Afternoon Bites: Gabriel Blackwell’s “Parasitic Works,” Chatting With Michelle Tea, Microphones Vinyl Reissues, and More

“I try to create parasitic works, building on others’ creations—not just acknowledging the reader’s life outside of the book but (so I hope) pointing in fruitful directions for his or her distraction.” Gabriel Blackwell talked with The Lit Pub about his books Shadow Man and Critique of Pure Reason. Novelists on their first drafts. “And I loved spooky books about witches, or where a girl’s house is haunted by antique dead twins trying to inhabit their bodies. Shit like that was my jam. […]

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On Wrestlers, Tenses, and Halifax: A Conversation With Frank Hinton

Frank Hinton is the editor of the online literary journal Metazen. She’s also the author of the new novel Action, Figure, which follows Frank and Lili, a pair of young Halifax residents numbing themselves over a handful of days. Juxtaposed with their story are a number of sections labeled “Rapunzel,” which focus on a character recuperating from an injury during wartime. The Rapunzel sections are as oblique as the Frank-and-Lili ones are realistic, and the juxtaposition of the two leads to […]

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Afternoon Bites: Gary Lutz, Charles Bock, Chicago Books, and more

Charles Bock is starting his own writing workshop, to begin in March. At The L Magazine, Mark Asch chats with Gary Lutz. Susan Tepper interviews Bradford Morrow Numerous music writers told The Awl the song they’d listened to the most in the preceding year. CBS Chicago provides a “Best New Chicago Books” list, and a number of Vol.1 favorites are on it. Vouched is running a contest with chapbooks from xTx and Frank Hinton as prizes. Brandon Graham discusses his creative […]

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