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.
March 14, 2007

>First Lines

>While investigating the website of American Book Review, I came across their list of the Top 100 First Lines from novels. This definitely something…
March 14, 2007

>Book Expo America

>I missed BEA when it was in DC last year and I’m not going to be there in New York this year, although it…
March 14, 2007

>National Book Critics Circle Awards

>I’m a little late with this and so I assume most people already know that Kieran Desai won the NBCC Award in Fiction for…
March 12, 2007

>The New Yorker: "See the Other Side" by Tatyana Tolstaya

>The story is about postcards mailed by the narrator’s father from all over the world (“See the other side!). She visits one of these…
March 11, 2007

>Exposure

>I won’t deny that part of the reason to operate this blog is to promote my own work. (The larger part of the reason,…
March 11, 2007

>ASC: Hamlet (First Quarto)

>The American Shakespeare Center has taken the unusual step of performing the 1603 version of Hamlet, also known as the First Quarto. I’d never…
March 9, 2007

>Virginia Festival of the Book

>The Virginia Festival of the Book is March 21-25 in Charlottesville. This year the website allows you to browse through the schedule and then…
March 8, 2007

>Mistake Number 10

>Don’t have things happen for no reason. This one resonates with me because coincidence, especially, disturbs a fictional experience. “In real life, coincidence happens…
March 8, 2007

>The New Yorker: "History of a Disturbance" by Steven Millhauser

>A couple is happily married, and yet . . . the husband is irritated. The wife makes innocent comments, asks ordinary questions, but he…
March 7, 2007

>From the Fishouse

>One of the surprise pleasures of the AWP Bookfair was learning about journals and other resources that I’d never heard of. One of those…