TMR Editors’ Prize
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Current Issue: 35.1 (Spring 2012)
Poem of the Week- David Kirby: “If Any Man Have an Ear, Let Him Listen”
- Larry Levis: “Labyrinth as the Erasure of Cries Heard Once Within It or: (Mr. Bones I Succeeded. . .’ Later)”
- Amy Newman: “The Day After The Dean of Michigan State College Admits Him To Lansing Sparrow Hospital For Rest, A Naked Theodore Roethke Barricades Himself Behind A Hospital Mattress”
Author Archives: Richard Sowienski
Audio Competition Support Available
Now that Memorial Day has come and gone, we at The Missouri Review can settle down to our summer¹s work‹reading manuscripts, of course, and continuing to get the word out about our Audio Competition. It was heartening to see comments from dberner (an audio producer and faculty member at Columbia College Chicago) about the competition:
I applaud The Missouri Review for its forward thinking on the audio competition. This genre, style, is growing and I see a place for it in the art community. I hope to offer a Radio Essay class that will encourage our students in the Fiction Writing program at Columbia involved in audio. I believe there is some strong interest. I would encourage more discussion about the idea of audio essays from writing students, professors, and from broadcast students and professors from everywhere. I believe there are great audio moments yet to be produced and shared.
Bring on the Audio Forum!
And that’s just what we’re going to do. Our web editor Patrick Lane has set up the forum on our discussion board. If you have questions about production or the art of the audio piece, post a comment.
Those with knowledge about the process can share their insights. And we’ll find the experts who can help you get started.
As you can imagine, it’s never easy (or comfortable) to break new ground. It’s a role we’re used to, and, as you can imagine, we have much at stake. Unlike our editors’ prize contest, the ‘entry’ may not yet exist. For example, someone wanting to enter the 10-minute Play category will need to assemble a cast as well as recording equipment. Likewise, a poet or prose writer entering the Voice-only Literature category will need to record her work using a program like GarageBand. This takes some time. The more experienced audio producers may well have work in hand, looking perhaps just to tweak it a bit. In any case, if you’ve thought about entering the Audio Competition, please let me know — it will be a tremendous help in our planning efforts. Or if there’s something stopping you, let me know that as well. Email me other comments too. If they’re appropriate, I’ll move them into the newly formed Audio Forum.
You can find the audio forum here.
–Richard
On Radio Art
In an earlier blog announcing our first Annual Audio Competition, I mentioned I had taken a Radio Essay course from Prof. Jeff Porter at the University of Iowa. Since then, I’ve returned to my radio roots (shallow though they be) to interview Jeff about creating audio essays and documentaries. Jeff talks about the history of the radio essay, provides contemporary examples, and discusses what makes good radio art. Listen to the interview by clicking here.
Comments and questions from beginners or experienced audio artists are welcome. You may have questions about creating radio essays, or tips on making the best radio documentary. If there is enough discussion, we may start our own Audio Forum. (I may not have the answers, but other readers may; or I’ll find the person who can help answer questions or lead discussions.)
Richard Sowienski
P.S. You can also subscribe to this and future TMR Podcasts by going to the iTunes podcast webpage and following the directions. Or open your iTunes application (free from Apple), search Missouri Review, and then click “subscribe” when The Missouri Review Podcast icon is displayed.
TMR Announces New Audio Competition
Several years ago, I took a Radio Essay class from Prof. Jeff Porter at the University of Iowa and had a great deal of fun converting a written essay into an audio essay. Since then, the popularity of producing radio essays and documentaries has spread tremendously. Unfortunately, there aren’t many venues out there for these audio pieces. With that in mind, we decided to provide another outlet through our new Annual Audio Competition, which makes The Missouri Review (I believe) the first literary magazine to offer such a contest.
It seems a natural fit. Whether it’s a manuscript meant for print or broadcast, each requires careful attention to language, story, and setting. And as creators, we want our stories to inform and entertain. With our website and podcast programming, The Missouri Review can appropriately offer this opportunity for writers and producers, providing a large listening audience. In addition, we’re offering $3,500 in total prize money.
We’ve structured our categories to allow writers of all types and experience levels to participate. Writers may enter the Voice-Only Literature category — all you need is a great manuscript of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, audio software that’s readily available, and a microphone — no need to fuss with music or other sound tracks. Those more venturesome or experienced with sound may enter the Narrative Essay or Documentary categories. Our most unique category is the 10-minute Play, which will provide playwrights national exposure to their work.
We hope you’ll help make this a great success. And whether you enter or not, you can expect to hear some great audio pieces in the future. Stay tuned.
Richard Sowienski
Past Contributor Advises "Get Surreal"
In the current issue of The Writer magazine, Thomas E. Kennedy addresses “practical solutions for writing problems.” For a problem/solution example, he discusses his story, “The Great Master,” which first appeared in Vol. XII (1989), number 2, of The Missouri Review. The story, writes Kennedy, was to be about the main character quitting smoking when his son was born. It ended up being insipid and moralistic. The solution for Kennedy was to return to the initial impulse of the story — to write about the “power of appetite.” The writer “finds the story’s true voice, and lets the story write itself without intellectual interference.” In this case, the impulse led to a surreal tale: “A man who keeps on eating until his wife and children leave him, he loses his job, he begins living alone in his basement. Until he becomes the object of local gossip and speculation and, in time, a god-like figure, worshipped by people for miles around who come with offerings of food.”
Richard Sowienski
AWP Post Mortem
It’s been about three weeks since our staff returned from the Associated Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference, held this year in Atlanta, and for the first time I can catch my breath and reflect on my time there. For those unfamiliar with the conference, it’s a gathering of several thousand writers, teachers of writers, students, publishers, and various organizations and vendors involved with writers. Participants spend their time attending selected sessions — about 300 from which to choose, including panels on writing and teaching, author readings, and receptions — and browsing the Bookfair with its 300 exhibitors. (Eating, drinking, and making merry may also be found in abundance.)
Pleasures
Each year The Missouri Review spends considerable time and money to attend the conference. I’ve found it worthwhile for several reasons. Here are a few of them:
1. Working our table at the Bookfair. It’s rewarding to introduce the magazine to students and potential readers by distributing past issues. We also get to meet many of our authors, connecting faces with names. (My biggest surprise was the youthful appearance of David Schuman, author of “Stay,” which appeared in our Fall 2005 issue, winning a Pushcart prize in 2006.)
2. Attending sessions. When I wasn’t at the Bookfair, I was usually in a session. My favorites (of the 11 I attended) included the panel led by Pulitzer-prize winning author Robert Olen Butler on “Exercising the Unconscious: Writing in the Moment,” a panel with Philip Lopate and Robin Hemley entitled “Toward a Theory of Slippery Nonfiction,” and a panel that included Mimi Schwartz called “More Than One Way to Tell a Story.” (Mimi’s essay “Off the Record” appears in our Fall 2006, 29:3, issue.)
3. Meeting other editors. I enjoyed talking shop with Jodee Stanley, editor of Ninth Letter and former Missouri Review intern, and Ben George, assistant editor of Tin House.
4. Catching up with former professors and colleagues. One of the greatest joys of the AWP conference is seeing old friends. It’s like a class reunion — without all the high school baggage.
5. The organization of the AWP staff. I think they do a remarkable job, given the rapid growth of the conference over the years. The hotel was also efficient and convenient — plenty of room, fast and numerous elevators, courteous staff.
Disappointments
1. Downtown Atlanta. There’s not much there. Several convention hotels but few restaurants-that means long waits for dinner for okay food at high prices.
2. Absentee panelists. Many sessions I attended were without at least one “advertised” panel member. To the credit of the panel organizers, they usually found last-minute substitutes. I know these panels are planned almost a year in advance, but it makes me wonder if those volunteering take their obligations seriously. I know — emergencies arise. Still, I can’t help being disappointed.
Your experiences?
If you attended the conference and had particular likes or dislikes, feel free to post a comment. If there was a key idea or insight from any session, please pass those along as well.
Richard Sowienski
Audio Competition Announcement Forthcoming
We are finalizing our winners of the Audio Competition, and we’ll post them soon after the beginning of the semester. It was a great success, with many wonderful entries. We’ll also be posting the winning entries on our site. Stay tuned.