Spring Preview

Spring is here! Time for a fresh start, a new attitude.

What’s coming at New Pop Lit?

A lot! A mix of prose, poetry, and hype profiles.

First: stories. You want stories? We have stories! By some of the best short story writers in the English-speaking world, if not the entire universe. This includes tales by James Guthrie and Joshua Isard. It includes terrific new work by Anne Leigh Parrish and Scott Cannon, who’ve both appeared here before. Their talent is off the boards. We’re amazed we’re still able to obtain work from them– in different ways they exemplify a dawning new golden age of the American short story art. Would that these writers become as recognized as Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald– but that’s our job!

Toward that end, we have a hype interview planned for Ms. Parrish– not before we post a profile of Jessie Lynn McMains and an interview with Samuel Stevens.

Finally, there’s poetry. We don’t publish a lot of poetry, but we received striking work from two very different poets, John Grochalski and Erin Knowles Chapman. Their work was too good to ignore.

If we get a chance to squeeze in another “Question of the Month,” we’ll do so. The first one was spectacularly successful.

Thanks for staying up on us. Our readers are all.

-K.W.

Sam

Pop Lit Fiction

We talk often here at New Pop Lit about reinventing the short story. We ask for contributions and help in this endeavor– but we also spend time working toward the objective ourselves.

Today we have a story from our own Kathleen Crane entitled, simply, “Sam.”

Note how “Sam” has similarities to our previous story– in its slice-of-life realism– but differences as well, mainly in terms of style.

In the artistic choice between fantasy and reality, we lean toward reality– it’s the source of the most moving and meaningful art. At the same time we know that realistic writing has to be more than bland accumulation of trivial details– it needs to connect as immediately as possible with the reader. Does the story “Sam” achieve this?

Kathleen Crane believes in simplicity in art– that a work can be superficially uncomplex yet express a great deal of power and meaning.

The attributes of her story might be described as simplicity, compassion, and truth. That was the objective– only you the reader can tell us if we’ve reached it or not.

She was an angel, and she had loved him, Sam. They had lived on the beach together in Miami, with him busking for money, and Melody dancing to the music on the white sand, long golden hair swinging in time.

(Artwork by Martin J. Crane Sr.)

Another “Hype” Interview!

Interview

We’ve heard it from our fans. “We want hype! We want hype!”

Well, maybe not so much– but our writers (we hope) love the attention we want to give them. Or possibly they’re instead like a kitten escaping from Aunt Mabel and the rest of the cooing brood running after them. Oh well.

Our mission is to create literary stars. God knows the lit game needs a few of them. Today we feature an interview with one of the best short story talents around, Thomas Mundt. Who coincidentally has a fantastic story in our first print issue, called “The Act,” about a ventriloquist.

Is Thomas Mundt the best story writer in Chicago? It’s a question we ask Mr. Mundt straight up. Read his answer, and his other answers, in our exclusive interview with him. It’s a conversation not to be missed!

A Big Sale– and Other Things

Announcement

WE NOTICE as we circle around town in our Poplitmobile that there are sales everywhere. No business is NOT having a sale. Far be it from us to miss a trend– PLUS, we exist to compete. Not solely with other literary people. Therefore, we introduce to the world our first

MID-WINTER SALE

offering 25% off (you heard it right) everything in our New Pop Lit shop. That is, if you use the correct promo code, which for the moment is

POPLIT16

See our shop, accessible via this link:

http://www.detroitliterary.blogspot.com/2015/12/new-pop-lit-1-is-on-sale.html

The sale may last a few weeks. It may last a day– so order your exclusive NEW POP LIT books or “Aloha from Detroit” t-shirts immediately.

OTHER FRONTS

On other fronts, we will be doing much more to hype our writers– in every possible way. The foundation of this new P.T. Barnum noise will be our “HYPE” page. We are going to turn writers into rock stars– so stay up to date on everything we’re doing. Thanks!

Energy

Pop Lit Fiction

We at NEW POP LIT have promised to showcase exciting lit talent wherever we find it. We’re also determined to remain topical.

Talk about timing! Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich was announced yesterday as winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. Where is Belarus, you ask? West of Russia; part of the old Soviet Union; at the crossroads still of dramatic historical events.

Stop the presses! We work fast– at least some of the time. Not ones to evah evah evah miss a trend, we present to you a leading writer from Belarus, Andrei Dichenko. Read his magical story about blue pots, Crimea, train rides and magical energy. The able translator is Andrea Gregovich, who appeared here last year with a story of her own about the world of professional wrestling. (Did I say trends?)

Alexander introduced himself as a tourist from Belarus, returned the girl’s smile, and began to peruse the little pots. They were blue, red, and green, and painted with mysterious runes and unfamiliar characters that made it feel as if they were asking for his hands to hold them.

Call Me When You Get Home

Pop Lit Fiction

Today we hit readers with a definite change-of-pace from previous stories. “Call Me When You Get Home” by Eric Lutz is a different kind of mystery– a different kind of story. Like a tale from Hemingway, this narrative is most impactful for what it leaves out of the story. For what’s offstage. Unsaid. There’s a tone to the story of impending– what?

It’s highly readable but it’s also a story which begs to be re-read– at least once– and thought about. We ask YOU to read it here. Then, if you’ve figured it out, please let us know what you think!

In another world where everything’s fine, you and I live on the second floor of a three story walk-up. We get along with the neighbors, and in the summer we entertain on the deck out back.