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.
September 3, 2006

>Sunday Miscellany

>Power. The last few times I’ve mowed the grass it was a struggle to get the lawn tractor to start. When I was a…
September 3, 2006

>What to read?

>If you’re like me, you have no shortage of unread books (or piles of unread books) from which to choose for your next read….
September 2, 2006

>Othello

>Friday night I saw Othello at the American Shakespeare Center. The Blackfriars Playhouse was nearly full for the opening of this production (the 4th…
September 1, 2006

>Head Butler

>For recommendations of books, films and music, check out Head Butler (service for your head).
August 31, 2006

>Eudora Welty’s House

>The current issue of Preservation, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has an article by Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto)…
August 30, 2006

>Man Booker Prize 2006 Longlist

>This news is a little old–it was released on August 14, just as I was about to leave for Bread Loaf–but still I like…
August 28, 2006

>Home from Bread Loaf

>It took me 10.5 hours to drive home from Bread Loaf on Sunday. It might have been a shorter trip, but there was heavy…
August 27, 2006

>Bread Loaf: Day 11 (Saturday)

>The last day: a light one, as people begin to leave. We had our last workshop session in the morning, going over two pieces….
August 26, 2006

>Bread Loaf: Day 10 (Friday)

>Friday began with Mark Doty’s lecture, “Whitman in Tears.” Ted Genoways from Virginia Quarterly Review was visiting and Mark began by noting that he…
August 25, 2006

>Bread Loaf: Day 9 (Thursday)

>A non-linear day. First up was a lecture: “A Literary Collage on Literary Collage” by David Shields, in which he argued–more or less–that the…