Anthologies

Fiction writers and critics engage the aesthetic, political, philosophical, and cultural dimensions of contemporary fiction. Combining creative and critical responses from some of today's most progressive and innovative novelists, critics, and theorists, Fiction's Present adventurously engages the aesthetic, political, philosophical, and cultural dimensions of contemporary fiction. By juxtaposing scholarly articles with essays by practicing novelists, the book takes up not only the current state of literature and its criticism but also connections between contemporary philosophy and contemporary fiction. In doing so, the contributors aim to provoke further discussion of the present inflection of fiction-a present that can be seen as Janus-faced, looking both forward to the novel's radically changed, political, economic, and technological circumstances, and back to its history of achievements and problems. Editors R. M. Berry and Jeffrey R. Di Leo contend that examinations of fiction's present are most informative not when they defend philosophical distinctions or develop literary classifications, but when they grapple with elusive topics such as the meaning of a narrative present or the relation of fiction's medium to its representations of context. As the essays reveal, this process, when pursued diligently, breaks down traditional divisions of academic and intellectual labor, compelling the fiction writer to become more philosophical and the theorist to become more imaginative. The value of this book is not in the exhaustiveness of its treatment, but rather in the seriousness of the criticism it incites. The present materializes in quarrel, and it is toward such a beginning that the writings in Fiction's Present work.

Innovative writing by 39 women writers, including Lidia Yuknavitch, LilyGrace, Laurie Foos, Kass Fleisher, Barbara Baer, Cynthia Reeves, Lauren Schiffman Karen Lillis, Megan Milks, Lyn Halper, Fanny Howe, Suki Wessling, Jessica Treat, Shelley Jackson, Laynie Browne, Roni Natov, Cris Mazza, Elizabeth Block, Geri DeLuca, Alicita Rodriguez, Gwen Hart, Masha Tupitsyn, Martha King, Sarah White, Nina Shope, Carmen Firan, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Anna Mockler, Sandra Miller, E.C. Bachner, Tsipi Keller, Summer Brenner, Amina Cain, Karen Brennan, Aimee Parkison, Lily Hoang, Lynda Schor, Danielle Dutton, Danielle Alexander, Debra Di Blasi, and Alexandra Chasin. -- In this diverse and comprehensive volume, the writers have manipulated traditional ways of storytelling, language, and plot, to express new and distinct ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Narrative form is subverted, provocative subject matter explored, and language takes on a scatological form to depict an authentic human experience that makes reading a truly participatory act. At the conclusion of each work, the contributor has composed a few impressions sharing what inspired her to tell that particular story. Were this book published by St. Martin s or Norton, they would have slapped its contents on wider margins and packaged it for the college market at twice the cost. Except Norton or St. Martin s would never publish this book it s too dangerous, wild, and singular. Wreckage of Reason gives us three dozen women authors beyond any easily marketable definition; by any description, it s an anthology worthy of an audience and acclaim.--Ted Pelton --The Brooklyn Rail

Poetry. Fiction. Essays. Women's Studies. FEMINAISSANCE = collectivity; feminine ecriture; the politics of writing; text and voice; the body as a site of contestation, insurgence and pleasure; race and writing; gender as performance; writing about other women writers; economic inequities; Helene Cixous; monstrosity; madness; and aesthetics. FEMINAISSANCE = Dodie Bellamy, Caroline Bergvall, Meiling Cheng, Wanda Coleman, Bhanu Kapil, Chris Kraus, Susan McCabe, Tracie Morris, Eileen Myles, Maggie Nelson, Vanessa Place, Juliana Spahr, Christine Wertheim, Stephanie Young, Lidia Yuknavitch. FEMINAISSANCE = "If the fact that women do not say 'We' was one of the constitutive problems for 20th century feminism, the fact that women do and still clearly feel the need to say 'We' is just as rich and interesting a topic for feminism today. The writings gathered here prove feminism to be alive and more relevant to all genders than ever: not just because feminist discourse remains a political necessity, but because of its artistic and intellectual pleasures."—Sianne Ngai

In Best Sex Writing 2012 , sex columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel and noted commentator Susie Bright, this year's guest judge, collect the most challenging and provocative work on this endlessly evocative subject. Find out what's behind the latest political sex scandals in "Sex, Lies, and Hush Money," learn about how "Atheists Do It Better" and find out "Why Lying About Monogamy Matters." From an insider look at being gay in the military pre-DADT and an impassioned defense of circumcision to a dating site for people with STDs, nuanced explorations of teen sex laws, prostitution, sex at 66, SlutWalks, female orgasm workshops, and more, Best Sex Writing 2012 explores the smarter side of sexuality. This is bedtime reading for erotic intellectuals and those who want to go behind the latest leering headlines for real talk about the topic on everyone's lips. Winner of IPPY (Independent Publisher) Gold Award for Sexuality/Relationships

Literary Nonfiction. Women's Studies. LGBT Studies. We are witnessing the patriarchy's last gasp, and it's not going down without a fight. Using legislation, language, and women's own silence, it seeks to return us to a time when choice and self-determination were not options. In this collection, twenty-one fearless writers examine reproductive rights, access to health care, violence against women, and the rise of rape apologists in the twenty-first-century United States. Illuminating intersections of gender, class, and race, these stories speak to the challenges women routinely face, the attempts to undermine their rights, and the deliberate, systemic erosion of their agency and existence as equals. It's time to revisit what's at stake, what could still be lost, and why we must continually fight for equality and freedom for all. Contributors are Roxane Gay, Betty MacDonald, Katha Pollitt, Dolores P, Sari Botton, Addy Robinson McCulloch,Tara Murtha, Sarah Mirk, Kari O'Driscoll, Martha Bayne, Janet Frishberg, Mira Ptacin, J. Victoria Sanders, s.e. smith, Camille Hayes, Rebecca K. O' Connor, Lidia Yuknavitch, Elissa Bassist, Kevin Sampsell, Kate Sheppard, and Rebecca Cohen.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF ART AND WRITINGFULL-COLOR ILLUSTRATED EDITION"It’s pleasant being naked, as swimmer or writer or reader.... Naked’s a way of being free, unencumbered by garment or censor. There exists no other way of knowing certain things, or oneself, without stripping away." —from the Preface by Debra Di Blasi, editorOne artist and 54 writers accepted the challenge of creatively defining "dirty" in the 21st Century. Mugi Takei’s delicate, profane watercolors position the human body within, on and against nature. While some writers surrendered to play through sexually explicit love poetry, bawdy fiction, threesomes, twosomes, onesomes, and all the delightful fantasies and realities in-between, others suggested genocide to be the real dirt of humanity, or offer sexy, new versions of biblical stories. As an anthology, Dirty : Dirty exhibits the beauty, humor, raunch and invention possible when talented artists and writers tackle a very old subject.THE ARTIST: Mugi TakeiTHE WRITERS: Greg Bachar, Elizabeth Burns, Jennifer Calkins, Jane L. Carman, Kylee Cook, Beth Couture, Dirk Cowan, Justin Dobbs, Trevor Dodge, Rion Woolf, C. M. Connelly, April Gigliotti, Christopher Grimes, Steve Halle, Jeff Hansen, Michael Harold, Garrett Hayes, Jacqueline Heffron, Lily Hoang, Nabila Najwa, Eric Jeitner, Liesl Jobson, Steve Katz, Kimberly Koga, Stacey Levine, Marilyn Jaye Lewis, Robert Lopez, Cris Mazza, Joe Milazzo, Kathleen Miller, Scott Million, Theresa A. O'Donnell, Jordan Okumura, Melanie Page, Mitch Parker, Aimee Parkinson, Jack Rees, AE Reiff, Doug Rice, Thaddeus Rutkowski, Davis Schneiderman, Mikal Shapiro, Gary Shipley, Ascot Smith, Rob Stephenson, Helen Tran, Holms Troelstrup, J. A. Tyler, c.vance, Laura Vena, Hal Wert, Lane Williams, Alyssa Wisener, Lidia Yuknavitch

The foreword by Lidia Yuknavitch reminds us to celebrate lives devoted to words. — Regular contributor George Wells takes readers on a walk across the field between how things are and how they're remembered in "To the River." — "The Story of a Mother" by Mika Hillery is an honest and painful journey through the grief of losing a child. The story here ends on a hopeful note, but as this is Spark's first Creative Nonfiction inclusion, the Hilleries' real-life story goes on and can be followed on their blog. — Christopher Michel wrote Night Class in Syracuse to record the scene he encountered while attending lectures by Brooks Haxton. "Actually," Michel explains, "the class I was referencing, A History of the Poetic Form, I took twice because it was such a densely informative experience." — Through both the story he tells and his writing itself, Fatman Butter paints a portrait of man’s ability to find a silver lining in the most testing circumstances of adversity in "Silver Linings." — "Leafing" by Elizabeth Sachs is a love story, exploring a relationship's evolution as necessitated by Alzheimer's disease. — Cathy Bryant wrote "Yellow Roses on Snow" after visiting Sylvia Plath's grave on the fiftieth anniversary of her death. — As the train moves forward in "Letters to Mary," the tension provided by Megan Turner lies as much in what is unsaid as in what is said. — Traditional Southern imagery is freshly woven by D.A. Gray in the sophisticated and evocative poem Sleepless on Medicine Creek. — Alexis A. Hunter's third installment of By The Gun raises the stakes for Della—and adds a paranormal twist—as she finds herself on the Wrong Side of God. This series began with By the Gun in Volume I and continued as The Shadow Attached to His Name in Volume II. Don't miss the conclusion of this delightful "Weird Western," coming soon in Spark: A Creative Anthology, Volume IV! — Through the dreamlike language of "Sister Eugénie's Wonderful Glass Eye," Barbara Black invites the reader to explore the aquatic depths of the imagination. — In a much-needed and well-deserved injection of levity, Ben Thompson brings back the unlikable narrator in "All-You-Can-Eat." As he makes his way through the challenge presented by the local buffet, will you find yourself rooting against him—or for him? — When an anomalous baby is born to young parents, Janet E. Irvin explores the couple's attempts to reconcile their desire to give their child the very best with the difficulties of raising a daughter who is "different" in "A Brief Theory of Triangular Scale." — The very same place at very different times: "Temporal Shift" by Tom Pescatore. — John W. Buckley deftly provides the soundtrack to an evening of acquaintances lost and acquaintances regained in "Jukebox Lament." — Despair against nature leads to unexpected salvation in Christian Fennell's "Angel of the Equinox." — "Before Ararat" introduces fresh perspectives on a familiar story—a recurring approach in Kari Castor's poetry. Her work also appeared in Volume I. — In "Call, Talk, Lock," Deborah Miller-Collins takes an unusual occurrence that actually happened to her one rainy New England day and develops it into an event that brings together two strangers who need each other. — "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman," wrote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his short story A Scandal In Bohemia. Here, Beatriz F. Fernandez, whose poetry also appeared in Volume II, pens a response from the woman to Mr. Holmes, signed "Very Truly Yours, Irene Norton, née Adler." — Escape seems impossible for Cassie in the fiery suspense "Gold Stars and Forget-Me-Nots" by Francesca Linton. — In "Inner Night" by Michael Campagnoli, a woman waits for an unknown lover. — Caroline Zarlengo Sposto asks, "How far would you go to stand up for—and even protect—a stranger?" in "Chivalry." — To conclude Volume III, a mother savors a moment with her infant son and contemplates the day he will inevit

With women's anger, empowerment, and the critical importance of intersectional feminism taking centre stage in much of the dialogue happening in feminist spaces right now, an anthology like this has never been more important. The voices in this collection of essays and interviews offer perspectives and experiences that help women find common ground, unity, and allyship. Through personal essays and interviews about what it is like to live as a woman (cis + trans) in this modern world - with all of our love, anger, complexities, and desires for justice - All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body includes vulnerable, painful truths and bold inspiration. This anthology is for seasoned feminists and young feminists alike - anyone looking to find inspiration in radical activism, creativity, healing, and more. This book covers topics of social and economic justice, creativity, racism, transgender perspectives, sexuality, sex work, addiction and recovery, reproductive rights, assault, relationship dynamics, families, fitting and not fitting in, radical self-care, witchcraft, and more. If love and anger are two sides of the same coin, for women there are worlds to be explored with every flip of that coin. Readers will find a glimpse into those worlds in the pages of All of Me.

Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. Ms. Haupt rallied a diverse roster of more than 90 authors to contribute their work to Alone Together , free of charge, including Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch. Alone Together is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don't Stop. The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty holds the possibility of changing us as individuals and a society. Narrated by a full cast, including Edoardo Ballerini, January LaVoy, Dion Graham, Julia Whelan, Adenrele Ojo, Emily Woo Zeller, Thérèse Plummer, Ron Butler, Adjoa Andoh, Christian Barillas, Almarie Guerra, Cynthia Farrell, and Dawn Harvey.