MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR TUESDAY, NOV 1
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: November 2005
HEADLINES

10.26.05, BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—Prairie Margins, the undergraduate literary journal of Bowling Green State University, was released on October 26 as part of an important unveiling. This particular edition is the first ever to feature work from all over the U.S..

The content of the new edition is rather diverse, reports coeditor-in-chief, Steven Barrie. “There is some stuff that seems really real, and there is some stuff that is like magical realism." See for yourself: Get your copy of Prairie Margins by e-mailing coeditor-in-chief Oleander Barber: debrab @ bgnet.bgsu.edu.

10.29.05, CALCUTTA, India—The Telegraph reports that Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen is now ready, after a few copyright entanglements, to start production on Goynar Baksho, a magical realist film adapted from the Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay story of the same title.

“I have always loved this story," said the filmmaker. "It has a Marquezian feel, that kind of magic realism. It shows the changing position of women in our society through three generations, vis-a-vis the changing attitude of the women. I like the story because there is no pontification and it’s very light." The film, which will star both Aparna and her daughter, Konkona, will take on comedic overtones, she said.

10.30.05, SAN LUIS OBISPO, California—The Latino Outreach Council presented the 1959 film, "Macario," last Sunday as part of the "Cine sin Fronteras" ("Cinema without Borders") film festival, produced to honor the Day of the Dead along California's central coast.

"Macario," produced by cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, is the classic tale of a Mexican man who fantasizes about having a roast turkey and who must confront God, death and the devil when he finally acquires his edible "grail."

Festival organizer Pedro Arroyo remarked of the film's theme, "You see it happen again and again: People gain a little wealth and power, and they squander it all." He contends that the film, with its magical realism, "has crossover appeal. I think anybody can relate."

10.31.05, DENVER, Colorado—Musical cult hero Reverend Adam Glasseye, a special contributor to the Denver Post, had this to say about Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children in a recent musing about the art that inspires him:

"Rushdie's telling of the modern history of India is so alive and frighteningly chaotic that even his most absurd magical realism resonates as truth."

10.31.05, MEDFORD, Oregon—Bhutan's first-ever homegrown feature film, Travelers and Magicians, opens at the Varsity Theatre on Friday, November 11.

Directed by Khyentse Norbu, a Rinpoche (reincarnated high llama) of Bhutanese Tibetan Buddhism, the film is described by film critics at The Medford News as a "magical mixture of rustic road movie and mystical fable...a potpourri of desire and its consequences, set in a breathtaking landscape." The film has received raves globally, including these words from Lee Marshall for Screen International, who describes Travelers and Magicians as a "Magic realist fable...Sweet and intriguing...A paean to the mountain kingdom's unhurried pace of life and stress on spiritual values."

Showings run 6:15 pm and 8:30 pm, and the film will run for at least one week. The opening will benefit the Ashland Independent Film Festival. Tickets are $7.25 general public and $5 for AIFF members, available now at the Varsity Theatre Box Office.

FROM THE BLOG EDITOR
Mood:  happy
Topic: November 2005
MAGICAL REALISM NEWS IS BACK ONLINE!

Thanks for your patience as we restart this feature. We took a brief hiatus over the summer and first part of the fall, but now we're back.

If you hear of any great MR news, let us know. We'll be happy to credit you as a source, if you like.

Management

FROM THE BLOG EDITOR
Topic: JULY 2005
HEY FOLKS!

If you haven't yet seen our Quixote spectacular, click here. You won't want to miss out on this terrific survey of the world's most beloved Modern novel.

Our fiction contest has closed, and we are busy at a number of projects: finalizing our decisions about general submissions from Feb-Apr 2005, processing our fiction contest, producing the next edition of Periphery.

POETS NOTE: However, we have one more contest open: EVIDENCE OF MIRACLES is the theme for this year's free verse contest, with a deadline of August 1. Details

The staff is otherwise taking some time off for the summer, so any messages you send us may receive a delayed reply. We're also reviewing our mission statement this summer and making some plans and priorities for the next five years. Keep checking back for news about Margin's plans for the next five years.

In the meantime, the newsblog will be on hiatus until September. We are also completely closed to general submissions. Of course, we always love getting letters from our readers, so feel free to drop us a note anytime with your feedback.

Have a terrific summer; we'll see you in the fall!

The staff/MARGIN

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR MONDAY, MAY 23
Topic: May 2005
SALMAN RUSHDIE is at it again! Fans must pick up a copy of his latest work of magical realist genius, Shalimar the Clown. From a review in Book Standard, we learn about the "sprawling story ripped from today's?and, undoubtedly, tomorrow's?headlines" as the publication's critics give glowing kudos to this latest from the master, described as "a magical-realist masterpiece that equals, and arguably surpasses, the achievements of Midnight's Children, Shame and The Moor's Last Sigh. [Margin editor: I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one!]

Magical realist author DANIEL OLIVAS recently reviewed Luis Alberto Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter for the literary blog, ELEGANT VARIATION. Olivas informs us that

"The Hummingbird?s Daughter is [Urrea's] fictionalization of family lore based on twenty years of intense research and interviews. The result resonates with such passion and beauty that it doesn?t matter whether Teresita?s legend is based more on a people?s wishful thinking than truth."

Add one more title to the ever-growing list of "Books to Read!" Let us know what you think; try it out with your book group.

DID YOU KNOW?Margin's incomplete PayPal coding from last winter is no longer so. Hooray! You can pay contest entry fees, send donations or buy copies of Periphery easily using this new convenient feature.

And speaking of contests?. August 1, 2005 is the deadline for Margin's second annual free verse contest. This year's theme: "Evidence of Miracles." Miracles can come from anywhere and are not necessarily the domain of the pious and church-going. Send us your free verse poems witnessing miracles; the humorous, the unpredictable and the outlandish have a good chance here. Patently religious poems won't. Feel free to employ the popularly iconic, the socially secretive, the irreverent. Prize: $100 and publication in the Winter 2006 edition of Margin. Details

KUDOS to Abe Books for putting forth a magical realism sampler page. We find the titles and authors cited there offer a satisfactory representation of our favorite literary form. Great job, Abe!

contest winner announced
Topic: May 2005
editors Tamara Kaye Sellman and Susan Deefholts are proud to announce the winner of the PERIPHERY III (theme: "Reasonable Facsimiles") flash fiction/prose poetry contest for 2005:

"What the Body Houses" a prose poem from Cathie Sandstrom of Sierra Madre, CA

Other works to be highlighted in this annual, collectible zine include:

"Ghost in Training" (prose poem) and "Twin Sisters" (prose poem) by John Davis of Bainbridge Island, WA

"The Image" (flash fiction) by Eve Fisher of Madison, SD

"A Matter of Agreement" (flash fiction), "Point of View: Reflections of the Reflection Who Doesn't Know She's the Reflection" (flash fiction) and "The Price" (flash fiction) by Andrea Jackson of St. Louis, MO

"Under the Skin" (flash fiction) by Kathryn Kulpaof Bristol, RI

"The Cavalier" (prose poem) and "Letter to an Unborn Twin" (prose poem), also by winner Cathie Sandstrom

Please join us in congratulating all the contributors. PERIPHERY III: "Reasonable Facsimiles" will be released August 1, 2005. If you haven't picked up your copy of PERIPHERY II: "The Living Landscape," you better get one soon! Only 10 remain!!!

Posted by magicalrealismmaven@yahoo.com at 10:48 AM PDT
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MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR TUESDAY, MAY 17
Topic: May 2005
BOOK TALK
Got demons??? I don't know if magical realist DANIEL OLIVAS has any of his own, but he sure knows how to approach the subject. Olivas recently received some nice props for his story collection, Devil Talk. WORTH CHECKING OUT

HUMAN FLOWERS
Margin's winter 2005 edition cover artist BEATRIZ INGLESSIS was recently featured as part of the Human Flower Project. We selected her image, Botanical Composition #4 because, like her other work, it suggests the possible rising out of the impossible. We wish her continued good luck with her dramatic, unique and challenging work.

CLMP MERGER SUPPORTS INDY PUBLISHING
In 2001, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP] (a 38 year-old non-profit organization providing technical assistance to independent literary publishers) invited Margin to join the organization as one of its first-ever electronic publications. This was a great move on their part. Acknowledging the electronic media even a few years ago was considered risky business. But the industry has dramatically improved in even that short period, and electronic publishers are getting the credit they deserve, particularly because of efforts made by the CLMP.
We have been extremely grateful for the association, for it has meant we have enjoyed the fruits of such membership, including networking, exposure, inclusion in major literary events and the like.

So naturally we're happy to post that the CLMP recently merged with the Literary Ventures Fund (LVF, Inc.), a newly formed venture philanthropy supporting literary publishing. From the news release:

"The Literary Ventures Fund, Inc., founded by Jim Bildner, builds on the premise that given a level marketing playing field, exceptional literary works from small presses can thrive in the marketplace."

Kudos to CLMP and LVF for looking out for the future of small press and independent literary publishing in the US! This has got to be one of the most important efforts at championing free speech and expression in publishing that our country has seen in a long time. Our sincere thanks to the fine folks at CLMP. We send them our heartiest congratulations!

A NEW WAVE PUERTO RICAN WRITERS
Fans of Puerto Rican writing should get a copy of the second edition of Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana, published by the Latin American Writers Institute at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, New York.
The issue is entitled "Open Mic/Microfono Abierto: Nuevas Literaturas Puerto/Neorrique?as/New Puerto/Nuyor Rican Literatures" and is guest-edited by the Puerto Rican critic Juan Flores and the Puerto Rican writer Mayra Santos-Febres, professors at Hunter College (CUNY) and at the University of Puerto Rico, respectively.

The 300-page issue features "a newcrop of writers, first emerging around 1990, who approach the idea and practice of 'Puerto Rican literature' from new angles and with new meanings. Some new texts written from this perspective set out to pronounce important changes within the literary field of what had been referred to as 'Puerto Rican/Nuyorican literature' for more than two decades."

Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana is edited by Peruvian writer Isaac Goldemberg, and its mission is to build bridges between Latino artists and intellectuals in the United States with their counterparts in Latin America and other parts of the world. To get your copy or to subscribe to the journal, please call (718) 518-6859 or write LAWI@hostos.cuny.edu Thanks to contributor Naomi Ayala for this tip

WRITERS' WORKSHOPS
Margin contributor THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI is leading a couple of workshops this summer:

"Generating Fiction" will be offered as part of the Hofstra University Summer Writing Workshops, Hempstead, L.I. Ten meetings, July 11-22. Open to all. Info: 516.463.7600.

"Short and Sweet," a prose poetry workshop. Hudson Valley Writers Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY. Four Tuesdays in August. Contact by e-mail or phone 914.332.5953

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR TUESDAY, MAY 3
Topic: May 2005
Margin poet Hermine Meinhard is leading a week-long poetry retreat at Il Chiostro in Tuscany, Italy from Sat June 11 through Sat June 18. "Each day, either in the morning or afternoon, we will meet for a workshop of improvisational exercises to help you draw deeply on interior landscapes as well as the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside. … A new vista, and such a sensuously rich one, is a wonderful opportunity to reach out and into new sources of material from which the writing can flow. We will make excursions, for example, to the lovely medieval town of Siena and the local Dievole winery (maker of fine Chianti and just across the road) and I will leave you time for exploring on your own the beautiful hills, valleys and towns. … Meals will be a highlight of the day with traditional Tuscan recipes, local wine and fresh seasonal produce... So, in addition to making beautiful poems, we will live well." Details and registration

Ozzie Nogg, whose short story, "Blue Plate Special," we both published and nominated for a Pushcart prize, recently earned a new distinction for her work on a beautiful handmade book of creative nonfictions we reviewed in the last edition of Margin: Joseph's Bones won first prize in the Life Stories category of The Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards. She won $500 cash, promotion in Writer's Digest, and a guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review. Way to go, Oz!

Trickster Tales author John Briggs was recently featured by Pat Cahill for the masslive.com edition of The Republican of Springfield, MA. In "The world is a strange place" (March 24, 2005), Cahill discusses not only Briggs' new story collection, but his recent photography exhibition and the creative drives that fuel his life. "Creativity is essential for our survival. If we're not creative, we die," Cahill quoted Briggs. His book is descibed as having a "Franz Kafka-meets-Salvador Dali flavor." (For the full text, click here then select the article title, "The World is a Strange Place." You will need to register to read the entire text)

It's nice to know there's such a rich Spanish-language literary scene in our nation's capital. Translater CM Mayo recently published a literary resources article focusing on the DC area for Viva La Vida Literaria. Her article covers books, readings, and lectures; resources for translators; calls for submissions specifically tailored to Spanish-language authors and translators; and a brief interview with Robert Giron of Gival Press.

More MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR WEDNESDAY, APR 27
Topic: April 2005
Other Margin contributors in the news:

Poet Lorraine Healy will perform on the Main Stage at the Burning Word Poetry Festival in Whidbey Island, WA on Saturday, April 30.

Folks in Seattle can also catch Margin editor Tamara Kaye Sellman, children's author Anjali Banerjee and Chicano magical realist author Kathleen Alcala at the Rainbow Bookfest on Saturday, April 30 (Community Center International District/Chinatown, 719 8th Ave S, Seattle, 9:30am - 6pm). Kathleen will be presenting for the "Selling Out: Selling Your Soul or Selling Your Books?" workshop at 2pm in Multi-purpose Room B, and Anjali is participating in the workshop, "Educators By Default: Why Children's Authors Do What They Do, What Do They Teach, What Have They Learned" at 4pm, also in Multi-purpose Room B. Their books will be on sale at the University Bookstore but you might also find either author hanging around the Margin table, ready to sign copies or chat with readers.

The weekend ain't over yet! Seattle Poetry Fest will feature Magical Realist Poetry from Erin Fristad, Marjorie Manwaring, Marjorie Rommel and Tamara Kaye Sellman on Sunday, May 1 at 1:15pm at the Richard Hugo House. Work from Margin poets Hermine Meinhard and Mary Elizabeth Parker is also slated to be read at that time.

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR WEDNESDAY, APR 27
Topic: April 2005
Margin's sometimes consulting editor Wyatt Bonikowski recently posted an interesting discussion about Kathy Acker and Realism at his new blog "The Nature of Too Bad."

Here's a great quote Wyatt posted from Acker: "The desire to play, to make literary structures that play into and in unknown or unknowable realms, those of chance and death and the lack of language, is the desire to live in a world that is open and dangerous, that is limitless. To play, then, both in structure and in content, is to desire to live in wonder."

And speaking of Kathy Acker, look for a newly unearthed piece of hers in the summer 2005 edition of Gargoyle, along with a short story from Margin editrice Tamara Kaye Sellman and work from some of her favorite contemporary authors and poets, including Martha Silano, J.P. Dancing Bear, Kate Braverman, Denise Duhamel, Michael Martone, C.M. Mayo, Molly McQuade, Rick Moody, Naomi Shihab Nye, D. Harlan Wilson and others.

OPRAH ANNIVERSARY
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: April 2005
Consultant-at-large Bruce Taylor reminded me that today is a significant anniversary for MARGIN:

One year ago today, Oprah Winfrey unveiled the magical realism pages Susan and I prepared for their popular and well-received Book Club spotlight on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE.

Oh Happy Day! A lot of traffic was redirected our way thanks to that exposure, and a lot of folks who would never have visited Margin otherwise spent time at our site and even became subscribers.

We often think of the book-loving world as a pie in thirds: the fans, teachers and writers of "literature;" the fans, teachers and writers of "genre;" and the denizens of mainstream bibliophiles who we all exist to please. My background has largely been spawned from the literary side, though I grew up in a household of science fiction and fantasy lovers. Bruce's background took a separate path along the banks of the "genre" stream. As more people came to be involved at MARGIN, these two distinctions continued to be made. But what of the mainstream?

This entree into the mainstream, via Oprah, was a welcomed surprise assignment last February. To reach readers whose only investment is, in fact, The Book, means we are an active part of that third distinction. For this, we are proud.

Please join us in celebrating a small, but significant, anniversary.

Tamara Kaye Sellman
Editor and Publisher

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR MONDAY, APR 11
Topic: April 2005
Many thanks to the contributors to MARGIN's fifth anniversary reading event, "A Night of Magic (Realism)" on Thursday March 31 in Vancouver BC. The event was a wonderful success, with lovely works read by Pauline Holdstock, Karen McelMurray, Paulo da Costa, Ewing Campbell, John Briggs, and Bruce Holland Rogers. Stay tuned to MARGIN's main pages: we'll be posting our Report from AWP in a few days!

Magical realist poets, here's a strong critical review and close reading of Sue Kwock Kim's Notes from the Divided Country: Poems by David Koehn, who spends some quality time deconstructing the poet's magical realist techniques. A great study tool for those still trying to wrap their minds around magical realism as a narrative form for poets.

FRANCESCA LIA BLOCK is in hot water again for her book, Dangerous Angels, which is one of several award-winning titles that comprise the popular young adult alternative series better known as Weetzie Bat. The series, described by Block as "postmodern, magic-realist tales for all ages" and "contemporary fairy tales with an edge," has come under fire again for complaints that the book "has sexual themes, at least one gay character, and nontraditional families."

TONI MORRISON fans who also appreciate opera are in for a real treat: the 74-year-old author of such acclaimed novels as Sula and Song of Solomon has written the libretto for the opera "Margaret Garner," composed by Richard Danielpour, which will premiere in May at the Detroit Opera House in May and will star Denyce Graves, mezzo-sopramo, in the title role. Morrison based her text on the same slave story context which was the focus of Beloved, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Steve Weinstein of New York Blade gives raves to one of the latest gay independent films to be released on DVD: Cowboys and Angels. The film, set in Ireland in what Weinstein characterizes as a "post-gay" perspective, is a sensitive magical realist undertaking with a classic plot: gay man helps confused small-town boy find himself. Writes Weinstein: "The whole thing has the good-natured air of a modern, grown-up fairy tale (take that however you want). In the end, the princes end up with their princesses, the queens with their ? queens, the sky is blue, and all?s right with the world. ?But there?s not a word of this film that doesn?t ring true."

Here's a thoughtful essay on prodigious literary celebrity which focuses on Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, written by Vivian Gornick of The Nation. Writes Gornick: "If Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is as popular with readers as Everything Is Illuminated, it will be because Foer is indeed the wunderkind the country needs and therefore deserves: a writer of talent who exploits holocaust to mythicize the most aggressive self-pity in modern American history, the kind that feeds relentlessly on a nostalgia that seriously reduces whatever chance we have of understanding what we are living through."

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Topic: March 2005
Margin proudly announces a new special theme for the Spring 2006 edition:

PASSAGES TO INDIA
Magical Realism from the Subcontinent

Our goal at MARGIN is to explore modern magical realism. In this third in a series of special theme issues, we will address the diversity of voices from the subcontinent of India, celebrating their particular manifestations of literary magical realism.

Margin's Indian exploration will be launched in June 2006.

Contributors need not currently live in the region, nor does the work necessarily need to be set there. We welcome work from the broad diaspora of Indian writers. If we decide to use your work we will ask for you to share with us your connection to the peninsula (through family ties, cultural upbringing, residency), and you must be willing and able to authenticate it. We are interested specifically in anything that serves to answer the question, "What is magical realism from India?" See website for detailed guidelines.

How To Submit
We accept submissions either via e-mail or surface mail.

Send electronic submissions, putting the words "Passages to India" in the subject line, here. We will not open attachments. Please do not send attachments, but embed the text of your electronic submissions into the body of your e-mail. Leave format coding out, if possible. We can discuss that after acceptance. If your e-mail address becomes invalid, we cannot be held responsible for failure to reply. Do not send URLs; we simply don't have time to navigate entire sites looking for manuscripts.

Send surface mail submissions to:

MARGIN: Exploring Modern Magical Realism
ATTN: Passages to India
321 High School Road N.E.
PMB #204
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
USA

Deadline/ February 28, 2006. Estimated reply time is the end of April 2006 or sooner. Please note the anthology staff goes on break in December of every year.

If you have any questions about this special theme, don't hesitate to ask!

SPECIAL MAGICAL REALISM EVENT!
Now Playing: Join MARGIN in celebrating 5 Fabulist Years!
Topic: March 2005
AN INVITATION TO A ONE-OF-A-KIND EVENT!

COME JOIN US FOR A NIGHT OF MAGIC (REALISM)

Save this date! THURSDAY, MARCH 31
Time: 9:30 pm for Main Event
12:00 pm midnight for Liar's Fest
Place: Our Town Cafe
245 Broadway E
Vancouver, BC
(604) 879-1924
Cost: Free!

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Join six terrific North American authors for a special night celebrating the diversity and popularity of literary magical realism.

Co-hosts Johnny Frem of Vancouver's lively and interactive Bolts of Fiction literary arts community and Tamara Kaye Sellman, editor and publisher of MARGIN: Exploring Modern Magical Realism are proud to announce the upcoming performances of these marvelous magical realist writers:

Janice Eidus of New York, NY, USA
John Briggs of Granville, MA, USA
Ewing Campbell of Austin, TX, USA
Karen McelMurray of Milledgeville, GA, USA
Pauline Holdstock of Sydney, BC, CANADA
Paulo da Costa of Calgary, AL and Cortez Island, BC, CANADA

(featured readers' bios below)

The event is held in conjunction with the year-long celebration of the 5th anniversary of MARGIN, the de facto North American clearinghouse for authors of magic realism. Special thanks to the Writer's Union of Canada and the Canada Council for help with honoraria and travel expenses, and a grateful nod to Associated Writing Programs, which have selected Vancouver BC as the site of its annual conference, which has attracted four of MARGIN's authors to this corner of the world.

Between performances, selected definitions of magical realism will be presented by Sellman as a way to answer the question, "What IS magical realism?" and Frem will give out various door prizes.

WE WANT YOU! (to participate in this audience-interactive event!)

LIAR'S FEST
Stick around to ring in April Fool's Day at midnight when Paulo da Costa (SCENT OF A LIE) leads a story-circle of tall tales, urban legends, fish stories and other adventures in fabrication! Magical realism enjoys roots in oral tradition and tall tale story forms; stick around and see who can spin the wildest yarn! Participation encouraged: Prepare to read, recite or relate your own tall tale?something social, silly, sensual and symbolic!

DOOR PRIZES
Throughout the evening, participating audience members may win door prizes for dropping an interesting definition of magic realism into the box at the door and for being the first name-and-answer drawn from a hat to correctly identify some link between all the stories?a phrase, an object, an image (to be decided by the authors just beforehand). Members of the audience could also win one of several door prizes (copies of Periphery, a magical realist zine, fountain pens, key-chains, etc.) plus the grand prize, a small library of signed copies of books from our featured authors.

BOOK SALES
All of our featured authors will be available to sell and sign their books throughout the evening. Help support North American magical realist authors!

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For more information:
(in Canada) ? CNT: Johnny Frem, 604.254.0355
About Johnny Frem

(in the US) ? CNT: Tamara Kaye Sellman, 206.618.7348 (cell/text messages)
About Tamara Kaye Sellman

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ABOUT THE FEATURED READERS

American authors

JANICE EIDUS (New York) is a novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Eidus has twice won the O. Henry Prize for her short stories, as well as a Redbook Prize, a Pushcart Prize, a National Writers Voice Residency Award, and a Money for Women/Barbara Deming Fellowship. She is the author of the short story collections THE CELIBACY CLUB and VITO LOVES GERALDINE and the novels URBAN BLISS and FAITHFUL REBECCA. She is co-editor (along with John Kastan) of ITS ONLY ROCK AND ROLL: an anthology of rock and roll short stories.

JOHN P. BRIGGS' (Massachusetts) most recent book release is the collection, TRICKSTER TALES. Briggs has published fiction in Prairie Schooner, Northwest Review, Parting Gifts, Pudding Magazine, Art Times, New Novel Review, and many others. A 2003 issue of River Oak Review featured several of his dream stories and an interview about metaphor and chaos in literature. Briggs' published books include THE SEVEN LIFE LESSONS OF CHAOS (coauthored with physicist F. David Peat), FRACTALS: THE PATTERNS OF CHAOS, FIRE IN THE CRUCIBLE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVE GENIUS, and others. Briggs helped to develop the MFA in Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University, where he is Distinguished Professor. He is also Senior Editor at Connecticut Review.

EWING CAMPBELL (Texas) is author of WEAVE IT LIKE NIGHTFALL, PIRANESI'S DREAM, MADONNA MALEVA and other books. Campbell received the 2002 American Literary Review and 1998 Chris O?Malley fiction prizes. His work has also been recognized with NEA and Dobie-Paisano fellowships. Campbell was a Fullbright scholar to Argentina in 1989 and Spain in 1997.

KAREN MCELMURRAY (Georgia) is the author of the novel, STRANGE BIRDS IN THE TREES OF HEAVEN, which explores the boundaries between beliefs, desires, obsessions, and madness. McelMurray has received such distinctions as the Chaffin Award, the Sherwood Anderson Award, the James Purdy Prize for Fiction, and an NEA fellowship. She has published essays and stories in numerous magazines and journals. McElMurray will be specially honored in Vancouver by the AWP Award Series for her memoir, SURRENDERED CHILD, which earned the organization's Award for Creative Nonfiction in 2003.

Canadian authors

PAULINE HOLDSTOCK wrote HOUSE, a darkly humourous metaphysical tale of loss and the search for belonging. Holdstock's most recent novel, BEYOND MEASURE, was nominated for the 2004 Giller Prize. She is also the author of numerous short stories within her collections. Her novels and short fiction have been published internationally, and her literary non-fiction has appeared in national newspapers and has been broadcast on CBC radio. Her most recent book is a collection of essays, MORTAL DISTRACTIONS, published by Thistledown.

PAULO DA COSTA was born in Angola and raised in Portugal. His first book of short fiction, THE SCENT OF A LIE, received the 2003 Commonwealth First Book Prize for the Canada-Caribbean Region and the W. O Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize. His poetry and fiction have been published internationally in literary magazines around the world and have been translated to Italian, Spanish, German, Serbian, Slovenian and Portuguese. His latest works are MIDWIFE OF TORMENT & OTHER STORIES, a CD of sudden fictions, and NOTAS-DE-RODAPE, a book of Portuguese poems.

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR TUESDAY, MAR 22
Topic: March 2005
Kazuo Ishiguro is back in the magical realist ring again with Never Let Me Go, reviewed here by Louis Menand for The New Yorker. Writes Menand: "Ishiguro does not write like a realist. He writes like someone impersonating a realist, and this is one reason for the peculiar fascination of his books. He is actually a fabulist and an ironist, and the writers he most resembles, under the genteel mask, are Kafka and Beckett. This is why the prose is always slightly overspecific. It?s realism from an instruction manual: literal, thorough, determined to leave nothing out. But it has a vaguely irreal effect." Exactly.

WHEN IN DENVER... You ought to check out up-and-coming playwright Jose Rivera's latest work at the Crossroads Theatre. Marisol is the story of a woman who survives (by the hands of a guardian angel) what should have been a fatal beating by street thugs, only to learn from her guardian angel that this will be the last time he will be helping her because of a shift in God's powers. Rivera, whose mentor was Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and who earned famed in 2002 for washing away Los Angeles in Cloud Tectonics, has taken up the end-of-the-world cause in New York this time with this new "mystical urban nightmare." Marisol runs through April 2. For more information, or call 303.320.4011.

The Stanford Daily's Innovation Columnist Daniel Berdichevsky makes some interesting points about the way in which magical realism has been enculcated into mainstream literary culture: "What used to be referred to as magical realism has bled over into fiction in general. Maybe this is why science fiction cliches, like time travel and memory manipulation, can form the bases of critically acclaimed films like The Butterfly Effect and Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind without them even being branded as science-fiction."

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR MONDAY, MAR 21
Topic: March 2005
SUBMISSIONS ADDRESS UPDATE If you are interested in submitting to Margin via e-mail, please direct your submissions to submissions (at) magical-realism.com. The address at this domain is extremely reliable and replaces our previous service at Flashmail, which lost about 5 weeks of submissions on file in our previous mailbox on March 17, 2005.

Reviewer Stuart Klawans in Newsday magazine describes Jonathan Safran Foer's latest novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as a combination of magical realism in the style of Marc Chagall with an updated Huck Finn-like quality. Klawans writes: "Which brings me back to the ostensible reason for telling a sad story humorously: to be truthful. As the charming, imaginative probabilities piled up in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I began to think of another small and voluble survivor named Oskar: the narrator of Gunter Grass' The Tin Drum."

And here's another reference to Chagall... Fernanda Eberstadt, reviewer for yesterday's The New York Times, refers to the artist in magical realist author Steve Stern's latest work, The Angel of Forgetfulness, when describing the ancient character Keni Shendeldecker, a once-footloose and fancy-free artist of "Chagall-like magic realist paintings of ghetto scenes" who becomes the love interest of a college student in 1969. Think that's improbable? Of course it is, but so are many other fabulist elements in Stern's mystical novel, including dybbuks, angels and golems.

"Can multiculturalism have a white face? If Caribbean-American novelist Robert Antoni is any indication, the answer has to be yes," asserts Chauncey Mabe, Books Editor for The Sun-Sentinel & South Florida Interactive. Magical realist author Robert Antoni (Divina Trace, Blessed Is the Fruit and My Grandmother's Erotic Folktales) will read from his new novel Carnival at 8 p.m. on Wednesday March 23 at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL (305.442.4408). The Broward County Main Library will also present "An Evening with Robert Antoni" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday March 24 at the Bienes Center in Fort Lauderdale. This event is free, but reservations are requested (954.357.7401).

FANS OF OPERA AND MAGICAL REALISM: Composer Hector Armienta specializes in bilingual operas. Among these are Un Camino de Fe/A Journey of Faith and Los Conejos y las Conejas/The Coyotes and the Rabbits, as well as an in-progress trilogy of operas, which he describes as containing a bit of "Mexican and Latin American magical realism" based on his abuela's experiences. Armienta recently made his world premiere in the lauded "Words and Music" concert spotlight in Oakland, where his composition for narrator, chorus and orchestra based on the prize-winning poem "Where Waters Meet" by Sonoma County fifth grader Hailee Brumley was performed last Saturday.

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR THURSDAY, MAR 18
Topic: March 2005
Fans of magical realism's tales of uberhumanity might want to read this arch overview of Jonathan Lethem's work in The New York Review of Books. In "Welcome to New Dork," critic John Leonard exposes the differences between the world's literary supermen, past and present. From the commentary: "Superpowers are not what magic realism was about in Bulgakov, Kobo Abe, Salman Rushdie, or the Latin American flying carpets. That Michael Chabon and Paul Auster have gone graphic, that one Jonathan, Lethem, writes on and on about John Ford, while another Jonathan, Franzen, writes on and on about "Peanuts," even as Rick Moody confides to the Times Book Review that "comics are currently better at the sociology of the intimate gesture than literary fiction is," may just mean that the slick magazines with the scratch and sniff ads for vodka and opium are willing to pay a bundle for bombast about ephemera." Zoinks!

Magical realist poet Hermine Meinhard will teach a poetry workshop Saturday, June 11 ? 18, 2005 on a working farm in the wine country of Tuscany as part of "The Soul of a Poem in the Heart of Italy" workshop in Il Chiostro Villas. The workshop is limited to 10-12 participants; for more information, contact Hermine Meinhard or visit the workshop website

NOTICE TO WRITERS SUBMITTING WORK IN FEB/MAR 2005
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: WEB-BASED EMAIL FAILURE
Sorry to have to report this, but submissions sent to the address submissions@flashmail.com during the months of Feb and Mar 2005 seem to have disappeared.

We have contacted support to see about retrieval, but at this point we're more concerned about the reliability of the email service at Flashmail.

Therefore, if you have submitted work to us at the submissions@flashmail.com address during this time, you should check in with us to see if your work was lost, so that you may resubmit it. Some of it was printed out and logged in, but it's impossible for us to know which of all the submissions sent there have been accounted for. In the meantime, send all submissions to magicalrealismmaven@yahoo.com for the time being, until we work out the details for a future submissions email service.

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR THURSDAY, MAR 17
Topic: March 2005
It's contest time again at MARGIN. Next up?short stories! Announcing our 2005 theme for the annual MARGIN short story contest:

WAR STORIES
We're looking for every kind of war scenario:
man v. man ~ country v. country ~ man v. nature ~ man v. woman?
?any sort of collision of power structures, both personal and political. Just make sure it's magical realism!

BASIC DETAILS
Postmark deadline: June 15, 2005. Winner and honorable mentions published in MARGIN's autumn edition, annually.
Prize: $100 and publication.
Entry fee: $8 per story; no limit to stories. Make checks payable to Tamara Kaye Sellman.
All contest proceeds go to our contributor's fund and to pay the prize. Judged blind by staff. See guidelines for more information.

Click here to read the MARGIN 2004 SHORT STORY WINNER.

___________________________

Magical Realist author Daniel Olivas has sent along this call for submissions:

"I am editing an anthology of short fiction by Latinos/as in which the City of Los Angeles plays an integral role. I am interested in provocative stories on virtually any subject by both established and new writers. Stories may range from social realism to cuentos de fantasma and anything in between. Los Angeles may be a major 'character' or merely lurking in the background. I'd like to see characters who represent diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, profession, age, sexual orientation, etc.

"Preferred length: 500 to 5,000 words. Stories may be previously published (please indicate where). Chapters from novels will be considered if they can stand alone. Award-winning publisher is interested but wants to see final manuscript.

"Please e-mail your story, using standard submission formatting, as a Word document to olivasdan (at) aol.com. In the e-mail, include your contact information, list of previous publications (if any), and the ethnicity(ies) with which you identify.

"DEADLINE: September 1, 2005.

"Feel free to visit my Web page at: www.danielolivas.com."

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR TUESDAY, MAR 15
Topic: March 2005
Spotted last weekend at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival: Turtles Can Fly, an "incredible, magic realist war story, set on the eve of the United States' latest invasion of Iraq." SEE IT TONIGHT! >>> Tues/15, 6:30 p.m., Kabuki screen [Genl Info]

Dr. Gregory Rabassa enjoyed an occasion to discuss magical realist author Clarice Lispector in an appearance at the Center for Jewish History last Sunday. In an article in The New York Times books section, he is said to recall that "I was flabbergasted to meet that rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf." Rabassa is a living treasure; keep your eyes open for his memoir, If This Be Treason, which is due for release in April.

Sighted recently on MTV: A 13-second appearance in which Paulo Coelho of The Alchemist fame provides this voice-over?"The desert will give you an understanding of the world. How do I immerse myself in the desert? Listen to your heart"?while the sun sets over a pyramid in Egypt.

Author Anjali Banerjee's debut magical realist YA novel, Maya Running, has received accolades not only in the US, but raves in the old country (India) as well. MARGIN will be offering copies of Banerjee's wonderful book for sale at the AWP Bookfair in Vancouver BC March 30 through April 2. Make sure and drop by table #208 if you are attending the AWP conference and pick up a copy of Anjali's book!

From Playbill comes this heads up for magical realism fans regarding the line-up for the 35th anniversary season of the Manhattan Theatre Club's "Writers in Performance" series: "The 400th anniversary of Cervantes' Don Quixote will be celebrated April 4 in an evening titled The Don. Quixote, which is widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, will be interpreted by Mario Cantone, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Don Quixote translator Edith Grossman will introduce the evening, which will also feature a live score by Julie Lyonn Lieberman. ?The literary series is "dedicated to melding fiction, nonfiction and poetry with the stage in creative and provocative ways." The MTC's Stage I is located at 131 West 55th Street in Manhattan. Single-event tickets ($17.50) available at (212) 399-3030.

MAGICAL REALISM NEWS FOR MONDAY, MAR 14
Topic: March 2005
If you're in the San Francisco area, you'll not want to miss Margin contributor Jan Steckel's featured performance at the Stories by the Lake Prose Open Mic in Oakland on Saturday, March 19 from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. Dr. Steckel, an Oakland writer, bisexual activist and former pediatrician, has published over fifty short stories, poems and nonfiction pieces in periodicals and anthologies. The event is free to the public; open mic signups begin at 1:45.

Magical realism in theater gets a nice boost in Portland, ME with the current production of Quiara Alegria Hudes' Yemaya's Belly. And article in MaineToday.com describes the play as "set in the Caribbean?about a young boy from a backwater island village, who dreams of living in America. Using storytelling techniques she learned from her own family, Hudes weaves magical realism and realistic events together to tell the story of the boy's journey." The play has attracted a steady following since its debut on March 1; it runs through March 20.

The film, Millions, is making the rounds with what some have characterized a "buoyant sense of magical realism." The film is directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting andShallow Grave fame. Boyle appears to have one-upped himself with this softer, more family-friendly film. Jack Mathews of the New York Daily News describes Millions as a "warmly fanciful movie" which features the saints Clare, Francis, Joseph, Nicholas and Peter, as well as the ghost of the boys' dead mother. Mathews writes: "Boyle has a child's exuberance about him that explains the gentle wit, magical realism and easy sentimentality" of his latest work. The film was widely released in the US on March 11.

Literary favorite Kelly Cherry returns to the limelight with her story, "As It Is in Heaven," in which the protagonist, forced to leave life in Madison, WI to tend an ailing mother, suddenly discovers her late father in the kitchen eating ice cream. The story's ending has been described as "stunning, incredibly moving" and a "flight into magical realism." The story recently appeared in the newly released anthology, Barnstorm, published by Terrace Books, an imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press.