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.
August 19, 2013

The New Yorker: “Victory” by Yu Hua

August 26, 2013: “Victory” by Yu Hua Lin Hong is married to Li Hanlin. While Li is traveling on business, Lin finds a key…
August 18, 2013

The New Yorker: “Meet the President!” by Zadie Smith

August 12 & 19, 2013: “Meet the President!” by Zadie Smith I see no helpful Q&A with Zadie Smith to guide us through this…
August 18, 2013

2013 Reading: The Virgins by Pamela Erens

The Virgins: A Novel by Pamela Erens I loved Pamela Erens’s first novel, The Understory. Like that book, her new novel is beautifully written. Every sentence…
August 18, 2013

2013 Reading: Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement by Peter Singer I actually read the previous (2002) edition of this book, first published in…
August 15, 2013

Reflections on Sewanee

It’s been 10 days now since the end of the 2013 Sewanee Writers’ Conference, time enough for a little reflection on the experience. It…
August 14, 2013

Online Creative Writing Classes

As much as I love face-to-face fiction workshops and critique groups, sometimes they’re just not feasible. Either you live too far away from other…
August 13, 2013

New Book from Ashland Creek Press: Everyday Book Marketing

I’m planning to read and comment on this book in the near future (the publisher sent me a copy for review), but I wanted…
August 12, 2013

The New Yorker: “Paranoia” by Shirley Jackson

August 5, 2013: “Paranoia” by Shirley Jackson Q&A with Laurence Jackson Hyman I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this previously unpublished Shirley…
August 12, 2013

Submit to my new anthology: Everywhere Stories

I have been very pleased by the reaction to my call for submissions to the anthology Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, which will…
August 7, 2013

2013 Reading: The Names by Don DeLillo

The Names by Don DeLillo is a fascinating but somewhat fuzzy book. Set primarily in Greece, it tells the story of James Axton, an American…