April 2009


slowvan-smallimageCongratulations to former runner-up in the 2007 short story category (and a finalist in the poetry category many times)! Maureen’s first short story collection, THE SLOW VANISHING, will be published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in the fall.

THE SLOW VANISHING (ISBN 13: 978-1-59948-186-9) contains both flash fiction and longer stories. Some of the stories first appeared in literary journals, such as Stone Canoe, the North Carolina Literary Review, the Knoxville Writers’ Guild Anthology, Low Explosions: Writings on the Body, and the Sierra Nevada College Review.

To receive an advance order discount ($9.00), please order the book now online at the publisher’s website: http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/ComingSoon.php
Advance order discounts only apply to online orders. The cover price will be $13.95 – so take advantage of the discount by ordering today.

Off-beat stories with unexpected endings. Life’s ordinary problems intruded on by the bizarre. The Slow Vanishing has a mesmerizing, magical effect.
— Joanna Catherine Scott, author of The Road From Chapel Hill

What a wonderful collection this is. Maureen Sherbondy’s The Slow Vanishing is remarkable for its abundance, its variety, its range, and its sheer imagination. There are long, serious stories… There are comic stories, very short stories (flash fictions), and in all of them Sherbondy’s gift for vivid, sharp imagery and telling detail shines forth. Everything seems to vanish–children, mothers, houses, comedians, body parts, husbands, even punctuation–and all this vanishing asks us to think about life without that which has vanished. And we do think. We laugh, we worry, we think, and we read on, because we want more.”
–– Anthony S. Abbott, author of The Three Great Secret Things

For more info, visit www.maureensherbondy.com

Last week we sent out the first notice for Juleps in June, 2009.  We made a mistake in the flyer.  The correct date is Friday, June 5, not Friday, June 7.

The party, the Faulkner Society’s annual overture to the summer season, will take place at the lovely residence of Judith “Jude” Swenson, at 426 Vincent Avenue in old Metairie starting at 7 p.m. The event will feature food, wine, music, and, of course,mint juleps served in silver cups.

Tickets are $125 per person and the ticket price includes one silver julep cup.  Extra julep cups may be purchased for $35 if ordered in advance.  Orders for extra cups must be placed by May 15.

Funds raised for the event will benefit the Faulkner Society’s projects for aspiring authors and literary programming for the general reading public. We hope to see all of you there.

Sincerely,
Rosemary James, Faulkner Society

Michael Malone, one of the wittiest writers in America, author of the southern classic, Handling Sin, will be the Faulkner Society’s guest of honor Sunday afternoon, May 17 at a reception, featuring food, wine, and music at The Cabildo at Jackson Square.

Michael will be signing his new novel, “Four Corners of the Sky.” Copies of other work also will be available.  The time is 3 p. m. to 5 p. m.

The event is free and open to the public.  Please RSVP, so we can plan for food and wine, to this e-mail address or by calling (504) 524-2940.  Copies of Michael’s new book can be reserved at the same time with credit card information.

The deadline for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing
Competition has been extended from May 1 to June 1, 2009.

The Faulkner Society made the determination to extend the deadline at
the request of more than 60 writers who called to say they were having
problems meeting the deadline.  As our goal is to help writers, we
decided that an extension is reasonable.