BETTY BOOP INSPIRED

2011 Chapbook Appeal

2011-12-30T15:17:00.000+02:00

An open letter from the Editor in Chief of Folded Word, Jessi Graustein, who published my chapbook Girl, Wolf, Bones.

Please read her appeal (also pasted below), think about it, respond, buy for yourself and for friends. It is a pity that these wonderful books are produced with so much love and attention, and then nobody reads them.

November of this year marked our 2^nd anniversary of producing chapbooks. We couldn’t be more proud of the titles we’ve published—titles written by authors passionate about keeping the craft of writing alive. Each one is a testament to the fact that literature is not, and will never be, dead.
I don’t know where you stand in the great e-book debate, but I personally believe that they will be critical for keeping literature open to new voices in these difficult economic times, due to their financial and physical accessibility. At Folded Word, we have made it our mission to offer 99cent e-book versions of our print chapbooks during the pre-order period because we want to make it possible for any reader to support the artistry of our authors. These e-chaps are formatted to play nice with all e-reading devices and have “speech to text” turned on for the visually impaired. We thought that with all the free e-reading apps out there, at this price and functionality our e-chaps would fly off the virtual shelves. But they haven’t.
In trying to figure out why, I’ve come up with a few questions for you:

If you read chapbooks, how do you acquire them?
If you don’t read chapbooks, what is the main reason for your reluctance?
Do you feel that buying e-books (whether chapbook or book length) encourages publishers not to produce print books?

To weigh in on any of the questions that apply to you, either leave a comment below or send me an email (editors [at] foldedword [dot] com). I can assure you, by the way, that Folded Word is committed to keeping book craft alive—a commitment that can be seen in our signature chapbooks and broadsides. In fact, the sale of e-(chap)books makes it more possible (not less) for us to produce future print titles by increasing cash flow with few additional time demands.
We have some amazing chapbooks available that could truly use some love. If you aren’t familiar with our chapbook list, please explore our chapbook blog at http://foldedchaps.wordpress.com. If all our social-media followers/fans took a chance on just one 99cent e-chap, we could make the close of this year very merry for our chapbook authors. It could also be the highest-yield investment in the arts you’ll make in 2011.
Whether you join in the discussion or not, whether you purchase a chapbook or not, we want to thank you for being part of The Fold. We would not exist without you.
Cheers & Happy New Year,
J.S.

Pushcart Nomination and...

2011-10-20T19:20:00.000+03:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The story "Breadcrumbs" from my chapbook "Girl, Wolf, Bones" ( Folded Word, 2011) has just been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Thank you, Jessi Graustein!

And another great piece of news! My poem "Kyrenia" was included in "A River of Stories", a delightful anthology of tales and poems from across the Commonwealth, illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski. This collection of stories and poems themed around water evoke the sights and sounds of a diverse Commonwealth community.

A River of Stories recognises the 125th anniversary of the foundation of The Commonwealth Education Trust. A full colour anthology of children's stories and poems from each of the 54 Commonwealth member states, it is dedicated to the children of the Commonwealth - and has a foreword written by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

Needless to say, I am immensely proud to be in it. The book is being launched tonight at 18:00 at New Zealand House, 80 Haymarket, London.

I so wish I could have been there!

E-mails Received (Things Happen)

2011-09-25T19:30:00.000+03:00

Sometimes things happen. When you least expect them. Things which you never thought were possible.

My words have "travelled" and touched people's lives in strange and wonderful ways. And I just wanted to write something about it today.

I regularly get "fan" mail from people who have read something of mine and want to let me know that they enjoyed it. It always pleases me to know that someone, somewhere has been affected in some way by my writing.

About a month ago I received an e-mail from Zhenya Dimova, a writer in Bulgaria, who informed me that she liked my book "Ledra Street" so much that she has translated it in its entirety into Bulgarian. At the end of her e-mail she wrote: "p.s. You know the strange ways in which books connect people!"

She has written to me several times since, to ask for more information with regard to a specific word or a reference to Cyprus. Two days ago, she wrote to tell me that one of the stories has been published in a Bulgarian newspaper.

People are often surprised to find out that my stories are not autobiographical. Some of my stories are, of course, inspired by events in my life or lives of those around me, but they are essentially imaginary.

For a story to strike one as autobiographical means that it has "felt" real - and I take that as a compliment. A story of mine "Unborn" was recently published in Blue Fifth Review. A few weeks later, the editor sent me an e-mail: "I am writing to ask you if your story "Unborn" is a non-fiction piece. I do not mean to pry but am curious about the origins of the story. It has stayed with me since I first read it." I had to disappoint her with my reply. "Unborn" is entirely fictional. I really don't know where the idea came from. It just wrote itself.

One last thing. I tell people things and then completely forget what I told them. A couple of days ago I got a delightful e-mail from Wim Jurg, a Dutchman I met at a European Writers' conference a few months ago. Here it is:

Dear Nora,

Loved “Girl, Wolf, Bones”!

When someone at my office of the writers’ union has her or his birthday, she or he can ask for a little present. I asked for your book.

And got. And loved it.

Wim

Like I said. Things happen. And I love it when they do.

♥

Laziness, Part 2 (Or Tiny Things)

2011-08-28T10:55:00.000+03:00

Laziness continues, but in between, I've been doing tiny bits of writing - some of it good, I hasten to add. I've been told the best things I write are minimalist.

Good news, too, recently:

1. My writing will be in "140 And Counting", an anthology of twitter literature. More info here.
2. I wrote a tiny "book" made up of twenty "chapters" of twenty word sentences. It's a love story entitled "Twenty Days in Torino". I loved writing it... and I'm delighted that it's going to be published as a little chapbook by Twenty20. More details to follow...

Laziness and Parcels

2011-08-08T09:38:00.000+03:00

Ok, so I've been lazy. Not totally, but lazy enough not to do any writing, blogging, even editing in the past few ...er...weeks (I almost said months). I blame it all on the Cyprus heat. I can't concentrate. It's just too much.

But a couple of fantastic things have finally happened:

Last week I received my stunningly beautiful contributor's copy of :etchings 9: Love & Something from Ilura Press (Australia). Wow! Wow! Wow! Many thanks to editor Sabina Hopfer, and to fiction editor Glenys Osborne, for including my story "Kafkaesque" in this impressive publication. I am truly honoured.

A few days ago I also received my first copies of "Girl, Wolf, Bones" from Jessi Graustein of Folded Word. The signature edition is absolutelyTREMENDOUS! I am thrilled to see my little stories finally out and winging themselves to unexpected places around the globe.

I'm off to have a lemonade - and maybe write a sentence or two...

A presto! ( as an Italian friend of mine would say... )

Wolf

2011-06-23T14:20:00.000+03:00

Words by the wolf in "Girl, Wolf, Bones".
A brilliant video rendition produced by Jessi Graustein of Folded Word.

Putting It Into Words...

2011-06-20T15:48:00.000+03:00

Do you remember the palace, the stairs, the part where Cinderella’s coach turned back into a pumpkin? Do you remember the fairy tales you read and the dreams you had as a girl? And do you remember when everything you ever believed in was shattered? Have you any idea how to put that into words?

Glass Slippers

"The girl took off the glass slippers and ran. Her bare feet hurt, and yet she had to run, to tell the fairy godmother that it was two minutes to midnight. With three seconds to go, she dropped the slippers and banged on the door:

I’m here, she said in a barely audible, exhausted voice. I’m here.

Just before the door opened, she looked down at her feet and then at the broken pieces of glass. She was so shattered that she thought her feet were the slippers and the broken slippers were her feet. She looked from one to the other in amazement."

from "Girl, Wolf, Bones" by Nora Nadjarian (Folded Word, 2011)

Note: This is a special blog post for the upcoming edition #7 of the >Language>Place blog carnival, hosted by Julia Davies, a practised reader & practising writer who lives in Germany and blogs at Practice Makes Perfect. The theme for edition #7: "unwritten language / unnamed places".

Girl, Wolf, Bones

2011-06-10T17:05:00.000+03:00

My lovely little chapbook of tiny tales is now out from Folded Word, and open for pre-orders. If you're interested, you can find out more by clicking here.

Fiction Editor

2011-06-06T19:50:00.000+03:00

I am very pleased to announce that I am guest Fiction Editor for the Fall 2011 issue of the delightful twenty20 Journal. Many thanks to Benjamin Krause for trusting me with this lovely responsibility!

Being Human - Bloodaxe Books

2011-03-27T15:38:00.000+03:00

I am thrilled to announce that the new Bloodaxe Books anthology Being Human is out...
... and I am in it!

I have bought and loved Bloodaxe poetry books for years. They are beautifully prepared and presented, innovative, diverse and internationally renowned. I absolutely adore my collection, which I keep going back to. Time after time.

So when I was asked earlier this year -totally out of the blue- if I agreed to have my poem "Mother Tongue" published in Being Human I thought I HAD to be dreaming. When I eventually realised that I was actually awake, I think I replied with a "YES, pppplease..."

And so here I am: in the same anthology as Yehuda Amichai, Paul Celan, Pablo Neruda, Sharon Olds, Sylvia Plath... to mention a few of my idols. I think I could still be dreaming. Please don't wake me up.

But do buy the book, and read poems about living in the modern world, poems that will touch your heart, stir your mind. Poems about being human, about love and loss, fear and longing, hurt and wonder.

THANK YOU, NEIL ASTLEY!

"Being Human" is the third book in the "Staying Alive" poetry trilogy. "Staying Alive" and its sequel "Being Alive" have introduced many thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry. "Being Human" is a companion volume to those two books - a world poetry anthology offering poetry lovers an international selection of 'real poems for unreal times'.

'Being Human, the final volume in Bloodaxe's acclaimed trilogy of anthologies, edited by Neil Astley...the first, Staying Alive (2002), ably demonstrated the power of a well-constructed anthology to introduce readers to vital new poets. I'll be expecting a copy of this one under my tree next Christmas morning' – Sarah Crown, Guardian.

Rejections...

2011-02-12T11:03:00.000+02:00

... galore.
I will not dwell on it, but I do know that they were quick ones, some sent on the spur of the moment. I haven't been able to concentrate lately. Maybe I've been partying too much. Last night I met a Rabbit-Man who assured me that reading "Watership Down" would change my life.
Anyone read it?

Small Stones

2011-01-30T18:42:00.000+02:00

To make up for my long-ish absence, here are some small stones from the past few days:

1. My makeup palette smells exactly the same as a set of watercolours I had as a child.

2. I tried to make the same soup. I failed. I tried again. I failed again. Some things only happen once.

3. Five seconds of sunshine. Rain. Five seconds of sunshine.

4. The man I always see training tells me he has cholesterol. He asks me if I'm okay, before getting into the lift. Another man takes his energetic puppy for a walk. Youth and old age.

5. I am waiting for a phone call. But is that really what I'm waiting for?

Heart

2011-01-19T19:09:00.000+02:00

There was a heart in my coffee cup.

Walk in the Dark

2011-01-19T17:06:00.000+02:00

Last night's walk and my keys clinking. I could smell the lemon crushed by a passing car on the street. Too dark to be out alone. "What if someone is following me?"
And then, later in the night, the dream: I was taking my finals at University. I hadn't studied. I was looking at the paper, and the paper was looking at me. I have been in this dream several times in my life. It follows me.

Monday

2011-01-17T18:48:00.000+02:00

Rain.
Two bouquets of flowers.
The president, his wife.
My headache.
Rain.

Non-Sensical

2011-01-16T15:45:00.000+02:00

How dark can a word be? If I look at a word long enough, will it change colour? I am sitting next to a lampshade, and it is not on. These are some thoughts that make no sense. I am feeling non-sensical. I noticed it as soon as I woke up this morning.

Word

2011-01-15T12:10:00.000+02:00

I am frustrated. I have had problems with Microsoft Word before, but now it seems I can't even open or use documents. Damn!
(Well, that's my excuse for being away from blogging and river stones for about a week).
Maybe I should get some of those lovely notebooks and start writing, with a pen or pencil. The good old-fashioned way.

Ca_?

2011-01-09T16:28:00.000+02:00

The woman phoned me to cancel the appointment. "An emergency," she said, "with the ca-"

There was some background noise and I couldn't hear the ending. There was no emotion in her voice, but I didn't have the heart to ask: "Do you mean your car or your cat?"

I've been thinking about it, on and off, all afternoon. One letter makes a big difference.

Today

2011-01-08T20:33:00.001+02:00

Today is a Saturday, but looks more like a Sunday.

Church Bells

2011-01-06T15:26:00.000+02:00

You wouldn't hear the church bells every Sunday, if you moved.

Orange Spider

2011-01-05T09:18:00.000+02:00

An orange spider spotted this morning on a white tile in the kitchen. A tiny, orange spider! I swear, it was orange. Are baby spiders orange until they turn dull and grey?

A Place Where You Felt You Really Belonged…?

2011-01-04T21:49:00.000+02:00

Martiros Sarian: "Ashtarak, overcast day", 1954. Oil on canvas.

Do I really belong anywhere?
Have I ever felt as if I belong somewhere?
And why am I writing a blog post about it?

The ever innovative and creative Dorothee Lang, with whom I collaborated last year on my first micro-novel The Republic of Love, has come up with this “Blog Carnival” idea and has asked if I’d like to take part.

The idea of "> Language > Place" is to create a virtual journey through different places, in different formats, using different languages. The main language is English, yet the idea is that every post also includes snippets or terms of other languages, and refers to a specific place, country, region or city.

I am a Cypriot of Armenian descent, and I write mostly in English. So I’m a bit of a “carnivalesque” case myself – meaning that people probably don’t understand who or what I am, who the real person behind the mask is.

The truth is, there is no mask. I’m just a writer and the only thing I can tell you for certain is what I really believe in: I believe in what I write. I believe that I can touch people through my writing, no matter what language I choose. Because at the end of the day, it is not which language you write in, it’s what you write, how you write it. And it irritates me no end (to put it mildly) when I hear comments such as “You are Cypriot and so you should be writing in Greek. You are Armenian, so why don’t you write in Armenian?” Doesn’t one have the right to choose another language in which he/she can express him/herself? I once told an interviewer that I felt my writing was my home. That’s the place where I feel I really belong.

I have travelled to Armenia once, in 1983- and wrote “When You Return to Ashtarak” decades later, possibly in 2005. I have written many poems inspired by my Armenian ancestry, the tragic fate of the Armenians. They all touch on the themes of loss and longing, having and not having, yearning. Belonging and not belonging.

When you return to Ashtarak

stand on the bridge
and listen to the silence of our ancestors
in the marrow of your bones

sing sing and wake up the stones
the souls of the dead the river the skies
sing to those red and orange birds in our language
sing those bittersweet words and proud refrains
to show them you remember who you are

stand on the bridge
and listen to the silence of our ancestors
in the marrow of your bones

remember who you are
as you sing to the river Kasakh
when you return

Nora Nadjarian

“…Երբ վերադառձիդ երգես Քասախ գետին,
Յիշէ՛, թէ ով ես դուն:”

Նորա Նաճարեան

Sharp Pencil

2011-01-04T11:44:00.000+02:00

Sharp pencil. Never been used. I love my keyboard.

Her Palm

2011-01-03T15:35:00.000+02:00

Of course the lines on her palm are getting deeper. She shakes her own hands, and feels for the signs. A man once told her she had a short life, but of course it was a lie. He just wanted to touch her palm.

1st Stones of 2011

2011-01-02T21:02:00.000+02:00

Written on a weekend away.

Not sure if they read more like titles or notes (which they were), but I wanted to leave them "pure" because the images are still very clear in my mind.

1. Ballerina in the water.
2. Solitary seagull in the sky.
3. Man running along the coast (of an island).
4. Graphic art type clouds.
5. Sparrows eating leftover peanuts.

A Small Stone for 2010

2010-12-30T12:02:00.000+02:00

Last year is already fading away. Away.

2010 has not been a good year for me.

As I stepped onto the balcony this morning, I picked up something that looked like a little wooden stick, but on touching it, it felt like plastic. Must have landed from somebody else's balcony ( I live in a block of flats). I threw it out, over the railing, and instead of going down, it started rising, and I watched it go up, up and away.

It was my goodbye to 2010.
Away.

A River of Stones

2010-12-30T11:57:00.000+02:00

I’m taking part in a new project starting on January the 1st and I thought you might like to join me.

In an attempt to pay more attention, I will be noticing one thing properly every day (a bird eating berries, a child playing in the street) and writing it down. People from across the world will be joining me and we’ll be creating a ‘river’ of these short pieces of writing.

You can write them down in a notebook or on a blog – and it doesn’t matter if you’ve done any writing before or not. The purpose of the project is to help us to pay attention, and to start the year as we mean to go on.

If you’d like to join us find out more at http://ariverofstones.blogspot.com or email fiona@fionarobyn.com for more information.

A Christmas Surprise

2010-12-24T18:38:00.000+02:00

Some time ago I read that Thunderclap Issue Four was out: "90 pages packed with nothing but love. In fact, if love punched you in the face, reading this issue is what it would feel like." I was intrigued.

Then, I read that to win a copy of this lovely book, they asked for a poem of EXACTLY 30 words about the Holiday Season. I rose to the challenge and rapidly composed something that pleased me. I sent it off and rapidly (and completely) forgot about it. Here it is:

We’ve been through all of that:
Snow and Santa and sledges and Smirnoff.

This Christmas, write me a poem.
Wrap your voice with ribbons.
Kiss me with words.
Enchant me.

-Nora Nadjarian

Today, I accidentally found out that I have won a copy of the book! What a lovely Christmas surprise. Thanks, Amanda Deo - and Happy Christmas, all!

Two Announcements and a Bottle of Champagne

2010-11-14T16:52:00.001+02:00

I suppose the time has come to announce a couple of BRILLIANT things that have finally happened in my writing life:

1. My story "Kafkaesque" is soon to be published in Etchings 9. I have just seen the proofs and they look fantastic! I am proud and honoured that my story was selected by Etchings fiction editor Glenys Osborne, whose debut novel Come Inside was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize in 2010.

2. My story "Exhibition" will appear in Best European Fiction 2011, published by Dalkey Archive Press and edited by Aleksandar Hemon. I've known this for a while but now that my words of wisdom are officially up on their website, I can also officially announce it to the world!
World, please note - yes, please note, that my work will be in the same anthology as Nora Ikstena from Latvia, a whole list of talented authors across Europe, and -wait for it-- Hilary Mantel, author of Man Booker prize winner Wolf Hall.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put on the highest heels that I can find and open that bottle of champagne...

Author Talk

2010-10-29T10:03:00.000+03:00

Click here to read a fun "author talk" I had with my micro-novel "partner" and good buddy Michael K. White from Colorado. We had a lot of laughs sending e-mails back and forth to each other in summer, and the result is ( I think) delightful...

Thanks Mike and Dorothee (of BluePrintPress) for a very enjoyable experience!

High Heels, etc.

2010-10-23T19:18:00.000+03:00

I've been ogling high heeled shoes in shop windows.
I've been reading Simon Van Booy and thinking about his life as a single father.
I haven't been doing much writing.
This is my first post in ages.

I sometimes wonder if anyone actually reads or cares about what I write in this blog.
Feedjit tells me people from around the world actually do "visit"... Would be nice to know who these anonymous visitors are!

...and the Ugly

2010-09-16T16:58:00.000+03:00

My broken ankle looks swollen and ugly. I can't wait till I can walk straight again.

Meantime, (just to make the world a little less ugly) I've had a few acceptances. One from a print magazine in Australia I submitted to over a year ago! (More details later)

And my little tale "Traveller" up this week in A-Minor magazine.

The Good and the Bad

2010-09-02T18:34:00.000+03:00

The bad news is - it's been a godawful summer during which I crashed my car and broke my ankle.

The good news is - my story "Sparrow" has been shortlisted for the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition Prize. You can see the shortlist here. 22 stories out of the 849 entries for the competition have been shortlisted, and I'm so happy mine has been selected. Congratulations, all!

The Republic of Love

2010-07-28T22:12:00.000+03:00

So here it is. I am thrilled to announce the publication of my first micro novel "THE REPUBLIC OF LOVE".

Micro novels are hand-made books that fit in an airmail envelope. Their size and page count is defined by standard airmail format and weight: 24 pages, Din A6.

"The Republic of Love" is one of two micro novels published by Blueprintpress this summer, the other one being "My Apartment" by Michael K. White. Both micro novels are offered as signed author copies, hand-made limited editions. They will arrive at your doorstep with international air mail, and are available as single volumes, or as bundle. See order details here.

And here is the "blurb":
In flashbacks and dream-like sequences, parts of a woman's life unravel before us, but we are never certain what is real and what is not in "The Republic of Love "... details, author info, excerpt.

YAY!!

I Write Like ...

2010-07-17T19:13:00.000+03:00

... Chuck Palahniuk.

To be honest, I have never been interested in him and never read any of his books. So, out of curiosity I googled him and found his official site. One of the writing tips he gives is the following:

"...Use writing as your excuse to throw a party each week - even if you call that party a "workshop." Any time you can spend time among other people who value and support writing, that will balance those hours you spend alone, writing. Even if someday you sell your work, no amount of money will compensate you for your time spent alone. So, take your "paycheck" up front, make writing an excuse to be around people. When you reach the end of your life - trust me, you won't look back and savor the moments you spent alone..."

I thought about this: The Loneliness of the Short Story Writer. Writing full time must be a dreadfully lonely business. I don't write full time, but every time I really get stuck into it, I have an awful feeling that I'm becoming anti-social.

I got a long e-mail earlier today from a dear friend who is starting out a new job in South East Asia. She wrote she's finding it difficult that she can't communicate with the locals because she does not speak their language. Makes it even more difficult for her "a person like me who considers communication the essence of existence, the most valuable component of life and the best present one can get."

I wondered what different people would consider the "best present" - and what that would be for a writer.

Over the Wall - and Over the Moon

2010-06-30T14:11:00.000+03:00

I recently went to Berlin to read poetry at the brilliant Literaturwerkstatt. Some of my poems were translated into German by Christa Schuenke, I was introduced to the German public by Ron Winkler and Brigitte Oleschinski. I felt honoured and humbled.

I walked through a hole in remnants of die Mauer, took photos, was inspired. I could hardly recognise any of the streets or buildings... Berlin changes, moves on, all the time, it seems to me.

A few weeks after my return (yesterday, to be exact) I found out that Dorothee Lang of BluePrintPress has chosen my micro-novel "The Republic of Love" for publication this summer!

Now I am totally over the moon.

Some details here.

And more details to follow...

It's been too long...

2010-05-31T18:35:00.001+03:00

Oh, my poor little blog. I haven't visited you for a while. I hope you don't hold it against me. I've been so busy having fun - and sometimes not having fun.

Here are some of the fun things I've done since I last wrote here:

I've been to Stockholm.
I've written a short story which has been accepted in a "Best of..." anthology, but more about that later.
I've appeared in BluePrintReview.
Three haiku-esque poems have appeared in UnFold:
Seagulls, Untitled and Swallow.
I've been interviewed by FictionDaily.
Thanks to the editors of the above: Dorothee Lang, Rose Auslander and David Backer!

Hope to be back soon.

OH.MY.GOD.

2010-03-25T13:11:00.000+02:00

Those are the very words I typed in response to the best, sweetest, most unexpected acceptance e-mail I've had in years. I typed other things too, in my rush of excitement, I had no idea what I was saying, I was just so elated that my story was one of SIX (yes, six) out of 100+ submissions to be selected.

Among other lovely things, the editor of "Southword" wrote: "...I just wanted you to know that your story blew me away, and this is the first acceptance I am sending out. I love it!"

I am doubly pleased that the editor of this issue happens to be somebody I admire both as a person and a writer: none other than the wonderful Tania Hershman, who really knows how to encourage writers, and fully deserves the success she enjoys in the writing world. I don't just mean this acceptance-- Tania is one of the kindest, most generous, and least snobbish of writers. I was fortunate enough to meet her through her short story site "The Short Review" a couple of years ago. My admiration for her and her work has inspired me to read, to write, to rewrite, to submit, and above all... not to give up, even when it feels like I'm not really getting anywhere with all this writing...

Thank you, Tania! I'm so looking forward to the next issue of "Southword".

Haiku

2010-03-09T15:30:00.000+02:00

I haven't been in the best of writing moods lately... But it does please me when something of mine is finally published, even if it's a tiny little haiku, like this one that's just appeared in 7 x 20.

Here it is.

Miracle

2010-03-04T19:33:00.000+02:00

Wow! I'm in LITRO's Climate Issue. I submitted without having any high hopes, in fact without any hope whatsoever... and there I am, together with the brilliant Tania Hershman and other talented writers. Thank you to the editors of this great publication: you really made my day, my month, my year...

It's a small miracle.

Y is for Youth

2010-02-23T14:42:00.000+02:00

Metazen is preparing an e-book of Male + Female stories, written by men and women. You have to choose a word from a list of words each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet... and write a story of up to 5 paragraphs.

So I chose Y for Youth. It includes a Brazilian and a favela. It includes a dream.

It brought tears to somebody's eyes.

I'm (sort of) Back... with Big News

2010-02-18T16:11:00.000+02:00

Well, what a hectic few weeks! Had a couple of acceptances, a few "maybe"s, and I think a "no".

but the Really Big News is...

... a chapbook of my "fairy-tale" related short stories is going to be published by Folded Word in 2011!

I'm really excited. Big thanks to Jessi Graustein for encouraging me from the word "go".

The Secret Goldfish

2010-01-31T13:09:00.000+02:00

A lot on my mind lately. Good things, mostly, which keep me busy. It's good to have deadlines to work towards, and I've done some writing, editing and sending off this weekend.

Now I'm going to relax a little, before starting to worry about my next big deadline for what I think could be my biggest challenge yet.

Sorry I'm being a little secretive here, but I'll let you know more when I have more details myself.

I realised a couple of days ago that I have a used bilingual Russian-English copy of "Catcher in the Rye" bought at a book stall a few years ago. (Moscow Progress Publishers 1979)

"... He wrote this terrific book of short stories The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was "The Secret Goldfish." It was about this little kid that wouldn't let anybody look at his goldfish because he'd bought it with his own money. It killed me..."

From The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger

Cheque Republic

2010-01-17T20:07:00.000+02:00

You think I can't spell?

Actually, spelling has always been one of my strong points.

Well, here is my story Cheque Republic, inspired by a visit to --yes, Czech Republic.

Up in LITnIMAGE, with other great writing by Eric Beeny, David Erlewine, Greg Gerke, Tom Mahony, Glenn Vanstrum, Jared Ward and Kate Wyer.

Happy New Writing

2010-01-10T13:29:00.000+02:00

I've been on holiday. Or more truthfully, I've been a bit lazy.
It's already the 10th of January, and it's time to think about new writing. But before I do that, here is my lovely, lucky story for 2010: Elephant in the City. It was written in 2009 but only recently published at Curly Red Stories.

A Conversation with Angels

2009-12-25T20:54:00.000+02:00

This was the story I contributed to the Metazen Christmas Charity Book.

A Conversation with Angels

She insists she’s late because of the angels.

She tells me they’re white and have dark faces. They keep her company before school. When they do, she oversleeps and misses the bus.

They are silent. They never say a word. They don’t know that her mother beats her, that her father spits and drinks.

I teach her words like iridescent, redolence, unutterable, so she’ll impress the mute angels while they sit around her, speechless with amazement, sipping rosewater cordial or mint tea.

Nora Nadjarian

Other contributors include Cynthia Reeser, Tania Hershman, Finnegan Flawnt, Frank Hinton, Gerry Hayes, Katie McCullough, xTx, Boudreau Freret and Paul Handley. You can read all the stories here.

All proceeds will go to the Sunrise Children’s Village Orphanage in Siam Reap, Cambodia. If you would still like to donate, click here.

Hello Poetry, My Old Friend

2009-12-18T21:31:00.000+02:00

I haven't written a new poem for some time now, and recently I've been digging out some old ones for various Fictionaut projects.

I've always wanted to read a poem of mine on video.

And finally I have done it.

"Three Facts" was one of the first poems I ever wrote (2001) and remains one of my favourites.

THREE FACTS read by yours truly.

Finnegan Flawnt reads Nora Nadjarian

2009-12-18T14:16:00.000+02:00

Surprising and lovely. Inspiring and sexy. Incredible...

Well, if you ask the ladies, anyway.

I'm talking about the voice of Finnegan Flawnt, writer and reader extraordinaire, mentioned before on this blog. He is German, married to an American, lives in Berlin and his name is a pseudonym.

And I was delighted when he said he could relate to my poem and would like to read it.

"Mother Tongue" is a poem I wrote in 2003, at a time when I was considering mother and other tongues. Ironically, I wrote it back then as if my mother tongue was German (which it isn't) and I think it's befitting that a native German gets to read it so beautifully. Et voila, here it is,

MOTHER TONGUE read by Finnegan Flawnt.

Mother Tongue

by Nora Nadjarian

Which language do you dream in,

swear in, cry in, asked the questionnaire.

How many languages do you swim in,

drown in, breathe in, mime in?

Do you know how many tongues have adopted

your voice? And when at night you stare

at dark walls and one pair of lips

comes closer, whispering in perfect German

Ich bin deine Mutter -

Or the night shadows enlarge into a Fritz Lang

open scream and Muttersprache appears

on the silent movie screen, then:

what do you reply? In which language,

and how clearly, do you say: my mother tongue

is somewhere in the recesses of my mind.

I am not an orphan. I have a mother.

She put me to bed one night

and went away. The film we made

together has long been silent. But I still

hear her voice in the keyhole of my heart.

My Lucky Day

2009-12-17T18:19:00.000+02:00

OK. I knew it was going to take place

Time: December 16, 2009 from 6:30pm to 7pm (U.S. Pacific Time)
Location: at the Folded ning
Organized By: J.S. Graustein

Event Description:
Announcement and unveiling of the video depiction of the winning works for 3Cheers Autumn 2009.

I did some quick calculations in my head (yeah, right) and worked out that 6:30pm U.S. Pacific Time on December 16 translated as 4:30am Cyprus time on December 17. I went to bed thinking: I'll never get up on time. I'll never win. I'll never have the pleasure of knowing how other people might visualize my story ZOO. I'll neverzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

A miracle happened. I jumped out of bed at exactly 4:30am, I started chatting online straight away with some wonderful people on another continent... They were surprised that I'd got out of bed for this, "That's dedication for you" somebody said, I was thinking this is fun. Then Jessi said the results were now officially announced and we should go and look at the video. The first still of the video was of a ... pelican! My heart started beating faster. I felt like a bloody kid about to open a parcel to find the exact same Xmas present they had asked for... And "OH MY GOD" I wrote. "Are you wide awake now?" somebody asked... We had virtual fireworks and drank virtual champagne. I'm telling you this was the best literary fun I've had in a long time. Thank you, Jessi, and to all those who voted for my story. Congratulations to the other two winners: Linda Leedy Schneider’s for “To Yesterday’s Poem” and xtx for “Better Things”.

And here it is, that lovely video which made my day.

A Cat Story

2009-12-13T17:03:00.000+02:00

This is my favourite story of the week.

It was written by N. God Savage, a writer from Northern Ireland, and was inspired by "L'Etranger", a novel by Albert Camus - one of my all-time favourite books for its sheer, heart-breaking economy of words. Here is the story CAT. I especially love the last line!

Calendars and... Second Tongue

2009-12-11T19:31:00.000+02:00

I've been busy with all sorts of projects lately.

The UNHCR calendar project is coming to an end. Hopefully I'll soon be able to tell you about a beautiful 2010 calendar of poems I helped to select. More on that later.

Something totally wonderful and unexpected this week: I found out that my talented (and funny) Fictionaut buddy Finnegan Flawnt who writes in flawless English...is, in fact, German! Together with the brilliant Dorothee Lang (designer of the lovely logo you can see above) who is also a German writing in English, they invited me to set up the group "Second Tongue" on Fictionaut- a group for bilingual/multiligual writers. To give you a taste, here is a section of our group description:

"...It doesn't matter to us whether your first language is French, Chinese, Greek, Swahili, Italian, Urdu, or any other of the world's groovy languages:

Make this your home, share your English writing and discuss with us what it means, for you, not to write in your mother tongue.

We also welcome native English speakers, who live and write abroad or who write in another language than English..."

So happy to be a part of this! We hope to get many members, and I know there are a lot of people out there writing in a "second tongue". Watch this space.

And the winner is...

2009-12-07T17:38:00.000+02:00

Metazen is an online fiction zine that publishes short fiction and poetry by various authors. In November, it launched a contest asking authors to write 3-sentence stories based on a number of selected pictures. I entered for the fun of it and was delighted to get an honourable mention for "Wolf".

Here is my personal favourite- a story I wrote, inspired by the photo on the left.

Eve

Many centuries later the world turned green, and the girl wanted to be a tree.
She selected a leaf at random and whispered to it.
I am Eve, don’t you recognize me?

Here is my story "Wolf" inspired by this photo:

Wolf

Of course there will be other lives.

Then why do I stand facing my end as if it was calling me from my past, howling like a snowstorm of love and hate and cold and right and wrong, crying with me and laughing at my regret and confusion, reminding me of everything on this earth that I never understood?

The whiteness enters me, and all I know is that there was once a girl I should never have touched.

Congratulations to all, and especially to the winner Finnegan Flawnt, whose entry you can read here. Other notable entries by Ani Boghossian, Cyn Kuhn, Matthew Hamilton, Boudreau Freret and Katie McCullough.

Two Disappointments and... a Delight

2009-12-02T23:07:00.000+02:00

I have not made it into the Red Issue of The Fairy Tale Review. Nor have I made it into the Cinnamon Press Micro-Fiction Anthology, but...

...within minutes of getting the two rejections above, I got this delightful e-mail from Folded Word:

If you are receiving this email, then your work has been nominated by our editors for 3 Cheers Autumn 2009. Sadly, there's no monetary prize if you win. But you will get your work made into a video that will broadcast on our YouTube channel, ning, and blog to show off to your family, friends, and fans. All the nominated works are listed below my signature.

The final winners will be chosen by our readers. Campaigning is allowed, so share the voting link with your faithful followers:
http://folded.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/vote-for-3cheers-autumn-2009/

It's my story ZOO!

Ten at Folded Word

2009-12-02T20:18:00.000+02:00

It has been a week of publications, lectures, appearances and ... questions.

Here is everything you ever wanted to know about me as a writer.

I have answered ten questions put to me by Jessi Graustein of Folded Word. I, their "only Cypriot contributor thus far", have answered humorously but truthfully. Click here to see my answers:

ten questions at folded word

I also seem to have made an appearance in Ethel Rohan's blog. Ethel is a San Francisco based author whose work I have admired online. She comments on my story Gardening in the latest issue of "elimae". Thanks, Ethel!

elimae, finally

2009-12-01T15:50:00.000+02:00

YAY! I am finally in the brilliant "elimae".

After two or three attempts and rejections, I had almost given up. Until the editor, Cooper Renner, finally said: "Let's do Gardening for the December issue..."

I knew it would be up some time today but had forgotten about it, until my Fictionaut friend, prolific and excellent writer Dave Erlewine sent me a message saying how much he liked it.

Here is my story, Gardening.

Ending The Week On A High: BLUE PEAR

2009-11-29T21:00:00.000+02:00

I just found out that my story "Blue Pear" is being featured in "Best Of Metazen"... I'm thrilled that Frank Hinton, editor of Metazen, thought it worthy of this honour. I really like Metazen. It's well-presented, quite innovative and that little bit "different" to other e-zines I've appeared in. Thank you, Frank!

Highs and Lows

2009-11-25T21:50:00.000+02:00

It has been a strange couple of days - my morale has hit an all time low due to an unexpected "something" of a personal nature. I'm still wondering how it could have happened. And why. Reality certainly can be stranger than fiction.
When something like this happens, I always think "It can't get any worse, so it must get better."
And it did.
The wonderful and talented Tania Hershman is featuring me as a guest writer on her excellent and highly informative blog. You can read it here http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com/2009/11/writing-and-place-guest-blog-post-4-by.html

Another high today. Folded Word and its wonderful editor Jessi Graustein run a monthly feature on the blog called "TEN with..." It's a Question/Answer article that features a recent contributor. And I'm being asked the ten questions this month! I am thrilled about that. Thank you Jessi!

Divided We Write

2009-11-23T18:35:00.001+02:00

30 November 2009, Lecture, Goethe-Zentrum Nicosia, 20.00 h

"Divided we write. German and Cypriot authors on their divided homelands"

Lecturer: Dr Holger Briel, Associate Professor, University of Nicosia

In 2008, Uwe Tellkamp took the German bestseller lists by storm with his 1000-page text "Der Turm" in which he describes the turmoil of intellectuals living in the former German Democratic Republic. Nora Nadjarian's texts, especially her very well received "Ledra Street" (2006) are poetically charting the results of living in another divided country, Cyprus.

Why Betty Boop?

2009-11-23T18:15:00.000+02:00

Why Betty Boop? Because when I was a kid I was told by almost everyone who met me that I had BIG eyes. I still have big eyes.

Hello Blogging Universe

2009-11-14T19:01:00.001+02:00

I have decided to be a part of the great big blogging universe.

BETTY BOOP INSPIRED

2011 Chapbook Appeal

An open letter from the Editor in Chief of Folded Word, Jessi Graustein, who published my chapbook Girl, Wolf, Bones.

Please read her appeal (also pasted below), think about it, respond, buy for yourself and for friends. It is a pity that these wonderful books are produced with so much love and attention, and then nobody reads them.

Pushcart Nomination and...

E-mails Received (Things Happen)

Laziness, Part 2 (Or Tiny Things)

Laziness and Parcels

Wolf

Putting It Into Words...

Girl, Wolf, Bones

Fiction Editor

Being Human - Bloodaxe Books

Rejections...

Small Stones

Heart

Walk in the Dark

Monday

Non-Sensical

Word

Ca_?

Today

Church Bells

Orange Spider

A Place Where You Felt You Really Belonged…?

Sharp Pencil

Her Palm

1st Stones of 2011

A Small Stone for 2010

A River of Stones

A Christmas Surprise

Two Announcements and a Bottle of Champagne

Author Talk

High Heels, etc.

...and the Ugly

The Good and the Bad

The Republic of Love

I Write Like ...

Over the Wall - and Over the Moon

It's been too long...

OH.MY.GOD.

Haiku

Miracle

Y is for Youth

I'm (sort of) Back... with Big News

The Secret Goldfish

Cheque Republic

Happy New Writing

A Conversation with Angels

Hello Poetry, My Old Friend

Finnegan Flawnt reads Nora Nadjarian

Mother Tongue

My Lucky Day

A Cat Story

Calendars and... Second Tongue

And the winner is...

Here is my personal favourite- a story I wrote, inspired by the photo on the left.

Eve

Many centuries later the world turned green, and the girl wanted to be a tree.She selected a leaf at random and whispered to it.I am Eve, don’t you recognize me?

Wolf

Two Disappointments and... a Delight

Ten at Folded Word

elimae, finally

Ending The Week On A High: BLUE PEAR

Highs and Lows

Divided We Write

30 November 2009, Lecture, Goethe-Zentrum Nicosia, 20.00 h

Why Betty Boop?

Hello Blogging Universe

Many centuries later the world turned green, and the girl wanted to be a tree.
She selected a leaf at random and whispered to it.
I am Eve, don’t you recognize me?