“Beach Trace” by Michael Filimowicz – © 2009

One on One

Lance Olsen

interviewed by Derek Alger

“Realize, along with T. S. Eliot, that only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. Reach out and support other writers. Understand this writing thing isn’t a competition; all of us can win all the time. Think of yourself as part of a conversation about the big stuff of life and narrative that extends across time and space, and ask yourself where your voice fits in, how you can help other voices be heard. And if you plan to write for fame or fortune, do something else . . . immediately.”

Julie Kane

interviewed by Derek Alger

“…Diane Ackerman took two of my poems for Epoch when she was the poetry editor — I was an undergrad and she was in the PhD program, so I was thrilled beyond belief that she considered me a “real poet.” T. Coraghessen Boyle, Marilyn Hacker, and Sandra Gilbert all had work in that Winter 1974 issue of Epoch. Maybe I’ll be able to sell my copy on eBay to fund my retirement.”

Charles Salzberg

interviewed by Derek Alger

“…I’d written an article about street gambling, 3-card monte, and an agent asked me to write a novel based on it. I didn’t really want to, but when she said I could make several thousand dollars, which was a lot of money then, I said yes. I think I wrote it in a month…It was called Street Gambler, and fortunately, I probably have the only copies left.”

Book Lovers

The Death of Bunny Munro By Nick Cave

reviewed by Mark Mordue

“The Death of Bunny Munro should carry an EXPLICIT warning too, but the provocative cover art may similarly protect readers from being too surprised. Ironically, it’s the depth – not the in-your-face shallowness – of the book that is the real jack in the box.”

The Other

reviewed by Richard Holinger

“The present volume celebrates Dana’s age — in all its meanings — with simple reminiscences delivered with gravity and grace, the poems’ speakers conversationally guiding us through recollections when on the beach, in the mountains, abroad in Europe and, his favorite setting, around his Iowa home….”

Poetry

The Last Ballet Class Before the Operation

by Shaindel Beers

Sticky-Shed Syndrome

by David Peak

Runes

by Anthony Madrid
Macro-Fiction

Class Action

by Paul Toth

…Gilbert did not believe in saints. He believed some people were born with a great capacity to empathize and others with none and others with so much that they were run over like the dog by a mechanism beyond their understanding. God, if there was one, had established the operating principle of the future: Those with the least responsibility would bear the most.

The Way It Isn’t

by Walter Cummins

…He remembered his silences…unable to stop thinking of Valerie…He hadn’t encouraged Valerie to leave Les but did nothing to change her mind, wanting her free even though he wasn’t. And when she was, Lydia was the one who asked him to go, telling him she couldn’t live with a man who ignored her.

Micro-Fiction

North of Center

by Mimi Vaquer

We woke to her bedroom door bending with the force of his boot. He drank booze, Paulette said. The word puddled out of her lips and sounded both grown up and baby at the same time. The cow says moo. The Daddy says booze. He kicked the door harder,…

Talking Houses

by James Miranda

“When I’m in a conspiracy theory mood I argue ducts. I deconstruct the entire house. I blame landlords, realtors, architects, HVAC people, town planners, and mice. There is no telling how high up this thing goes. These are long days.”

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