News Roundup: A Review, An Interview, and a Few Upcoming Readings

The Review Review has reviewed our Summer Fiction issue. Reviewer Irene McGarrity says, "The quality of the stories in this issue is undeniable, and the diversity of styles, settings, and perspectives makes for a satisfying cover-to-cover read.  Although these stories vary widely, they all echo a common aesthetic, which I suspect has been seventy years in the making." She continues, "The contents of this particular issue definitely reflect the maturity of the mag along with the curatorial strength of the editor" and then praises many stories, including pieces by Daniel Woodrell, Kathy Page, Alice Petersen, Mona'a Malik, and Rob Doyle.

Read the whole review.

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Fiction co-editor Mark Jarman interviewed by The Malahat Review. 

Jarman is one of three writers judging The Malahat's 2016 novella contest. Recently, he answered some questions by Malahat volunteer Rachael Kearley.

Read the full interview here.

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Qwerty launches new double issue

The launch of Qwerty 33/34 is set for Thursday, December 10th at Wilser’s Room, 366 Queen St, Fredericton.

Join us for readings of some of the editors’ faves from the new issue — there will also be games! and prizes! and a fancy door prize including a rare, limited-edition copy of the Doubles chapbook, our joint venture with Echolocation! And, of course, you can watch the return of our current house band, Marky Mark and the Jarmen: featuring (shocker) Mark Anthony Jarman on the harmonica, with Qwerty nerds Alex Carey and Ryan Gaio on guitar and vocals. Lastly, managing editors Katie and Rebecca will announce Qwerty’s 2015 Pushcart nominations.

You can RSVP here.


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Odd Sundays at Corked Wine Bar

The next gathering of Odd Sundays, and the last before the holidays, will be on December 13th at 2 p.m. at Corked Wine Bar, .83 Regent St.

The featured readers will be members of the local writing group, Fictional Friends. The group has been active and engaged in writing since 2006. Members write poetry, fiction (short and long), essay and memoir, etc. On the 13th, the group will have its new self-published chapbook, “butter and eggs,” on hand. Whether they read from it or from their other work remains to be seen.

Come and enjoy this slice of local writing talent, buy a beverage of your choice, and cross your fingers for the book draw.

Qwerty Reads at Wilser's Room on Thursday, November 19

Join Qwerty, UNB's graduate student creative writing magazine, at the Wilser's Room (366 Queen Street) this Thursday, November 19, for the first Qwerty Reads event of the year! They have an impressive lineup of readers, including current UNB Writer-in-Residence Gerard Beirne, poet extraordinaire Triny Finlay, current UNB students Reid Lodge, Rebecca Salazar and Noah Page, plus musical performance from Mark Jarman's band.

Music starts at 6:30. Readings begin at 7:00.

*****FEATURED READER BIOS*****

Triny Finlay is the author of the poetry collections Splitting Off (Nightwood, 2004), Histories Haunt Us (Nightwood, 2010), and the chapbook Phobic (Gaspereau, 2006). Her writing has appeared in various publications, including ARC, Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets, The Fiddlehead, and University of Toronto Quarterly. She lives with her family in Fredericton, where she teaches English and Creative Writing at the UNB.

Gerard Beirne is an Irish writer now living in Canada. He has published three novels and two collections of poetry. His collection of short stories, In A Time Of Drought And Hunger, is forthcoming from Oberon Press this Fall. He is a past recipient of The Sunday Tribune/Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award. His novel The Eskimo in the Net (Marion Boyars Publishers, London) was short-listed for The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award 2004. His collection of poetry Digging My Own Grave (Dedalus Press) was runner-up in The Patrick Kavanagh Award. His short story “Sightings of Bono” was adapted for a film featuring Bono (U2).

Fiddlehead News Roundup

Emily Bossé

Journey Prize Finalist!

Congratulations to Emily Bossé on being one of three shortlisted finalists for The Writers' Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize for her story "Last Animal Standing on Gentleman's Farm" first published in The Fiddlehead no. 258 (Winter 2014). The story is one of twelve that will be published in the Journey Prize Anthology. Also appearing in the anthology is another story originally published in The Fiddlehead. Charlie Fiset's story "Maggie's Farm" appeared in no. 261 (Autumn 2014).

The anthology is set to be published by McClelland & Stewart on October 6. The winners will be announced November 3.

Fiction Editor Mark Jarman at Kingston Writers' Festival

Roch Carrier, Mark Jarman, and Stephen Smith

Fiction editor Mark Jarman is just back from the Kingston Writers’ Festival where he participated on a panel discussion called "He Writes!  He Scores!  Seeking the Best Hockey Book Ever," moderated by Larry Scanlan.

Mark reports that Roch Carrier talked charmingly about his classic book The Hockey Sweater, Stephen Smith read from his new book Puckstruck, and he read from his story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks" and his hockey novel Salvage King Ya!

Mark also reports that at the end there were great questions from young and old in the audience. One question was what player the panelists would like to be. Harold Snepsts popped into his head, and Mark says, "like me, not the smoothest defenceman, but a long career and a good Fu Manchu mustache." Roch Carrier of course chose Rocket Richard.

Contributors from 2015 Publish Books

A.W. Marshall, whose story "In the Highest Limbs" appeared in our Spring 2015 issue (no. 263), has just had his debut book of stories Simple Pleasures published by ELJ Publications. Summer 2015 issue contributor Kevin Hardcastle also just had his debut collection Debris published by Biblioasis. His story "Thought you were fast" appeared in the recent all-fiction Summer issue (no. 264).

And two poetry contributors to our forthcoming Autumn issue (no. 265) have new books forthcoming later this fall, including Rachel Rose (Marry & Burn, Harbour) and Dan O'Brien (New Life, CB Editions).

And Speaking of New Books and Prize Nominations

Poetry editor Phillip Crymble has had his first collection Not Even Laughter published by Salmon Poetry.

Former poetry editor Claire Kelly's poem "Western U-Haul Gothic" was shortlisted for The Walrus Poetry Prize.

Upcoming Readings by Fiddlehead Editors and Contributors

Fiddlehead fiction editor Mark Jarman will be reading from his new book Knife Party at the Hotel Europa in multiple locations in Western Canada next week. The Vancouver Sun has recently called Mark's book "fierce and beautiful, one of the most stunning books I’ve read in a long time, and one which should not be rushed."

Here are the reading details:

Wednesday, May 20, 7:30, at Vancouver Central Library

Thursday, May 21, 7 pm, at Russell Books in Victoria

Friday, May 22, 7 pm, at Audrey’s Books in Edmonton

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Past contributor R.W. Gray ("Blink" in Fiddlehead no. 256, Summer 2013) will be launching his new book Entropic on Thursday, June 18, 7pm at Westminster Books in Fredericton. 

According to the publisher, "R. W. Gray finds the place where the beautiful, the strange, and the surreal all meet — sometimes meshing harmoniously, sometimes colliding with terrible violence, launching his characters into a redefined reality. A lovestruck man discovers the secret editing room where his girlfriend erases all her flaws; a massage artist finds that she has a gift, but is uncertain of the price; a beautiful man sets out to be done with beauty; and a gay couple meets what appear to be younger versions of themselves, learning that history can indeed repeat itself."

UNB Reading Series Presents: Matthew Heiti and Mark Jarman on April 8

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to hear readings by acclaimed writers, Matthew Heiti and Mark Anthony Jarman.

In Matthew Heiti’s The City Still Breathing, published by Coach House in 2013, a dead body found on the side of Highway 17 outside Sudbury undergoes a strange odyssey, making its way all around the northern Ontario town and through the lives of eleven very different people. All of them are hoping for something more out of this dying town. All they find instead is one another, in a strange and apocalyptic moment of violence.

Heiti’s fiction has appeared in many periodicals and journals, and his plays have been workshopped and produced across the country. As cowriter with Ryan Ward of the film Son of the Sunshine, he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay at the 32nd Genie Awards in 2012.

In Knife Party at the Hotel Europa, published this year by Goose Lane, Mark Anthony Jarman writes about losing and finding love, marriage and melancholy, the dislocation and redemptive power of travel in Italy’s sensual summer. Through the acute loneliness of one who has abandoned and been abandoned a man finds how beautiful this life can be. In vivid, sensuous prose, Jarman’s stories circle and overlap in surprising, weird, and wonderful ways. Tangents turn out to be crucial, allusions are powerful.

Jarman has been shortlisted for the O. Henry Prize and has won the Gold National Magazine Award in nonfiction, the Maclean-Hunter Endowment Award (twice), and the Jack Hodgins Fiction Prize. His novel Salvage King Ya! Is on Amazon.ca’s 50 Essential Canadian Books. He has published in The Walrus, Canadian Geographic, Hobart, The Barcelona Review, Vrig Nederland, and The Globe and Mail.

Their readings will be held on Wednesday, April 8th at 8:00 pm in the Alumni Lounge of the Alumni Memorial Building on the UNB Fredericton Campus. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Fiddlehead News

The Ottawa Citizen has a story of its 15 most anticipated new fiction books, which features Fiddlehead fiction editor Mark Jarman who has a new book of stories Knife Party at the Hotel Europa coming out in March from Goose Lane Editions. Mark's book also is highly anticipated by The Toronto Star. In their Spring Lookahead, it is one of the top 25 books they can't wait to read.

Which book are you looking forward to this Spring?

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And The Fiddlehead is now on Twitter. Follow us at @TheFiddlehd to keep up to date on all the scintillating literary happenings in Fiddlehead-land!

UNB Reading Series: Michael Crummey Reads on November 25! And more!

The University of New Brunswick invites you to a public reading by award-winning Newfoundland author, Michael Crummey! Join us on Tuesday, November 25th, 2014 at 8:00pm in Tilley Hall 102 (Bailey Auditorium) on the UNB Fredericton campus.

Michael Crummey is an accomplished author who grew up in Wabush, Labrador. He has published several books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including Hard Light, River Thieves, and Galore. His most recent novel, Sweetland, was shortlisted for the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award; it tells the story of Moses Sweetland—a resident of a small island off the coast of Newfoundland that shares his family name — who fakes his own death in order to avoid forced resettlement by the Newfoundland government. Sweetland is described in the National Post as having a “focus on a contemporary story, imbuing it with the force and weight of history and myth.”

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Catching up on some local news . . . Fiddlehead fiction editor Mark Jarman, who has a new book forthcoming with Goose Lane Editions in 2015, recently read excerpts at two Goose Lane 60th anniversary parties in Fredericton and Toronto. You can read a roundup of the Toronto celebration at Descant's blog! And you can check out some of his work at Numéro Cinq.

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And Qwerty, UNB's graduate student magazine, is launching its issue 32, on Thursday, November 26th at 7pm in Fredericton's Wilser's Room, 366 Queen Street.

The Fiddlehead Summer Fiction Issue Celebration, Part 2

Soldiers' Barracks in downtown Fredericton

Despite the cooler temperature today in downtown Fredericton, fiction co-editor Mark Jarman entertained a small, but appreciative, audience from his Fredericton Arts Alliance artist-in-residence studio in the old soldiers' barracks.

Jarman has been sharing the studio this week with basket maker Katie Nicholas, chatting with tourists about his own writing, and promoting The Fiddlehead. As part of the residencies, Fredericton artists engage the public and tourists with outreach events over the lunch hour. Today, Jarman hosted a second celebration of The Fiddlehead's summer fiction issue.

Jarman in his FAA studio with Jack,
the Jack Russell terrier

Don't forget, Jarman is there for a second week starting this weekend, sharing the space with artist Samira Torabi, and he will be hosting another outreach event on September 7, in a finale of sorts, collaborating with Clarissa Hurley of Notable Acts Theatre Company for a short reading of his story "The Stewardess Swims Over the Sea."

Jarman has information about The Fiddlehead on site, along with copies for purchase. Stop by and see what he is up to!

Another Celebration for Our Summer Issue

Please join fiction co-editor Mark Jarman, next week's Fredericton Arts Alliance artist-in residence, for a  lunch-time celebration of a very special Summer Fiction Issue of The Fiddlehead. All through the summer, two artists of different disciplines share a studio in the Casemates (historic soldiers' barracks) in downtown Fredericton.

Drop by for brief readings celebrating the Summer Fiction Issue and take a look at the beautiful new issue of The Fiddlehead magazine, 12:45pm, August 29.

The issue boasts new stories from Dan Woodrell (writer of Oscar winner Winter’s Bone), Craig Davidson (writer of the film Rust and Bone and a UNB grad), local writers Raymond Fraser and Rob Gray, and stories from three accomplished Irish writers, Mary O’Donnell, Mike McCormack and Eoin McNamee, the last nominated for a Man Booker Prize.

This celebration is part of the FAA Artist-in-Residence Public Outreach sessions, which occur throughout the summer. They are free to attend and all are welcome. For more information visit the FAA Studio at the Casemates, by the College of Craft and Design, Monday to Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 12-5.

Jarman, available for consultations during the week at the Casemates, will be sharing the space with Katie Nicholas, who will host a demonstration of basket making on Wednesday August 28 at 2pm.

Summer Fiction Issue Launch

The Fiddlehead launched the Summer Fiction issue last Thursday, August 1 at Gallery 78 in downtown Fredericton. More than a dozen fiction lovers attended the festivities to hear readings from contributor Ray Fraser and samples from out-of-town contributors read by Fiddlehead editors. Many thanks to Gallery 78!

Fiction co-editor Mark Jarman hosted the launch.
Here, he reads from Eoin McNamee's story

Local writer and contributor to fiction issue Ray Fraser

Ian LeTourneau reads from Mike McCormack's story

Fiction co-editor Gerard Beirne rounded off the evening
by reading from Margaret Sweatman's story

The crowd

Our Fiction Editor Mark Jarman in the Spotlight

Our fiction editor Mark Jarman is featured over at Salty Ink as the 'plug' of a "Pitch and Plug." Salty Ink's Chad Pelley asked Elisabeth de Mariafi, the author of a new collection How to Get Along With Women and a recent Fiddlehead contributor (Autumn 2011, no. 249), to pitch her book to readers and plug another writer's book. She chose not one, but two of Mark Jarman's collections, Dancing Nightly in the Tavern and My White Planet. But don't take our word for it, go read Elisabeth's thoughts at Salty Ink for yourself.

cStories: Read Mark Anthony Jarman's story for free!

Thomas Allen Publishers and Cormorant Books have a new ebook singles program called cStories,which will allow readers to purchase individual short stories and instantly download them to their favorite digital devices. As part of the"Get into Our Shorts" promotional launch of cStories, the story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks" by The Fiddlehead's fiction co-editor Mark Anthony Jarman  is being serialized and available for free online both at Quill and Quire and the National Post's Afterword blog.

There are other free stories available from authors Sarah Selecky, Russell Wangersky, Jessica Westhead, Aaron Bushkowsky, Carol Windley, Charlotte Gill, and Andrew J. Borkowski. Check out the cStories "Get into Our Shorts" promotional website for more information.

Fiction Editors Jarman and Beirne talking about what The Fiddlehead Journal is Up to, Looking for, Remembers Fondly, and More …

Salty Ink talked to two great guys/writers on The Fiddlehead Fiction Team about all things Fiddlehead, and more. Enjoy. Subscribe. Submit. Also, read Jarman and Beirne’s work, like My White Planet, 19 Knives (Jarman) and Turtle or Games of Chance (Beirne)...To read more

The Fiddlehead's Summer Issue Launch

 Ben McNally Books is hosting the Toronto launch of The Fiddlehead’s Summer Fiction issue (no. 248). Reading at the event will be The Fiddlehead’s own Fiction Editor, Mark Anthony Jarman, along with Rebecca Rosenblum, Kathleen Brown and Leon Rooke. 

When:

Monday Aug 8 2011

7:00pm

Where:

The Dora Keogh

141 Danforth Ave

Toronto ON

 
If you are in the Toronto area, do drop into the reading, enjoy some mighty fine fiction, and raise a pint in celebration to The Fiddlehead’s Summer Fiction issue!

Fiction Editor's Pictures from Ireland

Fiction Editor, Mark Anthony Jarman at the Cork World Book Festival in April, Cork, Ireland.

Cork World Book Fest combines readings by world class writers in a variety of settings with a cultural streetfair: book stalls, music, street entertainment, the spoken word, and more. It is a participative, inclusive event, involving members of e.g. book clubs as well as giving audiences who would not normally attend literary events a chance to experience readings by leading Irish and international writers.

Featured writers in 2011 were Canadians Alistair McLeod and Mark Antony Jarman, Irish writers Claire Keegan and Paul Murray, both of whom had acclaimed novels in 2010 –  plus writers from other countries.

 

Editor spotted at Frye Festival

 

Mark Jarman, The Fiddlehead's Fiction Editor, playing the harmonica at this year's Frye Festival in Moncton.

(Photo credit: Emmanuel Albert)

Congratulations & News – It’s a busy week at The Fiddlehead!

Five poems first published in The Fiddlehead were selected for inclusion in The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2010, edited by Lorna Crozier and published by Tightrope Books.

The five authors and poems are:

• Michael Johnson’s “The Praise of the Village Idiot” (The Fiddlehead 238)
• Robyn Sarah’s “Messenger” (The Fiddlehead 239)
• David Seymour’s “The Photo Double” (The Fiddlehead 238)
• Paul Tyler’s “Manitoba’s Maples” (The Fiddlehead 241)
• David Zieroth’s “How Brave” (The Fiddlehead 239) 

Congratulations to all five authors!

The Fiddlehead’s fiction co-editor, Mark Jarman, recently made an appearance on the CBC radio show "The Next Chapter" to discuss Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow. Check out the episode here!

If you happen to be in Fredericton this weekend, come on down to the Small Press & Community Fair on Saturday, November 13, from 12 – 5pm. The fair is being held at Gallery Connexion’s new space in the Chestnut Complex (440 York Street, Fredericton). Staff from The Fiddlehead will be there—so drop by and say hello.