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.
July 4, 2010

>Sewanee is coming

> Actually, Sewanee (the Sewanee Writers Conference) is staying right where it is. But I’m going to it in a little over a week….
July 3, 2010

>The New Yorker: "The Erlking" by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

> We know from the Q&A with Sarah Shun-lien Bynum that this story is based in some way on Goethe’s The Erlking. We have Kate and…
July 3, 2010

>Rerun: In the Palace of Cortés

>I just had a chance to revisit my story In the Palace of Cortés which appeared in Per Contra some time ago, and thought I’d…
July 3, 2010

>Tin House to Require Bookstore Receipt for Unsolicited Manuscripts – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

> Tin House to Require Bookstore Receipt for Unsolicited Manuscripts – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat You want to submit to Tin House (Books or Magazine), you…
July 1, 2010

>The New Yorker: "The Young Painters" by Nicole Krauss

> I liked this “story” a lot. It’s not a short story, of course. It’s an excerpt from Krauss’s forthcoming novel. I wonder if…
June 30, 2010

>Peace Corps Writers – Review: Peter Blair’s poetry about the PC experience – Farang

> I met Peter Blair at the AWP Conference in Denver this year. It’s nice to see his book getting a little exposure! Peace…
June 29, 2010

>The New Yorker: "Twins" by C.E. Morgan

> Whenever I discover that a New Yorker “story” is an excerpt from a book, I lose my enthusiasm for commenting on it, no…
June 29, 2010

>The New Yorker: "The Kid" by Salvatore Scibona

> There’s a kid wandering around the Hamburg airport and various airline personnel are trying to figure out what his story is. They aren’t…
June 26, 2010

>The New Yorker: "Dayward" by ZZ Packer

> Packer has a forthcoming novel, The Thousands, from which this is presumably an excerpt. (She doesn’t say this explicitly in the Q&A, but…
June 26, 2010

>The New Yorker: "Lenny Hearts Eunice" by Gary Shteyngart

> This is an excerpt from Shteyngart’s new novel, Super Sad True Love Story, due out in July. Not that the magazine is telling…