R2: The Rice Review

Reading Series Night 2! (and Staff Apps)

2010-03-30T16:26:00.007-05:00

Hey R2ers!

On Thursday, April 8 from 7 to 8 PM we will have our second of a series of readings in the Kelley Lounge of the RMC. Published authors from this year's R2 will be reading their work and there will be FREE food, so you should definitely come check it out!

If you're feeling brave and want to read your own creative writing, send us an email at r2mag@rice.edu before Wednesday, April 7.

See you there!

P.S. Don't forget: staff applications for the 2010-2011 editorial board are due April 5 by 5 PM! Check the website for more details.

Awesome Reading by an Amazing Writer!

2010-03-03T17:19:00.003-06:00

Please join us for a reading by

Elizabeth McCracken

March 16, 2010
7:00pm
Brazos Bookstore

http://www.elizabethmccracken.com/

To read exerpts of her writing, go here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=M86PhpoehBAC&dq=giant's+house&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=uu6OS9bdJdDulAf9juy6DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The Rice Department of English and Fondren Library's Cherry Reading Series continues at your neighborhood bookstore with the fantastic Elizabeth McCracken. She is the author of The Giant's House, which was nominated for the National Book Award; Niagara Falls All Over Again, winner of the PEN/Winship Award; and Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry?, a collection of stories. Her most recent book is a memoir titled An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination about the loss of her first child in the ninth month of pregnancy, called by McCracken "the happiest story in the world with the saddest ending."

"Reading it is a mysteriously enlarging experience. It could pair neatly with Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking: it's hard to imagine two more rigorous, unsentimental guides to enduring the very bottom of the scale of human emotion." Lev Grossman

"Alert to every nuance of feeling, McCracken writes with such clarity and immediacy that we hope anyway. 'It's a happy life,' she says, 'and someone is missing.' That these statements can both be true is the mark of great emotional maturity, and of a writer who rises to the human complexity of grief with all her powers, and all her heart." Mark Doty

"In An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, Elizabeth McCracken does not howl out her loss. She is devastatingly calm and in this matches measure for measure her own fine writing. By the end of this memoir you will have held a beautiful child in your hands and you will have acknowledged him. This book is an extraordinary gift to us all." Alice Sebold

Things to do when you're stuck writing that short story/poem/essay

2010-03-03T14:57:00.005-06:00

"If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ¬music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient."
—Hillary Mantel

"Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never ¬being satisfied."
—Zadie Smith

"The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying "Faire et se taire" (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as "Shut up and get on with it."
—Helen Simpson

"Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils."
—Margaret Atwood

"Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you."
—Annie Proulx

"Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ¬internet."
—Zadie Smith

On the R2 selection process

2010-02-08T19:44:00.008-06:00

By now all of you who have submitted to R2 should have heard back from us. This year we received quite a large number of submissions, especially in creative non-fiction. We like to thank you all for submitting and we hope that you will continue to work on your craft!

Overall the quality of writing this year is stronger than those of last year. The diversity in themes is perhaps what surprised me the most. In fiction, we received a lot more genre fictions than before, including even quite a few sci-fi and romance fictions. I want reiterate our stance on genre fiction this year, which is that we are open to fiction in any style. They are judged with the same standard as any kind of fiction - good writing, thought-provoking ideas, and fresh perspectives. In both fiction and non-fiction, we also received quite an eclectic pile of writings that focus on multi-cultural themes. We are very happy to see these new trends.

Some people have asked us about our selection process. So here is how it works for R2:

When we get the submissions, the web master takes them and formats them so that they do not have the authors' names on them, are all formatted in the same style, and randomly compiled in a list, meaning a writer submitting more than one piece would not have those piece appear next to each other when the rest of the staff reads them.

Then the section editors, the managing editor, and the editor-in-chief take the submissions home for the winter break (that's right, we still have to WORK during break!). The EIC and the ME read everything and gives it either a Yes/No/Maybe. None of us knows what each other thinks about the pieces and our policy is to not discuss them until the Big Read. The section editors do the same for their own sections (neither the EIC nor the ME can submit to the magazine).

Then we come back for the Big Read (January in the Spring semester), which is open to anyone interested in creative writing. (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE WORKSHOP EXPERIENCE!) What happens here is that we have all the blinded submissions for people to look at and rate a Yes/No/Maybe. Each piece would be rated 3 times, by 3 different readers. Then at the end of the night, we compile the votes for each piece.

Once the votes are compiled, those that have 3 straight Yes's or 3 straight No's from the EIC, ME, and the section editor, would either go automatically into the Yes or No pile. Then the ambiguous ones where there are 2 No's and 1Yes, etc, would go into the Maybe pile. Associate section editors, however, can petition to us about a particular piece if necessary.

After the Big Read, we have the second Maybe Read where we decide on the Maybe pieces. Here all the associate section editors meet for that section. By this point, we start the finalizing discussion. We talk about the pros and cons of each piece and arrive at a consensus. It can get a little tricky when one of the editors knows the writer of a piece because he/she took the same creative writing class. If the editor is an associate editor, he/she would refrain from discussing the piece. The EIC, the ME, and the section editor each have final veto power, although this has never been used before.

Therefore, as you can see, we try to keep the selection process as objective as possible by blinding the submissions. But obviously, a certin degree of subjectivity still operates in the selection process. So if your piece was rejected, it may not be that it was sub-par, but because sometimes it could just be due to the overall consensus of a particular mix of individuals. Sometimes, a section editor could eschew a certain kind of writing style and therefore influence the overall styles of the pieces published in that section. Like many things in creative writing, this subjective component is inevitable. However, we do have pieces where everyone agrees on "Yes" instantly.

I hope this is helpful for those of you interested in how the R2 selection process works. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

Jennifer Luo
Editor-in-Chief' 2010

On author blurbs

2010-02-08T19:13:00.006-06:00

We want it to be non-perfunctory. For example, here's a think-piece from the Berlin Pfennig Saver in 1886:

"Friedrich Nietzsche is the author of several books of philosophy. And God is dead."

Or like this one from Tiger Beat for Men in 1971 (perfect for a senior)

"Norman Mailer is a magnificent writer and one brilliant son of a bitch. He's outlived, outloved and outbrawled every last one of you miserable pansy bastards who sit around reading magazines."

or it could even have some kind of a foreshadowing element, although hopefully not as pessimistic as this one

"Sylvia Plath is a poet living in London. She Recently purchased a gas oven."- 1963, Opaque and Oblique.

or perhaps more complex like this one from the Paris Review:

"William Burroughs elaborates cardboard assumptions near the horizon. He laments the dachshunds' cruel design."

And finally, here's a great one that really uses the writer's last words to further assert his essential self. This one's from Disembowelment Weekly:

"Stephen King is a horror author. That's horror, not whore."

Open Mic Night 2009 Video

2010-01-15T21:42:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Rick Manning, our Webmaster, here is the video for 2009 Open Mic Night:

Click on link below

http://vimeo.com/8105181

Submit to R2!

2009-11-22T12:30:00.003-06:00

Monday, November 30th is the last day to submit fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry for R2's 2010 issue. Send your writing to r2mag@rice.edu (check the formatting guidelines at www.r2mag.rice.edu first) by no later than 5pm on that day, and all submissions must come from undergraduates at Rice University.

1st place prize in each section: $500
2nd place prize in each section: $250

Submission limits: 3 fiction pieces, 3 creative non-fiction pieces, and 5 poems

Questions? Details at www.r2mag.rice.edu

Tips on Doing Literary/Public Readings

2009-11-10T17:08:00.006-06:00

The following are some bits of advice from 4 members of Rice's faculty. If you're nervous or worried about the mic night, take the time to read through this.

Campana

1. Make eye contact at the beginning and end of a piece, also (if poems, for example), between individual pieces. It can be hard to make eye contact while reading (try to if you can) so make sure at least a few times you do this.

2. Don't mumble. Check in with someone in the back of the room to make sure your voice carries.

3. Read slower than you think you should. In rare cases, a reader is too fast, but this seem very rare. Speedy is usually the rule.

4. Don't give too much background: just enough. Talk between pieces sometimes, but for short works (e.g. some poems, flash fiction) read two or three in a row just announcing titles. A little mystery can go a long way. But this varies with genre so see what's appropriate for fiction, poetry, non-fiction, etc.

5. Watch the pacing between pieces. For poets, don't rush from one work to the next. Figure out a suitable pause, even between short lyrics.6. Resist the temptation to over-read. Writers are hungry for audiences, but it's always better to leave an audience wanting more. So, if you can reasonably squeeze, say, 12 poems into a reading, try 10 (as opposed to 15). This will also give you the time to practice the tactics I list above.

Sasha West

First off, it's ok to be nervous. The best reader I know gets so nervous before her readings she can barely talk, but she still manages to bring people to tears with her poems (and not because they are sad). Once she is at a podium, she leaves her nervousness behind and reads as if it is the most important thing she has ever done. I've had my voice crack, my throat get dry, my hands shake, and I've blushed so fiercely I've thought people might think I was on fire. Find a way to get past however your nervousness manifests. Accept it if it is there, but learn to concentrate just on the work and on the fact that you wrote it to communicate to someone else. People are mostly at a reading to be the best listeners they can. Your job is to give them your work as clearly as you can. I find it really useful to shift how I think of my work a few hours before a reading. I stop thinking of my poems as things I have written or things I may revise--and I start to think of them as poems that exist in world--poems that I want to do well by as a reader. In other words, I stop focusing on the fact that I wrote them and start thinking of them for what they do in language. For me, this grew out training in theater. Think of it this way: if you were an actor, you would be given someone else's words and your job would be to communicate those words well--to make sure your audience understood the ideas in them and that they felt the emotion in them.Treat your own work the same way. Think about how your pacing and tone of voice and expression can help a listener build images and action in their minds. Vary your tone, speed, etc to suit what is happening in the piece. Read your work like it is the most important thing in the world--not because you are trying to prove to anyone what a good writer you are but because you are trying to help them hear what it is the piece is communicating. Practice your reading a few times, maybe even in front of friends, but once you are up in front of the microphone, have fun, enjoy what you are doing and speak to your audience. You are in conversation with them, and they are waiting eagerly to hear what it is you have to say.

Thad Logan

Stick to time limits. Religiously.

Read with energy and flair, but let the lines themselves do the work. This isn't to say that you can't "do the police in different voices," (from Dickens, cited by T.S. Eliot), i.e. give the characters in a short story or a poem some identity of their own, change tone, tempo, etc. etc. but there is a certain kind of "dramatic reading" voice that is cringe-inducing in an audience. That said, you don't want to just stand there and read as if you were reading aloud to yourself. That is an audience out there. Stand up straight, look them in the eye, and read with enough energy and volume to be heard. Too slow is probably better than too fast. Let the words direct you in how to speak them. And remember you can experiment with different ways to read a line or passage; try varying volume, tempo, intensity, and phrasing for instance.

Never hold for an expected laugh unless you are really really sure that's what you're going to get, and even then only hold for a heartbeat. Audiences are wildly inconsistent and will probably respond differently every time you read. You can learn something from readings if you are willing to be, as they say, "in the moment," always open to finding something new in your work. Audiences like to feel that you are not just reading at them, but sharing in the experience yourself.

Coert

- Less is more. You may want to share everything, but in an Open mic scenario, you want to leave people wanting to hear the rest rather than waiting to hear the next reader.

- Practice. Read your piece to yourself at least three times. You'll be able to figure out which phrases are liable to trip you up. You'll be familiar with the rhythm. Practice some more.

- Practice will also get you familiar enough with the piece that you'll be able to tear your eyes away from the page and make eye contact with your audience. This is important.

- Slow the heck down. Write SLOW on the top and bottom of every page. If it feels way too slow, it's probably about right. Adrenaline can get the best of us, and in those cases, we naturally speed up. So fight that.

- People have come to hear you read your work, not to hear you talk about your work. If you must preface your work, keep it limited to the information necessary for the audience to understand the piece.- Most important, HAVE FUN! As writers, we only rarely get the chance to share our work in person. Take advantage of the opportunity, and enjoy it.

Open Mic Night and the pre-Open Mic Night workshop

2009-10-17T13:37:00.008-05:00

You are invited to R2's Open Mic Night!

On Friday, October 30 at 9 PM, bring poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, short reflections, ghost tales, or anything creative you have written to Lovett Undergrounds to share with us. Refreshments (snacks, beer, etc.) will be provided.

Time limit: 20 minutes/piece, max!

RSVP at

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=155214542859&ref=mf

If you're hesitant or embarrassed about reading your piece, we'll be hosting a reading tutorial on Tuesday, October 26 from 5 to 6 PM in Hanszen 201. Coert Voorhees, a visiting professor in creative fiction at Rice, will share his advice about reading your work. You can also practice reading your piece in advance with us and get some great feedback that way.

Poetry and Fiction Reading This Wednesday at Duncan

2009-10-13T12:34:00.006-05:00

English Department - Poetry and Fiction Reading
featuring
Joseph Campana
Assistant Professor
and
Coert Voorhees
PARKS FELLOW

4:00 pm, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
Duncan College Masters House, Reception following
sponsored by the
Dept. of English, Cherry Series at Fondren Library, and
Houston Arts Alliance

Coert is our awesome faculty adviser, so definitely come and check out his fiction reading! Joseph Campana is an English professor here at Rice, so those of you who are taking classes with him can impress him by coming to his poetry reading.

For some fun, go here to check out this really cool installation of falling books!

(via Black*Eiffel)

Have a wonderful fall break!

2009-10-10T13:20:00.003-05:00

Dear readers, thank you to those of you who helped make the reading such a nice experience! Thank you to the speakers as well! We had a great turnout although we ran over by half an hour. We look forward to hearing from you hopefully at the Open Mic Night (Oct. 30th) as well.

If you have any feedback, feel free to let us know. We'd like to do another reading in the spring semester.

In the meantime, we'd like to know what you are reading this fall break and possibly beyond. Just leave a comment below.

New Activity!

2009-09-29T14:27:00.005-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Got a minute? Then help us write a poem! Here's how:

1. Read what we've got so far in the comments section.
2. Go here and pick a line you like from one of the random poems you find (preferably, one that kind of fits into our current poem!).
3. Continue the poem by posting the line you chose (along with the poem it's from and the author who wrote it) in the comments section.
4. Sit back and watch the poem grow!

Who knows? Maybe if the poem is awesome enough, we'll even publish it in R2!

R2 Reading Series and Free Coffee Night!

2009-09-28T20:57:00.004-05:00

Hey R2ers!

On Thursday, October 8 from 7 to 8 PM we will have our first of a series of readings at Coffee House. There will be FREE coffee, iced tea, and snacks, so come check it out!

If you're feeling brave and want to read your work, send us an email at r2mag@rice.edu before Tuesday, October 6.

See you there!

Another favorite quote post

2009-09-20T18:17:00.003-05:00

"You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy."

From Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
________________

I suppose I'm a bit late to the party, but I had a hard time choosing. This has been a favorite of mine since high school, and it's probably the best I'll be able to come up with that isn't a huge spoiler.

-Russ Horres, Assoc. Fiction Editor

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Michelle Phillips - Editor-at-Large, Wiess College Rep)

2009-09-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

"Oh, children," said the Lion, "I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!" He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table. Laughing, though she didn't know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hilltop he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, no letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs. It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind."

-C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Simple Justice (Sunkyo Lee, Duncan College Rep)

2009-09-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

The plight of the ageing black railroadmen moved Houston deeply as he threw his energies into litigation to prevent further and faster attirition in their ranks. .....Joseph Waddy, Houston's law partner recalls..."I remember once we were in the home of a lblack brakeman in Roanoke,... There must have been fifteen or twnety brakemen sitting around with us, all of them fifty years old or more, and there was this one old-timer who must have been seventy and was all white-haired, who was carrying on about how they had to save their jobs for their children and grandchildren, so there would be other generations of black men on the railroads. And then the old timer used this phrase that filled Charlie [Houston] up emotionally. He said they also had to save the jobs for themselves and protect 'these old heads blooming for the grave.' Charlie never forgot that. The railroadmen loved him. They'd do anything he asked."

Richard Kluger, Simple Justice

The Great Gatsby (Jasmine Elliott- Editor at Large)

2009-09-18T16:43:00.002-05:00

"He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself."

The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lolita (Jo Hsu, Fiction Editor)

2009-09-18T00:59:00.003-05:00

I'm going to break the rules (are there rules?) and post two quotes. It's an oldie, but a goodie. And honestly, I believe, it is the best opening in literary history (at least to the best of my knowledge)

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.

- Vladimir Nabokov

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender (Jo Hsu, Fiction Editor)

2009-09-18T00:54:00.000-05:00

"I think of that girl I read about in the paper - the one with the flammable skirt. She'd bought a rayon chiffon skirt, purple with wavy lines all over it. She wore it to a party and was dancing, too close to the vanilla-smelling candles, and suddenly she lit up like a pine needle torch. When the boy dancing next to her felt the heat and smelled the plasticky smell, he screamed and rolled the burning girl up in the carpet. She got third-degree burns up and down her thighs. But what I keep wondering about is this: that first second when she felt her skirt burning, what did she think? Before she knew it was the candles, did she think she'd done it herself? With the amazing turns of her hips and the warmth of the music inside her, did she believe, for even one glorious second, that her passion had arrived?"

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon by Mark Doty (Lissa Glasgo, Managing Editor)

2009-09-17T17:23:00.002-05:00

...and that is what I feel Paul and I are doing today, taking in and taking in, joined to a brethren of the lovers of this world. Who go about their seeing -- by lens and by canvas, by microscope and camera obscura, by notebook and daybook -- as if it were the most crucial work we could choose.

An Essay concerning Human Understanding (quote provided by Vanessa Johnson, Associate Poetry Editor)

2009-09-17T16:44:00.002-05:00

"A studious blind Man, who had mightily beat his head about visible Objects, and made use of the explication of his Books and Friends, to understand those names of Light, and Colours, which often came in his way; bragg'd one day, That he now understood what Scarlet signified. Upon which his Friend demanding, what Scarlet was? the blind Man answered, It was like the Sound of a Trumpet. Just such an Understanding of the name of any other simple Idea will he have, who hopes to get it only from a Definition, or other Words made use of to explain it."

--John Locke, Book II Chapter iv Section 11 of An Essay concerning Human Understanding

[Thought I'd share a bit of poetic philosophy.]

White Noise by Don DeLillo (Coert Voorhees, Parks Fellow)

2009-09-17T10:07:00.003-05:00

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced at once by others.

"We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies."

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides.

"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. This literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism."

Another silence ensued.

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons the rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.

"What was the barn like before it was photographed?" he said. "What did it look like, how was it different from other barns, how was it similar to other barns? We can't answer these questions because we've read the signs, seen the people snapping pictures. We can't get outside the aura. We're part of the aura. We're here, we're now."

He seemed immensely pleased by this.

Welcome (Again) / Deadline Update

2009-09-16T19:49:00.006-05:00

To all you Ricers stopping by:
Welcome to R2! We want to get to know you. If you've got some free time, pick a passage you like from a book you love and post it (and your name, if you want) as a comment to this post. If this activity doesn't tickle your fancy (you don't have anything in mind, you don't read, you hate books, you don't feel like searching through Wikiquote), check back later for some creative writing ideas and our next activity. We'll update the blog fairly frequently, and maybe you'll find something to spark your creativity!

Also, an important note:
The deadline for cover art submissions has been changed to November 6.

Catch-22 (Stephanie McLeod, Publicity Manager/Assoc. Fiction Editor)

2009-09-16T19:45:00.003-05:00

"'Who is Spain?'
'Why is Hitler?'
'When is right?'
'Where was that stooped and mealy-colored old man I used to call Poppa when the merry-go-round broke down?'
'How was trump at Munich?'
'Ho-ho beriberi.'
'Balls!'
all rang out in rapid succession, and then there was Yossarian with the question that had no answer:
'Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?'"

-- Joseph Heller

This is What We're Into...+ Cherry series

2009-09-11T14:09:00.008-05:00

Hello lovelies,

To showcase our literary interests as well as to get to know each other, we're starting a series of fun activities on this blog for R2 staff and the rest of the study body. This first one will be an informal introduction to everyone in R2. It's all about...what books we like. Just leave an excerpt/passage from a book (nonfiction/fiction) you've enjoyed with the title of the book, the author's name, your name and your staff position. It's that easy.

If you're not a staff but just want to contribute as a fellow Rice community member, feel free to leave comments about your favorite passages in the Comments section of this post!

Also, John Pipkin, author of Woods Burner, is coming to Rice on Friday, September 25 to give a reading. It will be at the Duncan College Masters' House at 4PM. Here is a little info about him:

John Pipkin currently lives in Austin, Texas, where he has worked as the Executive Director of the Writers’ League of Texas, a non-profit, literary arts organization. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, he attended Washington & Lee University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received his Ph.D. in British Literature from Rice University in 1997. He has taught writing and literature at Saint Louis University, Boston University, and Southwestern University. Woods Burner is his first novel. His appearance at Rice is sponsored by the English department’s Minter Endowment and the Fondren Library Cherry Series.

I haven't read his book which is based on the life of Henry David Thoreau during the period when he was writing Walden, but words are it's fabulous. Here's a link to Boston Globe's review of his book: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/04/12/woods_burner/

Welcome Back!

2009-08-26T21:57:00.004-05:00

Hey R2ers!

Welcome back for a brand new year! This blog is where you can find information on R2's meetings, deadlines, and general happenings, as well as some literary events you should know about around campus. More details on R2 can always be found on our website, r2mag.rice.edu.

Here's what you should know:

Our first meeting of the year is Friday, September 4 from 4 to 5 PM in the RMC's Meyer Conference Room. If you're interested in becoming involved in R2, you're welcome to come by and check us out!

If you're an artist, you should be working on an awesome cover for R2 this year! Submissions will be due on October 19.

If you're a writer, it's never too early to start picking out or working on your submissions! They will be due on November 30. For more information on written submissions, check out the Submissions section of our website.

If you're looking for something to do, check out Brazos Bookstore. It's very close to campus and often has stuff going on.

If you're just looking for some inspiration, try this:
Go here and click on Random Poem. Use the first line of the poem to write your own poem, story, journal entry, or whatever. If you don't like the poem, try again until you find a good first line.

We're all excited for the upcoming year and can't wait to show you what R2 can do!

"The king's a beggar, now the play is done:
All is well ended, if this suit be won,
That you express content; which we will pay,
With strife to please you, day exceeding day:
Ours be your patience then, and yours our parts;
Your gentle hands lend us, and take our hearts."

Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well

R2 Submission Deadline Dec 1

2008-11-20T14:37:00.002-06:00

R2 is accepting submissions from now until Dec. 1, 2008 for our Spring 2009 issue. Any current undergraduates are welcome to submit original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. First place in any category receives a prize of $500 and second place $250. There is no word limit on submissions. Please put your name and personal information on the cover page only. You can also use the R2 submission form (available in the English Department Office) as cover page.

Either submit online via r2mag@rice.edu, or drop off a hard copy in the English dept office (2nd Floor Herring Hall) beginning Monday, Nov. 10.

Open Mic Night Oct 30 and Cover Art Contest

2008-10-15T00:18:00.007-05:00

1. You are invited to R2's Open Mic Night! Bring poetry, short stories, creative non-fictions, ghost tales, or anything creative you have written to share with us. The location will be at the Lovett Undergrounds and refreshments (beer and etc.) will be provided.

If you're hesitant or embarrassed about speaking in public, just think, by next day everyone will be so excited about Halloween no one will remember your awkwardness. There will also be prizes for the best readings and fun activities. And for those of you in a creative writing class, I hear extra credits may be rewarded...

2. The R2 Cover Art Contest is once again here.

In honor of R2 going green for the upcoming issue we encourage artists to keep this in mind in their submissions. The contest is open to photos, paintings, or any type of artistic mediums. Submissions should preferably be in square shape while image size should be in 600-800 jpeg high resolution format.

The deadline is November 10. To submit, please email image to r2mag@rice.edu

Welcome back!

2008-09-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

Welcome, class of 2012, and welcome back everyone else! We can't wait for an exciting year of reading and writing. Stay tuned for updates on events, deadlines, and opportunities to get involved!

_______________________________________

Spring 2008 saw the publication of R2's 4th Edition! Grab a copy today from the English Dept at Rice, 2nd floor Herring Hall, or email r2mag@rice.edu if you'd like to arrange to have a copy mailed to you!

THE ROOM IS BRIGHTER NOW THAT YOU'RE IN IT

2008-04-03T14:48:00.003-05:00

The 2008-2008 Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief: Megan Scarborough

Managing Editor: Jennifer Luo

Creative Nonfiction Editor: Rachel Carlson
Associate Nonfiction Editors: Klara Wojtkowska, Alex Smith, Sarah Bronson, Hajera Blagg

Fiction Editor: Alexander Crompton
Associate Fiction Editors: Brittany Henry, Jo Hsu, Charles Horres, Elizabeth Jane Labyer, Leo Carter (flexible)

Poetry Editor: Alex Altman
Associate Poetry Editors: Vanessa Johnson, Austin Ellis, Liz Mallett, Claire Newman, Stephanie McLeod, Alyssa Ibarra

Art Editor: Tara Hobbs

Layout Editor: Alice Townes
Associate Layout Editor: Lissa Glasgo

Social Chair: Whitney Morgan
Publicity Manager: Brenda Rangel and David Rosales

Editors-at-Large: Gillian Smith, Courtney Ng, Heather Beaber, Jenny Lim, Jane S.Lee, Caitlin Foran, Will Randall, Benjamin Yu

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF: GIVE YOURSELF AN R2

2008-04-03T14:47:00.001-05:00

R2 is here. Admire the prose and poetry of your talented fellow undergraduates by reading the magazine.

Pick one up at the English Department Office, Second Floor Herring Hall, or at your college. We are also trying to constantly replenish a small stock at the Rice Coffeehouse.

Thanks for your readership! If you have any questions about the magazine (e.g. how to get involved), shoot an e-mail to r2mag@rice.edu.

Best,
R2 Staff

R2 is here. LAUNCH PARTY! friday, march 28th

2008-03-18T12:30:00.001-05:00

530-700PM
Herring Courtyard

Winners will read selections from their pieces.

Free Booze, Free Food, Free Mags

Bring your friends.

Staff Applications Due FRIDAY (March 21st)

2008-03-18T12:28:00.001-05:00

R2 SEEKS THE BRIGHT AND EAGER

R2: The Rice Review, our undergraduate literary magazine, is currently accepting
applications for its 2008-2009 editorial board. Applications are due THIS
FRIDAY (21st). Staff turnover occurs every year. The following positions are
available:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
COVER ART EDITOR
CREATIVE NONFICTION
EDITOR
FICTION EDITOR
LAYOUT EDITOR
POETRY EDITOR
PUBLICITY MANAGER
SOCIALS CHAIR
WEBSITE MANAGER
ASSOCIATE LAYOUT EDITOR
ASSOCIATE SECTION EDITORS
EDITORS-AT-LARGE

Applications are available for download online under “news and events” at
http://r2mag.rice.edu. They are due in hard copy by friday, march 21.
Turnover day is april 12. For questions please e-mail annwang@rice.edu.

Working on the magazine has been a very rewarding and educational experience for
students of all years and fields for the last four years. People new to the
magazine or even new to creative writing are encouraged to apply.

Best,
r2 staff

--------------

THANK YOU FOR SUBMITTING!

2007-12-03T17:19:00.000-06:00

Today is the deadline for R2 submissions. If you have extenuating circumstances and did not submit by 5PM, let me know (annwang@rice.edu). If you can get into the building, you may slip your submission under the English department door. (I will not be picking up the submissions until early tomorrow morning). If you are abroad, you can as others have e-mail me your submission, and I will prepare it for you.

Thanks to all of you for your interest. We will contact you next semester after judging.

Best,
AnnW, Editor-in-Chief

alarming patella

2007-12-03T17:16:00.000-06:00

those are my two favorite words, currently, in that order.

"my," he said to her, eyeing the scalloped hem of her skirt. "you have alarming patellas."

-annw.

My favorite word

2007-11-28T13:46:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about the blog the other day as I was walking and how I didn't have a favorite word to share.

Days later, I was walking in roughly the same area and I caught myself thinking about a particular word and how much I liked it.

Soon after that second thought I had a third: Why don't I combine my first two thoughts and post that word on R2's blog? I carried on with a renewed spring in my step.

The word is 'interlude'

Who doesn't enjoy a nice interlude?

They're refreshing -- a nice change-of-pace.

The word itself is easy on the eyes, sexy (enter-lewd, but in a classy, romantic way), and a pleasure to say. It's everything I want in a word.

My favorite letter is X.

I know it's not required, but I'm going that eXtra mile.

Summary: interlude, X

A poem for Danielle

2007-11-26T12:58:00.001-06:00

Danielle - we are so,
so, so
sad you have the flu
it must be terribly fun for you
sitting all wrapped up in the chair
we know it's just a good excuse to
consume your normal daily intake of four novels.
What a novel idea to procure the flu.
Drink scotch (with tea... or not).
Make sure to embrace naps (a lot).
Although we're sure you're not actually sick
(At least not mentally :))
But be sure to laugh as though
You just heard one of Prof. Derrick's odd remarks
Since laughter is a curing thing.
Also, you're sexy when you're phlegmy.

Love,
R2

R2 Annual Open Mic Night

2007-11-19T18:17:00.000-06:00

We had a great group come out for our annual Open Mic Night in the pub last wednesday. Several staffers and a lot of other great readers gave us a sampling of their work. We also had a silly writing contest, and the group that won gave us a marvelous story about a speeding car, urine, and gender-neutral genitalia. Hooray! Some great UH and St. Thomas writers came out to give us support. The only complaint I heard was that there were too few people at the event, and WAY too few people up at the mic. Next year, don't be shy. R2 loves you, and you love R2.
Danielle
Fiction Editor

Marsha Recknagel and Sasha West Reading

2007-11-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

Please excuse the overdueness.

On November 7, our very own Marsha Recknagel and Sasha West provided us with a fantastic reading. Sasha started things off with a selection of short poems, and managed to impress the room with an especially complicated poem written from the point of view of a thoroughbred horse. She ended her reading with a longer poem, "The Immaculate Conception of Loneliness," which maintained an impressive sense of momentum through numerous pages and kept the audience's attention, sometimes a hard thing to do with lengthy poetry being read out loud to college student attention spans.

Marsha Recknagel read a small selection from a current work that really impressed everyone. As always, her general manner behind the microphone was disarming and warm and really led into and complimented her work. We were all a little sad she took out the risque details, but it was still a memorable piece.

Alix Ohlin @ Lecture Series

2007-11-18T22:51:00.000-06:00

Ariel & Audubon, the title of Alix Ohlin's third night's lecture (October 25, 2007) was a fascinating look at the connection between birds and human emotion, as expressed throught various art forms.
Along with aesthetic appreciation of birds, Ohlin explored the inevitable dark side of human interaction with these winged creatures. One of her most memorable anecdotes was of the passenger pigeon, once the most populous pigeon in the world, yet literally hunted to death.
Her lecture brought together literary questions and pressing social concerns, and flawlessly combined her talent for storytelling with her passion for the environment.

- Mariame A, Fiction

St. Thomas's Shadwell Wake FRIDAY!

2007-11-15T14:56:00.000-06:00

Want to read gloriously bad poetry?
Come celebrate the death of the worst poet ever!

Shadwell Wake
Friday, November 16, 2007 at 8:00pm - 12:00 am

English Department, University of St. Thomas
3800 Montrose
Houston, TX

Email for Info:
AlairaKasimer@gmail.com

Shadwell wake is a thirty year long tradition at UST. It is FREE, open to the public, and 21+ bring I.D.!

There is a bad poetry contest, you can dress in your best funeral clothes, and there will be live music (Sideshow Tramps and MORE!), snacks, and socializing! Bring anyone you want!

Support University of St. Thomas writers!

OPEN MIC NIGHT IS TONIGHT

2007-11-14T16:15:00.000-06:00

COME TO OPEN MIC NIGHT! EAT FREE FOOD! MEET UH AND ST. THOMAS WRITERS! READ! LISTEN!

7PM WILLY's PUB

Breakfast at Rachel's! and fav word

2007-11-13T16:43:00.000-06:00

This Sunday come to the Parthenon ( my beloved house's name) for brunch at 10:30 . Bring 3$ or food! ( Better yet email me to let me know if you are coming and what you can bring res2@)
And favorite word:
Annwang, because it mysteriously appears at the end of all the emails in my inbox...i kid i kid
is.....facetious!......ok ok i kid again
is.....saturated.........well this would be but it is too much associated with fat
is.....serendipity.......but again, maybe not because it is too cliche
is.....salubrious, because I just learned it, but again, not really, basically I dont have a word.... they are all equally fantastic, and I think this brings me to my final 'favorite' word: egalitarian :)

<3 Rachel

My Favorite Word... and Wacky Prizes!

2007-11-12T11:11:00.000-06:00

So, as arguably the ~*~WacKi7sT~*~ person on the r2 staff, I have been given the honor and privilege of choosing the gifts for Wednesday's Open Mic Night in Pub. While I haven't gotten them yet, I'm writing the blog to assure anyone who might have been apprehensive that they will indeed be awesome.

And: my favorite word, right at this very second, is "chifferobe." I'll use it in a sentence.

My roommate two days ago: "Alex, what happened to the chifferobe in our common room?"
Me: [insert three To Kill a Mockingbird jokes here].

Much love,

Alexander Crompton

Danielle DuBois - fiction editor

2007-11-09T20:16:00.000-06:00

My favorite word is "disarming." Like, "The serial killer's love for carnage contrasted with his warm, disarming smile."
Aw.
I've been listening to a lot of Sufjan Stevens lately. Hopefully that explains why that sentence popped into my head...
xo,
D

AND THE COVER ART WINNER IS...

2007-11-09T06:57:00.001-06:00

david rosales!

congratulations, david! we look forward to working with you!

best,
r2 staff.

the cover art debate begins

2007-10-29T17:11:00.000-05:00

to all cover art candidates:

thank you for your submissions! we will let you know by next week.

best,
the r2 staff

booze and books both start with the same three letters. coincidence? probably.

2007-10-24T18:51:00.000-05:00

R2 Staff (and especially Fiction Minions):

Don't forget: 9 PM, Next Friday (November 2nd) there will be an informal soirée at my abode.
All of you are welcome.
BYOB. Also BYO-Swimsuit if jumping into unheated pools in November is your thing. Alex Crompton is game.
Get to know other staffers! Sit on my couches! Dance around the living room with me!
email me for me info: dndubois@rice.edu
xo,
D

R2 staff writes.... one sentence at a time.

2007-10-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

It was a frozen and miserable afternoon in Houston. I woke up and discovered I was a bunny, and thought, "Wow, that is so Kafka."
I didn't have many options I lit up a cigarette with difficulty and sighed.
Clearly, my name is Alex Altman, because smoking cigarettes angstily is what I do.
But, anyway, why would you care too much about that?
The only things that matter are good cheese and a fleece penguin blankie.
With these things he settled down and prepared for a long night of
talking about whether she should go off the Pill or not.
She thought it best to consult her father, who was something of an expert.
He knew all about the lethal effects of the peppered moth, and would be able to distinguish the pattern unique to the species-- hopefully in time for her to return her book to the library.
Unfortunately, he was ensconced in the throes of amnesia from the tragic rock quarry incident and all of his previous acquired moth-knowledge was forgotten.
Walking through the midst of the moths, he had a shimmer of remembrance from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Concentrate! Concentrate! he told himself as he resolutely grabbed through the fluttering bodies and pulled the lever.
However, it was all futile because in the grand scheme of things anything we do is meaningless but then the grand scheme is meaningless in our lives.

Jo Hsu-- Editor At Large, Fiction

2007-10-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

More than just a line...

You used to make fun of me being a writer,
saying ‘Scientists cure diseases,what do writers do?’
But of course, you wouldn’t understand, Jason.
I mean, have you ever gotten an inner thirsting for Zora Neale Hurston?
Or heard angels herald for you
to read F Scott Fitzgerald?
Have you ever had a beat attack for Jack Kerouac?
The only Morrison you know is Jim, and you think
you’re the noble one?

Go Plath yourself.

Your heart is so dark, that even Joseph Conrad
couldn’t see it, and it is so buried under bullshit
that even Poe’s cops couldn’t hear it.
Your mind is as empty as the libraries in Fahrenheit 451.
Your mind is as empty as Silas Marner’s coffers.
Your mind is as empty as Huckleberry Finn’s wallet.

- Cristina O'Keefe "Lit (or: To the Scientist I Am Not Speaking to Anymore)"

COVER ART CONTEST DEADLINE sat oct 27, 5PM. WIN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS

2007-10-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

R2: The Rice Review, Rice's premier undergraduate literary magazine, is looking for any kind of 2D art (paintings, digital images, drawings, photography, collage, etc.) for our annual cover art contest. The winner will receive $100 and have his/her art printed on the cover of R2's Spring 2008 issue after working on refining the magazine skin with the staff's cover art editor.

All submissions due by "e"-mail (r2mag@rice.edu) no later than Oct 27. Undergraduate submissions only.

Please send high resolution image files with a native size of at least 8" x 8". Examples of past covers can be found in the English Dept. Office, 2nd floor Herring Hall or online at r2mag.rice.edu. Any questions may be directed to Ann Wang at annwang@rice.edu. Good luck!

*P.S. All fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction submissions are due by December 3rd. Turn hard copies into the English Department Office.*

Lauren Fitte - Provider of Fun / Editor Helper

2007-10-18T01:35:00.000-05:00

Perhaps if they had stayed together longer, Sabina and Franz would have begun to understand the words they used. Gradually, timorously, their vocabularies would have come together, like bashful lovers, and the music of one would have begun to intersect with the music of the other.

Kundera, The Incredible Lightness of Being, p. 124

Alexander Crompton (assoc. editor)

2007-10-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Here is a quote from Laurie Anderson, who isn't a writer as much as a performance artist (definitely worth looking into). This is from a piece called "Language is a Virus."

"So I was talking to a friend, and I said, 'I wanted you, and I needed you, but I couldn't find you. I couldn't find you,'

And he said, 'Hey! Are you talking to me? Or are you just practicing for one of those performances of yours?'"

Also, as per Ann's request, I'm including one of my famous haikus.

R2 is but a
conglomeration of texts.
Geese converge on loaves.

Alex (Smith) -- Associate Editor

2007-10-11T12:52:00.000-05:00

“But he was chiefly celebrated among the populace of our community for having imported into our thankful midst a young woman of sporting morality: an inconscionable aesthete by the name of Marita who had been drummed out of high-rolling society in Phoenix City, Alabama after her health card had been punched so many times it disappeared into thin air.”

-Gamble Rogers “Charlie’s Place”

Megan Scarborough, Poetry Editor

2007-10-11T09:39:00.000-05:00

"[Women must have the liberty] to travel and to idle, to contemplate the future and the past of the world, to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream."

Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

And of course I'm no one to tamper with a great writer's work, but I'd say you can just replace "women" with writers. It's a true enough statement for everyone who wants to write, and I'm sure she realized that; she only meant to point out that women, arguably, have to (or, had to, depending on your view of the feminine situation) struggle a bit more for it.

Also, on a more personal note, study abroad is the perfect opportunity to travel and idle and let the line of your thoughts dip deep into an entirely new stream. Do it if you haven't already.

more from (d)ann

2007-10-10T23:38:00.000-05:00

"Her face was the kind of thing one sees in the classical wing of a museum: beauty as a force of history."
-Steve Almond, "Run Away, My Pale Love," My Life in Heavy Metal

Jennifer Luo - non-fiction at large.

2007-10-10T17:03:00.000-05:00

I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.
- [I, being born a woman and distressed] Edna St.Vincent Millay

Fiction Editor@Large Mariame

2007-10-10T15:18:00.000-05:00

On a lighter note:

"I was very reluctant to hiring you."
&
"There are always another girl that would be so happy to be standing in your shoes."

- Mandy, from The Fashionista Diaries
(okay, okay... I heard those sentences)

Emily Coleman - Managing Editor

2007-10-10T02:48:00.000-05:00

"I'm not even sure what to call it anymore except I know it feels roomy and it's drenched in sunlight and it's weightless and I know it's not cheap."

- House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski, page 20.

Vanessa Johnson -- Social Chair

2007-10-09T23:38:00.000-05:00

"Who are you, sir, that dares deny my prayers?"

--the character Florinda in Aphra Behn's The Rover

Alex Altman - Poetry Editor at Large

2007-10-09T23:10:00.000-05:00

It’s in disappointment we look for words
to convince us
the spaces between stars are nothing
to worry about,
it’s when those secrets burst
in that emptiness between our hearts
and the lumps in our throats;
and the words we find are always insufficient, like love,
though they are often lovely
and all we have.

- Stephen Dunn, from the poem "Those of Us Who Think We Know"

could someone on staff please start spelling their name with a silent d at the beginning? please?

2007-10-09T23:03:00.000-05:00

Hello, my little chickadees -

Amazing book-excerpt of the day -
"Love falling buttered side down, fate falling arse up! Why doesn't anyone know when everything is over?" -Djuna Barnes, Nightwood (p. 165 if you're rockin' the New Dimensions edition) (which you should be, because it's an amazing book)

Staffers -
Come be my friend. I want to know all of you.

xo, your friendly neighborhood fiction editor,
Danielle

cherry series round 1: NADINE MEYER / STEVE GEHRKE

2007-10-08T23:47:00.000-05:00

When: Monday, October 8th, 2007. That's right. You missed it.
Where: Brazos Bookstore on Bissonnet
What: Reading by two superb poets

My worthless opinion:

This is first reading I've been to since last semester. I had forgotten how much I miss readings. I love hearing people oo and ah softly when a pretty line is delivered.

It was a nice pairing of readers (not only because they are married). To make some very elementary comparisons, both of them wrote about the body, about poets, about death, about art and artists, about themselves, and about historical figures and events. I would say they embody the idea of the poet as art critic, historian, and lyricist.

Nadine Meyer went first and read from The Anatomy Theater, a fascinating collection that primarily revolves around images from anatomy lab. I found many of the images gorgeous and revolting at the same time. I especially liked the pieces she read that combined agricultural and physiological metaphors. Some really moving lines, especially in the last piece she read. I have vague (and only vague because of my bum brain) memories about "hand of memory" and "vial of melancholy."

Steve Gehrke had a great "stage presence," a humorous modesty. He shared some of his new projects with us; and no, Steve, I did not know that Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression, or that Eugene O'Neil ripped up his house with a machete! I admired how personal some of his poetry could be. I especially like the charged, clipped rhythm of the first piece (the one about Eugene O'Neil) and the second-to-last piece (excerpt from "Empty Chair"). I wish I could quote you some lines, but alas I was too poor to purchase the books. Or I'm a cheapskate.

At any rate, it was loads of fun, and I hope you all come to the next reading (November 7th), which will feature our very own Sasha West and Marsha Recknagel, two of the nicest women I have ever worked with, and, might I say, both excellent writers.

To the end,
annwang

Photograph "borrowed" from: http://middlewesterner.typepad.com/middlewesterner/2005/08/pardon_the_prou.html

Welcome to The Rice Review

2007-10-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

Hello, this is "annwang," this year's "editor-in-chief." I am currently also the "webmaster" "ex tempore." I am taking a class called "Introduction to Web Design," and my semester project will be to "revamp" the current R2 website (http://r2mag.rice.edu). Currently, r2mag.rice.edu is de-funked, yet we keep putting the url on all of our publicity materials, as some sort of cruel joke, I suppose.

I had already planned to build a blog into the new website so that R2 staff could communicate their thoughts on readings, announce events, discuss what they're reading, etc. The blog will also be public in order to destroy the myth of elitism that seems to surround R2. I thought we might go ahead and start the blog while everyone waits for the new R2 site with their panties in a bundle.

Oh, in case you didn't know, R2 is Rice's undergraduate literary magazine. It is run by students who love to write, love to read good writing, love to share good writing, and love to talk about writing and reading. We publish good writing by other people who love to do all the things we just listed, and then we try to suck these writers into our staff. It's really a very vicious cycle. Some staffers have of course mustered enough resolve to eject themselves from this cycle, and have gone on to graduate school to do some even better writing.

Another thing I love about this magazine is that we publicize readings by renowned authors, both from Rice and beyond the hedges. The past two years, our lucky staffers have also gotten to interview some really big-shot people like Jennifer Egan and Thomas Sayers Ellis. We also get to interact with famous writer-folk through the Campbell Series (this year featuring Alex Ohlin!) and the Cherry Series (Steve Almond coming in February!...I think I will ask him to sign my bra), both of which we publicize and promote. Stay tuned for a complete schedule of readings.

If you're interested in joining our staff, it's not too late. E-mail annwang@rice.edu with inquiries. This is my fourth year on staff, and I have no regrets. Well. Those are strong words. Let's just say I have very few.

If you'd like to win 100 smackaroons, please submit a cover art entry to r2mag@rice.edu. E-mail annwang@rice.edu. Deadline: October 27th.

If you'd like to test the literary waters and have a good time with Rice's (and UH's and St. Thomas's) writerly folk, come to our Open Mic Night on November 14. This is not that sort of thing where everyone wears berets, smokes stuff, and snaps to invisible music. Unless you want it to be like that (we are full service, and we can so make that happen. maybe except for the smoking stuff). E-mail annwang@rice.edu with inquiries.

If you'd like to make even bigger BANK (we're talking big $$$ here), submit your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction to the English Department by December 3rd. E-mail annwang@rice.edu with inquiries.

Well, that's all for post no.1. I will post again in approximately 5 minutes about the first Cherry Series reading.

Let's hope this is the start of something beautiful?

To the end,
annwang