[6.15.06]
Previous contributor, Scottish artist Dee Rimbaud (cover art, Margin, Autumn 2005 edition and current contents page art) announces a special art auction: "The closing date for offers is 30th June 2006… There are 50+ (works) altogether, in different styles and mediums. I'm willing to accept offers for them, because of difficult financial circumstances, which I won't elaborate on here, but which—if you're curious—you can read about in detail in my travel-blog… You may view all the pictures for sale on my website… Also, my most popular artworks are now available as posters, greeting cards, postcards, as well as on t-shirts, mugs and fridge-magnets. … I do hope you will consider taking a look and maybe making a purchase." Check out his work; maybe you'll not only find something you like, but you'll help out an artist in need as well!

[6.12.06]
NOW LIVE! Margin's latest, greatest issue—"Voyage to the Village: A Magical Realist Passport". Features voices and visions from all around the world, mostly from those magical realist writers and thinkers we're not most familiar with. This will be Margin's last edition for a good while, but it's jam-packed, so set your bookmarks, because we've got some serious summer reading for you! Featuring Eduardo Garcia Aguilar, Rajeev Balasubramanyam, Giles Goodland, A.J. LeFlahec, Catharine Leggett, Anna Maria Ortese, Robert Perchan, Sarah Sloat and Gloria Hickok Vando, plus many of Margin's popular columns, book reviews, analytical nonfiction and much more!

[Coming Up]
Fans of Southern Revival will doubtless want to see this event: SOUTHERN LIT: featuring Sherry Austin, author of Mariah of the Spirits, and Dot Jackson, author of Refuge. They will discuss sense of place, family themes, magical realism and Southern Gothic at the Henderson County Public Library in Hendersonville, NC at 4 p.m. For more info: 828.697.4725.

[6.07.06]
In keeping with our international theme, check out this book by Canadian magical realist author Jamie Bastedo. On Thin Ice is the coming-of-age magical realist story of a young girl, Ashley, in Canada's Arctic. A so-called "minestrone girl," Ashley has an Inuit father and a French-Canadian mother and she lives in a crazy house a marvelous, crazy blend of family and pets. Suitable as a young adult novel, which means it's going to be interesting to all adults in general.

[6.04.06]
Jim Krusoe's list of summer reading, "Perchance to Dream," in a special issue of the LA Times' calendarlive.com column, includes a nice treasure trove of gems offering up facets of magical realism, such as:

Chronicle of Stone, by Ismail Kadare
Light, by Torgny Lindgren
The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by Amos Tutuola
The Radiance of the King, by Camara Laye
The Ten Thousand Things, by Marie Dermout
The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien

[6.04.06]
Anita Nair gives a wonderful first-person wrap-up of this year's Bogota Book Fair in The Hindu Review for those of us who couldn't make it. She's got an interesting perspective on what it must be like to be an author in Gabo-land.

[6.02.06]
For Isabel Allende fans who can't get enough of the diva, check out this interview posted in the online English edition of the Greek newspaper, Kathimerini.

[5.31.06]
Magical realism can always be linked to current political events. Consider the US's current brouhaha over immigration reform, then take a look at Ann Hornaday's discussion of the 1984 film El Norte in The Houston Chronicle. She describes the film as a "graceful blend of classical narrative and magic realism and the power with which it brought an otherwise invisible world to life." It'll probably be hard to find at the vid-store, but do make the effort. Or queue up the ol' Tivo wishlist.

[5.28.06]
Magical realist author and Southern Revival contributor Bill Branley has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from his soon-to-be-released novel, Sea Changes, to Book Relief. Branley writes: "Since I am from New Orleans, and I like books, I have decided to support this effort by contributing $1 for each copy sold from my first printing of Sea Changes. Since the first printing is 5,000 copies, and each dollar purchases two books, this donation will buy 10,000 books. That's about the number of books in a small library." Folks in the Puget Sound area can get their copy first-hand from the author on June 29, when Eagle Harbor Books of Bainbridge Island hosts the novel's release party. The evening's theme, "Northwest Writers Explore Deep South Roots," will spotlight Branley and Chimacum, WA writer Anne Turissini, who is currently writing a memoir about her 30-year career working as a female public defender in New Orleans. Additionally, Branley writes: "In keeping with the Deep South flavor of the evening, I am offering a free bowl of my special shrimp stew with each book signed. Yes, this is my mother's recipe, the one that is described in Chapter 11 of Sea Changes." Copies of his book may also be ordered online at Eagle Harbor's Sea Changes Order Page.