Features
Joyce Carol Oates: The fictionary Interview
By Karen Schmidt
In her extensive career as a writer, she has given us over fifty novels (including those written under pseudonyms), eight novellas, over thirty short story collections, eight plays, fifteen works of non-fiction, ten books of poetry, and two children's books, and she shows no signs of stopping. Her long list of awards includes The National Book Award in 1970 for her novel them, The Bram Stoker award in 1996 for her novel Zombie, and, most recently in 2007, she was named Humanist of the Year by The American Humanist Association.
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Real World: Columbia
When Writers Start Being Real
compiled by James Lower / photos by Ian Merritt
You know how it goes at all those rooftop fundraisers you go to over the summer, right? Alright, well neither do I. But if we did, there'd be some highly paid, starched-collar professional, a friend of your parents, who asks, "And what is it that you go to school for?" And you reply, "Actually, I'm a writer." After the requisite, "Ohhhhh," and a pregnant silence, the pro scoffs and says, "Well, what exactly do you plan to do with that?"
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The Fountain of Youth
Lit Fiction Writers Find Eternal Youth in the YA Genre
By Jon Fullmer
For a growing number of novelists, publication doesn't always guarantee instant success in the mainstream literary market. At least not the market they initially had in mind. Since the success of young adult novel series such as Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and more recently, Twilight, an increasing number of adults are reading books for younger audiences. Accordingly, authors are discovering that the line between adult and young adult fiction has become blurred.
read more...
The Anxiety of Brevity:
The Rise of Flash Fiction
by David Peak
We've all heard the anecdote: Hemingway sits at a table with six or seven other writers. He claims that he can write a six-word story. Everybody balks. Money is thrown on the table-ten bucks a head. The stakes are set. Hemingway uncaps his pen, leans over his napkin, and writes, "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."
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And the Cradle Will Rock
New dad Joe Meno continues to crank out the books
By Jonathan Fullmer
"The thing I most enjoy about writing fiction is the building aspect, the structure, and how stories are put together. Dad taught me to create things that have permanence, to devote my life to building something that lasts longer than I do."
read more...
Postcards from the Program
Fiction Writing Department Faculty on teaching abroad
By Ilana Shabanov
In case you haven't noticed, Fiction Writing faculty have gone international. First, it began with Prague and then quickly hopped the channel to England, doubled back to Florence, Italy, and in 2007 made its first inroads in China.
read more...
Interviewing the Interviewer
Donna Seaman dishes about five years of Story Week interviews
By Daniel Prazer
The first time I saw Donna Seaman interview somebody was during the 2006 Story Week Festival of Writers. I was new to Chicago, in my second semester of my MFA coursework at Columbia College, straight from two years as a newspaper reporter. So I'd done interviews. Plenty of them. But nothing like this.
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By Karen Schmidt
In her extensive career as a writer, she has given us over fifty novels (including those written under pseudonyms), eight novellas, over thirty short story collections, eight plays, fifteen works of non-fiction, ten books of poetry, and two children's books, and she shows no signs of stopping. Her long list of awards includes The National Book Award in 1970 for her novel them, The Bram Stoker award in 1996 for her novel Zombie, and, most recently in 2007, she was named Humanist of the Year by The American Humanist Association.
read more...
Real World: Columbia
When Writers Start Being Real
compiled by James Lower / photos by Ian Merritt
You know how it goes at all those rooftop fundraisers you go to over the summer, right? Alright, well neither do I. But if we did, there'd be some highly paid, starched-collar professional, a friend of your parents, who asks, "And what is it that you go to school for?" And you reply, "Actually, I'm a writer." After the requisite, "Ohhhhh," and a pregnant silence, the pro scoffs and says, "Well, what exactly do you plan to do with that?"
read more...
The Fountain of Youth
Lit Fiction Writers Find Eternal Youth in the YA Genre
By Jon Fullmer
For a growing number of novelists, publication doesn't always guarantee instant success in the mainstream literary market. At least not the market they initially had in mind. Since the success of young adult novel series such as Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and more recently, Twilight, an increasing number of adults are reading books for younger audiences. Accordingly, authors are discovering that the line between adult and young adult fiction has become blurred.
read more...
The Anxiety of Brevity:
The Rise of Flash Fiction
by David Peak
We've all heard the anecdote: Hemingway sits at a table with six or seven other writers. He claims that he can write a six-word story. Everybody balks. Money is thrown on the table-ten bucks a head. The stakes are set. Hemingway uncaps his pen, leans over his napkin, and writes, "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn."
read more...
And the Cradle Will Rock
New dad Joe Meno continues to crank out the books
By Jonathan Fullmer
"The thing I most enjoy about writing fiction is the building aspect, the structure, and how stories are put together. Dad taught me to create things that have permanence, to devote my life to building something that lasts longer than I do."
read more...
Postcards from the Program
Fiction Writing Department Faculty on teaching abroad
By Ilana Shabanov
In case you haven't noticed, Fiction Writing faculty have gone international. First, it began with Prague and then quickly hopped the channel to England, doubled back to Florence, Italy, and in 2007 made its first inroads in China.
read more...
Interviewing the Interviewer
Donna Seaman dishes about five years of Story Week interviews
By Daniel Prazer
The first time I saw Donna Seaman interview somebody was during the 2006 Story Week Festival of Writers. I was new to Chicago, in my second semester of my MFA coursework at Columbia College, straight from two years as a newspaper reporter. So I'd done interviews. Plenty of them. But nothing like this.
read more...
