Stephanie Griest

Got nostalgia? Can a whiff of strawberry-flavored lip gloss or a riff of Duran Duran bring a tear to your eye? A literary magazine has just been launched for you: DEFUNCT. The inaugural issue went live this morning, and features essays on Wanamaker's Department Story (by Dinty Moore), the Power Suit (by Margot Singer), vintage video games (by James Scudamore), VCRs (by Daniel Light), 45 records (by Angelo Lacuesta), and, last but not least, the literary precursor to You-Tube and reality TV: True Story (by yours truly). Edited by author Robin Hemley & Co. at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, DEFUNCT is ready to receive submissions for the October 2010 issue.

Much to report about BWTW 2010! First off, contributor Heather Poole is raffling off two free, autographed copies on her Gadling column, Galley Gossip. Simply add a comment to her post by 5 p.m. EST on Friday, April 2, and…

Just returned to Iowa from the Tucson Festival of Books, which drew upward of 70,000 readers to the University of Arizona campus for a weekend of panels and performances. Having just survived my first Midwestern winter, my favorite part was…

If you’re anywhere near the Southwest this weekend, bolt on over to Tucson for the second annual Tucson Festival of Books at the University of Arizona to bask in literary glory. Last year’s fest featured 450 authors, gathered 50,000 readers, raised $200,000…

Apropos of last week's posting about little magazines, I just stumbled upon an interesting debate about the journals' fate on the website of Mother Jones. Ted Genoways, editor of one of my fave lit mags, Virginia Quarterly Review, wrote an essay called The Death of Fiction about the deleterious impact of MFA programs on the industry.