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 25, 2007

>The Napkin Project

>Word is spreading about Esquire Magazine’s Napkin Project in which a large number of authors were sent napkins and asked to write stories on…
January 25, 2007

>Virginia Festival of the Book

>It’s coming! This year’s Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville is March 21-25 and, as usual, there’s quite a schedule. Here is a…
January 25, 2007

>Mistake Number 7

> Don’t Use Real People in Your Story. Fair enough. Real people are boring: “Good characters have to be constructed, not copied from actuality.”…
January 24, 2007

>The New Yorker: "Heirs" by Amos Oz

>Was something lost in translation? Aryeh Zelnik is relaxing on the porch of his mother’s bucolic home when Wolf Maftzir, a fast-talking lawyer, shows…
January 23, 2007

>New "Bare-breasted Mama"

>The latest installment of Gail Konop Baker’s column, Bare-breasted Mama is up at Literary Mama.
January 23, 2007

>NBCC Finalists

>The National Book Critics Circle has announced the finalists for its prestigious awards. The winners will be announced March 8. The Nona Balakian Citation…
January 23, 2007

>The New Yorker: “Demolition” by Louise Erdrich

>Although this is an engaging story, Erdrich never makes the narrator convincingly male. As the story begins, he is a teenager who becomes a…
January 23, 2007

>The New Yorker: “The Bible” by Marguerite Duras

>Girl meets boy at a café in Paris. He’s obsessed with the Bible, even though he doesn’t believe in God. She doesn’t either, she…
January 22, 2007

>T.J. Forrester in Harpur Palate

>Check out T.J. Forrester’s The Revolving Door in the new issue of Harpur Palate.
January 21, 2007

>Sunday Miscellany

>1. Weather. It’s snowing. Finally. 2. Name dropping. It’s no longer a rare occurrence, but I still get a kick out of seeing people…