With an action-packed year behind us and loads of great literature ahead, 2012 is shaping up to be our best year yet (they just keep getting better). And even though our first release of the year won’t drop until February 29, our authors have been busy as ever, blowing up the web, the journals and the local literary hotspots with their fantastic work and unbeatable enthusiasm. So, from Baltimore to the south of France, follow our authors on their mission to spread the word and bring you the very best of indie lit.
MATT MULLINS
The reviews have started rolling in for Matt Mullins’ story collection Three Ways of the Saw (out on Leap Day). In a forthcoming review from ForeWord: “Mullins, in a fresh and unforgettable voice and writing style, has reached across the human condition, exposing the sinew that holds us together, even while it hopelessly, inevitably shreds.” The collection has also landed a spot on Biblioklept. What did they have to say about it? “There’s a strong Bukowski-ish vibe to the business, with less ego, more concrete imagery, more Denis Johnson. I like this book.” Matt’s also popping up all over the literary landscape, with a poem in the Hawai’i Review, Fourteen Hills, and two stories in the Spring issue of Mid-American Review. Oh, and if you can’t wait ’til Leap Day for Matt’s gritty, boozy collection, we’re proud to announce that the e-book is now for sale.
JÜRGEN FAUTH
In anticipation of the April release of his literary thriller Kino, Jürgen Fauth has created Tulpendiebe, a tumblr dedicated to the icons of pre-war Berlin and the legendary film industry of the 1920s and ’30s. The cover of Kino was the highlight of a display of Atticus Books covers on the design blog Copertine. Those interested in reviewing an electronic ARC of the novel can now request a copy via NetGalley.
STEVE HIMMER
Steve Himmer’s The Bee-Loud Glade was chosen as part of an audiobook bundle from Iambik, alongside works by Paul Almond, Kirsten Kaschock, Benjamin Parzybok, and Thomas Hardy. Not bad company at all!
ALEX KUDERA
In a somewhat ironic twist, Alex Kudera’s satire of academia Fight for Your Long Day will be used in a graduate class called “Writing Teacher Writing.” This weekend, Alex is headed to a national summit focused on educating the public about the need for academic employment reform. And two more spot-on reviews of Fight for Your Long Day have come across our desk. Originally published in the GC Advocate, this piece at Black Man in the Cosmos says, “Alex Kudera’s book…obliterates the old images of genteel pastoral college life and shows what higher education actually looks like today in these times of corporate education, economic anxiety, digital distraction and political paranoia.” Michael Leone called it “hysterical and sobering, and Cyrus Duffleman [is] one of the great anti-heroes in recent fiction.”
ERIC D. GOODMAN
Tracks author Eric D. Goodman will be hosting Lit & Art at the Watermark in Baltimore this Sunday from 2 to 5 pm at the Watermark Gallery, an event not to be missed. And if you’ve ever wondered where writers do their magic, see Eric’s post at Write Place Write Time, featuring his beloved writing desk. You can also listen to the podcast of Eric reading “Reset,” a story from Tracks and read a new review of his “expressive and reflective novel told in stories” at Savvy Verse and Wit.
JOHN MINICHILLO
Read about John Minichillo’s first time over at The Quivering Pen, where he talks about finally seeing what our cover designer Jamie Keenan dreamed up for his debut novel, The Snow Whale. And in his hometown of Nashville, John gave a reading at “Poetry Sucks,” and had his words featured on the pretty terrific flyer (above).
TOMMY ZURHELLEN
Tommy Zurhellen has recently returned from France, researching his new novel, Apostle Islands (Atticus 2012). He spent three weeks walking around Provence and Marseille. Where does the south of France fit into the story? Well, it’s more than just an excuse for Tommy’s love of bouillabaisse; he won’t give anything away, but Tommy tells us it has to do with the ending. We figure if a novel is about the end of the world, where better to end it than the south of France? Apostle Islands is the sequel to his first novel, Nazareth, North Dakota (Atticus 2011) which follows the young Messiah as he grows up in the midwest America, starting in the 1980s.
Icicle Photo by Barfooz