Virtual Notes Marks Common Boundary

Have you seen Dorothee Lang's virtual notes on Common Boundary? Take a look here - she gets right to the heart of the book. And no wonder, as Dorothee is a writer, essayist, editor, and translator. When you go to her virtual notes, you can find out more about her. Check it out.

Architect of a Good Story - Tim Nees

WHEN WE started Bibliotekos one of our friends said that we are crazy; maybe we are, starting a very small literary press these days. But the process of calling for writing, receiving and vetting creative work, and best of all, communicating with and getting to know the writers has been a rewarding experience. We've published two stories by Tim Nees ("Cartography" in Pain and Memory and "Blue Painted Field" in Common Boundary), and, as with all of the writers but one, we did not know anything about him previously. We have since learned that Tim, in addition to being quite attentive to the form as well as to the content of his work, is, no surprise (though it was to us), an accomplished architect. His characters are real enough that we've talked about them after reading his stories. Read more about Tim Nees and his story about becoming a writer, in his own words, right here. You won't be disappointed.

It sounds strange, being called a writer. It’s a concept I’m still getting comfortable with. In 2008 I was a finalist for a sonnet competition. I went to the prize-giving ceremony and there was a nametag waiting for me at the door. It read: Tim Nees Writer. It was the first time I’d seen those words placed together. Although I’m well known in New Zealand for other professional achievements [click to see Tim’s architectural work], I’m not known as a ‘writer’. I kept the nametag and peek at it from time to time to remind myself that yes, I am a writer. Other people have said I am.

I started writing at high school, like many teenagers. Mainly poetry. I was encouraged by two excellent English teachers, friends, and slightly older poets now well known in New Zealand who recited poems at rock concerts and handed out free broadsheets. Then, my friends and I published our own creative writing magazine, Blueprint, but also I submitted work to ‘real’ literary journals some of which, to my amazement, actually published a couple of poems. At university I continued writing but when I made the decision to switch to a Degree in Architecture, writing got shut away in the bottom drawer. Establishing a family, a successful business, and a second career as an art gallery director meant that drawer remained shut for many years.

In 2007 I was prompted to open it and start writing again, writing fiction as well as poetry. I completed a number of part-time creative writing courses, entered some competitions and published a few pieces and now, after three years of writing regularly, I don’t wince when I am described as a writer.

I’m not sure what inspired me to re-open the drawer. Perhaps it was a feeling niggling away inside reminding me I used to write, that I could write well, that I should try again; writing is part of my creativity, part of the jigsaw puzzle that is me, and can complement my other creative practices and not compete with them. It was a time of change in my life, which gave me the opportunity to use the extra time I had in new ways. But once I started, I discovered I really enjoyed the writing process, sitting in front of the computer, letting my mind work its way into different worlds and personalities.

It has never been difficult finding things to write about. Ideas come from everywhere, from observations, interactions, from reading and from movies, from going to an art gallery and thinking about a painting or video piece and the infinite number of social circumstances that may have occurred to enable that work of art to exist, and how that work now affects other people and the stories they take from it. Anything can be stimulating. Stories come from observing people reacting with people, and things, in time now and time past, in reality and memory and fantasy, so that if a diagram were drawn between all these interactions back and forth, even if only two agents were involved it would very quickly become a dense web of possibility. Imagine the interactions of a dozen players and the scenarios would quickly spiral into a mind-boggling mess. A writer’s most difficult task is to decide, choose and edit, to shape possibility, to make something understandable (but not necessarily evident), to make something readable. To know what to conceal and what to reveal. Editing is where the hard work gets done, not coming up with the ideas.

Obviously a writer needs to be able to judge a good idea from a poor one to invest the time in writing, even if it is only a kernel that imparts the feeling ‘I can do something with this’. Then I write and explore and hope it develops into something I can work with or, if momentum fails to build, put it aside and start afresh. The only way I can be sure a story is a good one is if I enjoy reading it, and still enjoy reading it even after the fifth re-write. Then I give it to my partner to read, assimilate her feedback, then let others read it and take heed of their comments. I belong to two writers groups and other viewpoints and understandings (or misunderstandings) can be enlightening. Not that I always agree, of course. My own judgment shapes the final draft.

It is easier to appreciate the skill and craft in other writers’ work, and I read a lot. What I expect most is for the writing to carry me from start to finish and to keep me thinking or smiling or worrying after the last page. It is not ‘the story’, ‘the plot’, ‘the structure’, ‘the characters’, ‘the setting’; it is the writing. It is all of those things set in the writing. Sometimes the writing, the writer’s style, is more or less visible, more or less audible, but it is still there word by word and can either provide the greatest pleasures, the profoundest insights, or the most insufferable irritations. Not that a story need provide insight or expound themes with a capital T. But I hope a story might provoke a genuine reaction from readers; that’s goal enough. And that they may enjoy the language in the process.

Language is what sets a story apart from reality. A story is an imagined or reported series of events presented in words, a constructed convention distanced from reality or concrete experience by the history of words. A story is an elaborate artifice. Elements found in my stories may be based on my experience, or my knowledge, or on hearsay or research, but they are only fragments scattered through the whole. Writers write about what they don’t know as well as what they know. Invention, and convincing invention, is the challenge and the reward. Reportage wouldn’t hold my interest for long. One of the greatest challenges of invention is to construct another person, a character, to sit inside their head and see what they do, to predict what they think, what they say, what they don’t say. I suspect this is achieved more through empathy than insight. And acting. Convincing acting. In my story ‘Cartography’ for instance, I had to imagine myself as two quite different female characters, two distinct voices, and how they might interact with each other.

The act of writing fiction is, therefore, all engrossing and whatever current work is in the document file is the one I favor most. I haven’t had time to reassess earlier work, or rate one against the other. Perhaps the ones that have been published should rate higher, but then those editors haven’t read all my other stuff, maybe I should send all my stories in for assessment. But no, I want to finish the one I’m working on; it’s going well, it might be the breakthrough piece to inspire a publisher to invite me to assemble my first collection. Vanity, the driver.

So perhaps vanity, the promise of pleasure and an overactive mind encourage me to sit down and write. I fit it in where I can, around my other personal and professional commitments. I don’t have a schedule, but a mobile MacBook helps. I’m currently in Europe sharing my partner’s sabbatical leave and in three months I’ve written only a few poems. Starting a story seems impossible, too many distractions and fresh experiences to assimilate. But I’ve been reading, and re-reading, some novels, which is unusual for me. John Banville, Paul Auster, Ian McEwan, Don DeLillo. The DeLillo is wonderful, his short novel The Body Artist extraordinarily beautiful to read. So much of his characters' lives inferred within so few pages with nothing really being revealed, precisely.

When I get back home I’m looking forward to reading and writing, but on what project I haven’t decided. Mostly I want to see my kids, go back to work and earn some money. I have an 80-page novella that needs a lot of re-writing, a dozen short stories that could be brought together with some shaping, but probably a new idea will pop into my head demanding to be written down. I’d like to get something substantial published within the next five years, and continue to publish shorter pieces and poetry two or three times a year. My real goal is to keep the drawer open, to continue writing, so I can confidently call myself a writer.

Common Boundary - Daily sPress Notice

Dorothee Lang, a writer and editor based in Germany, has posted a nice notice about Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration on her most interesting small press blog, Daily sPress.

Writing in Hebrew, Dreaming in Hungarian: Duality as Destiny - Rivka Keren

When we decided to venture into the realm of book publishing, we were alone; now, we are fortunate to count among our friends thirty-three extraordinary individuals – writers of exceptional merit whose work is good - worth reading and thinking about. In fact, we find ourselves talking about the characters of these writers, especially Rivka's characters. Rivka Keren is one of those authors, and we asked her to write a profile about herself so that we could all get to know her a little better – where she came from as a person and a writer, and where she is headed. Among other things in this profile, Rivka comments on the contributions she made to Pain and Memory ("Aisha" and "Kiribiri") and Common Boundary ("Islamorada" and "They Set Sail in Springtime"). Note: the profile and associated images are the copyrighted work of Rivka Keren and cannot be used without her express, written permission: first painting is entitled Girl with Owls; second is entitled Via Dlororosa; third is entitled Painter and His Family Arrive at Jerusalem. We are sure you will enjoy Rivka’s story of herself as much as we have.


“I am a Hungarian born Israeli writer, currently residing in the United States” – people raise an eyebrow when they hear that. This is over the top for them. For me, this is simply an inevitable way of existence. Hungarian is my native language. Hebrew is my adopted native language in which I write. English is a huge bonus. Hence, my life-long duality is being Hungarian and Israeli at the same time, which is a source of constant tension and spiritual wealth.

My world has been always divided. I was torn between two identities, two beloved languages, two landscapes, two different sets of memories. Writing in Hebrew and still dreaming in Hungarian became an unequivocal reality. “Am I different?” This question couldn’t be answered easily. Naturally, like many other immigrants, I was living in both worlds. Additional pain came from my desperate attachment to the subtleties of the Hungarian language and the fact that I was cut off, at the age of ten, from the literature I adored, before being able to read in my new language.

Identity, duality, memory, belonging, moral conflicts and dilemmas, as well as the puzzle of human nature, became the main issues of my writing. I was born into a complicated, intensive reality and felt an obligation to commemorate it.

In one of my first memories I am about five and I am alone in the Greatwood (Nagyerdő) at the outskirts of my hometown Debrecen. Mom and Dad are out of sight. The bush seems dangerous and threatening, the nearby lake murky and bottomless. I feel abandoned, terrified, yet curious and high-spirited; an inspirational moment. At home, I make a series of drawings about a little girl standing on a bench, surrounded by huge trees and flowers while her parents are moving away from her. This is my first story in pictures and many others will follow it because painting would become an essential part of my life. Many years later, I am embedding this scene as a dream into one of my novels, and paint it once again.


Thus, a sense of loneliness and insecurity mark my early life. I witness a silent agony at home. I hear whispers about the horrors of the Holocaust, the death of my baby brother from starvation in the Ghetto, the miraculous survival of my father who returned from the camps thin as skeleton and all the relatives who perished. When I enter school, my “otherness” becomes obvious; I am a Jew in an intolerant communist society, bullied and looked upon as part of an undesired, inferior minority. I experience open anti-Semitism on a daily basis.

It is no wonder that I find solace in painting and literature. I spend a lot of time daydreaming, making up stories and reading obsessively; my first favorites are Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, The Jungle Book and all the novels of Jules Verne available in Hungarian. Since my Dad is also fond of Verne, we share long talks about the wonderful adventures and discoveries in the golden titled books of the French writer. We live in a cage, and we are eager to fly away.

When I am seven, I know exactly what I want; to be a writer, to have a sibling and to immigrate to Israel where, hopefully, I will be accepted and loved. By the time we leave Hungary and embark the ship in Genoa, I am crazy with joy; my suitcase is full of stories and sketchbooks, I have a sweet little brother and I am on my way to the Promised Land.

The following years are a mixture of financial and existential struggle, assimilation, anxiety, hard work and self fulfillment. The Mighty Duality enters my life. We live in a tiny apartment, have almost no money, yet feel free and believe in a better future. At home, I speak only Hungarian, but slowly I work myself through the many layers of Hebrew and sleep with the dictionary under my pillow, until I am comfortable enough to start writing. Since I set up a very high standard regarding the literary use of the language, I start publishing for children and adolescents when I am twenty, and write my first novel for adults only at the age of thirty-nine. The Taste of Honey (or “Bitter Honey”), Mortal Love and Anatomy of a Revenge are all set against the black hole of the Holocaust, examining the moral choices and integrity of the protagonists in radical circumstances. Texts in my native language and the landscapes of Europe become organic components of the novels. There are plenty of raw emotions, hidden, personal aspects, some torturous and heartbreaking, some funny and magical. The last book I am working on is always my favorite. It has to be an object of dedication and love to keep the fire alive.

Soon I find out that writing is a demanding, mysterious process. No instant reinforcement, no sharing. It is a lonesome affair and it teaches me so much about myself – mostly my need for discipline and concentration, the ultimate self-demand to dive into the souls of the characters, be Them as long as needed, and then be able to emerge and let go. Also, I learn how much I cherish inspiration and how depressing a long silent period can be. The most surprising thing I discover is the flexibility of my memory – the way I store, adjust, repress, reinvent, twist and alter certain characters and events only to be able to write about them with a fearless, open mind. In my case, the story has to be a blend of personal and collective memories, real-life experiences, dreams and imagination, combined with endless subconscious material and put into words in the manner an alchemist might prepare his secret concoction.

The story “Aisha”, for instance, is inspired by a Bedouin woman I met while working as a clinical psychologist at a gynecological ward in a big hospital. “Kiribiri” was born out of a tiny newspaper article about an old woman being abandoned by her relatives at the airport – this sad story made me ponder deeply about old age, belonging, human relations and the unknown dimensions of life and death. “Islamorada” is based on two separate events; witnessing a failed landing of Cuban immigrants on my way to Key West, and an incredible story from an old Cuban man about his relative, a former opera singer and famous Lector of the tobacco factories at Tampa, who fancied mostly Cervantes. (You can read “Islamorada” now, published recently online in Words Without Borders.) “They Set Sail in Springtime,” a self-contained chapter from Mortal Love, is a story inside a story, studded with many well concealed autobiographical details, as it is throughout the whole novel and my other books. Am I there? Of course. Me, my family, and people I knew or imagined, dead and alive, we are all there in a giant group portrait, reshaped, rebuilt, as a genuine example of metamorphosis. All in all, my motto as an author is simple: “Write only what is interesting, compelling, essential to you. If you are indifferent and bored, the reader will probably react the same way.”

There are some authors that had a great influence on me and had shown me the nature of thorough observation. These exceptional thinkers and writers taught me to be sharp and attentive, yet humble while facing the unknown. Based on my interest in the riddles of the human psyche and moral dilemmas, I have my favorites: Aristotle, Nietzsche, Jensen, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov, Melville, Proust, Babits, Thomas Mann, Neruda, Wilder, Kafka, Camus, to mention only a few. Remembrance of Things Past of Proust, The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice of Mann and The Stranger and The Plague of Camus are my lighthouses. Also, I was captivated by the stream of consciousness in the works of Faulkner and Joyce as well as the magical realism and the reoccurring theme of solitude in the novels of Márquez. And I love Scandinavian literature. All those lonely, snowy winters, the endless dark evenings and coffees and merciless insights! They probably remind me of my distant childhood.

Usually, authors can’t read while writing, but I have the privilege of multiple choices, so when I write Hebrew I still can read Hungarian and English. My forthcoming novel, Outrage, is about Mari, a young Yugoslavian woman of Hungarian origin. She is a victim of the atrocities of the recent Balkan war, trying to find new love while fighting uncertainty, betrayal, lies and family secrets. Through her story and the research done for the novel, I became very involved in the history of the Balkan States. So, right now I am reading in English the breathtaking, monumental, 1150 pages long masterpiece of Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, capturing her journeys through Yugoslavia on the eve of WWII. The second book I am reading on and off is The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century. Imagine being on the remotest roads of the East in the Middle Ages for thirty years! In addition, I am rereading the last, utopist novel of Mihály Babits, Elza the Pilot, which I am planning to translate from Hungarian to Hebrew.

The new novel I am working on now, goes back and forth between the present and Rome of the first century. It is a metaphysical story, involving enigmatic powers, visions, past life memories and journeys to enchanting places. I made several trips to Italy, accompanied by the Letters of Pliny the Younger, to explore all the sites I am writing about.

My working habits are usually the same; from morning till noon and from five to midnight. Sometimes, I work all night long and whenever possible, I write in bed, while sipping Turkish coffee. It is not very respectful, but so comforting. Fortunately, the Muse is still on my side and I am full of excitement and positive energies. After all, who knows how many ancient spirits are carefully watching the developing story. I must stay the course!

Whitman's Brooklyn Eagle

Brooklyn Daily Eagle picks up press release for Common Boundary. Fitting, given that Walt Whitman anticipated America's immigrants in "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." Read here.

New Book - Immigration Stories

We are pleased to announce the publication of our second book, Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration. There are twenty-nine works (from nineteen contributors) that treat the theme of immigration (including international adoption) with candor, humor, and insight. Without question, this is a book that will touch you in many ways as it hits home for virtually all of us, whoever we are, wherever we are.

The original idea for an immigration anthology goes back to (at least) 2003, mostly because of our connection to the international adoption community. But we did not want to do an adoption book. At that time, we envisioned getting together college students from eastern Europe – Russia, Baltic states, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Balkans, etc. In fact, we did get together many such students, and they were all interested in sharing their experiences of coming to America to study (while using the perspective of their home countries to create such narrations). We had several meetings and many discussions, and we contacted a university press which seemed interested in the concept; but the project never got off the ground.

So, we came back to the idea – and it seemed timely. Important, however, is that when you read these stories you will experience what we did as we vetted submissions: rather than creating a timely book our authors have given us stories that are timeless. We really did seek to make a book that would last, that would stand the test of time, that would be an anthology but would read cumulatively as a whole, and our authors – all of us together – have succeeded in reaching our goal.

Just take for instance, the work by Rivka Keren, “They Set Sail in Springtime,” or Ruth Sabath Rosenthal’s, “Into the Light: Safe Haven 1944,” or John Guzlowski’s, “Wooden Trunk from Buchenwald” – all so-called immigration stories of another generation that have transcended time by touching on war, identity, and home. These stories might be timely because of what you read in the newspaper today, but these stories are timeless since they continually intrigue us, constantly pull us back to take another look at origins and major questions. In another instance, read Nahid Rachlin’s “What We Call Home,” a subtle and masterfully-told story of a mother’s difficult decision, after she had come to America to be with her son and daughter, to return to Iran and be with her sister. Ruth Knafo Setton’s “Living Between Question Marks” is one of the most lyrical, honest, and yet metaphorical pieces, touching on past and present, here and there, self and other.

Many of the pieces, of course, deal with language. To that end, we’ve included some excellent poetry by Roy Jacobstein and Muriel Nelson, who in some poems capture the essence of crossing over (figuratively, birthing) – coming into which world, whose world? Even some of the prose pieces are close to poetic, such as the play extract (a monologue) by Cassandra Lewis or the very creative dictionary entry, “Fig,” that weaves into it a personal narrative, by Eva Konstantopoulos.

The volume is not without humor – seriously. Dagmara J. Kurcz has fun with “Cheekago”; George Rabasa tackles issues of the immigrant fitting in with “The Unmasking of El Santo” (a diminutive superhero) and “La Santa Papa” (a giant potato); Mitch Levenberg, in his inimitable style conjures both the wit of Woody Allen and absurdity of Franz Kafka simultaneously in “The Plain Brown Envelopes.”

There are some pieces closer to creative non-fiction, memoirs, that candidly explore what it means to be an immigrant – those for instance by Omer Hadžiselimović, M. Neelika Jayawardane, Azarin A. Sadegh, and Rewa Zeinati. These stories in particular, timely since they are personal narratives of people among us, address in a big way the questions of immigration in terms of national identity. These are the immigrant stories of today – but not the ones you see on national television. The personal reflection by Janice Eidus is particularly special, since it addresses not only the theme of immigration but the sub-topic in which we were interested, international adoption and how the child and parents’ lives both become part of the immigrant experience.

The collection begins with “How He Made It Across,” by Patty Somlo – a classic tale (a mini epic) of odyssey, and ends with “Blue Painted Field” by Tim Nees – a somewhat abstract story if read on its own but one that aptly concludes (in fact finishes) the book by bringing together all of the operative metaphors about immigration – loneliness, alienation, self-questioning, doubt, and uncertainty about the past and future.
~ ~ ~ ~
From the Foreword by Jason Dubow, MFA: “. . . this book is really an anthology of anthologies: a collection of stories in which the old inextricably blends with the new, in which the tensions between what has been lost and what can be gained are grappled with (but, inevitably, not resolved), and in which the human capacity to imagine a future and make it real (more or less) is explored from a variety of different perspectives. Here’s the essential question: now that I am no longer there but here, Who am I? The answers, the stories – various, contingent, authentic – have made me, in a Whitman-esque sense, ‘larger,’ and they will you too. And so, when you’re done reading, ask yourself: Who now am I?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From the Preface by Publisher Fredericka A. Jacks: “Common Boundary includes many varieties of immigration stories. A culture is a country’s language, its customs, and the collective thinking or attitude of the people . . . The shifting attitude . . . experienced over . . . English acquisition . . . represents a paradox: on the one hand, there is an attempt to accommodate someone from another country; on the other hand, the immigrant person is always perceived as something foreign. There’s a common boundary – being part of and yet being apart from others.”

♦ ≈ ~ ≈ ~ ≈ ~ ≈ ~ ≈ ~ ≈ ♦
Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration consists of twenty-nine creative works by nineteen authors on the theme of immigration – what it means to be an immigrant – with candor, humor, and insight. Edited by Scholar, Professor, and Pushcart Prize nominee, Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D.

Some Honors and Awards Won by these Authors Include: O. Henry Prize, Bennet Cerf Award, PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award, James Wright Poetry Prize, Pushcart Prize Nominations, NEA Grants and Fellowships, New Millenium Writings.

Contributors: Janice Eidus, Omer Hadžiselimović, John Guzlowski, Roy Jacobstein, M. Neelika Jayawardane, Rivka Keren, Eva Konstantopoulos, Dagmara J. Kurcz, Mitch Levenberg, Cassandra Lewis, Tim Nees, Muriel Nelson, George Rabasa, Nahid Rachlin, Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, Azarin A. Sadegh, Ruth Knafo Setton, Patty Somlo, Rewa Zeinati.

Available immediately via Amazon.com. By late July ask your Bookseller, or shop Barnes & Noble online (or other online retailers). [COMMON BOUNDARY: Stories of Immigration. 198 pages; paperback; ISBN: 978-0982481936; $15.95US]

Healing Muse

The Healing Muse, a literary journal publised yearly from the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, has a guest blog by the editor of Pain and Memory. If you are interested, read the blog entry here.

Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration

We are finished proofreading and copy editing Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration (but for some technical details we want to double-check). The next step is finalizing the cover and getting everything to the printer (perhaps in the next few weeks).

We are excited about this book, for many reasons: the rich and enduring theme (how it touches virtually everyone); the extraordinary beauty of the writing – much of it is quite moving; the humor, candor, and insight. The truth of the book is vibrating with color. As you might imagine, language comes up quite often, as does food. These are essential, fundamental stories that really hit home, that really get to some basic, core issues about all of us.

We could go on, but let’s all just wait a little longer until the book is out. One of our readers said that he was “impressed with the quality and variety of the writing.” That is true, but when you read the book through (as we have done many times over the course of the past weeks), the coherence of the sequence is such that we all have made more than an anthology – this is a real, solid book that has shape, that moves and builds to a conclusion.

We love our writers, and all of them should take pride in their work and their accomplishments. Just to give you a peek, here is the sequence of contributors/contents:

- Fredericka A. Jacks, Preface; - Jason Dubow, Foreword; - Patty Somlo, “How He Made It Across”; - Cassandra Lewis, “Pedro’s Monologue from Migrations”; - George Rabasa, “The Unmasking of El Santo” and “La Santa Papa”; - Rivka Keren, “Islamorada”; - Janice Eidus, “The Color of Cinnamon”; - Mitch Levenberg, “The Plain Brown Envelopes”; - Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, “Into the Light: Safe Haven 1944”; - Rivka Keren, “They Set Sail in Springtime”; - John Guzlowski, “Wooden Trunk from Buchenwald”; - Dagmara J. Kurcz, “Cheekago”; - Rewa Zeinati, “Beginning in the Midwest”; - Roy Jacobstein, “Emigrées,” “Ceremony,” “Passover,” and “Beyond the Gauze Curtain”; - Ruth Knafo Setton, “Living Between Question Marks” and “My Father Eats Figs”; - Eva Konstantopoulos, “Fig”; - Nahid Rachlin, “What We Call Home”; - M. Neelika Jayawardane, “Pass”; - Omer Hadžiselimović, “An Immigrant’s Deal: Two Lives for the Price of One”; - Muriel Nelson, “Exodus,” “The Widow Kramer,” “Emotional,” “Uneasy Space,” and from Pieces; - Azarin A. Sadegh, “Being a Foreigner”; - Tim Nees, “Blue Painted Field.”

Back to work . . . and nearing completion . . .

Report on First Bibliotekos Reading - With Photos

The first Bibliotekos Reading (22 April 2010 at St. Francis College, Brooklyn) was a smashing success! Some of the contributors to the anthology Pain and Memory gathered to read their selections and talk about the process of writing – whether one writes longhand or on computer, the necessity of having a notebook at hand, the demands on one's time and yet the call to write. The open panel session after the reading was quite stimulating. The audience was alive with comments and queries. There were questions about influences and favorite authors (many cited W.B. Yeats); a discussion about the idea of truth – the importance of truth – in remembering and writing accurately; the concern about engaging readers in otherwise morbid subjects; the difficulty of reaching an interested audience who might, simply, not realize their own desire and need to read literary writing. There was ample opportunity to meet with the writers in the theater lobby, both before and after the reading; books were signed and sold; lots of connections and new literary friends were made. We hope to have a similar reading, next year, for Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration (expected June 2010).

The Program ran as follows (not counting some preliminaries by Brother Edward Wesley, Ph.D., chair of the English Department at St. Francis College, Fredericka A. Jacks, publisher, and Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D., general editor):

MITCH LEVENBERG, “Butterflies and Lepers.”

RUTH SABATH ROSENTHAL, “A Good Stiff Breeze,” “I Ate My Mother’s Hair,” “Logan Square East.”

ANNE WHITEHOUSE, “Rose’s Dream,” “After the Accident.”

LYNNE SHAPIRO, “Souvenir,” “Your Dead Mother.”

ANIQUE TAYLOR, “The Strangeness of April 1969.”

~ Here are some photographs (taken during the Q&A session):

~ Mitch Levenberg and Anne Whitehouse

~ Lynne Shapiro

~ Anique Taylor
(and her poodle, Nesha, if you look closely)

~ Ruth Sabath Rosenthal

Meet Mitch Levenberg

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Mitch Levenberg, a writer of existentially absurd stories with a voice that is ironically humorous, is one of those readers. Come to the reading and meet Mitch – start by reading about him here. Scroll down for blog/bios. on the other readers (Lynne Shapiro, Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, Anique Taylor, and Anne Whitehouse).

Writer, essayist, and teacher Mitch Levenberg has published essays and short fiction in such journals as The Common Review, Fiction, The New Delta Review, Fine Madness, The Saint Ann’s Review, Confluence, The Assisi Journal, and others. His collection of stories, Principles of Uncertainty and Other Constants was published in March 2006. He has won two Honorable Mention Awards (2004, 2009) for his essays on his father’s experiences in the Philippines during the Second World War. One of these essays, “Butterflies and Lepers,” was published in the anthology Pain and Memory (2009). He is currently working on a book of poetry entitled, Transformational Love.

Mitch Levenberg has read many of his stories on WNYE-91.5 in New York City and has performed readings at many venues around New York City including the 63rd Street Y, KGB, Hudson View Gardens, Jimmy’s 43, The Brooklyn Heights Public Library, the N.Y.U. Torch Club and others.

The critic Alfred Kazin has said of Mitch Levenberg that he “has the sharp, merciless eye for the hazards that can intervene in the seemingly most innocuous situation. He is utterly fearless in describing the human situation as it is.”

Mitch teaches creative writing and literature at St. Francis College and New York University and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter, and four dogs.

Meet Lynne Shapiro

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Lynne Shapiro has but one poem, “Souvenir,” in the anthology, but this tiny gem of a story epitomizes best what the book seeks to explore – the complex nexus between momentary, physical experience and the long stretch of human recall. Come to the reading and meet Lynne – start by reading the history of her writing life here, in her own words. Scroll down for blog/bios. on some other readers (Anique Taylor, Anne Whitehouse, and Ruth Sabath Rosenthal); there is one more blog/bio. yet to come in the next few days.

Poet and essayist Lynne Shapiro has had work published in Apparatus Magazine, BluePrintReview, Centrifugal Eye, FragLit: An Online Magazine of Fragmentary Writing, Hiss Quarterly, The Mom Egg, Mslexia, Ozone Park, Qarrtsiluni, Quay, Soundzine, Switchback, Terrain.org, Trespass, Umbrella, and included in the following anthologies: Decomposition: Fungi-inspired Poems (Lost Horse Press), Eating Her Wedding Dress, A Collection of Clothing Poems, (Ragged Sky Press), and Mourning Sickness – Stories and Poems About Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss, (Omni Arts Press). This year Lynne was a featured poet in East-West Magazine of Bicoastal Verse and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

If I didn’t have my family, I don’t think I would write. They give me love and security, keep me from other pre-occupations. Not so long ago, I was driven to the brink of madness by the handsome, smiling men you see in the photo. At the same time, I felt my world and my position in it had shriveled. I told myself to “get a life,” walked down to a local writing group and, after decades of promising myself I would one day write, I did just that. I started with children’s books. Ever practical, I wanted my writing to be useful - but then the poetry began to flow. After years of teaching and talking about poetry and art, I finally allowed myself to become an artist.

Poetry has enabled me to connect and collect all of myself in one place, I’ve written poems about where I’ve lived (Ozone Park, Queens; Culver City, California; Waltham, Massachusetts; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Hoboken, New Jersey), where I’ve worked (as a teacher, museum educator, editor) and about what I’ve studied (passiflora, shade gardening, ornithology, 20th Century art, Dada and Surrealist literature, cinema, photography).

In a way, when I write, I curate. For me, each poem is a tiny exhibition.

Meet Ruth Sabath Rosenthal

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to the book Pain and Memory (currently discounted 28% on Amazon). Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, a poet of astonishing breadth and depth who writes on many subjects (and at times, not without humor), is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Ruth – start by reading about her here. Scroll down for blog/bios. on some other readers (Anique Taylor and Anne Whitehouse), and there are a few more blog/bios. coming in the next week or so.

Ruth Sabath Rosenthal is a New York poet, residing in Manhattan and Long Beach, Long Island with her husband Alfred and their dog Sweetie-Pie. Ruth began writing poetry in her golden years, in 2000, after becoming disinterested in occasional painting. It’s then she got her first computer and signed up for her very first poetry class. She quickly became hooked on poetry, and continued taking classes and workshops in New York City, mostly at the 92nd Street Y, famous for their fine courses and roster of renowned instructors. Ruth also studied privately with some of her teachers, including Rahel Wetzsteon and Sarah Hannah, both of whom have since passed; their poetry, though, lives on, inspiring Ruth’s work.

That body of work includes dozens and dozens of poems published in numerous poetry journals and anthologies throughout the U.S., and internationally, including the U.K., India, Israel and Canada. Ruth gives readings locally and her first Chapbook, titled Facing Home, published by Finishing Line Press is due this summer; her first full-length book is in the works. Attesting to her talent and very wide appeal, here are poetry journals and anthologies in which Ruth’s poems have appeared:

Journals: Adagio; Aurorean; Birmingham Review; Breadcrumb Scabs; California; Quarterly’s Poetry Letter & Literary Review; Canopic Jar; Chronogram Magazine; Connecticut Review; Creations Magazine; Cyclamens & Swords (Israel); Ibbetson Street; Jabberwock; Juke Jar; Lilith; Magnapoets; Message in a Bottle (U.K.); MungBeing; Mobius-The Poetry Magazine; The Long Island Quarterly-Poetry Bay; Pacific Review; Poetica; Poetry Depth Quarterly; Quill & Parchment; Sarasvati (U.K.); Taj Mahal Review (India); Vallum (Canada).

Anthologies: Empty Shoes (Popcorn Press); Harvest of the New Millennium (Cyberwit.net); Home (Eden Waters Press); The Long Island Sound: 2008, 2009 (North Sea Poetry Scene Press); Mizmor L'David Anthology: Volume I - Holocaust (Poetica Press); Pain and Memory (Editions Bibliotekos); primal sanities! -- a Tribute to Walt Whitman (Allbooks Books); Songs of Seasoned Women (Quadrasoul, Inc.); The Book of Ten (Zebra Publishing) (U.K.); Voices Israel: 2007, 2008, 2009.

Ruth’s poem “on yet another birthday,” was nominated for a Pushcart prize in October 2006.

For more on Ruth, visit websites: Here, Here, or Here (last includes video).

Meet Anique Taylor

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to Pain and Memory (currently discounted 28% on Amazon). Anique Taylor, a gifted visual artist and multi-faceted writer, is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Anique – read about her here, in her own words.

Artist, poet, clown, life coach, Anique Taylor lives in her sweet mountain hamlet (with her 5lb black rescue poodle) where she works full time making art and writing poetry, creative memoir, and personal essays.

Anique Taylor ran away to Paris where she studied literature (Sorbonne, Diplome); afterward she graduated high school (Greenwich), studied literature (Antioch College), and then taught creative writing to Jr. High Students on a co-op job, Angeles Crest Mountains.

Anique studied art – Silvermine College (AFA) Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, (BFA Highest Honors), and Pratt Graduate School (MFA ). Anique also studied at St. Mark’s Poetry Project with Alice Notely, Bernadette Mayer, and Susie Timmons; subsequently she gave featured readings at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Dixon Place, Speakeasy, ABC No Rio, Cedar Tavern, and performed regularly with Eve Packer’s What Happens Next, in group readings at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Tompkin’s Square Arts Festival, New Romantics, Charas, Knitting Factory, Bergen County Literary Salon, Ridgewood Library, and Phoenicia Phirst Phriday.

With Etan Ben-Ami Anique edited the much acclaimed (& short lived) poetry magazine, The Cheap Review of Poetry, publishing several wonderful poets, such as Alice Notley, Bill Kushner, Elinor Nauen, Sheila Alson, Norman MacAfee, Peter Bushyeager, Tom Savage, and Bernadette Mayer.

Anique created a children’s show, performing as Pirouette-the-Clown in & around NYC, Bergen County. Her chapbook Poems is published by Unimproved Editions Press. Additionally, her poems have been published in The World, Sing O Heavenly Muse, Cheap Review, Big Fish, Southern Review, Cover Magazine, Pome, What Happens Next, and The National Poetry Magazine of the Lower East Side.

As well as literary writing, Anqiue has many co-authored books such as the Computer Joke Book, (Hayden), What to Do When You’re Bored, (Simon & Schuster), Snakes!, Bears! (EMC), How Many Nerds Does It Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?, Book of Silly Quizzes, (Scholastic), Nightmare Nina (Bowmar/Noble), and the filmstrips, Arachne & Athena, Atalanta, Prometheus & Pandora, (January Productions).

Anique also co-authored ABZ’s of Sex & Love (HBO), Bless Me Father for I Have Sinned, produced by Playwright’s Horizons, Phoenix Theatre, Williamstown Playhouse. She has also performed with the comedy group Raw Guts & American Know How.

In her sweet mountain hamlet, Anique continues to write & make art.

Meet Anne Whitehouse

On 22 April 2010 St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights (NY - 4pm to 6pm), will host in its Maroney Theater (7th floor) readings by some of the contributors to Pain and Memory (currently discounted on Amazon). Anne Whitehouse, a gifted poet and novelist, is one of those contributors. Come to the reading and meet Anne - read about her here, in her own words. Over the course of approximately the next two weeks, we will roll out short blog-bios. of our other four remarkable writers who will be reading at St. Francis College.

Poet, fiction writer, journalist, and critic Anne Whitehouse’s books include poetry collections The Surveyor’s Hand, Blessings and Curses, Bear in Mind (forthcoming) and Fall Love (novel). Her second novel, Rosalind’s Ring, is set in her native Birmingham. Visit Anne's homepage: http://www.annewhitehouse.com/

EARLY LITERARY INFLUENCES
My grandmothers were early literary influences. My mother’s mother Dora Landau Roth was a strong personality and natural storyteller who mesmerized my sisters and me with her tales about her cat and dog when she was growing up. Princie and L.C. (for Landau’s cat) were delightfully mischievous creatures invariably up to no good, who cleverly outsmarted their owners to achieve their ends. How we loved Grandma’s stories! She was a dramatic, thrilling narrator; while I have forgotten many of the details, I vividly remember the effective use of repetition and skillful pacing that combined expectation and surprise.

My father’s mother Rachel Spivak Cherner was the opposite—a shy immigrant who never learned how to speak English without an accent. Yet, when I was not more than three years old, she and I would escape the rest of the family, and she would read aloud the fairy tales I selected for her. As soon as I could read, she encouraged my desire to learn with weekly gifts of The Books of Knowledge, a series for children that I adored, which she bought at the grocery store.

My father’s mother died when I was only nine, leaving the memory of her love as a comfort. As my interest in writing developed, my other grandmother put herself at my service. An expert typist, she typed my class play in the sixth grade. When I began to compose poetry, she was my first family reader. That she accepted this role so willingly boosted my confidence and helped to inspire me. She died when I was 25 years old and engaged to be married. Folded in her wallet was a copy of the poem I had written about her brother, Reply to My Uncle Joseph, that she carried with her everywhere.

Meet the Authors

Get together with us to meet some of the authors who have had their work published in Pain and Memory: Reflections on the Strength of the Human Spirit in Suffering. The reading will take place at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., on 22 April 2010, from approximately 4:00pm - 6:00pm. The college is located in downtown Brooklyn, easily accessible by public transportation (e.g., the Court St./Borough Hall train stations). The reading itself is in the Maroney Theater (7th Floor, Room 7402). The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Books will be available for signings. Come to meet and hear: Mitch Levenberg; Ruth Sabath Rosenthal; Lynne Shapiro; Anique Taylor; Anne Whitehouse. More information about each of these authors will be forthcoming over the course of the next few weeks on this blog.

Stories of Immigration

WE ARE pleased to announce the contributors to Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration. In alphabetical order (not the eventual sequence of the book) they are: Janice Eidus; John Guzlowski; Omer Hadžiselimović; M. Neelika Jayawardane; Roy Jacobstein; Rivka Keren; Eva Konstantopoulos; Dagmara J. Kurcz; Mitch Levenberg; Cassandra Lewis; Tim Nees; Muriel Nelson; George Rabasa; Nahid Rachlin; Ruth Sabath Rosenthal; Azarin Sadegh; Ruth Knafo Setton; Patty Somlo; Rewa Zeinati. In all, there are twenty-nine different pieces of creative work on the theme of immigration by nineteen authors.

In addition to some relatively new voices, the list includes more than a few award-winning and highly-accomplished authors. We have immigration stories from current and previous generations; there are escapes and doubtful migrations; we have a story that involves a potato, and two that involve figs; we have a dramatic monologue; we have a few adoption stories; and there is a trunk that traveled all the way from a concentration camp. Some contributors you might recognize from Pain and Memory. We thank everyone who submitted – these were not easy decisions (considering how much material we received and how much of it was quite good). We will now begin the process of assembling the book, working on format and layout, proofreading, and then the writing of the Preface (by the publisher) and Foreword (by Jason Dubow). Updates forthcoming in due course.

Vetting

Since we have received many more stories, memoirs, and poems than we anticipated, please note that we will most likely Close Submissions to the Common Boundary anthology very soon. If you have something to submit, please do so very soon. Many authors have already been notified, and we expect to make remaining, final decisions over the course of the next few weeks (at most).

Rivka Redux - in case you missed the story

Acclaimed author Rivka Keren contributed two stories to Pain and Memory, and if you missed the article about her and her beautiful and haunting story "Aisha" (the lead story in the book), here it is, from Ynet News (Israel - with link at end of this post):


Israeli author up for Pushcart Prize: Rivka Keren's short story nominated for prestigious US award for small presses. A short story by Israeli author Rivka Keren has been nominated for this year's Pushcart Prize in the United States. The prestigious prize has been awarded annually since 1976 and winning pieces are gathered into a yearly anthology. The nominated story, Aisha, has been published as part of Pain and Memory, a short story collection by Editions Bibliotekos."It feels great to be nominated, especially as it was translated by my daughter," Keren told Ynetnews Saturday. "I don't know what the odds of winning are, especially as the story is translated, but I have great faith in it." Keren, who writes in Hebrew, said she is saddened that "Aisha" was first published in English, after no Israeli publishers or journals were interested in running it." I have been trying unsuccessfully to publish the story in Hebrew for long months," she said. "It is strange for it to appear first in English." The Hungarian-born Keren immigrated to Israel in 1957 and has published 14 books so far. Her most acclaimed work, Taste of Honey, was a bestseller in Israel. Originally a children's book author, one of her earlier books became part of the local elementary school curriculum. Keren's work has been translated into several languages, including English, German, and Spanish. A second generation to Holocaust survivors, she has explored the Shoah in her writing, as well as themes such destiny and memory.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3818771,00.html

Made in Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Eagle has posted a story about Pain and Memory (apparently gleaned - in part - from an announcement on the St. Francis College homepage).

Pushcart Nominations

After very careful deliberation, much discussion, and some agonizing (with input from our four primary readers – publisher, general editor, advisory editor, and proofreader), we have decided to nominate each of the following selections from PAIN AND MEMORY for a Pushcart Prize:

1. “Aisha,” a short story by Rivka Keren, translated from the Hebrew by Maayan Keren (appears on page 1 of the book).
2. “Cartography,” a short story by Tim Nees (appears on page 95 of the book).
3. “Breakfast Mourning,” a poem by Jennifer Clark (appears on page 164 of the book).

Congratulations to the nominees – and many thanks to all of the contributors: we love our authors! Daniel Cartaina, Jennifer Clark, Kathie Giorgio, Howie Good, Jomar Daniel Isip, Rivka Keren, Mitch Levenberg, Robert P. McParland, Tim Nees, Ryan C. Neighbors, Rebecca Newth, Elizabeth Primamore, Ruth Sabath Rosenthal, Lynne Shapiro, Anique Taylor, Cynthia Trenshaw, Anne Whitehouse, Elizabeth Yokas. Amazon link.

PAIN AND MEMORY - Published

PAIN AND MEMORY is published. After tinkering (a bit too much) with the cover (although we had decided on another cover some weeks ago), we have agreed to use what you see here - this is the front. The back cover lists alphabetically all of the contributors who have made the book possible. If you scroll down this blog, you can see their names here. The volume is available on Amazon - get there by clicking in this post on the book cover or the title. Once we get our shipment of contributor copies from the printer, those will be mailed from our office. ~ Shortly we will begin collecting work for COMMON BOUNDARY, the immigration and international adoption volume - you can link to the guidelines from this blog. Consider submitting - spread the word - invite others to submit.