The Fam Roundup: November 2020
Other people may slow down at the end of the year—but not the #SplitLipFAM! Check out all these amazing publications and honors from our contributors and staff.
Books
Megan Giddings’ new novel The Women Could Fly will be published by Amistad
Dan Sanders’ novella The Loop is now available from Anvil Press
Jonathan Andrew Pérez’s manuscript The Divining: Dark Was the Night of Justice won Burnside Review’s 2020 Chapbook Contest and will be published in 2021
Brandon Taylor’s collection Filthy Animals is now available for pre-order
Helen McClory’s novel Bitterhall is now available for pre-order
Publications, Interviews, and Reviews
Fiction reader Jon Doyle’s piece “Sing, They Said, Sing” found a home in Short Fiction
Ghost Parachute published Sabrina Hicks’ piece “Animal Brain”
Kim Magowan’s story “The Vibe Tonight” was published in CRAFT
Flash reader Megin Jiménez reviewed Deborah Rowan Wright’s Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans for Chicago Review of Books
Davon Loeb’s piece “A Middle Finger Flipped on a School Bus” appeared in Pithead Chapel
His essay “On the Confederate Flag” appeared in Ploughshares
Darren C. Demaree’s poem “neverwell #9” found a home in The Mantle Poetry
Recent poetry contest judge Chen Chen published three Craft Capsules in Poets & Writers:
Raven Leilani was interviewed by the Poetry Society of America
Melissa Goode’s story “V&A” appeared in The Phare
Beth Gilstrap and Jim Warner have new collaborative work in the latest print issue of Denver Quarterly
Hobart published Kara Vernor’s essay “My First Mosh Pit”
Kara also started the new @mugshot_writers Instagram account, which features authors with their favorite mugs
K-Ming Chang’s story “An Aquatic History of My Family” found a home in The Margins
The Rumpus published K-Ming’s “Footnotes on a Love Story”
Fractured Lit published her “Fable”
Four Way Review published her “Excerpt from The History of Literacy”
Ellen Rhudy’s piece “The Backstory is [Not] the Story” appeared in Hobart
Assistant print issue editor JJ Peña’s micro “boysenberry marmalade” appeared in The Cincinnati Review
Former contributing editor Christopher Gonzalez interviewed recent flash contest judge Bryan Washington for Electric Lit
Chris’ essay “Bobo” was published in Atticus Review
Rachel Mans McKenny’s listicle “11 Books About Midwesterners Who Aren’t Trying to be Nice” was published in Electric Lit
Catapult published Rachel’s essay “Motherhood, Metamorphosis”
Rachel’s forthcoming novel The Butterfly Effect was reviewed on the Off the Beaten Shelf blog
Abby Seethoff’s essay “Miley Unleashed” appeared in Mangoprism
Abby’s “A Newcomer’s Guide to Recycling in Missoula” was published in The Hopper
Print issue editor Amy Stuber has work in the latest print issue of West Branch
Amy’s story “Sad Grownups” appeared in Witness
Southern Humanities Review published Amy’s story “Cooking Show”
Hobart After Dark published Jason B. Crawford’s poem “In Defense of Being Off Key to a Mariah Song”
Kristine Langley Mahler’s piece “Acknowledgments” appeared in Hobart After Dark
Chloe N. Clark’s poem “John Wick Gets Lost in a Corn Maze Outside Reedsburg, Wisconsin” found a home in Maudlin House
Former assistant flash editor Lori Sambol Brody’s story “I’ve Seen Bigger” appeared in New Flash Fiction Review
CRAFT published Lori’s story “It’s Time to Push”
Witness published flash editor Maureen Langloss’ story “Ariel”
Nate Marshall reviewed Barack Obama’s new memoir A Promised Land for The Chicago Tribune
Amber Sparks’ piece “Ladies of the Lake” was published in People Holding
Former poetry editor Marianne Chan wrote about Las Vegas bookstore The Writer’s Block for Kenyon Review’s “On Books and Their Harbors” series
The Puritan published two of Marianne’s poems
Meghan Phillips’ story “Final Girls Late-Night Running Club” was published in Hayden’s Ferry Review
Okay Donkey published Meghan’s micro “There’s a Trick with a Knife”
Steve Edwards was interviewed in SmokeLong Quarterly, where he’ll be serving as the guest editor for the winter issue
Michael Hammerle’s piece “Things I Learned from Hey Arnold! and Why Arnold Never Goes to High School” found a home in Hobart After Dark
Sarah Fawn Montgomery’s piece “In Flame” was published in Southeast Review
Fiction reader Wei Ting Jen’s story “A Hundred Unions” appeared in Room Magazine
Monkeybicycle published Tommy Dean’s story “Naming the Darkness”
Cathy Ulrich’s “We Are All Orphans” found a home in No Contact
Elisa Gabbert appeared on Tin House’s Between the Covers podcast
Erin Calabria’s piece “Fledgling” was published in Parentheses
Parentheses published Martha Silano’s poem “I Think I Love Ghosts”
Brandon Taylor’s essay “Turns Out It’s Pretty Good: Fall” appeared in The Cut
Tyler Barton’s piece “Masterclass Testimonials” was published in No Contact
Fiction reader Janelle Bassett’s story “Barely Contained” found a home in Barren Magazine
Social Media & Marketing Coordinator Becky Robison’s piece “True Love Travels on a Gravel Road” was published in Trash Magazine
Hobart After Dark published Amorak Huey’s poem “I Had the Urge to Write About Middle Age But I’m Past It”
Sara Lippmann’s story “If You’re Lucky, This Could Be You” appeared in Epiphany
Alina Stefanescu was interviewed in Trampset
Meg Pokrass and Aimee Parkison’s piece “Disturbing Animal Facts” was published in Trampset
Lucie Britsch’s story “Whatever Gets You Through” found a home in Monkeybicycle
Former poetry reader Bob Sykora’s poem “Blueberries” was published in Third Point Press
Chaya Bhuvaneswar was interviewed in Luna Luna
Former fiction editor Jon Chaiim McConnell’s story “Schematic Impulse” was published in Surfaces
Awards, Honors, and News
Raven Leilani has won the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction for her novel Luster
Raven Leilani’s Luster and recent flash contest judge Bryan Washington’s Memorial made Time’s list of “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2020”
Raven Leilani’s Luster, Bryan Washington’s Memorial, and Brandon Taylor’s Real Life made The New York Times’ list of “100 Notable Books of 2020”
K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary, Nate Marshall’s Finna, Raven Leilani’s Luster, Bryan Washington’s Memorial, Mary South’s You Will Never Be Forgotten, and Brandon Taylor’s Real Life have all been named Best Books for Adults 2020 by the New York Public Library
Brandon Taylor’s Real Life, K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary, Kate Milliken’s Kept Animals, and Bryan Washington’s Memorial all made O Magazine’s list of “The 42 Best LGBTQ Books of 2020”
Brandon Taylor’s Real Life and Bryan Washington’s Memorial were longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize
Leesa Cross-Smith’s So We Can Glow and Nate Marshall’s Finna appeared on Roxane Gay’s list of “10 Books to Bring You Out of the Dark” via Bookshop.org
Gina Chung made the longlist for CRAFT’s 2020 Elements of Craft Contest
Amber Sparks’ And I Do Not Forgive You, Bryan Washington’s Memorial, and Brandon Taylor’s Real Life made The Washington Post’s list of “50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2020”
Tyler Barton had two stories on the Distinguished list of the 2020 Best American Short Stories anthology
Threa Almontaser, Venita Blackburn, and Erin Slaughter were semifinalists for YesYes Books’ 2020 Pamet River Prize