196
The most important—and surprising—thing about this issue of The Paris Review: Roberto Bolaño’s lost novel.
This is very exciting for fans of the Chilean writer (I happen to be a somewhat obsessive one) and even more so because The Paris Review will be publishing this “lost” novel in its entirety over the course of four issues.
...moreThe Rumpus Interview with Aimee Bender
I don’t think of anyone specific while writing, and I don’t want to get caught up in imagining what a reader might think because I do think that can get distracting. But I just think it has become clearer to me that writing is making a vessel to send to a reader.
...moreMagazine Review #5: Canteen, Issue Six
Issue six of Canteen is gorgeous—clean and modern, lots of white space, square format, luscious paper, a beautiful illustration by Rod Hunting on the cover, more like an art book than a magazine—and because of this, the stakes for good content are even higher.
...moreMagazine Review #4:
McSweeney’s 36
McSweeney’s 36 can hardly be called a “magazine,” though it’s difficult to know just what to call it. A friendly human-head box filled with an assortment of printed matter would be more accurate. And what an assortment it is.
...moreMagazine Review #3: Tin House #46, Winter Reading
I’ve been craving winter. Real winter. Snow and ice and shoveling and bundling up to the point of being unable to bend over. We don’t get that here in San Francisco.
Magazine Review #2: Zoetrope: All-Story (Fall 2010)
One of the most remarkable things about Zoetrope: All-Story has always been their use of guest designers.
Every issue carries the unique stamp of the contributing artist but this issue feels especially extraordinary. Kara Walker is the guest designer, and I wouldn’t have expected her work to translate so well in magazine format, but it seems even more beautiful on the page than it does on a gallery wall.
...moreMagazine Review #1: Ploughshares
In his introduction to the issue, guest editor Jim Shepard says, “I’ve been drawn to protagonists who are geniuses at knitting together self-indictment and self-exoneration in ways that are both unconscious and calculated. Protagonists who leave us to sort through what they’ve figured out, what they can’t figure out, and what they won’t try to figure out about themselves.”
...moreNancy Smith: The Last Book I Loved, Willful Creatures
When I was a kid I would wander down the block, four houses over, to visit our neighborhood “grandma,” Mrs. Koski.
At her house I was treated to Cheetos and stories. There wasn’t any junk food in my house so staining my fingers with chemical-orange was a thrill, but what I really loved was settling into Mrs.
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