Q u e s t i o n s t r u c k

I am a man of constant borrow...

2012-01-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Unknown Arts is available for pre-order at Keyhole Press. $14.95, includes shipping.

Release date is February 2, 2012.

Order information for digital editions soon to follow.

It's a collection of 40 borrowings from Joyce's Ulysses, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegans Wake, Exiles, Pomes Pennyeach, Chamber Music, Giacomo Joyce, and his collected letters.

A few of these poems and text pieces have appeared in a few journals over the last few years, namely elimae, Artifice, Admit2, Big Other, Annalemma, Mudluscious, Monkeybicylce, FlatmanCrooked, The Scrambler, and H_NGM_N. Thanks to the good folks running those fine journals.

And special thanks to Keyhole Press for sticking its neck out--again.

UNKNOWN ARTS

2012-01-07T19:17:00.001-08:00

Unknown Arts is coming very soon.

Texts and poems derived from the works of James Joyce. A few have appeared here and there. In Artifice #1, elimae, Admit 2, The Scrambler, Mudluscious, Monkeybicycle, and elsewhere.

The image on the front cover is a St. Brigid's Cross made from McDonalds' straws.

Here's what's on the back cover:

Unknown Arts, to use a Joycean coinage, is a thinkling. Walsh offers a series of critical appropriations—poems, stories, and a silent play—drawn from Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Dubliners, and more. "Enjombyourselves thurily!"

"Art critic Thomas Hess found that the only worthwhile criticism of a work of art is another work of art. William Walsh must feel this too, because he does not merely document and rearrange Joyce's work here—he makes, with Joyce's materials, his own music. Each piece is a lovely read, and a reminder not of totemic, hallowed literature, but of how personal and playful the act of reading really is."
- Darcie Dennigan, Corinna A-Maying the Apocalypse (Fordham University Press)

"A mixup, an accumulation; William Walsh faithfully divines James Joyce and his multiflex bodies. Here is a man (two men, I mean, meant to mingle, both) once won of song and slave to rhythm; sum dumb, fully plumbed. Here is a truly prazeful recapitulation! Read."
- Ken Baumann, Solip (Tyrant Books)

More informaton to follow...

Hello Week iPhone/iPad Story App

2012-01-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

Touchoo Books has released our children's story "Hello Week" as a neat little book app. And coming soon for Android devices.

It's about a little boy who has a one-word vocabulary. That word is hello. He says hello to everything that he sees for one week.

It's only $2.99 at the iTunes store, and it's totally charming. C'mon.

HELLO WEEK

2011-06-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Touchoo Books has posted a Q&A with me and Kim Edge-Ambler about our forthcoming children's book-app, "Hello Week." It's a childrens' story told in rhyme with super charming illustrations by Kim. You can read it to your kids from your iPhone, iPad, or other touchscreen device. More details to follow...

Flowersday

2011-06-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Bloomsday today with a piece up at No News Today called "Flowers of Idleness, which tracks Henry Flower, Bloom's alias, as he appears in episode five of Ulysses, Lotus Eaters. Thanks to Robert Lopez for letting me share this news today at No News Today.

RE:Telling

2011-03-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

RE:Telling, an anthology of short stories (and some poems) told with borrowed premises, appropriated characters, and stolen settings, is available now from Ampersand Books.

RE:Telling is Matt Bell, Roxane Gay, Molly Gaudry, Daniel Grandbois, Joseph Riippi, Zachary Mason, Samantha Hunt, Pedro Ponce, Jesse Bradley, Darcie Dennigan, Alicia Gifford, Jim Ruland, Josh Maday, Steve Himmer, Erin Fitzgerald, Curtis Smith, Timothy Gager, Shya Scanlon, Tom LaFarge, Lily Hoang & Kathleen Rooney, Jeff Brewer, Crispin Best, Peter Conners, Teresa Buzzard, Michael Kimball, Corey Mesler, Heather Fowler, Henry Jenkins, Wendy Walker, Michael Martone, and Blake Butler.

RE:Telling riffs on Shakespeare, cartoon characters, folklore and nursery rhyme, video games, stage drama, mythology, popular novels, movies, television, the Old Testament, and more.

RE:Telling is available at Amazon, Small Press Distribution, and Ampersand Books.

RE:Telling has a Tumblr with contributor interviews and other important content.

RE:Telling has been reviewed (so far) at TimeOut Chicago and Prick of the Spindle.

RE:Telling is at GoodReads, so you can add it to your bookshelf.

Here's a preview of RE: Telling featuring work from Matt Bell, Roxane Gay, Molly Gaudry, and Teresa Buzzard.

Open publication - Free publishing - More anthology

"O!" in H_NGM_N #11

2010-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

"O!" a poem derived from Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, is featured in the "From" section of H_NGM_N # 11.

"O!" tracks the sentences in the novel that end like this: o!

Check it out!

Small Press Saturday @ Newtonville Books

2010-09-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

I'll be reading this Saturday, October 2nd at Newtonville Books. Show starts at 2PM.

Small Press Saturday features Ampersand Books, Dzanc Books, Madras Press, Rose Metal Press, and Small Anchor Press.

Here's the rundown:

Ampersand Books: Benjamin Lowenkron will read from PREACHER'S BLUES

Dzanc Books: William Walsh and Myfanwy Collins will read from THE BEST OF THE WEB 2010

Madras Press: Editor Sumanth Prabhaker will read "A Manual for Sons" by Donald Barthelme, the first Madras Press Classic Reprint

Rose Metal Press: Adam Golaski will read from COLOR PLATES

Small Anchor Press: Joseph McElroy will read from PREPARATIONS FOR SEARCH

Newtonville Books is located at 296 Walnut Street in Newton, Massachusetts.

Salem Lit Fest is NOT Witchy

2010-08-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'll be reading at the Salem Literary Festival on Saturday, September 18th (5PM - 7PM).

It's Quick Fiction's Utter Amazement program at Gulu-Gulu Cafe. The big news is who I'm reading with. Quite a lineup: Steve Almond, Kim Chinquee, Myfanwy Collins, Brian Evenson, and Michael Thurston.

It's in Salem, Mass. But, again, it's not witchy.

Money Getting

2010-06-26T04:50:00.000-07:00

Been running a serial at The Kenyon Review Blog called Money Getting. It's a verse digest of P.T. Barnum's The Art of Money Getting (1880).

Here's a sample of how a verse digest works...

Original sentence:

"It is a slavish position to get in, yet we find many a young man, hardly out of his "teens," running in debt."

That sentence digested in verse:

a slavish position
running in debt

So far, seven of twenty-three parts posted: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.

Bloomsday 2010 Shenanigans

2010-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Rejoycing this Bloomsday on the web , June 16, 2010:

- A Blooming at Annalemma.

- A stroll though Dublin with Father Conmee at Artifice.

- A Pounding from Pound and a nine-parted gestation at Big Other

- A stout piece at Keyhole Press.

- A letter to Bloom at Letters With Character, the blog inspired by Ben Greenman’s new collection What He’s Poised To Do (Harper Perennial). LWC is running as many letters to Bloom as they can get today.

- A salute to Poldy at The Kenyon Review Blog.

MANY THANKS to John Madera, Chris Heavener, Peter Cole, Ben Greenman, James Tadd Adcox, and Rebekah Silverman for celebrating Bloomsday 2010 with me.

Recent Pathologies on the Web

2010-05-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Some good words on Pathologies from Chris Heavener, publisher of Annalemma:

"Walsh slices his characters thin, then chooses which slice will show you their eventual trajectory."

Read the whole post here.

And J.A. Tyler, author of Inconceivable Wilson and the man behind Mudluscious Press, presents "A Partial Study of these Pathologies" at Big Other:

"...Walsh’s Pathologies, in its seventeen micro-fictions, has a clear through-line & a vibrant arc..."

Read the whole post and comments here.

And Timmy Waldron, author of World Takes, had some pathological questions to ask me at Word Riot, like:

Timmy: Many of these stories have surreal elements to them, but you never take these stories into the impossible. Could you talk about this type of writing and what draws you to this kind of hyper reality?

William: I like the story-ness of stories. Fiction shouldn’t try to be too realistic. Fiction is portrait and fiction is landscape, but fiction is not real. Stories should be an examination or dramatization of an idea or a feeling. A story should also bring a reader to know something or feel something new.

Read the whole Q&A here.

Finally, some sharp readers (like Ben Tanzer, Kathy Fish, Marc Lowe, Tim Jones-Yelvington, Jason Jordan) posted some sweet ratings of Pathologies at GoodReads.

The Game of Stephen King

2010-04-29T08:39:00.001-07:00

My post on the Game of Stephen King at the Kenyon Review Blog has had over 165,000 page views. What?

My next post is about the game of Kitty Kelley that I play with my aunts.

New Pony Anthology

2010-04-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Just got my contributor copy of New Pony, a Horse Less Press Anthology.

Some very cool stuff from Kate Schapira, Sandy Florian & DZ Delgado, Mathias Svalina & Julia Cohen, and Justin Taylor, who has an erasure poem of W.G. Sebald’s The Emigrants that I found spooky.

My contribution is "The Tepper Question: Isn't He Going Out?", which is derived from Calvin Trillin's novel on parking in NYC, Tepper Isn't Going Out (2001). There's a lot of this: "Going out? Are you going out? He’s not going out? What do you mean he’s not going out? Hey, are you going out or not, man? Are you going out or not? You’re not going out? I guess you’re not going out—uh? Are you going out to park?" But there's also a neat subplot on direct mail.

New Pony is available now at Amazon.com.

PATHOLOGIES

2010-03-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Keyhole Press is taking pre-orders for a new mini-book of short stories called Pathologies.

It's about sixty pages. Seventeen shorts, about a third new and unpublished anyplace else. You can read a sample story, Revision, at Keyhole.

The cover was needlepointed by Keyhole publisher Peter Cole and his wife Annie. The back cover of the book shows the underside of their pathological stitchwork. Can't thank them enough for their hard work.

Click here for full-size cover image (the stitching!).

Blogging at Kenyon Review

2010-02-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

I've got a six-month gig blogging at The Kenyon Review.

The goal is to post something semi-literary once a week. And I am planning a monthly feature on writers engaged in collaborative projects.

Check it out!

Cover for Ampersand, Mass.

2010-02-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

Dzanc Books has posted cover art for nine of its eleven forthcoming titles (including their imprints Keyhole Press and Black Lawrence Press).

My collection from Keyhole, Ampersand, Mass., is among the new books announced. Very happy to be in such good company: Matt Bell, Aaron Burch, Robert Lopez, Terese Svoboda, Peter Markus, Yelizaveta P. Renfro, Patrick Michael Finn, and Steven Gillis.

Artifice Reading at Small Animal Project

2010-02-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

I will be reading on February 27 with Jessica Bozek, Ori Fienberg, and Elisa Gabbert at Small Animal Project. This reading celebrates the release of Artifice #1! Please note that this is an afternoon reading, starting at 3PM at Outpost 186, (186 1/2 Hampshire Street, between Prospect & Amory Streets, in Cambridge).

Workshop @ Brown Continuing Studies

2009-12-22T07:51:00.001-08:00

I'll be leading a new writing workshop with Brown University's Continuing Studies Program in early 2010.

RE: Telling--Making New Narratives with Borrowed Characters, Familiar Settings, and Classic Plots begins February 3 and runs for six weeks.

Course description and registration information available here.

Email me if you have any questions.

& Now Anthology: Best Innovative Writing

2009-12-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

From Lake Forrest College Press, The & Now Anthology: Best of Innovative Writing features work from Jeffrey DeShell, Christina Milletti, Giancarlo DiTrapano, Kim Chinquee, Aaron Burch, Blake Butler, Shelley Jackson, Cris Mazza, Tom LaFarge, Wendy Walker, Lily Hoang, Keith & Rosemarie Waldrop, Lance Olsen, Dave Kress, and a slew of other writers of innovative prose and poetry.

A piece of mine from Questionstruck called "American Fried Questions" is also featured.

Available at Amazon.

Questionstruck Available on Kindle

2009-11-24T07:05:00.001-08:00

Just in time for the Holidays! Keyhole Press has made Questionstruck available in a Kindle edition at Amazon.com. Price is $4.99.

Sample question: "Why can't somebody write my books for me and just leave me to collect the royalties in peace?" (from Trillin's Too Soon to Tell, 1995)

Questionstruck/Kindle.

"Chaos" in Quick Fiction 16

2009-11-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

Short-short called "Chaos" appearing in Quick Fiction 16. You can read the first few lines here.

Quick Fiction is a handsomely designed journal, and I'm proud to be in the company of Jim Ruland, Kim Chinquee, Aaron Burch, Barry Graham, Claudia Smith, Myfanwy Collins, the great Kathy Fish, and others.

Can't wait to get my copy. Order yours here.

Barber vs Heart Disease Trailer at Annalemma

2009-11-18T08:48:00.003-08:00

Barber vs Heart Disease trailer on Vimeo. Annalemma produced this great trailer for Barber vs Heart Disease, which is in their current issue. My thanks to Chris Heavener and his collaborators.

Beggars Can't at Suss

2009-11-17T06:30:00.001-08:00

New short called "Beggars Can't" up today at Suss, which is part of of Lintel, Sash, and Sill Press.

A Descriptive Lust at The Scrambler, #33

2009-11-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

Piece called “A Descriptive Lust,” derived from Giacomo Joyce, by James Joyce, is featured in issue 33 of The Scrambler.

Published posthumously, Giacomo Joyce is a series of notes by Joyce about a student of his in Trieste. Joyce had quite an intense crush on this young lady. I’ve reduced the text to its base descriptive elements. The title comes from a comment made by another student of Joyce’s who said that the author had “a descriptive lust” in his approach to teaching English to his Italian and French students.

Check it out.

Tramp @ The Outlet

2009-10-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

New text called Tramp up now at The Outlet, Electric Literature's new blog.

Tramp is derived from one of David Markson's early detective novels. I excised lines that sounded a lot like Markson's later work--like Reader's Block, This is Not a Novel, Vanishing Point, and The Last Novel--to make a new narrative.

Check it out...

Interview at PANK

2009-10-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

Roxane Gay at PANK has been interviewing contributors to their September issue.

Mine went up today. Thanks, Roxane.

Muse @ Night Train

2009-10-06T06:33:00.001-07:00

Short-short called "Muse" featured this week at Night Train. It's like this:

"The television at the bar had on a reality show set in a tattoo parlor, which inspired those at the bar to begin showing their tattoos to one another, to share their subtexts."

Master @ PANK

2009-09-15T06:49:00.001-07:00

New story up at PANK. It's like this:

"The dog’s name is Biko, a black lab, a hunter whose natural instincts are thwarted almost daily by Sheena, who feeds him table scraps and bathes him too often with her own shampoo."

Without Wax Reviewed in Florida Review

2009-08-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

I missed this review of Without Wax when it came out in The Florida Review (Winter 2008). Chris Wiewiora, Assistant Editor of The Florida Review, gave it a very thorough read. Scroll to bottom of the issue's Table of Contents, the review link will appear in a neat java window.

Fictionaut: Writing Spaces

2009-08-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

Jürgen Fauth invited me to write about my writing space on the Fictionaut Blog.

Issue # 2 of Kill Author

2009-08-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

"This Laptop Kills Fascists" is in issue #2 of Kill Author, just posted.

Issue # 2 also features Jimmy Chen, Roxane Gay, Sam Pink, Steve McDermott, among others.

Check it out...

American Book Review

2009-08-08T09:04:00.001-07:00

Davis Schneiderman reviews Questionstruck with Tom LaFarge's Administrative Assemblages in the July/Aug issue of American Book Review.

Is Trillin Flashlight Worthy?

2009-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

My list of Calvin Trillin's top five Flashlight Worthy books is appearing at Flashlight Worthy Books.

Seeing Trillin Everywhere

2009-07-07T10:29:00.001-07:00

Maybe I've spent too much time with Calvin Trillin's books, but I think Jeff Dunham's dummy Walter looks just like Trillin?

Rudy Bloom @ Mud Luscious

2009-06-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

"Rudy Bloom", a derived text sourced from Ulysses, by James Joyce, is up today as part of Mud Luscious #7. This piece is a remembrance of the Bloom's son, Rudy, who died shortly after his birth. Issue #7 also features new work from Molly Gaudry, David Erlewine, Sean Lovelace, Barry Graham, Jennifer Pieroni, Liz Hall, Peter Berghoef, Sean Ruane, Sara Reihani, P.H. Madore, C.L. Bledsoe, Nathaniel Tower, Ryan W. Bradley, Ravi Mangla, Shome Dasgupta, Zachary C. Bush, Lydia Copeland, Conor Robin Madigan, Peter Scwartz, and a few reviews by editor J.A. Tyler. Check it out.

One Two Three @ Flatmancrooked

2009-06-16T08:46:00.001-07:00

Flatmancrooked is running "One Two Three", a text derived from Ulysses by James Joyce.

This piece tracks Joyce's use of one-, two-, and three-word sentences in the opening three chapters of the novel, The Telemachiad, which precede Bloom's appearance and serve as a brief sequel to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I've fooled around with sentence order but kept the three chapters distinct.

Bloomsday is almost half over! So Check It Out!

Flushed Flung Fluttered @ Keyhole

2009-06-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Keyhole is running a piece called "Flushed Flung Fluttered", a derived text sourced from James Joyce's Ulysses.

The piece tracks Joyce's use of these three little words, which are also common in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and which seem melodramatic and very 19th Century. Happy Bloomsday...

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Square @ Monkeybicycle

2009-06-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Portrait of the Artist as a Young Sqaure" is running at Monkeybicycle this week.

It is a text derived from Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The piece tracks Joyce's use of the square, the primary (perhaps even defining) shape occurring in the novel: circles appear only five times; there is only one mention of the triangle; and the rectangle, four-sided cousin to the square, is not mentioned at all! Yes, the square is certainly an important symbol in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. And now you know.

Check it out!

And look for more postings and re-postings to commemorate Bloomsday 2009!

Questionstruck Book Notes @ Largehearted Boy

2009-05-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Largehearted Boy, my favorite lit/music blog, is running a Book Notes playlist for Questionstruck.

In the Book Notes feature, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Some recent authors featured include Norah Labiner, John Wray, Timmy Waldron, Joe Meno, Brian Evenson, Dean Wareham, Kathleen Rooney, and many, many others.

Check it out!

Questionstruck @ Thunk

2009-05-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Interview vs. Ryan Manning over at Thunk.

Question Man at Apostrophe Cast

2009-05-14T04:05:00.001-07:00

Reading "Question Man" at Apostrophe Cast. This one is derived from Calvin Trillin's 1998 memoir, Family Man. Check it out.

Win Questionstruck

2009-05-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Orange Alert is giving away two copies of Questionstruck.

Join the Facebook Questionstruck Group OR add Questionstruck to your GoodReads To Read list.

More on the contest at Orange Alert.

Will you enter to win?

What Does TimeOut Chicago Say About Questionstruck

2009-05-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

A few good words on Questionstruck at TimeOut Chicago.

Mother's Day

2009-05-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

"What if his mother always burned the chocolate chip cookies? Are you talking about my mother? Whose mother do you think I'm talking about? Were those cookies burnt? What do you think all the black stuff was? What are you some kind of nutcase, or what? How do you know I sniffed two dozen?"

- Calvin Trillin, Enough's Enough, 1990

GoodReads Discount for Without Wax

2009-04-21T08:26:00.001-07:00

Casperian Books is offering Without Wax at a discounted price to members of GoodReads. For a limited time, you can pickup a copy of Without Wax for $10 from Casperian.

What to Wear During an Orange Alert

2009-04-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ben Tanzer, author of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, recently conducted what he called a simultaneous interview with me and Michael FitzGerald (Radiant Days).

Check it out at (one of my favorite blogs) What to Wear During an Orange Alert.

Top Twenty Novellas

2009-04-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

At Hitheringthithering Waters, John Madera has compiled many lists of favorite novellas from the likes of Steve Almond, Matt Bell, Blake Butler, Jimmy Chen, Jackie Corley, Nicole Elizabeth, Brian Evenson, Molly Gaudry, Amelia Gray, Michael Kimball, Gary Lutz, Josh Maday, Michael Martone, Cooper Renner, Christine Schutt, and many others. In total, it's a comprehensive reading list of great novellas.

My list is here. I named DeLillo's Pafko at the Wall as my favorite.

NEW WORLD RECORD

2009-04-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Questionstruck has been recognized by The Universal Record Database as the book with the most interrogatives.

This is an important literary achievement. But of course records are made to be broken. The number to beat is 3,883.

Question Everything

2009-03-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

My local newspaper, The Sun Chronicle, is running a Q&A with me today about Questionstruck. Please let me apologize in advance for the photo. I am not mentally ill, and I am not, generally, a smug man. But somehow I look both mentally ill and smug in the photo. Sorry.

But check it out.

Question with a Quesiton at Word Riot

2009-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody, How Much of Us There Was, and The Way the Family Got Away, interviews me about Questionstruck at Word Riot. I answered Michael's questions with questions. We planned it that way. I'm not a dick. I think the format works. Some of the background of the Questionstruck project comes out, which is good. Thanks, Michael. Thanks, Word Riot.

The Poet's Revise @ This Zine Will Change Your Life

2009-03-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

"The Poet's Revise" is running at This Zine Will Change Your Life alongside a street art photo by Adam Lawrence and a cool song called "Drowning" by TJo.

Check it out.

Keyhole # 6: Web Extras

2009-03-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

So much good stuff collected for Keyhole #6...

WEB EXTRAS from Blake Butler, Sherrie Flick, Noam Mor, Josh Maday, Paul Long, Gillian Kiley, Sam White, Steve Katz (on Nabokov, Vonnegut, and Berryman), Davis Schneiderman (text and audio collaboration with Don Meyer), and a great podcast interview with Peter Conners on his new memoir, Growing Up Dead, conducted by Sam Ligon.

Check it out!

Keyhole 6 Release Party @ Myopic Books

2009-03-02T18:54:00.001-08:00

Celebrate the release of Keyhole #6 with featured readers:

Blake Butler

Kim Chinquee

Margaret Funkhouser

Gillian Kiley

Sam White

William Walsh

Show starts 7PM

Myopic Books

5 South Angell Street

Wayland Square

Providence

No Charge. Beer. Wine. More.

Questionstruck Group on Facebook

2009-02-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

Of the four basic sentence groups (declarative, exclamatory, imperative, and interrogative), the interrogative is definitely the meat of the pyramid.

Join the Questionstruck Facebook Group and post your favorite questions from the world of literature, film, music, television, comicbooks, and elsewhere.

Join today.

Questionstruck at GoodReads

2009-02-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

GoodReads just added Questionstruck.

So far just one comment, but it is a good one from John Domini who received an early advance copy of the book. He calls Questionstruck "a wild construction such as, in so far as I can trust my fragged and cratered recollection, I've never seen."

If you're a GoodReads member and have the time, please add Questionstruck to your list of books TO READ.

www.questionstruck.com

2009-02-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

Questionstruck.com is live in a pre-launch state right now. Check it out for a neat scroll of random questions culled from Questionstruck: A Collection of Question-based Texts Derived from the Books of Calvin Trillin.

At AWP

2009-02-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

Questionstruck will be at AWP next week in Chicago. Unfortunately, I will not be there with Questionstruck. But Keyhole Press, an imprint of Dzanc Books, will be there and they will have pre-release copies of Questionstruck.

The official release date is March 10, 2009. Visit questionstruck.com for a scroll of questions selected from the book and, some few days from now, real, live, new Questionstruck content --like a text sourced from CalvinTrillin's latest book, Deciding the Next Decider.

Questionstruck is a book of questions. 45,000 words. 3,880 questions. All interrogatives written by Calvin Trillin. Compiled by me from Trillin's first twenty-five books. (He was really nice to let me do that.)

Warning: Questionstruck is a book that will make you dizzy (like in a huffing sort of way) when you read it.

Questions for Calvin Trillin

2009-02-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Calvin Trillin answered some reader questions submitted to The New Yorker.

In one response, he describes his approach to food writing, "I don’t cook and I’ve never reviewed a restaurant. I write about a eating as a way to write about American life."

Check it out.

Writing Workshop: Generative Writing Constraints

2008-12-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

I am scheduled to lead a writing workshop in the Continuing Studies Program at Brown University in early 2009. The info:

Creative Constraints: Generating New Ideas in Fiction
Can imposing artificial writing conditions free your creative process? Writing constraints are consciously selected structures, forms, and limitations selected by the writer prior to writing. Compositions made with constraints often allow you to say things you hadn’t expected to say in ways you would never have chosen.

Working with the precept that all creative writing is constrained, we will examine and experiment with pre-set forms of poetry (sestina, sonnet, villanelle, haiku) and narrative prose (sketches of exactly 100 words, flash fiction, source-text manipulations). Through controlled use of form and expression, writing prompts will help you generate new ideas. No matter what level you’re writing at, this course can liberate you from cliché, challenge your unconscious writing routines, and help you condense the decision making process when writing time is limited.

The workshop runs for six weeks, meeting on Thursdays (7-9PM), from February 5th through March 12th.

Register here. If you have questions regarding this course, please feel free to email me, William_Walsh@brown.edu.

EWN: Looking Forward to 2009

2008-12-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Dan Wickett included Questionstruck in his "What I'm Looking Forward to in 2009" at the Emerging Writers Network blog.

It's quite a list, featuring pre-pub info on books from J. Robert Lennon, Brian Evenson, Dave Reidy, Kathleen Rooney, Percival Everett, Curtis Smith, Jeff Vande Zande, and five writers who also happen to have work in Keyhole #6 (scheduled for February/March 2009) Blake Butler, John Domini, Matt Bell, Michael Kimball, and Amelia Gray.

So much more to read at Emerging Writers Network...

Deciding the Next Decider?

2008-12-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Calvin Trillin published a new book last week, Deciding the Next Decider. It's another collection of political verse, in the tradition of Heckuva Job and Obliviously On He Sails.

Just ordered it on Amazon.

Exit Exam at Six Sentences/ning

2008-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Six Sentences is web journal featuring creative content constrained to the use of only six sentences. It's an interesting exercise that I plan to use with students in my next workshop.

My six-sentence story, "Exit Exam" is up at Six Sentences' ning site. Check it out!

Questionstruck at Bathhouse

2008-11-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

Questionstruck, derived from Calvin Trillin's novel Runestruck (1977), is featured in the current edition of Bathouse, a journal edited by creative writing grad students at Eastern Michigan University.

An Unbloomed Question at 5_TROPE

2008-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

5_TROPE is one of the most venerable yet innovative journals on the web. They're featruing "An Unbloomed Question", a derived text sourced from Barnett Frummer is an Unbloomed Flower and Other Adventures of Barnett Fummer, Rosalie Mondle, Roland Magruder, and Their Friends, a short story collection published by Calvin Trillin in 1969. Check it out!

Further Questions of a Happy Eater Featured at WORD RIOT

2008-03-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

WORD RIOT is featuring Further Questions of a Happy Eater. This one is derived from Alice, Let's Eat: Further Adventures of a Happy Eater, which Calvin Trillin published in 1988. It was also included in Trillin's Tummy Trilogy (1994).

Check it out!

Questionstruck at &Now Festival of Innovative Literature and Art

2008-03-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

I will be participating in the &Now Festival next month. This year's conference will be held at Chapman Univesity in Orange, California, April 15-17. Keynotes: Steve Katz, Ishmael Reed, and David Antin. Many interesting writers presenting and sharing panel discussions. Celebration of the innovative press: Sun & Moon / Green Integer and the Douglas Messerli gift to Leatherby Libraries. Full schedule here.

"A Question in Georgia" Featured at Exquisite Corpse

2008-03-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Calvin Trillin's first book, An Education in Georgia: The Integration of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes (1966) traced the experiences of the first two black students admitted to the University of Georgia.

"A Question in Georgia" tracks each interrogative sentence in the book. You can read it at Exquisite Corpse, which was guest edited this month by Bill Lavender.

Check it out.

Markson Mails It In

2008-03-07T13:23:00.001-08:00

Parody is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm a huge fan of David Markson's wonderful books. So my piece at Lamination Colony, "Marskon Mails It In", should be read as homage. That's right. Homage.

'96 Questions

2008-02-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Calvin Trillin covered the 1996 Presidential Primaries for TIME magazine. Here's a question-based drived text sourced from his bi-weekly columns:

'96 Questions
A derived text sourced from Calvin Trillin's TIME columns, 1996

Do you think this would be better with the sound off? Did you hear me? What? Will he really be able to call a halt to the 'permanent campaign' that has occupied him all his adult life? Or will he be tempted by a nearby electorate that is likely to give him the affection he craves? Could it be that, 30 years after less nimble members of his generation had to make the journey, Bill Clinton will flee to Canada? Did you see Elizabeth Dole on the Tonight Show wearing a black leather jacket and motorcycle boots? Could it be that I heard the President discussing boxer shorts on television? So why the deafening silence from Clinton and Dole? Will it have a major impact on national politics, only delayed rather than immediate? How, then, could the anti-affirmative-action cause fail to catch on? Does America now provide genuinely equal opportunity for all its citizens? Which group is bigger? If bureaucrats didn't invent beach volleyball, who did? Why did I exercise this uncharacteristic restraint? A net-putting-up permit? Can this be worse than what he did for Helms? Why were they there? An environmental statement? Something about what federal prosecutors sometimes call a sting? Who did he look like before that? Michael Dukakis? Walter Mondale? Is something out of whack here, or is this just the unfettered operation of a free market? Or will they have to content themselves with an enigmatic man dressed in a bumblebee suit? Would San Diego show the zealots' might? The Contract? Is it respectful, for instance, for Roy Rogers to display his horse Trigger stuffed in a noble pose but disrespectful for Torrington to display a stuffed gopher robbing a bank? But how about me? Where would he get the rest of the money? O.K., Ed, he'd begin, did you have a second scotch or just the one? Do you think the Hammer's phone is tapped? Epstein had a file? At the end of the ceremony, how would you decide who stomps on the glass? What if instead the ceremony ended with both participants trying to maneuver themselves into position to be the one who did the stomping? What sort of way is that to begin a marriage? If that fails to convince voters that he's no longer a Washington insider, is it only a matter of time before he shows up in a red checked flannel shirt? May I help you into the building, sir? But how about Bill Clinton, who has said that he will be happy to sign the tax repeal into law? Should he get $9.50? Or does he deserve an even larger share for being willing to sign a measure that he clearly thinks is completely stupid? Do you realize that if only people with flying-saucer experience vote, Ross Perot will be President of the United States? Which candidate can you most easily imagine rolling little steel balls around in his hand? Did Gramm take offense? Did his supporters write letters to newspapers and magazines about his loyalty, his interesting gait, his ever alert nature and his ability to learn simple tricks much faster than a golden retriever? Is that really the message we want to project? The other guy is the Gap, and our guy is Fruit of the Loom? Was I offended by this intense scrutiny of a man who was officially off duty? Which country would she have invaded? If a childhood in Kansas is a way to explain Bob Dole's minimalist approach to public speaking, as we've been hearing lately, how do you account for my sister Sukey? Carried? But what would the referee say about someone carrying the ball? Why would you need a referee if nothing's against the rules? Neither team going to choose you, Ralph? How can you run against someone who's off in a spaceship having his bodily fluids removed and his orifices probed? How do you know the alien's name was Epstein, Pat? Did he talk? Do all extraterrestrials have Jewish names? Does that look black up there near where his fangs are bared? Or is that just the way the sun hits the fur when he gets into mauling position? You were expecting maybe The Brothers Karamazov? But what is that compared with Dole attacking the capitalists? Did you see the winner of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show?

Potato I Have at Elimae

2008-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

"Potato I Have", a derived text sourced from James Joyce's Ulysses, is featured at elimae. This piece tracks the use of the potato--a talisman for Bloom--throughout the novel. NOTE: Be sure to enjoy a Guinness and toast Joyce on February 2nd in celebration of his 126th birthday.

Uncivil Questions at No Record

2008-01-14T05:32:00.001-08:00

"Uncivil Questions", a derived text sourced from Uncivil Liberties by Calvin Trillin (1982) is featured at Miles Clark's No Record.

The Mother

2008-01-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

The Mother, a derived text sourced from The Stranger by Albert Camus is featured at KeepGoing. The piece tracks all uses of the word "mother" to examine a central theme of the novel.

Gate. Safe!

2008-01-03T07:20:00.001-08:00

Admit Two is featuring Gate. Safe!, a derived text sourced from James Joyce's Ulysses in their current issue. I tracked the theme of safety and recurring gates imagery throughout the novel and have assembled a short piece that collects all references and usages. The moment in the book that inspired me occurs in the eighth episode, Lestrygonians. Check it out!

"Three Chopsticks (Two Questions)"

2007-10-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

A derived text sourced from “Three Chopsticks” by Calvin Trillin
The New Yorker, September 3, 2007, p. 48

And isn’t Singapore the place where you can get fined for chewing gum? Wrong list?

News: Heckuva Question at LitLab

2007-09-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

"Heckuva Question," sourced from Calvin Trillin's A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme (2006) is featured at The Lit Lab, J. Robert Lennon’s new “online compendium of literary experiment and investigation, including limiting exercises, textual manipulations, historical curiosities, unusual poetic forms, comedic mimesis, metafiction, egrotic literature, neo-absurdism, lettristic hypergraphics, or whatever other nonsense its contributors happen to invent.”

News: Questioning Denny at Pequin

2007-07-21T05:21:00.001-07:00

"Questioning Denny," sourced from Calvin Trillin's 1993 memoir Remembering Denny, will be appearing soon in Pequin.

News:American Fried Questions at Fringe

2007-06-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

"American Fried Questions" is in the August edition of Fringe Magazine!

The Red and the White Questions

2007-06-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

A derived text sourced from “The Red and the White,” by Calvin Trillin. From The New Yorker, Issue of August 19, 2002.

Is it possible that wine connoisseurs can't tell them apart? Does Wild Turkey count? What sort of fancy beer do you have on tap? But can anybody really tell the difference? Why? I know what you're thinking: Is it possible that a self-confessed beer-swilling ignoramus got interested in the Davis test simply as a way of debunking wine connoisseurship? Smell alone? And what other information did the test at Bruce's provide? If the Test never existed, after all, what test was that young man who showed us around the New York State winery taking when he got three out of seven? What test did I keep hearing about in California all those years?