Congratulations to Dennis Vannatta on the Pushcart nomination of "Fireflies" from The Only World You Get: Arkansas Stories. We hope you'll join Et Alia in celebrating "Fireflies" and every story in this Porter Prize-winning author's collection. Use code "PUSH10" to receive a 10% discount (along with every day FREE SHIP) on Et Alia's site. Keep your fingers crossed for great news from Pushcart in early May!
AWP 2017, Washington DC, February 8-12
The Association of Writers and Writing Programs 50th anniversary conference was incredible with more than 12,600 attendees, 550 events, and more than 800 exhibitors.
Erin Wood received a grant of $500 from the Arkansas Arts Council's Sally A. Williams Artist Fund to attend the conference. She went to many panels and readings, a few of which are highlighted below. It was Erin's first time to meet Scars: An Anthology contributors Jim Ferris and Chelsey Clammer in person after years of contact by email, and it was delightful to reconnect with Scars contributor and friend, Jill Christman.
SELECT PANELS ATTENDED
With 550 events, choosing what panels to attend is a terrible challenge. Then again, too much compelling stuff is a good problem to have! Click the link in each title to learn more about the panelists.
PUBLISHING DIVERSELY: Challenges and Successes
It's one thing to talk about diversity. It's something else to actually achieve it. Small press publishers, authors, and arts leaders will share their approaches to addressing, and achieving, diversity and representation in independent literary publishing.
THE VEIN OF JADE: What a single detail can reveal in nonfiction
"When the vein of jade/is revealed in the rock," Lu Chi writes in his classic The Art of Writing, "the whole mountain glistens." Likewise, a single detail can reveal the meaning and mystery of a scene, an essay, or a book. Practitioners of various nonfiction forms, from journalism to hybrid, each choose a particular detail from a well-regarded nonfiction and show how it becomes—by its context, its imagery, its power to—the vein of jade that allows the whole to glisten.
BODY OF WORK: Exploring disability, creativity, and inclusivity
What is the physical body’s relationship to the creative mind? Four writers with disabilities will discuss their writing lives, and how social progress and technology are transforming representations of the human body. What effect has this had on literature? Where do we read ourselves in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry? Our panelists will discuss whether or not literature is representing the current climate and how they have represented their own bodies in writing over time.
INVISIBLE SCAFFOLDS: The Writer-Editor Collaborative Process
Successful collaborations between writers and editors must involve mutual trust and respect in order to best serve manuscripts and the needs and vision of the presses that publish them. This panel of widely experienced editors, poets, fiction writers, and critics will explore the challenges and rewards of those collaborative processes that guide manuscripts from their initial acceptance, through various stages of revision, and ultimately, to publication.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY AZAR NAFISI (one of the more moving and motivating experiences of Erin's life)
Azar Nafisi is best known as the author of the national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, which spent over 117 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Her other work includes Anti-Terra: A Critical Study of Vladimir Nabokov’s Novels, the memoir Things I've Been Silent About: Memories of a Prodigal Daughter, The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, and the children’s book BiBi and the Green Voice. Among her numerous honors include the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, a Nonfiction Book of the Year Award from Booksense, the Frederic W. Ness Book Award, the Latifeh Yarsheter Book Award, and the Persian Golden Lioness Award for literature. She has lectured and written extensively in English and Persian on the political implications of literature and culture, as well as the human rights of Iranian women and girls. Nafisi is currently a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, where she was a professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, as well as was Director of The Dialogue Project & Cultural Conversations.
WHAT WRITERS OF COLOR WANT WHITE EDITORS TO KNOW
In 2017, what message does an all-white masthead send to writers of color? Beyond the content of their work, what issues must these writers contend with in publishing? Four writers of color and one white editor explore real and perceived tokenism, the pressure to change a story or voice to fit an editor’s racialized assumptions, the continued erasure of writers of color in the canon and awards systems, and the highs and lows of working with editors in the face of these and other challenges.
OUTSIDE THE UMBRELLA: Poetry and the Vantage Point of the Atypical (featuring Scars: An Anthology contributor Jim Ferris)
What does it mean to write poems from what disability studies scholar Simi Linton called “the vantage point of the atypical?” How do body/mind differences that fall outside the umbrella of normality serve as fonts for work by non-normative poets? These are some of the questions that four noted crip poets brought into a year-long correspondence in prose and poems. The poets share some of that work and discuss ways the differences called “disability” complicate and enrich their lives and work.
SUCH MEAN STORIES: Women Writers Get Gritty (featuring Jill McCorkle, of whom Erin is now a superfan)
Violence, hungry children, booze, sex, drugs, hand-to-mouth living; the hardscrabble life has affected just as many women as white men. But the male writers get far more attention than the females. Who are the women writers of the rough south, grit lit, or blue collar world? Why are their stories marginalized, their graphic details criticized? The diverse group of women writers on this panel aren’t afraid to get dirty, write close to the bone, and tear down literary walls. Time to get mean.
Erin was thrilled to discover Scars: An Anthology for sale at the AWP Bookfair's Disability Lit Consortium table!
The Only World You Get: Arkansas Stories ON SALE NOW!
The Only World You Get: Arkansas Stories is on sale now from Et Alia Press and (if you must!) Amazon, both for $16.95 + Free Shipping.
"This collection confirms what we already knew about Vannatta: that he belongs in the company of Charles Portis and Donald Harington, as one of the truest tale-tellers of The Natural State."
—Gary Craig Powell, Stoning the Devil
2016 Louisiana Book Festival Hosts Two Et Alia Books
More than 200 authors were featured at the 13th Annual Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Saturday, October 29, 2016. A whopping 17,451 attended the Festival, enjoying activities throughout Capitol Park including the book fair, author readings and panels hosted in the historic state capitol building, live music, food, a children’s story tent, and so much more.
Two Et Alia Press books—Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina’s Superdome and Scars: An Anthology were featured as part of the Festival.
Can Everybody Swim?
David Johnson mediated a lively discussion of Can Everybody Swim? with Bruce Snow. Following the discussion was a Q&A with lots of hands raised in the packed room, many of whom had first-hand stories of the Hurricane. A busy signing followed in the Barnes & Noble book tent.
Scars: An Anthology
A panel discussion about themed anthologies featured Scars: An Anthology and Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History. Scars was represented by New Orleans contributors Maurice Carlos Ruffin (Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI) and Emilie Staat (who also mediated the panel) and editor Erin Wood. Long Hidden was represented by New York Times Bestselling author and editor Daniel Jose Older and National Endowment for the Arts Prose Fiction Fellow and contributor Jamey Hatley.
During this dynamic discussion, panelists considered how anthologies are conceived, curated, and funded, what they are and can be, and what the fact of their being means for the subject matter they address.
A signing followed in the Barnes & Noble book tent. (Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Erin Wood are pictured at the signing.)
Of course, no matter one's original purpose for traveling to Louisiana, eating has a way of becoming prioritized. When Erin said she'd never had a grilled oyster, Bruce saw fit to put a stop to it. Below are pictured one of two platters of grilled oysters and Shrimp Bienville shared by Bruce, his wife Erin, and Amy Ashford (brilliant cover designer for Can Everybody Swim? who just so happens to live in Baton Rouge). Laissez les bons temps rouler Louisiane!
The Only World You Get: Arkansas Stories by Dennis Vannatta Slated for Release
Mark your calendars for the November 16 release of THE ONLY WORLD YOU GET: ARKANSAS STORIES by Dennis Vannatta.
Dennis is a recipient of Arkansas' most lucrative and prestigious literary prize, The Porter Prize, given annually to an Arkansas writer who has accomplished a substantial and impressive body of work. This is his sixth published collection of stories.
New Orleans' Times-Picayune Features Can Everybody Swim? on Katrina's 11th Anniversary
On August 30, 2016, Times-Picayune writer Robert Mann says, "On this 11th anniversary of Katrina, let us resolve never to forget the thousands of heroes in the Dome and those trapped at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center who bravely endured and maintained their dignity and humanity in the most inhumane of circumstances."
"Bruce S. Snow, a resident of the Dome that week . . . has published an engrossing memoir of his family's ordeal, Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina's Superdome, (Et Alia Press, $16.95). Snow vividly describes each day in the Dome. It's grim and depressing at times. . . . however, what shines through are those individuals who cared for each other.
Snow's retelling of his stumbling across a double-length cot holding 13 overheated babies, each wearing only diapers, is poignant. "Before them stood a black man in his thirties wearing a do-rag and an oversized, brightly colored Polo shirt," Snow wrote. "He just stood there waving a piece of cardboard from a box that once held MREs. READ MORE.
Kent Walker Artisan Cheese to Host Three Et Alia Authors this Sunday
We are thrilled to be hosted this Sunday, August 28, 2016 @ 4pm by Kent Walker Artisan Cheese as part of their Author! Author! series. This new series at Kent Walker Artisan Cheese features authors with published books, including self-published and chap books. Philip Martin will read from The President Next Door: Poems, Songs and Journalism, Bruce S. Snow will read from Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina's Superdome, and Erin Wood will read from Scars: An Anthology.
Be sure to arrive at 3 for a tour of the cheesery, and receive 10% off your tab. We thank Kent Walker for supporting local writers, musicians, artists, and creators!
The Kent Walker Artisan Cheese Story:
"Great food and drink are my life's passions. I left a successful engineering career to apply that passion towards amateur cheesemaking: cool whip container molds, bricks and metal rods for a press, & aging cheeses in the vegetable crisper with the fridge temp set as high as my roommate would allow me to. While casting about, working jobs at wineries, breweries, and distilleries I fell in love with the production industry. In 2011, I decided to unite my joy for great food & drink, my love of cheesemaking and experience working in production:Kent Walker Artisan Cheese was born. We grew from a small batch maker in a church kitchen to a full fledged production facility and tasting room. It is a true pleasure to make cheese from the delicious raw cow, goat, and sheep milk of Central Arkansas.
At Kent Walker Artisan Cheese, we proudly offer the highest quality cheese possible. We have a strong team of cheesemakers, affineurs, mongers, and volunteers. Every wheel of our handcrafted, natural rind cheese ages to perfection in our walk-in cave. We believe that working with local farmers and keeping animal welfare a top priority creates a better cheese and sustainable, people-first model of business."
Two Et Alia Books to Participate in 2016 Louisiana Book Festival
Et Alia proudly announces that both Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina's Superdome, by Bruce S. Snow, and Scars: An Anthology, edited by Erin Wood, will participate in the Louisiana Book Festival in October.
Festival participants will also include Scars: An Anthology contributors Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Emilie Staat.
Can Everybody Swim? on KATV Channel 7's Midday Arkansas
See author Bruce Snow's interview on KATV Channel 7's Midday Arkansas about his memoir Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina's Superdome. Order your copy from Et Alia today and receive 10% off + Free Shipping with code "KATV."
Launch Party for Can Everybody Swim? on 7/22
Thank you to everyone who came out to support and celebrate Bruce S. Snow's big night!
It has been a great experience working with Bruce S. Snow to turn these many notebooks into this notable book.
Arkansas' AY Magazine Says, "We Are in Awe of Bruce S. Snow's Survival Story"
Read AY Magazine's piece, "Katrina Survivor Asks: Can Everybody Swim?"
Follow the New Can Everybody Swim? Page on Facebook for the Latest and Greatest
7/22/16 Launch Party for Can Everybody Swim? A Survival Story from Katrina's Superdome
What was it actually like to live inside the Louisiana Superdome in the week following Hurricane Katrina? Bruce S. Snow's book is the first memoir written by a New Orleans resident to answer that question.
Join Bruce and Et Alia Press for a reading, book signing, and launch party on Friday, July 22.
News coverage surrounding Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath captured America’s rapt attention and swelled our hearts. Stories of lawlessness and violence still abound from the flooded City. Who can forget the Louisiana Superdome? Can Everybody Swim? takes you beyond the camera’s lens on a journey through the maelstrom. A shortage of cash combined with a fierce loyalty to protect the Gentilly neighborhood family home purchased by his Ecuadorian immigrant grandparents led the then twenty-five-year-old author and his family to remain in their City to weather the storm, including enduring six days in the infamous Superdome. Follow this family of four and a half as they survive the worst natural disaster of the 21st century.
Pre-order Can Everybody Swim? today from Et Alia, and your copy will arrive in about a week. It will be available for sale at the launch party for $16.95 on credit card or $17 cash.
Click HERE for our Facebook Event Page.
The Moon Prince and The Sea Now Available for Sale!
Following its Monday June 6 launch at The University of Utah School of Medicine, medical student Daniela Rose Anderson's stunning debut book for children and families facing terminal illnesses, The Moon Prince and The Sea is now available for purchase from Et Alia Press. All preorders have been filled, and we thank our customers for the outpouring of early interest in this moving and important children's book.
The Moon Prince and The Sea is based on the true story of a bond formed across an ocean between two children who found joy despite terminal illnesses. In a hospital in India, Sumit is surrounded by children who call the hospital their home; in a hospital in America, Marina is surrounded by her loving family and friends. The book is named for Sumit, the moon prince, who paints a map of two moons that the children will later find on their adventure, and Marina, whose name means “of the sea.” The pair embarks on a magical adventure that raises questions about love, life, and death in a manner designed to be accessible to and comforting for children and families. This book is intended for children and families experiencing sickness, grief, or loss, and for any child who is curious about these topics. Written in memory of Sumit and Marina, author Daniela Rose Anderson is generously donating her royalties from The Moon Prince and The Sea to support children otherwise financially unable to access the medical care they need.
Support Daniela's efforts to provide children's access to medical care by ordering your copy today, and stay tuned for a more expansive reading and resource list for children and families facing terminal illnesses.
The Moon Prince and The Sea author, Daniela Rose Anderson, with Sumit in India.
Author Daniela Anderson reads from The Moon Prince and The Sea at its June 6 book launch in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mike Groesser's Upload Podcast interviews et alia's erin wood
On Upload Podcast, Mike Groesser hosts creative entrepreneurs and side hustlers in conversations that "help you move from dreaming to doing." Groesser's dynamic format offers altering episodes of 30-45 minute in-depth interviews with creative types and follow-up lessons on what can be taken from each interview.
In May, Groesser interviewed Et Alia Press co-owner and editor, Erin Wood. Listen to these episodes and enjoy all of Upload Podcast's sessions if you are eager to hear from other creatives and learn something about your own creative processes.
Upload Podcast Episode #18, Interview with Erin Wood
This week, I chat with Erin Wood about her experiences as a freelance editor, writer, and co-founder of a small publishing company.
Upload Podcast Episode #19, "Release, Revise, Repeat"
Do you ever find it hard to say your work is good enough and share it? Many of us struggle with polishing too long after the peak -- where everything you do thereafter produces diminishing returns. The key is to learn to recognize that peak and release your work so you can start getting external feedback. Then, you simply revise and repeat.
This week, I talk about some of the lessons we can learn from my interview with Erin Wood, a writer, editor, and co-owner of a publishing company.
Philip Martin Wins 2016 Great Plains Journalism Award
Congratulations to Philip Martin, author of The President Next Door: Poems, Songs, and Journalism, for his 2016 Great Plains Journalism Award. The President Next Door collects poems and song lyrics, many of which were inspired by Martin's journalistic work, and was recently part of the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival. Martin is an award-winning newspaper columnist, critic, and songwriter.
Et Alia Celebrates 4 Books by Arkansas Authors Featured in the Arkansas Literary Festival
All four of Et Alia's books written by Arkansas authors have been featured in The Arkansas Literary Festival, held each April in Little Rock. Not too shabby for a very small press!
In 2016, Philip Martin's The President Next Door: Poems, Songs, and Journalism and Erin Wood's Scars: An Anthology participated in the festival. Previously, F. H. Thurmond's books Ring of Five: A Novella and Four Stories and Before I Sleep: A Memoir of Travel and Reconciliation were featured in 2015 and 2014, respectively.
Et Alia is proud to bring Arkansas voices to the state and beyond, and to participate in this nationally recognized event.
Philip Martin reads, plays his guitar, and sings from his collection, The President Next Door: Poems, Songs, and Journalism, at a session of the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival.
Scars was in good company on the Main Library sales tables at the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival.
Scars: An Anthology panelists, editor Erin Wood and contributor Andrea Zekis, at The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History prior to their panel during the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival.
Erin Wood signs a copy of Scars for former Congressman Ed Bethune and his wife, Lana, during the Scars panel at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History during the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival. Photo courtesy panel mediator Michael Hibblin of KUAR radio.
Join Scars: An Anthology Panel at the 2016 Arkansas Literary Festival
Join "Scars: An Anthology" panel for "Hurting and Healing" at 5:30 pm Friday, April 15 at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History during the Arkansas Literary Festival! Readings and conversation with Scars contributor, author of The President Next Door: Poems, Songs, and Journalism (Et Alia, 2016), and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Philip Martin; contributor and transgender activist Andrea Zekis; and editor and contributor Erin Wood.
Panel description: "Through various genres and mediums, the topics of self-mutilation, art, cancer, gender confirmation surgery, birth, brain injury, war, pain, and love are explored in Scars: An Anthology."
Hope you'll join the conversation next week!
April 14-17, 2016. Little Rock, AR
Scars: An Anthology Contributor Hosts Disability and Identity Panel in DC
If you live in or around DC, join Scars: An Anthology contributor, poet, and chair of the Disabilities Studies Program at The University of Toledo Jim Ferris for a panel next Thursday, 4/14/16, "Cripping the Intersections: Readings Probing Disability and Identity." (Facebook Event Page.) His Scars: An Anthology contribution, "Scars: A Love Story" is a script of Ferris's performance piece which, like a scar, transforms in the telling. Jim writes:
"Scars are places where the separation of inside and out has been breeched and then reestablished. Scars help to keep outside out and inside in. But they also mark that breech, even historicize it: a breech occurred here . . . and it may return."
Panel Description: Disability – the one identity category that cuts across all the other lines. This themed reading will use poetry to explore some of the ways that the range of human circumstances we call disability weave through many other facets of identity, including race, gender, class, religion and spirituality, sexual orientation, level of education, and age. Disability intersects in complex ways with all other identity categories. This reading promises to challenge and trouble a variety of identity categories, probing the sometimes startling ways that seemingly disparate vectors of identity can converge. Discussion will follow; challenges, provocations, and jokes encouraged. Cripping the Intersections: Readings Probing Disability and Identity Jim Ferris, Jill Khoury, Mike Northen, L. Lamar Wilson, Kathi Wolfe. At Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives Room 102.
Below, "Scarbill" by Et Alia Press's layout and graphic designer Kathy Oliverio precedes Ferris's piece in Scars: An Anthology.
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