Luna Digest, 7/21

Asia Literary Review recently launched its new website. (You may recall it has been down for some time.) Here’s from their email announcing the new site:

Asia Literary Review is excited to announce the launch of its new website…devoted to fine Asian writing. The site serves as an extended version of Asia Literary Review Magazine and will offer in-depth views to the variety of genres the magazine publishes quarterly. The new web site offers many areas for the readers to enjoy.

Shya Scanlon is publishing his latest novel, Forecast, in installments on a series of literary websites. Scanlon is calling this web serialization—which, as far as I know, is the first such one in online literary magazine history—the Forecast 42 Project (click the link for a list of all 42 websites involved). The first installment of the novel was made available on July 19th at Juked. And the second installment was put up July 20th at Northville Review. The third portion should be available soon at Emprise Review.

Southampton Review honors the recently deceased Frank McCourt in their newest issue, available July 15.

Molly Gaudry seems to be found these days everywhere one turns, such as just this July in Pear Noir!, Kartika Review, Blue Print Review, and Gold Wake Press. Gaudry is also a many-hatted editor (Twelve Stories, Keyhole). One of her primary hats is worn at Willows Wept Review, whose Summer 2009 issue includes work by J. A. Tyler, Nicolle Elizabeth, Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, and others.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of mankind’s first steps on the moon, McSweeney’s offers up some never-before-seen moon transcripts.

In his inaugural post for HTMLGIANT, Christopher Higgs informs us of a new literary magazine dedicated to Joyce’s head-splitting final novel Finnegans Wake called Flash Point.

The latest issue of pax americana needs to be seen to be believed: The Poetry Brothel Issue. (That’s right.)

The recent issue of Witness, the literary periodical of Black Mountain Institute, is themed Dismissing Africa. “With this issue,” the editors write, “we revive, in different form, the feature for which Witness is perhaps best known: the special issue.” The issue is an attempt to bring together “a gathering of diverse works resulting from the title’s provocation.” Greg Weiss wrote for Luna Park about the issue:

One of the many risks of Witness, “the magazine of the Black Mountain Institute,” presenting an issue dedicated to the theme of Dismissing Africa is that the very notion of dismissing “Africa” already dismisses the individuals who live in Africa. I don’t deny that this volume sometimes succumbs to the pitfalls attached to that risk, but I still really liked the Dismissing Africa issue, both aesthetically and morally….[continues]

The Fifth Annual Chicago Printer’s Ball is coming up, Friday, July 31. If you can, don’t miss this, as it’s one of the best publishing events in the States. The participating publishers list is long, including Poetry, McSweeney’s, Another Chicago Magazine, Fence, jubilat, Ninth Letter, MAKE, Painted Bride Quarterly, Rose Metal Press, Saint Ann’s Review, and on and on, plus many other arts and publishing organizations from in and around Chicago. And it’s FREE. Here’s a sneak peek from the Chicago Poetry Calendar.

Finally, The Paris Review has put a large portion online of Katie Rophie’s interview with Gay Talese from the magazine’s Summer 2009 issue. Here’s a bit where Talese talks about his writing habits:

INTERVIEWER: How does your writing day begin?

TALESE: Usually I wake up in bed with my wife. I don’t want to have breakfast with anyone. So I go from the third floor, which is our bedroom, to the fourth floor, where I keep my clothes. I get dressed as if I’m going to an office. I wear a tie.

INTERVIEWER: Cuff links?

TALESE: Yes. I dress as if I’m going to an office in midtown or on Wall Street or at a law firm, even though what I am really doing is going downstairs to my bunker. In the bunker there’s a little refrigerator, and I have orange juice and muffins and coffee. Then I change my clothes.

Every Tuesday, Travis Kurowski presents Luna Digest, a selection of news from the world of literary magazines. Travis is the editor of Luna Park, a magazine founded on the idea that journals are as deserving of critical attention as other artistic works.