Author: Cliff

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.
January 20, 2013

2013 Reading: How to Write a Sentence by Stanley Fish

How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Fish: The book isn’t nearly as enlightening as I’d hoped. At the outset,…
January 20, 2013

Virginia Festival of the Book, March 20-24, 2013

The Virginia Festival of the Book is just two months away. For booklovers in these parts, the festival can’t be beat and I always…
January 19, 2013

2013 Reading: The Hours by Michael Cunningham

I’ve had The Hours by Michael Cunningham on my shelf for a long time—I have it in hardcover, if that’s an indication—and it was…
January 19, 2013

Guest Post: Terri Kirby Erickson

Poetry: The People’s Choice by Terri Kirby Erickson At the recent 2013 People’s Choice Awards, the lovely host Kaley Cuoco made poets’ lives a little tougher…
January 17, 2013

One Night Standing

I’ll be reading at the One Night Standing monthly program in Roanoke on Feb. 10. along with journalist Ralph Berrier. Hope you can join…
January 14, 2013

The New Yorker: “Experience” by Tessa Hadley

January  21, 2013: “Experience” by Tessa Hadley I didn’t want to like this story because I think the New Yorker publishes too many Hadley…
January 13, 2013

2013 Reading: Prosperous Friends by Christine Schutt

Prosperous Friends by Christine Schutt is probably not for everyone. But if you like lyrical sentences and complex characters, and don’t need to have a…
January 11, 2013

2013 Reading: Home by Toni Morrison

Home by Toni Morrison is a real disappointment. I read A Mercy when it came out a couple of years ago and thought it was…
January 10, 2013

2013 Reading: How to Predict the Weather by Aaron Burch

I confess that I picked up Aaron Burch’s How to Predict the Weather out of my to-be-read pile (one of many, in truth) because it was…
January 9, 2013

2013 Reading: Love’s Winning Plays by Inman Majors

Love’s Winning Plays: A Novel by Inman Majors is a quick, fun read. It’s about Graduate Assistant Coach Raymond Love, a Division III quarterback who dreams…