Fourteen Hills: The SF State University Review

Exciting changes are taking place here at Fourteen Hills

2011-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Right now, we're integrating our blog with our website. To keep up with our latest news and updates, move with us to our new, spiffy home.

Have you noticed? Fourteen Hills is looking real high-tech these days! We're leaping into the digital age by preparing to accept submissions online. That's right, we're getting closer to becoming a smoother-running, green, paperless machine.

In the meantime, we're all hard at work on the next issue, 17.2, scheduled to be released later this spring, so thanks for your submissions, and keep them coming!

To our loyal subscribers, expect to receive your copy of the magazine soon (and for those of you who'd like to become a subscriber, click here). As you can see, we're busy getting copies of the latest issue ready to send.

Keep your eyes peeled for all the updates on the horizon and thanks for your continued support!

Notes From The 17.1 Release Party; Buy The New Issue; Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

In the style of Fourteen Hills contributor Noah Gershman’s Brunch -- in which his poem details a grocery list of very interesting characters who accompany him during a meal -- let’s recap what the Dec. 16 release party entailed:

Friends, family, wine, delectables, cocktail dresses, professors, more wine, poets, editors, sock monsters, coffee (at a bar), undergrads, graduates, alumni, multi-talented baristas, engaging conversation, birthday wishes, laughter, new friends, lounging, snapshots, literary paparazzi, slick ties, undivided attention, authors, comedy, discovery, diversity, raffle tickets, raffle prizes, pie, and Brian Boitano (sort of).

If you were there, you felt it and heard it. If you weren't, please check out Litseen's full coverage of the event, including video of our fabulous readers Adam Johnson, Maxine Chernoff, Molly Prentiss, Stephen Elliott, Myron Michael, Jason Bayani, Noah Gershman, and Kasper Hauser.

If you weren't able to pick up a copy of our enthralling new issue, you can order one from Small Press Distribution right now. It will make its way into bookstores across the country in February. If you want to stay on top of future Fourteen Hills events (since you missed a helluva great reading), it only takes a minute to join our mailing list.

Until next time, happy holidays!

-Chani Mooring, Fourteen Hills staff

Why Is Everyone Talking About Brian Boitano? (Maybe Because He's Part Of Our New Issue, Available For The First Time Tonight)

2010-12-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Our favorite skater, Brian Boitano

Brian Boitano is an American figure skater, cook, and overall nice guy. He is the 1988 Olympic Champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985-1988 US National Champion Figure Skater. More recently, Mr. Boitano has been inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Off the ice, Mr. Boitano is a culinary mastermind – wielding a saucepan and spatula with the same excitement, charm, and skill we have all come to love. Mr. Boitano even hosts a cooking show on the Food Network called What Would Brian Boitano Make? (Sundays at 1pm).

By now, you are probably wondering why a literary magazine, staffed by creative writing graduate students at San Francisco State University, would blog about Brian Boitano. After all, the two have nothing to do with one another; Fourteen Hills is an internationally renowned literary magazine and Brian Boitano is an Olympic champion. Nary the two should meet, let alone be spoken of in the same breath.

Pick yours up tonight!

Unless, of course, there’s a story involved.

The newest issue of Fourteen Hills includes Michael Reid Busk’s story The Eighties, A Brief Primer. This short story is a fictional romp through the decade, made all the better with just one sentence: “In 1989, Brian Boitano was elected President of the Eighties.” With that, we are tossed into a parallel universe where Mr. Boitano saves America from disgruntled postmen propaganda, promotes healthy life-style choices, and brings out the figure skater in us all.

But that’s not all. Oh no. Not by a long shot (or a perfectly executed triple axel).

Enter to win this book!

Mr. Boitano has graciously donated an autographed copy of his book, Boitano's Edge: Inside The Real World Of Figure Skating, to the list of raffle prizes available at tonight's release party (join us at Coffee Bar at 7pm for your chance to win).

Mr. Boitano’s generosity doesn't end there. He has taken time out of his busy schedule to send us a video greeting. Behold:

So, please join us TONIGHT for all the fun and excitement that only the combination of Brian Boitano and a new release of Fourteen Hills can bring.

Long live the President of the Eighties!

-Rose Booker, staff member, Fourteen Hills

Shakespeare, Tattoos, And Finely Cured Meats: Win These Raffle Prizes At Our Release Party On 12/16

2010-12-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

When Fourteen Hills releases issue 17.1, our goal is to get the whole community involved. Our party will not only have amazing readers, it will also feature a long list of fantastic raffle prizes from Bay Area stores. You could win movie and theater tickets, books, burritos, tattoo art, brow waxing, and a night out at the club. Pretty swell, for the low, low price of $2/ticket.

Here is a list of some of the raffle prizes that could be yours at Coffee Bar on Thursday, Dec. 16. All proceeds help support our non-profit journal. Huge thanks and gratitude to these fine businesses (and patrons like you) that keep independent literature alive.

Entertainment & Movies

Yours, for the price of a raffle ticket.

Two Tickets to California Shakespeare Theater
Two free tickets for one performance of the California Shakespeare Theater's 2011 Season which starts May 3, 2011 and includes: Titus Andronicus, The Verona Project, Candida, and The Taming of the Shrew. Cal Shakes' home, the magnificent Bruns Amphitheater, is one of the most beautiful and unique settings imaginable to experience live theater. This is an amazing opportunity to experience live theater the way it should be.

$25 giftcard to Regal Cinemas
This prize is good for two. Take that certain someone to enjoy a classic night out at the movie theater. Regal Cinemas is the largest movie theater company in the world and its theaters can be found here in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco at the Stonestown mall. Visit the theater to check out the latest arthouse flick du jour including film festival darlings from Danny Boyle, Daniel Afredson, Sofia Coppola, and the like. Stonestown Twin Theater is located at 501 Buckingham Way, San Francisco CA 94132. Enjoy your movie.

Eats & Drinks & Sweets

$40 Gift Certificate to 222 Hyde
This prize will get two through the door to enjoy complimentary drinks. Located in the Tenderloin, 222 Hyde has a clean yet bass-booming sound system—they recently won best sound system in the SF Weekly's “Best of San Francisco 2010” poll—perfectly suited to the club's always-exciting rotation of local, national, and international DJs. Full bar and amazing made-to-order thin-crust pizzas on the main floor, DJ dancing in the basement. Located at 222 Hyde Street at Turk. Easy to get to from Civic Center. (415) 345-8222.

Want to eat here? Buy a raffle ticket.

$30 Gift Certificate to Nopalito Mexican Cuisine
Nopalito is a gourmet Mexican restaurant that celebrates the traditional cookery of Mexico while utilizing local organic and sustainable ingredients. This charming little restaurant is located at 306 Broderick Street (between Oak & Fell) in San Francisco, 415-437-0303.

$25 Gift Certificate to The Monks Kettle
Enjoy great food and well-crafted beer -- over 250 beers to choose from -- at this Mission district hotspot. The Monk's Kettle serves a rare vintage of beers that have been aging in their climate-controlled cellar. Located at 3141 16th Street, San Francisco, 415-865-9523.

$25 Gift Certificate to Avedanos Holly Park Market
This small butcher shop & deli serves delicious meats along with produce and specialty gourmet items that are organic and handpicked just for you. Visit Avedano's Holly Park Market at 235 Cortland Street, San Francisco.

$20 Gift Certificate to Hudson Bay Café
Great neighborhood just down from the California College of the Arts in Oakland: good place to work with WiFi, food, wine, or good, strong coffee. Atmosphere is effervescent with a variety of ages. Sidewalk tables in sunny or shady sections, and good street viewing from inside. Hudson Bay Café is located at 5401 College Avenue in Oakland, 510-658-0214.

$18 Gift Certificate to Mission Pie
We all love pie and this lil’ corner café, bakery, and gathering spot is located in the Mission District of San Francisco, nestled between busy streets and vibrant communities. Mission Pie has an atmosphere for writers to gather. Because they only use produce from local farms, their menu changes seasonally and offers exceptional baked goods along with fair trade tea and coffee. Located at 2901 Mission Street (25th & Mission), 415-282-4PIE

Gifts for your body

$200 or Two Hour Session at Body Bazarre Tattoo
One of Northern California’s premiere tattoo artists, Chris Evans, is awaiting one lucky individual to have either a two hour session or $200 dollar piece of artwork permanently placed on their body. Chris is a talented artist that is willing to create what you can only imagine. Body Bazarre is located at 5847 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento Ca. 916-705-8903

The Brow Lounge

$30 Gift Certificate to The Brow Lounge
A variety of eye enhancements and facial waxings that have you looking good! Not only do the technicians do good work, they are enthusiastic supporters of the arts, and some are artists themselves! The Brow Lounge is located 5916 College Ave. Oakland, Ca. (north of the Rockridge BART Station)

Outlets for the imagination

$50 Prize Pack of Three Omnibucket Books
You will receive The Book of CLAV, Eleventy Billion Miles Away, and God's Acre: The Ravens & the Rhyme. They're not art books. They're not coffee table books. They're not a comic books or even graphic novels. They're not a children's books, that's for sure. They're not popup books, and they certainly aren't just plain old books. They're a different kind of book. Omnibucket books.

$25 Gift certificate to Dog Eared Books
Reflective of the Mission district itself, Dog Eared Books is the largest and most eclectic of their three stores — you'll find anarchist magazines next to Vanity Fair, Nina Simone cds next to Joy Division and Michelle Tea poetry next to Chaucer. Located at 900 Valencia Street in San Francisco.

One of these could be yours.

$20 Gift Certificate to Amoeba
Amoeba Music is the “world’s largest independent record store” for new and used CD’s & DVD. They also have posters, T-shirts, and just about everything. They are located at 1855 Haight Street in San Francisco & 2455 Telegraph in Berkeley.

There are many, many more raffle prizes to be given away, so don’t miss out.

We look forward to seeing you this Thursday night at 7 pm to celebrate the San Francisco literary community with food, drinks, and great entertainment.

If you have yet to purchase a raffle ticket, not to worry, you can purchase tickets at the door. A big thanks to all of our local contributors, writers, readers, and artists for helping Fourteen Hills and the rest of the independent literary community. (RSVP on Facebook.)

Looking forward to seeing you there.
-Jason Johnson, Fourteen Hills staff

Sketch Comedy Plus Filmmaker-Poetry: Two More Featured Readers At Our Party On 12/16

2010-12-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

The Fourteen Hills release party is only FOUR DAYS AWAY! Please join us at Coffee Bar this Thursday, Dec. 16, at 7 pm. Attendees will be treated with readings by hilarious comedy group Kasper Hauser and poet/filmmaker Noah Gershman. (If you missed our countdown of other featured readers, you can get up to speed here and here.)

Kasper Hauser is a San Francisco-based comedy quadruplet consisting of Dan Klein, James Reichmuth, John Reichmuth, and Rob Baedeker. They’ve been making quite a name for themselves, having written for Comedy Central and HBO, and now appearing within the pages of Fourteen Hills Issue 17.1. (Get a sneak preview of their act by listening to their podcasts.)

Their talent doesn’t stop at writing. The group boasts a hearty resume of live performances, having competed in and won various comedy contests around the bay, including the Universal Comedy Orgasm and Big Bang Holy Championship.

Noah Gershman may be best known for his talents behind the camera and in the director’s chair, but on Thursday he will share his poetry live and in person. Though he can be quite elusive on the Internet, his work can be found in many literary journals. To hear his work performed by a puppet (no, this is not a joke), click here.

So come on out to Coffee Bar. There will be tons of great, fabulous, random, exciting, and entertaining raffle prizes, as well as drinks, readings, laughing and all sorts of other tomfoolery.

-Phillip Van Sant, staff member, Fourteen Hills

North Korea, Hip-Hop, and Homeless Men: A Look at 3 More Readers Who Will Perform on 12/16

2010-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

It's December, and we all know what this month is about: going to mad parties, letting it all hang out, and then guiltily planning New Year's resolutions afterward. Fortunately, here at Fourteen Hills we will help you out with all of the above, minus the guilt. Come to our release party on Thursday, December 16, at Coffee Bar in the Mission to hear some guest readers so incredible, they will make you want to get to your writing desk/recording equipment/sketch pad immediately to lay down some serious inspirations for the new year. But you can't leave too soon, because we will be partying and getting literary like crazy.

If you want to feel inspired early (and maybe really jealous) check out some of the super talented contributors that will be reading at our release party:

ADAM JOHNSON is a self-described “maximalist;” he favors bold plots over subtle ones, and manages to always entertain. So if you ever find yourself bored with “the literature of the times,” do yourself a favor and pick up one of his publications. He has been a construction worker, a former Wallace Stegner Fellow, and the Senior Jones Lecturer in Creative Writing at Stanford University. Playboy magazine even named him “one of the nation's most influential and imaginative college professors.”

Winner of the Whiting Writers’ Award, the Gina Berriault Award, and an NEA Fellowship, he is the author of a short story collection Emporium (2002), and the novel Parasites Like Us (2003), which won the California Book Award. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, Harper’s, The Paris Review, Tin House, and Best American Short Stories.

The excerpt that appears in Fourteen Hills 17.1 is from his recently completed novel, tentatively titled The Orphan Master’s Son. Set in a modern North Korea, and partially narrated by a “propaganda loudspeaker,” The Orphan Master’s Son promises to be quirky, poignant, insightful, and tender all at the same time. If you are as intrigued as I am, you can read an excerpt.

MYRON MICHAEL's words hit hard. After reading his piece in the Harvard Review Online, I found myself momentarily unable to process any thoughts beyond “whoa.” His work is gritty, honest, and eye-opening. He is a Cave Canem Fellowship recipient, and his works appear online and in The Harvard Review, Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds (City Lights, 2009), Tea Party, and Nanomajority.

In addition to being a writer (his chapbook Scatter Plot is forthcoming), Michael is also a recording artist and a writing teacher. He is the proprietor of Rondeau Records, which produces “Poetry for Hip-Hop, literature, and music of the highest quality.” Under the name Money The Mystro, he records his own songs which you can check out on Myspace and on his website. He also has a blog with more insightful words, and even pictures of spiders.

MOLLY PRENTISS is full of charm and wit. She doesn't believe the idealized “cabin of solitude” that many writers desire would really work out so well, because, as she says, “we don’t want to be even lonelier than we already are!” She recently received her MFA in Creative Writing at the California College of the Arts and is now a resident writer at Workspace with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She is also a co-director of an arts and writing collective called factorycompany.

She has been published in La Petit Zine, Miracle Monacle, Plaid Review, The City Reader, and elsewhere. Her story appearing in Fourteen Hills 17.1 is about, as she says, “a homeless guy who hums into a jar and sleeps with other people's girlfriends.” It is even more amazing than it sounds. Check out her blog to see more of her writing, her illustrations, and her really adorable handwriting.

-Stephanie Doeing, staff member, Fourteen Hills

Introducing 3 Of 8 Fabulous Readers Ready to Enthrall You At Our Release Party on 12/16

2010-12-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

What follows are a few brief descriptions of writers who will be gracing us with their presence at one of this winter's finest literary events in San Francisco: the Fourteen Hills Release Party for Issue 17.1. It’s on Thursday, December 16, at Coffee Bar in the Mission. (You can RSVP right now on Facebook.) We will be profiling all of our special guest readers, and when you come to the party, you'll be able to pick up a copy and read their work for yourself.

READER #1: Jason Bayani is someone to hear and see. When performance and writing mix, the terms "spoken word" and "slam poetry" often get thrown around, and names like Jason Bayani appear floating on the roster. Bayani is a Filipino from our side of town -- a San Francisco State University graduate. He later received his MFA at St. Mary's College in Moraga. His accolades include published pieces of poetry in the 2005 National Poetry Slam Anthology, membership to seven National Poetry Slam teams, an appointment as the 2010 IWPS representative for Oakland, and the 100th episode winner of Literary Death Match.

He is also among a group of three Asian American poets known as Proletariat Bronze who have risen from the Bay Area and gained national recognition. As much as poetry is part of their method and medium, they also see public enrichment as an intrinsic facet of their lot as poets in society. They are self-described "working-class romantics."

READER #2: Maxine Chernoff is a name that does not wait on a shelf. At Fourteen Hills, we know her as the director of the Creative Writing Program at San Francisco State University, but we also know her as an expansive writer whose merits have allowed her to travel the world over. She has produced a long list of novels, short stories, and poems over the course of two decades.

These include her novel, American Heaven and a book of short stories, Some of Her Friends That Year, which were both finalists for the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. In fact, you can see a long list of the awards she has received here. Along with her husband, poet Paul Hoover, she is the editor for a long-standing literary journal, New American Writing.

Her writing and work is often in conversation with other writers and places, using it to investigate and grow through the exploration of engaging material. In a recent interview she stated, "We are living in perilous times, and I hope that my writing is exploring and addressing some of these perils."

READER #3: Stephen Elliott has been there and done that. He's lived to tell. He's known for sex, drugs, and metaphors.

You might also know him from The Rumpus (he's the editor) or you might know him for his books which include his acclaimed memoir, The Adderall Diaries and novel, Happy Baby. Much of his thematic content revolves around the process and shape his own life has taken. He unabashedly coats his life under a thick fictive varnish. In his essay, Why I Write, he describes the way he entered into writing, "My fiction was just reality-PLUS, a slightly more intense version of the world I lived in."

Elliott was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and he is now a member of the San Francisco Writer's Grotto. His work has been published in Esquire, the New York Times, GQ, Best American Non-Required Reading 2005 and 2007, Best American Erotica, and Best Sex Writing 2006.

Stay tuned for more details on our other featured readers (and more reasons to come out and celebrate with us on December 16 at Coffee Bar).
-Erica Eller, staff member, Fourteen Hills

"Everything Faces All Ways At Once" Release Party Recap, Now With Video!

2010-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

Since Zulema Renee Summerfield has such a long-winded name, I'm going to refer to her as ZRS for the remainder of this blog-post. And if the remainder of this blog-post feels like a recurring set of acronym-plugs, trust your powers of observation because you aren't imagining it (how shameless of me). Oh, and since I haven't mentioned it yet, WE ALL HAD AN AWESOME NIGHT LAST THURSDAY at Space Gallery. Thank you to everyone who came to see ZRS read from her debut collection Everything Faces All Ways At Once (otherwise known as EFAWAO) published by Fourteen Hills Press. (If you missed out, copies are available at Small Press Distribution. If you want to read coverage of the event in Golden Gate [X]Press, check it out here.)

The book is amazing. For those of us who went to the book release before seeing its contents, we were blown away. Buy one today. Yoko Ono herself added visual cleavage to the event space (her sexy posters hung on the walls everywhere). It also made for a funny, anecdotal conversation-topic throughout the evening.

For example, ZRS has a section on her website that says, "Yoko Ono called." When Zulema rose to the mic, she explained that this is an ongoing fiction of hers. Within her hopeful logic, she feels that by saying it, it will happen. So in order to somehow make this phone-call manifest and get an endorsement to happen, you can send Yoko's fan-club a message. Let them know that ZRS, a unique and noteworthy author, would like to connect and to make Ono's acquaintance.

The warm-up readers included none other than DWL (D.W. Lichtenberg) and PO (Peter Orner). How did Zulema get these famous authors to come and join her, and why? DWL was last year's Michael Rubin Book Award Winner for his book of poetry, The Ancient Book of Hip. PO has been not only a creative writing mentor of ZRS's at San Francisco State University, he was written in, as a character-of-sorts to several of the "dreams" in ZRS's book, EFAWAO. He is also the author of Esther Stories and The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo.

Here are video excerpts of their warm-up readings:

ZRS's book, EFAWAO is filled with Fictions and Dreams (F&Ds). This might make you inquire, what isn't made of these things? Well, for example, a sandwich is not only made of F&Ds, it is also made of two similar outer parts containing an inner part. This book keeps to the realm of F&Ds. One of her stories included a visual cue to incorporate a pun that appeared in the text: "Impaired" vs. "Im-PEAR-ed." This particular "fiction" involved a pear-truck driver.

Because I know I'm leaving a lot to the imagination, I've included a few video excerpts to help you see how exceptional the work really is:

ZRS had many of her friends and family members in the audience, including people who have greatly missed her presence in the community of San Francisco since she moved to Canada.

Among them were her best friend, who helped her with book-signings, and her father, the dignified man with the pipe in his mouth. In addition, each and every member of the 14 Hills staff attended, as well as former staff members. In fact, a whole slice of the Bay Area literary community came to celebrate. Space Gallery catered to the crowd with a lovely selection of beer, wine, and cocktails.

Next on our calendar is the release party for Fourteen Hills Vol. 17, Issue 1. Save the date of December 16, and join us at Coffee Bar at 7 pm. There will be comedy. There will be drinks and readings. There may even be Brian Boitano. You won’t want to miss it.

-Erica Eller, Fourteen Hills staff

Space Gallery + Book Release + Two Fabulous Readers + Yoko Ono (?)

2010-11-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

It’s November 4, and Fourteen Hills is throwing a righteous party. The celebration is in honor of Zulema Renee Summerfield’s new book Everything Faces All Ways at Once. Every year, one promising writer from San Francisco State University is chosen for the Michael Rubin First Book Award, published by Fourteen Hills Press. This year the honor goes to a collection that resists all labels other than "awesome."

If you happen to be on the fence about coming to the Space Gallery tonight (for any inadequate excuses like the onset of winter encouraging your already hermit-like, antisocial tendencies) there are an overwhelming number of reasons you should motivate.

First of all, you get a copy of a remarkable book and get to support an emerging writer’s success, which is win/win. Zulema describes her award-winning work as “a collection of flash fiction and dreams.”

"One minute they're sporting monocles...and the next they're drunk and rowdy and throwing patio furniture off the roof...but in this and all things, they seek the nature of truth" quotes contest judge Terese Svoboda. Everything Faces All Ways at Once is an utterly fresh, unpredictable tour de force.

There is also much speculation about the involvement of Yoko Ono. Conspiracy theories revolve around Yoko’s interest in blurbing the book and other matters of manifestation that you will only find answers to at the release party. For background on the unique relationship between writer and artist, check out Zulema’s website to learn about her quest to get in contact with Yoko.

Then there’s the venue, the Space Gallery. If you have been, you need no further explanation. If not, do not miss this opportunity to check out a landmark of San Francisco culture. There is plenty of room, a bar downstairs, and the perfect space to host literary events and parties. Last year we held the release party here for D.W. Lichtenberg’s debut collection The Ancient Book of Hip. Needless to say, everyone had a great time, and copies of Lichtenberg’s sold-out collection are now a much coveted, hard-to-come-by commodity.

Last, and certainly not least, the aforementioned D.W. Lichtenberg (2009 Michael Rubin Book Award winner) will be making a guest appearance at tonight’s event. D.W., or Dan as we know him, is the current managing editor of La Petite Zine and is “excited to pass the torch to Zulema.”

Interesting, fun, and good-looking people, exploring the power of positive thinking, will gather tonight at the Space Gallery. Who knows, maybe even Yoko will drop by.

Space Gallery. 1141 Polk St. 7pm. Join us. RSVP on Facebook.

-Kelly McNerney, Fourteen Hills staff

10 Questions for Zulema Renee Summerfield, the 2010 Michael Rubin Book Award Winner

2010-11-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Although she recently moved to Vancouver, author Zulema Renee Summerfield will be back in San Francisco this Thursday Nov. 4 to celebrate the release of her debut collection, Everything Faces All Ways at Once. Join us at 7 pm at the Space Gallery on Polk Street to pick up a copy of her book and hear selections from this new work from Fourteen Hills Press.

To prepare for the big event, we asked Zulema a few questions about her past, her dreams, and the realities of being a Canadian. Enjoy.

1. How did you get your fantastic name?

Ninth-grade Spanish class, baby! The teacher was handing out Spanish names and I said "What do you have that starts with a 'Z'?" I used it as a nickname for a long time and after a while it just kind of stuck. I actually prefer it over my legal name now.

2. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in good ol' Redlands, California. A nice little town. My parents split up when I was young, and I quickly gained a whole slew of new family members -- step-folk and siblings. I wrote my first story when I was fourteen, about a girl who lives on a planet with no rain. Her only recourse in this dry land is to listen to her rainstick. Pretty lame. I think I stole the idea from Ray Bradbury. So thank you, Ray Bradbury. Thank you.

3. Tell us about your manuscript, the 2010 Michael Rubin Book Award winner.

Everything Faces All Ways at Once: Fictions and Dreams came in fits and starts over the past two or three years. I took a flash fiction course with Barbara Tomash as an undergrad at SF State and it changed my life. (If it's being offered and you can take it, do so! I promise you will love it.) The fiction pieces span back to the start of my graduate career and range in tone and theme.

In terms of the dreams, a few years back I read a story by Roberto Bolano in the New Yorker. It was the first time I had read a dream sequence that was written as a dream -- the syntax and tone and shifts in narrative precisely matched the experience of dreaming, and I wanted to try that. So many dream stories read as flat and boring. I wanted to try to write my dreams as I had dreamt them. I hope I succeeded. Now that my book is being published, I feel honored, humbled, and completely stoked out of my mind. It's a lovely feeling.

4. What’s the difference between fictions and dreams?

The difference is everything, and nothing at all.

5. If you had to describe your book in four words, what would those words be and why?

"Yoko Ono blurbed it!" I'm trying to get Yoko Ono to call and offer to blurb my book. (Read more about it here.)

6. Tell me about Rene Magritte and your relationship to him.

Rene Magritte and I went to prom together. He tried to get in my pants.

That's a total lie.

I've always been fascinated, intrigued, and completely floored by Magritte's work. Those paintings where the figure is facing away from the viewer? Freakin' brilliant. His "Perspective" coffin paintings are hilarious and poignant. I love stuff like that -- art that is clever in a not-irritating way, stuff that makes you laugh and think. (I'm looking at you here, Yoko.)

Here's a true story: Years ago, I had a dream that I was at an outdoor wedding party. There was a pond in the yard, and in the pond were a group of birds made entirely of leaves. Live birds, made of leaves. At the time, I'd never seen Magritte's The Natural Graces, but a few weeks later I went to a showing of his work at the SF MOMA, and guess what was hanging on the wall? Cheesey as it is to say, there's been a connection for me to his work for a long time, a connection I can't always explain. And I would have gone to prom with him, if only he'd asked.

7. Did you have any of the dreams you write about? Was it scary? (I’m thinking of “Rattlesnakes!” here.) What is your favorite dream and why?

All of the dreams are real dreams I had. Most of them were narratives; some (like "dream of when we were the same") were sentences that I dreamt. The rattlesnakes dream was scary (thank you for asking) while I was dreaming it -- but then, as often happens, you wake up and you realize that scary equals hilarious, so the goal was to try to get that down.

My favorite one is "dream of change we can believe in." I'm going to send a copy to Barack Obama and hope he writes back. That kid in the dream, Ricky Ramos, he's a real guy, my first "true love" -- I dream about him all the time. I'm still trying to figure out a way to write to him without sounding creepy: "Hey, remember me? I dream about you all the time." Of course, it's not really him, just the idea of him. He's just a metaphor for something else floating around in my head. Poor guy...

8. What are you working on now?

I'm writing a YA novel about grief (fun for all ages!), and also working on revising/editing a whole slew of short fiction and creative non-fiction pieces. I'm also trying to get Yoko Ono to call. Did I say that? I want Yoko Ono to call.

9. Do you feel like a Canadian yet? When will you know you’re a real Canadian?

When I'm nicer and own hockey equipment.

10. Imagine: Yoko Ono is calling you right now, but you’re on the other line and can’t answer her call. How does it feel?

There's no way in hell I would not answer Yoko Ono's call. This question is ridiculous.

11. Bonus question! Terese Svoboda says your work "has a point and it's fixed like this in space, but also it's shifting … to pierce right through your skeptical, unbelieving, tender human heart." How did you achieve this feat? As fellow writers and fans, any tips or hints you can give would be much appreciated.

Gosh, tips? Write, write, write, write, write, and then write some more. Read anything and everything. Read it slow. Read it again. Also, if you're a student at SF State, take full advantage of your time there. The halls are swarming with inspired, brilliant, incredibly talented people. They will change your life if you let them.

Thanks, Zulema. We’re counting down the hours until Thursday.
-Leanne Milway, managing editor, Fourteen Hills

A Look at Terese Svoboda, the 2010 Michael Rubin Book Award Judge

2010-10-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Terese Svoboda, this year’s judge of the Michael Rubin Book Award, is the author of several award-winning literary feats including (but not limited to) Pirate Talk or Mermalade, Laughing Africa, Cannibal, and Black Glasses like Clark Kent.

Laughing Africa won the Iowa Poetry Prize and was featured in the New York Times Book Review. Cannibal won the Bobst Prize and the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writer’s Award. It was also one of the top 10 books of the year by Spin magazine. Black Glasses like Clark Kent won the Graywold Nonfiction Prize.

Svoboda’s works have appeared in the The New Yorker, Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Slate.com, Bomb, Lit, Columbia, Yale Review and The Paris Review.

She is the eldest of nine children, born in a small town to a family of farmers. Before receiving her MFA from Columbia, Svoboda filmed dance in the Cook Islands and traveled to Sudan, living with the Nuer people. Her experience there has colored much of her more recent works, such as Cannibal. Read more about her life on her website.

As a writer, Svoboda holds three things in high regards: the power of sound, truth, and connections. During an interview with Shya Scanlon on HTMLGiant, she spoke at length about her belief that the meaning of words is intricately tied to their sound. Through compression she brings this out, writing mostly in five-page sections, something she shares in common with this year's winner of the Michael Rubin Book Award.

As for the truth, Svoboda believes “the author has a responsibility to write toward understanding. We have enough confusion in life, why increase it? Confusion is not the same as complexity. Exposing the truth hidden under all the layers of complexity is a very good goal.”

To get the limited-edition book Svoboda says "takes fiction apart with the hammer of poetry, forcing her astonished readers to 'defy all expectation...'", join us at the Space Gallery on Thursday Nov. 4 to celebrate the release of Everything Faces All Ways at Once by Zulema Renee Summerfield. It will be epic.

-Rose Booker, staff member, Fourteen Hills

2010 Michael Rubin Book Award Winner: “Everything Faces All Ways at Once” by Zulema Renee Summerfield

2010-10-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Everything Faces All Ways at Once by Zulema Renee Summerfield takes fiction apart with the hammer of poetry, forcing her astonished readers to "defy all expectation," as she suggests in the title story. "One minute they're sporting monocles…and the next they're drunk and rowdy and throwing patio furniture off the roof…but in this and all things, they seek the nature of truth." Summerfield "has a point and it's fixed like this ...in space, but also it's shifting…to pierce right through your skeptical, unbelieving, tender human heart." These shifts are seismic, always revelatory, and truly amazing.
–contest judge and acclaimed writer, Terese Svoboda

Join us on Nov. 4, 2010, as we celebrate the release of Summerfield’s "revelatory" debut novel. You won’t want to miss seeing this up-and-coming author at the beginning of her career. Stay tuned for our interview with her, as well as more details on the sure-to-be-rocking release party.

Everything Faces All Ways at Once Release Party

Thursday, November 4, 2010

7pm

Space Gallery

1141 Polk Street

San Francisco, CA

(415) 377-3325

$12 donation (includes a copy of the book)

Zulema Renee Summerfield is originally from Redlands, CA. Her writing has appeared in Transfer Magazine, Sand Canyon Review, Chaffey Review, We Still Like, and 580 Split. She won the 2008 Clark/Gross Novel-in-Progress Contest as well as honorable mention in the 2009 Zoetrope Allstory Fiction Contest (judged by Yiyun Li). She received her MFA from San Francisco State University, and now lives "all over the place" with her husband, The Incredible Hulk, and their two cats.

Each year, Fourteen Hills Press publishes the winner of The Michael Rubin Book Award. Alternating years between poetry and fiction, manuscripts are gathered in an open competition and read by an independent judge. The winner must be a student enrolled at San Francisco State University whose work shows exceptional accomplishment and promise. The 2010 Michael Rubin Book was selected by writer Terese Svoboda.

With Lit Crawl Done, We Look To The Future

2010-10-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

A few days have passed, but we're still excited by how much fun we had at Lit Crawl on Oct 9. The readers were fabulous, the streets were overflowing with lit-lovers, and Fourteen Hills and Eleven Eleven had a great time at Muddy's Coffee House during Phase III of the event.

Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey (Vol 16.2) regaled us with pieces from her new collection, She Returns to the Floating World, due next year. She had several copies of her most recent book, Becoming the Villainess, on hand and generously signed copies. We also saw her cutting a rug at the Lit Crawl after-party at the Blue Macaw.

Lauren Hamlin

Lauren Hamlin (Vol 16.2) read from her entry to a McSweeney's columnist search, and was the only reader of the night who jumped on the impromptu stage at the front of the shop. She's also a finalist for the Headlands Center for the Arts residency.

Our next event will be at 7pm on Nov. 4 at the Space Gallery (1141 Polk Street, San Francisco). Join us as we celebrate the release of Everything Faces All Ways at Once, the 2010 Michael Rubin Book Award winner, by Zulema Renee Summerfield. Stay tuned, we have tons of details about the author, the book, and the party, still to come.

The crowd at Muddy's

In the spirit of updating you on all things Fourteen Hills, we should mention that we published Paloma in Fall 2009, and it was mentioned in the recent New York Times Sunday Book Review. Yes! Read Patricia Engel's "arresting" debut collection Vida or pick up Vol 16.1 to read it where it first appeared.

If you have any news or events about recent or forthcoming Fourteen Hills' contributors, please let us know.

Fourteen Hills Contributors Take To The Stage(s) At Litquake 2010

2010-10-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hello fans of Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review. We already know you’re planning on joining us for Lit Crawl Phase III on October 9 at 8:30pm. But did you realize how many authors previously published in Fourteen Hills are also appearing at Litquake 2010?

Here's a rundown, with dates, time, and place. You can also order back issues featuring these amazing writers on 14hills.net.

October 2, 2010

Juan Felipe Herrera, (Fourteen Hills Vol 2.2) and Michelle Tea (Vol 11.1) appear at Litquake’s Barbary Coast Awards 2010.

October 3, 2010

Kim Addonizino (Vol 10.1) reads at the The CLA All Stars: 25 Years of San Jose’s Center for the Literary Arts; California Historical Society, 678 Mission St.

October 4, 2010

Shanthi Sekaran (Vol 16.2) appears at Authors Reveal All & How to Navigate the New World of Publishing; Foundation Center, 312 Sutter Street, 2nd Floor.

Dodie Bellamy (Vol 4.1) appears at Original Shorts: Bottoms Up, 7pm. Heart Wine Bar, 1270 Valencia St.

October 5, 2010

Darren J. de Leon (Vol 3.1) performs at Feast of Words: A Storytelling Potluck; 7pm at SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St.

SFSU Creative Writing faculty member, Peter Orner (Vol 10.1 and New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills) reads at McSweeney’s Fall Harvest.

Tao Lin (Vol 12.2) is at The RADAR Reading Series: Litquake Edition! 6pm. San Francisco Public Library’s Latino Reading Room, Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street.

October 6, 2010

Stephen Elliot (Vol 10.1 and New Standards) will be at Bawdy Storytelling; The Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission Street, Admission $10.

October 7, 2010

Yiyun Li (Vol 16.1) will be at Stories on Stage; Berkeley Repertory Theater, Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley, 7:30 pm. $25 at the door.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Lit Crawl Phase I
6 to 7pm

Peter Orner (Vol 10.1) appears at Babylon Salon Reading at Mina Dresden Gallery, 312 Valencia St.

Alice LaPlante (Vol 16.2) appears at Where There Are Words Presents Artzone 461 Gallery, 461 Valencia St.

Karen Carissimo (Vol 13.1) will appear at ZYZZYVA presents LitQuiz; Elixir, 3200 16th St.

Kelly Luce (Vol 12.1) appears at San Pablo Arts District Presents Lip Service West: True Stories; Casanova Lounge, 527 Valencia St.

Lit Crawl Phase II
7:15 to 8:15pm

Amy Glasenapp, who served as fiction editor and interviewed Yiyun Li (Vol 16.1) is at Anger Management & Revenge Reading Series; Elbo Room Downstairs, 647 Valencia St.

Yiyun Li (Vol 16.1 contributor and a 2010 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award winner) appears at The Threepenny Review Presents: Six Stellar Writers Reading an Entertaining Mix of Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry; Bruno’s, 2389 Mission St.

Rebecca Foust (Vol 14.2) is at Warren Wilson MFA Presents at Bianca Starr, 3552 20th St.

Glori Simmons (Vol 10.2) appears at Airing Our Dirty Laundry: Ladies Night at the Laundromat Wash Quarters, 985 Valencia St.

D.W. Lichtenberg’s The Ancient Book of Hip was published by Fourteen Hills Press. The collection, an imprint of San Francisco State University's creative writing department, received the 2009 Michael Rubin Book Award. D.W. reads at Indie Press Revue, The Marsh Café, 1062 Valencia St.

Lit Crawl, Phase III
8:30 to 9:30 pm

THE place to be for Phase III! Don't miss Fourteen Hills Press and Eleven Eleven Present: Voices That Carry; Muddy’s Coffee House, 1304 Valencia St. Hear from Jeannine Hall Gailey (16.2), Lauren Hamlin (16.2), Zara Raab (16.2), Aurora Brackett (11.2), Catherine Meng (12.2), and Loren Rhoads.

Wow that’s a book bag overflowing with Fourteen Hills goodness. Please consider “liking” Fourteen Hills on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

Have a swell Litquake!

-Matthew DeCoster, Fourteen Hills staff

“Takin’ It To The Streets…” Join Fourteen Hills at Litquake's Lit Crawl on Saturday October 9

2010-09-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Starving, hysterical, naked, dragging yourself through the streets for an angry fix? Well then, fans of text on the page or off the tongue, take note: Munich may have its Oktoberfest, but that’s when San Francisco mixes suds with words to shake the streets and alleys during LitQuake.

D.W. Lichtenberg performs at LitCrawl 2009

Originally hatched as “Litstock” over beers at the Edinburgh Castle pub in 1999, the idea ballooned and in 2002 was redubbed “LitQuake.” Well past time for tour books and city guides to meet their civic obligation to warn overflow crowds to leave their socks at home, since they’ll just be knocked off anyway during the week of live readings between October 1st and 9th. Highlights include the “Dawn of the Read” opening-night poetry party, mid-day “Off the Richter Scale Readings,” a snack-time “Kidquake,” and a chance to raise a glass of wine at “Flight of Poets” (co-curated by our editor-in-chief Hollie Hardy) on Wednesday October 6 at the Hotel Rex (562 Sutter Street).

But the event not to miss is on Saturday, October 9, during LitCrawl, Litquake’s infamous final night. At 8:30 pm, “Voices That Carry” echoes off the walls at Muddy’s Coffee House (1304 Valencia Street at 24th Street), featuring readers from both Fourteen Hills and Eleven Eleven.

Join us to see these featured readers for Fourteen Hills:

Jeannine Hall Gailey is the author of Becoming the Villainess, which was published by Steel Toe Books in 2006. Some of those poems have been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac and on Verse Daily. Two were included in 2007’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. In 2007, Gailey received a Washington State Artist Trust GAP Grant and a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize.
Lauren Hamlin has published in Zero Ducats, Poets & Writers, and Fourteen Hills where she read for the release party of issue 16.2. Watch it here.
Zara Raab is the author of The Book of Gretel and the forthcoming Swimming the Eel. Her poems appear in West Branch, Nimrod, Spoon River, Fourteen Hills, and elsewhere.

And these featured readers for Eleven Eleven:

Aurora Brackett graduated with an MFA in fiction from San Francisco State University. Her stories and poems have been published in several literary journals and selected for awards, including the 2005 Wilner Award for the Short Story. She lives and teaches in Oakland.
Catherine Meng is the author of the poetry collection Tonight's the Night (Apostrophe Books) and three chapbooks, 15 Poems in Sets of 5 (Anchorite Press), Dokument (Perichord Press), and Lost Notebook w/ Letters to Deer (Dusie Kollectiv).
Loren Rhoads edited the cult nonfiction magazine Morbid Curiosity for ten years, and she has collected her cemetery travel essays in her book Wish You Were Here. Her short fiction has appeared in City Slab, Cemetery Dance, Not One of Us, the chapbooks Ashes & Rust and The Paramental Appreciation Society, and in the book Sins of the Sirens: Fourteen Tales of Dark Desire. Rhoads is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Association for Gravestone Studies.

Since its inception in 1994, Fourteen Hills has been staffed exclusively by graduate students in the creative writing program at San Francisco State University, who collaborate to select and publish award-winning mixes of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and cross-genre work by writers who have garnered such prestigious awards as the Pushcart Prize, the Flannery O’Connor Award, and been included in such anthologies as those put out by Best New Poets, 100 Distinguished Stories, Best American Gay Fiction, and O. Henry.

Eleven Eleven is the literature and art journal produced twice a year by the MFA Program in Writing and other members of the California College of the Arts community.

Our “Voices That Carry” may be eventually heard ’round the world, but why not hear them at their best—up close and personal at Muddy’s Coffee House?

RSVP on Facebook and we'll see you there. (Arrive early to grab a seat.)

-Don Menn
Fourteen Hills staff

Fourteen Hills: Buy It Now At An Amazing Bookstore Near You

2010-09-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

The Fourteen Hills staff is working hard on the Fall 2010 issue, so in the meantime, be sure to pick up your copy of Spring 2010 issue 16.2. Don't worry, there's no need to truck all the way out to the San Francisco State University Campus. We are lucky to have stores all around the Bay Area that carry Fourteen Hills (for only $9!). Below is a list of some of our favorite stores, so visit them today and pick up your copy of the latest issue.

Smoke Signals is an intimate but well-stocked newsstand that specializes in hard-to-find international magazines. They carry everything from literary journals to European football magazines, and the owner is extremely friendly and helpful. 2223 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, 94109
(415) 292-6025

Cover to Cover in Castro

Cover to Cover, an independent bookstore nestled in Noe Valley, makes you feel instantly welcomed. The staff is friendly, offers great suggestions, and will order anything you can’t find.
1307 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 282-8080
On Yelp

Though the USF Bookstore is targeted towards University of San Francisco students and faculty, anyone can go in and check out their wide selection of books and find out about numerous upcoming literary events.
2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 422-6493

The Booksmith on Haight Street

If you find yourself in the heart of the Haight, make sure to drop by the Booksmith. It is large and well-organized with tons of new and interesting releases. They go above and beyond books with a great selection of magazines, calendars, journals, and little gifts.
1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 863-8688
On Yelp

Dog Eared Books is a charming bookstore in the heart of the Mission. It has a great section dedicated to local authors and staff picks, and organizes literary events every month. Check out their website for more information on upcoming events in addition to interesting best-seller lists.
900 Valencia St
(between 20th St & Liberty St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-1901

“For those who are searching for the truth, Revolution Books is the place to come.” This bold claim will not leave you disappointed if you are looking for a radical bookstore with all types of literature about social revolution. Just two blocks from UC Berkeley, this volunteer-run organization hosts readings, political forums, and can clue you in on just about anything revolutionary under the sun.
2425 Channing Way Suite C
(between Dana St & Telegraph Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 848-1196
On Yelp

A Plethora of Literature in Santa Cruz

Capitola Book Cafe is the epicenter of Santa Cruz County's literature scene. The store is owned by a group of dedicated former employees whose passion for the store and for books is exemplified by the community they have created. They host several author readings a month and a local writing group too. In addition to a wonderful selection of books, they also have a cafe that serves food, coffee, beer, and wine.
1475 41st Ave, Ste G
Capitola, CA 95010
(831) 462-4415
On Yelp

You can also pick up a copy of Fourteen Hills at any of these wonderful bookstores in your neighborhood as well:

In San Francisco:

Adobe Books: 3166 16th Street
Alexander Book Co: 50 2nd Street (@Jessie)
Books and Bookshelves: 99 Sanchez Street (@ 14th)
Bound Together Books: 1369 Haight Street (@Masonic)
Christopher’s Books: 1400 18th Street
Farley’s: 1315 18th Street
Modern Times: 888 Valencia Street
SFSU Bookstore: 1600 Holloway Ave
West Portal Bookshop: 80 West Portal Ave
Books Inc: 2251 Chestnut Street (Marina Location)
Bibliohead Bookstore: 334 Gough (@Hayes)

So Many Bookstores to Choose From!

Greater Bay Area:

Analog Books: 1816 Euclid St, Berkeley
Book Zoo: 6395 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
Bookshop Benicia: 856 South Hampton Road, Benicia
Diesel Bookstore: 5433 College Ave, Oakland
Eastwind Books Berkeley: 2066 University Ave, Berkeley
ISSUES: 20 Glen Ave, Oakland
Kepler’s: 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
Orinda Books: 276 Village Square, Orinda
University Press Books: 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Walden Pond Books: 3316 Grand Ave, Oakland
Watershed Books: 305 N. Main Street, Lakeport

Book Stores All Over the East Bay

If you can't make it to a bookstore in the Bay Area, don't fear, you can now subscribe to Fourteen Hills online at fictionondemand.com.

-Kelly McNerney, Fourteen Hills staff

And Now It's August: What We've Been Up To

2010-08-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful Fourteen Hills readers. We're buried in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction submissions here in the cold, foggy hills of San Francisco. Thank you for that. If you're curious about what else we've been up to, and what you'll be hearing about soon, here's a quick run-down:

Issue 16.2 will be in the mail to our gorgeous subscribers in the next few weeks.
Stay tuned for an official announcement of the 2010 Michael Rubin Book Award winner. We'll have an interview on the blog in the near future, and a release party will be in the works as well.
Mark your calendars: We'll be reading with Eleven Eleven at LitCrawl on Saturday, October 9. More details (including a time and location) TBD.

And that's just the beginning.

Thanks for listening,
Leanne

San Francisco Motorcycle Club: City Landmark (And Fun-Loving Home To Our Release Party)

2010-05-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

This granddaddy of motorcycle clubs celebrated its centenary in 2004. As the second oldest motorcycle club in the United States, the San Francisco Motorcycle Club (SFMC) is an iconic city landmark, a symbol of free-spirited bikers crisscrossing the American landscape.

Started in 1904, it gypsied from one place to the other before finding a home on 2194 Folsom Street in the Mission. The club website proudly proclaims its philosophy: they are not fixated with a particular motorcycle brand, open to all age groups (over 18), and members must take the business and the art of motorcycling seriously. The SFMC also likes to support the city's aspiring literary masterminds, and has played host to the Fourteen Hills release party for several years running.

Is there a reason these too seemingly disconnected groups -- writers and bikers -- go so well together? Of course there is, according to SFMC member John A. Sweeney. “The writer and the motorcyclist are kindred spirits," he explains. "We search for our souls in the blank sheet of paper and the open road.”

When you step inside the club this Friday at 7 p.m. for a night of readings, prizes, and literary celebration, you'll enter a plush wood interior to see trophies and historical photographs lining the walls. Take a seat, because this gorgeous room will quickly fill up with poets, writers, artists, bike riders, and more, reciting, bantering, and dancing. Voila, the next Fourteen Hills release party is born.

- Ashutosh Bhuradia, Fourteen Hills staff

From A Boudoir Studio Session To Delicious Ice Cream, These Raffle Prizes Can Be Yours at Our Release Party

2010-05-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

At Fourteen Hills, the launch of a new issue is a community affair. Our upcoming release party will have not only amazing readers, but fabulous prizes donated by local Bay Area businesses, including gift certificates to some of the best eateries, bookstores, and movie houses in the city.

Here is a list of the participating businesses, and the amazing prizes that could be yours on May 21 for the price of a $2 raffle ticket!

Prizes to eat and drink

Wine-Tasting for Ten at Periscope Cellars Winery, Valued at $200
You and nine guests will tour Periscope Cellars, a leader in the Urban Wine Revolution. Winemaker Brendan Elasion will guide you through a barrel tasting from the previous harvest, as well as his award-winning current releases. This urban winery operates out of a WWII submarine repair facility, and specializes in yielding wines of unique character and quality. Periscope is the current winner of one Gold and three Silver medals in the SF Chronicle Wine Competition.
1410 62nd Street, Suite B (@Hollis) Emeryville, CA 510-655-7827

$50 Gift Certificate for Internos Wine Café
Internos Wine Café & Merchant, a new edition to the Inner Richmond and Laurel Heights neighborhoods, is a relaxed and cozy rustic wine bar that offers a sophisticated list of wines by the glass or bottle. For food, munch on Mediterranean inspired plates that compliment the wine selections.
3240 Geary Boulevard SF, CA 415.751.2661

$50 Gift Certificate for the Front Porch
The Front Porch is a gem in the heart of the outer Mission. Serving up Southern-style food and hospitality, guests can catch dinner nightly from 5:30—10:30PM. Yelpers praise The Front Porch as the best soul food in the Bay Area.
65A 29th Street SF, CA 415.695.7800

Free Club Entry and Drinks for Two at 222 Hyde, Valued at $40
Located in the Tenderloin, 222 Hyde is an awesome destination for nightlife in San Francisco. The events range from their famed J’adore Happy Hour that takes place the first Thursday of every month, to a wide array of DJs that spin experimental tunes to groove to.
222 Hyde SF, CA 94102 415-345-8222

(2) $25 Gift Certificates for the Mercury Café
Mercury Café is a favorite destination for café goers in the city. The restaurant is light and airy, specializes in drip coffee, and serves a great espresso, has great bagels and friendly baristas, plenty of outlets and free Wi-Fi.
201 Octavia Street SF, CA 415.252.7855

$25 Gift Certificate for Bi-Rite Creamery
Bi-Rite Creamery products are crafted in small batches. They specialize in artisanal ice creams, sorbets and dreamy confections. Bi-Rite strives to use local, organic ingredients, and maintains a commitment to operating in a sustainable manner. Situated in the heart of the Mission at Dolores Park, Bi-Rite is the perfect place to stop in for a treat.
3692 18th Street SF, CA 94110 415.626.5600

$20 Gift Certificate for Mocha 101
This neighborhood café located in the Parkside neighborhood of San Francisco has great salads, crepes and sandwiches. Mocha 101 also provides free Wi-Fi, low-key atmosphere, and is a lovely place to study, or grab a bite.
1722 Taraval Street SF, CA 94116 415.702.9869

Code Orange Organic Espresso Beans
These coffee beans from Ethos Coffee are great for French press or drip maker. This 12 oz. gift is yours to enjoy. Ethos coffee brewers roast their own beans to ensure pure drinking pleasure in a cup.

Prizes to help you woo a lover

$250 Professional Boudoir Studio Portrait Session
One lucky person will enjoy 60 effortless minutes of boudoir deification and a 10X20 vignette style framed print, compliments of Alba Fiore Photography.

$30 Gift Certificate for the Red Vic Movie House
The Red Vic is a collectively run cinema that offers an eclectic mix of independent, foreign and blockbuster films. This theater is a fabulous place to catch some local San Francisco culture, and a unique cinematic experience.
1727 Haight Street SF, CA 415.668.3992

Prizes to put on your body

(2) Sock Monsters, Valued at $60
The Sock Monsters were some of the most sought-after raffle prizes last year, so they are back by popular demand! Andrew Kornblatt handcrafts these awesome gifts, and you can try your luck at winning them in the raffle.

(2) $25 Gift Certificates for Fiftyseven-Thirtythree
This company makes all of their clothing in East Oakland using water based, solvent free inks. Fiftyseven-Thirtythree creates unique, inspired street wear for all. They sell urban accoutrements, from skate decks to hoodies.
4125 Piedmont Avenue, 2nd Fl. Oakland, CA 94611 510.547.5733

Prizes to awaken your mind

$70 Prize Pack of Omnibucket Illustrated Books
Win this fabulous set of three limited edition, illustrated Omnibooks. The Book of CLAV, God’s Acre book one: The Ravens & the Rhyme, and Eleventy Billion Miles Away are fascinating reads, complete with original artwork.

$25 Gift Certificate for Green Apple Books
This awesome local bookseller is the perfect place to sell, trade or buy books. If you are a lover of the written word, you will find informed, passionate staff at Green Apple Books.
506 Clement Street & 6th Avenue SF, CA 415.387.2272

$25 Gift Certificate for Pegasus Books
Pegasus and Pendragon Bookstores specialize in rare, used and out-of print books. With three locations to shop, this fine bookseller with stores in Berkeley and Oakland is a great destination for book-lovers in the Bay area.

$35 One-year membership for Modern Times Bookstore
Modern Times Bookstore is at the vanguard of progressive booksellers in the Bay area. With this one-year membership, the winner is guaranteed 10% off all purchases, on top of existing discounts. You will also receive a monthly events calendar in the mail, and participate in special member-only sales. Members also get their admission to events waived, as well as reduced rates on classes and workshops.
888 Valencia Street SF, CA 415-282-9246

$40 Free Membership to the Poetry Center & American Poetry Archives
Free year long membership to the SFSU Poetry Center which curates a distinctive reading series in both the Spring and Fall in locations all over the bay area. Readings are given from visiting writers from all over the world and archived in the largest archive of poetry in the country dating back to the 1950s, including Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, Williams Carlos Williams and thousands more. Membership includes access to these recordings.

“Voices” by Pam Benjamin: Hot New Release from Ink. Press
Ink. Press is a San Francisco publisher focusing on interesting, accessible work from the hotbed of creativity that is the Bay Area writing community. Ink. is dedicated to minimizing their carbon imprint as much as possible by using 30-100% post consumer waste to make their books and literary magazines. Ink. Reviewed is the literary magazine attached to the press, and explores writing, art and photography. Look for the forthcoming issue this summer featuring.

Limited Edition Broadside by Annemarie Munn
This prize is one of only ten custom prints of “Underwear Girl,” a poem by 16.2 contributor Elizabeth Hazen, made exclusively for Fourteen Hills by Annemarie Munn.

The Fourteen Hills Release Party is a great way to experience a vital part of the San Francisco literary community, and enjoy a great social event with food, drinks and new friends. The raffle prizes are yours to win, and we hope you’ll join us for what is sure to be a fantastic event.

If you haven’t bought your tickets, you can pick them up the night of the party. Raffle tickets will be sold for $2 each or three for $5. All proceeds from the raffle go to our non-profit literary journal, so we can continue to publish exciting writers and celebrate as a literary community for many years to come.

May 21, 2010 7:00 PM
Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review 16.2 Release Party
At THE SAN FRANCISCO MOTORCYCLE CLUB
2194 Folsom St. (@18th St.) SF, CA
FREE ADMISSION
RSVP on Facebook

Can't wait to see you there.
-Safiya Martinez, Fourteen Hills staff

Art You Can Eat Right Off A Stick: Our May 21 Release Party Menu

2010-05-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Cooking is a form of creative expression, and just like Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review looks for unique and innovative fiction and poetry to light up your senses, we believe the food at our release party should be just as delicious and unforgettable.

If you attended our release last semester, hopefully you had a chance to try the gourmet Middle Eastern food prepared by Janna K. Denig. This semester, on May 21, Fourteen Hills will continue the tradition of culinary excellence with catering by Jason Lujick, Lamont Perriman, and yours truly, Stephen Rosenshein.

For starters, we’ll have delicious and savory chicken and pork yakitori skewers, marinated in a sauce of mirin, soy, saki and sugar, carefully grilled over charcoal until perfectly tender and juicy, and then sprinkled with sesame seeds. A can’t-miss treat, sure to please your taste buds!

On the sweeter side of things we’ll have a bouquet of hand-selected fresh fruit from around the Bay Area. Don’t let the lovely floral arrangement fool you, this beautiful mix of melon, strawberry, grapes, and pineapple is perfectly edible.

Last, but definitely not least, are two focaccia pizzetta platters, focaccia bread topped with marinara sauce and an abundant helping of fresh mozzarella cheese, a generous donation from our friends at Bi-Rite Market.

Located in the center of the Mission, Bi-Rite Market is San Francisco’s premier neighborhood market, serving up fresh, local products to the area since 1940. Fourteen Hills would like to take this opportunity to thank Bi-Rite for their thoughtful donation and for supporting literary arts in the Bay Area community.

You can help support the community -- and eat tasty snacks for free -- at 7 p.m. on May 21 at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club. We hope you will join us in celebration of this issue’s authors, Bay Area community, and the beauty of art: literary, visual and culinary. RSVP today.

See you there!

-Stephen Rosenshein, Fourteen Hills Asst. Poetry Editor

Meet The Writers Who Plan To Wow You At Our Release Party On May 21

2010-05-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

Come by the San Francisco Motorcycle Club on Friday, May 21, at 7pm to listen to our featured writers read from the Spring/Summer issue of Fourteen Hills, The San Francisco State University Review. Linger over delectable finger foods, listen to our awesome contributors, and dance the night away. For a taste of what the night will bring, check out this review of our last release party.

Jeannine Hall Gailey lives in the North Bay. Her first book, Becoming the Villainess, was published by Steel Toe Books. Poems from the book were featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac and on Verse Daily; two were included in 2007’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. She volunteers as an editorial consultant for Crab Creek Review and currently teaches at the MFA program at National University.

Lauren Hamlin is a New England native currently living in San Francisco. She recently received her MFA from the University of Montana and is at work on her first novel.

Johnny Horton co-directs the University of Washington's summer creative writing program in Rome. He teaches writing the rest of the year in Seattle. He's published poems in Notre Dame Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Willow Springs, and other magazines. He was recently a fellow at Ragdale and at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Zara Raab’s poems and literary journalism have appeared (or will soon) in Flash, West Branch, Arts & Letters, Nimrod, Spoon River Poetry Review, and major newspapers such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her Book of Gretel was published in spring 2010; Swimming the Eel will come out in 2011 from David Robert Books. She lives and writes in San Francisco.

Michael Schmeltzer earned an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. He is the publicity coordinator and poetry co-editor for A River & Sound Review and his work appears or is forthcoming in New York Quarterly, Water~Stone Review, Los Angeles Review, and Rosebud, among others. He was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Shanthi Sekaran's first novel, The Prayer Room, was released in 2009, and was first published in Best New American Voices 2004. She is a California native, and has recently moved back to the Bay Area after six years in England. She volunteers with 826 Valencia, and is working on her second novel. She now lives in Berkeley with her husband and two-year-old son.

Joseph Voth is a writer living in San Diego. He has recent/upcoming poetry in Epoch, South Carolina Review, and Cold Mountain Review among many others. He has just finished writing his first collection of poems, entitled Living with Noise and he teaches at San Diego State University.

I know you won’t want to miss this, so please RSVP on Facebook to let us know you’ll be there. Come early to get seats, because our events get packed. It will also be your first chance to buy issue 16.2 of Fourteen Hills. Can’t wait to see everyone on May 21!

-Min K. Kang, Fourteen Hills staff

From The Archives: A Poem About A Peep-Show On Noah's Ark

2010-04-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Writer Jason Stumpf took on the unexpected in his short prose poem published in Spring/Summer 2007, Issue 13.2. Here it is in its entirety:

Noah's Ark Peep-Show

First suppose a raven and a dove. The heart heard in the ears.
He took her by two shoulders as if to wake her. This is how,
he said, hard truths are told. She stood in a waxy way as he
ran a hand across the velvet of her dress. Out the window:
water, and inside, too, the moon held sway. The parlor was
the pallor of a veil. She sighed, So here we are. We are, he
echoes, almost asking. A wide-shot over water: two birds
with nothing in their claws.

Thanks for letting us take a moment to share a favorite from the archives. If you have any pieces you remember fondly from past issues, or if you're a former contributor who'd like to be featured in this space, please let us know.

We'd also like to apologize for not updating much lately; we're very busy. Several updates are in the works, however, including a profile about great bookstores where you can find Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review, bios of the fabulous readers appearing at our release party on May 21, and details about the raffle prizes you could win. More updates! More frequently! That's our (new) mantra.

More soon,
Leanne Milway Chabalko, Fourteen Hills assistant poetry editor

Save The Date: Fourteen Hills Spring Release Party Friday May 21

2010-04-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow writers and readers. Thanks to everyone who came out to hear Adam Johnson read from his novel-in-progress on Thursday night. You can read the full story about the event on SFGate's Culture Blog (thanks, Alex!).

Now it's time to gear up for one of Fourteen Hills' favorite events: the release party for the issue we've been working on all semester. Behold the beautiful cover with artwork by Alec Laughlin, and come out to the San Francisco Motorcycle Club on Friday May 21 at 7 p.m. to hear from featured writers Jeannine Hall Gailey, Lauren Hamlin, Zara Raab, Michael Schmeltzer, Shanthi Sekaran, and Joseph Voth.

There will be mouth-watering treats, fabulous raffle prizes, DJs and dancing. RSVP on Facebook and stay tuned right here and on Twitter for updates.

Who Is Adam Johnson? (Find Out On April 15)

2010-04-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

Reading Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Poetry Center is writer Adam Johnson, recipient of the 2010 Gina Berriault Award. Johnson won several big money awards in the last couple of years, not least of which was the Whiting Writers Award in 2009.

Caroline Chen of The Stanford Daily writes: "The Whiting Award, currently in its 25th year, praises Johnson as 'fearless' and 'dazzling.' Johnson joins the ranks of other famous award-winners such as authors David Foster Wallace (1987), Michael Cunningham (1995) and one of his heroes, English Prof. Tobias Wolff (1989)."

Johnson is in very good company. If David Foster Wallace and Tobias Wolff are your cup of tea, then Adam Johnson is likely to impress you, and there’s no excuse for you to miss this event. Fiction writers are encouraged to take advantage of Johnson’s campus visit, because how often does the Poetry Center feature notable fiction writers who give you a privileged sneak preview of their work (Johnson is currently working on a new novel about North Korea that he describes as "a North Korean Casablanca")?

Johnson is a senior lecturer at Stanford, but he is not just your average English teacher. His short story collection Emporium was described by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times as "funny-sad-bizarre," which is fitting, because his work takes us places that may seem like our own backyards, but are actually chunks of familiar terrain situated on another plane of reality.

Need another reason to attend? Where else, outside of Matthew Davison’s classes, can you get this kind of anecdote:

"As an undergraduate, I liked writing short stories and was happy to be in the air conditioning, rather than out banging nails in the Arizona heat. It was cool to hang out with other people who loved books and go to smarty-pants parties. But it was a teacher who took me aside, a mentor who made me strive, a writer who showed me that all my perceived faults — lying, exaggerating, daydreaming, rubbernecking — combined to make something good called a story."

That's Adam Johnson, sharing stories on Jewcy.com. Join us April 15, Humanities Room 512 at San Francisco State University, to hear from this rising star in person.

-Amy Glasenapp, Fourteen Hills fiction editor

April 15: The Michael Rubin Book Award Deadline Plus The Adam Johnson Reading

2010-04-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Attention San Francisco State University writers: sharpen your pencils and charge your laptops because it’s that time of year. It’s time to submit your original manuscript for the Michael Rubin Book Award (prose this year!). Don’t act like you’ve never heard of it—we already told you about previous winners, like Fourteen Hills’ very own D.W. Lichtenberg, and previous Fourteen Hills contributors like Jenny Pritchett. We’ve broken down the submission guidelines oh-so-carefully so you know just how long your manuscript can be (45-175 pages), which genre to submit (prose), and how many of the winner’s books Fourteen Hills Press will publish (500). But when and where do you submit your hard-earned words?

MANUSCRIPTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 15, 2010
Manuscripts must be submitted to the Fourteen Hills mailbox in SFSU’s Creative Writing Department office: HUM 380. You may also submit via snail mail:

Fourteen Hills Press
Department of Creative Writing
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722

And, even better, come to our event April 15 and submit your manuscripts to us in person! If you come to the reading with a manuscript, we will give you a free back issue of our magazine.

April 15—easy to remember not just because it’s tax day, but also because Fourteen Hills is hosting a reading by Adam Johnson, winner of the Second Annual Gina Berriault Award, at the Poetry Center that very same night.

So what are you waiting for? Polish off your best work, send it to the printer, and bring it with you to the second of our Fourteen Hills events this semester. Feel free to RSVP on Facebook.

--Julia Halprin Jackson, Fourteen Hills staff

Wander Into Uncharted Amazements With Gina Berriault (Or, Why The Award Is Named After Her)

2010-04-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Join us on April 15 as Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review and the Creative Writing Department honor former faculty member and author, Gina Berriault, at the 2nd Annual Gina Berriault Award Reading. This year’s award recipient is Adam Johnson. Peter Orner will host the event.

In 1997, when Gina Berriault was selected by Andre Dubus, Cynthia Ozick, and Tobias Wolff to receive the Rea Award for the Short Story, the judges wrote:

"Her stories astonish -- not only in their range of character and incident, but in their worldliness, their swift and surprising turns, their penetration into palpable love and grief and hope.…To discover Berriault is to voyage into uncharted amazements."

Later, in a New York Times Magazine article, Ozick would lament the relative obscurity that Berriault (and Dubus) faced throughout their careers, praising their passion and purity. She called them “writer’s writers,” because they were critically hailed but otherwise unknown.

Berriault’s work has a way of setting you down and kneading into you. Her words echo within sentences to form planks for which thoughts often lead to one’s own abyss. Peter Orner talks about this in his column about her story “Around the Dear Ruin” from Women In Their Beds (1996). He calls it one of the “saddest and cruelest” stories about San Francisco, a city where Berriault made her home.

We dare you to roam the city digesting her words. San Francisco, the world, has a way of opening up, as if pulling away a flank of flesh to say: Look, this too is here. Know that Berriault’s work offers these wonderful discoveries, but be prepared, for she will wrestle your heart, and wrench it ever so tenderly.

Of course, none have put it as fittingly as Leonard Gardner in his forward to The Tea Ceremony (2003), a posthumous book of uncollected and previously unpublished writing. This book offers a rare glimpse into Berriault’s process. Mr. Gardner, who will be in attendance at the Berriault Award reading, said in his heartfelt and candid forward that her work, like that of the greatest writers, deepens.

Berriault rejected the notion that there was a “correct” interpretation to a piece of fiction. “Each reader’s interpretation originates in his or her life’s experiences,” she said, “in feelings and emotions of intensely personal history.” This attitude is reflective of a writer who found it necessary to look into others; a writer that with every story embodied a certain selflessness and unflinching compassion.

The Berriault Award is given annually to a writer whom we believe will make similar contributions to fiction. Who will look unflinchingly into their characters, and who will deepen their readers, treating them always as equals. This year, we are proud to have our recipient, Adam Johnson, reading from his work. Join us:

April 15, 7pm
The Poetry Center
Humanities Building, Room 512
San Francisco State University (View map)
Cost: Free!

Please RSVP here. And stay tuned for an in-depth look at Adam Johnson, this year’s recipient of the Gina Berriault Award. We’ll see you there.

-Fernando Pujals, Fourteen Hills fiction editor

Fourteen Hills 16.1 Contributor Austin LaGrone on Bukowski’s Tender Heart

2010-03-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

A few days after the spectacular release of Fourteen Hills 16.1, Poetry Editor Hollie Hardy rendezvoused with Brooklyn-based contributor Austin LaGrone to discuss his unpublished poetry manuscript, Ascension Parish, and to ask questions about important things like women, liquor, cigarettes, religion, poetry, and New Orleans. As you read excerpts from the interview, try to imagine the poet’s answers in a delicious southern accent, drawled with the rhythm of extemporaneous poetry.

14H: Ascension Parish is the title of your current manuscript, which contains the poems Goosing the Muse and Psalm, both published in Fourteen Hills 16.1. There seem to be two elements at play in decoding that title: the religious connotations of “ascension” and “parish,” and the fact that “Ascension Parish” denotes a specific area, a county or district of Louisiana. This duality parallels your explorations of specific places (like Acadiana, Jackson Square, One-Eyed Jack’s and Trixie’s Palace) but in a subtler more off-handed way, religion is there, just below the surface (like “the love doll we resuscitated by the church bus”). Can you talk about the title and the significance of place?

AL: The whole notion of Ascension Parish is sort of absurd and beautiful, the idea that all the members of the county between Baton Rouge and New Orleans—everywhere else they are counties, in Louisiana they’re parishes—every member of that community has bodily ascended into heaven and now they are back among us—gambling, drinking, dancing, doing all the shit they were doing before, but now they’re somehow holy. That’s ultimately the meaning of naming a parish “Ascension.” And I think that’s sort of interesting and strange.

But for the manuscript, I’ve extended the borders of the parish to include Louisiana on the whole. Because this idea of redemption—it’s a Whitmanian notion, a Whitman-esque notion; wherein which Whitman is sort of a turbo-Christ almost, a turbo-redeemer. Christ is down with the prostitutes and the taxman. But Whitman is like No, everyone! Not just the prostitutes and the taxman, even more! Whitman is basing his language and his rhythms in large part on the Old Testament. He was deliberately trying to bring everyone in. All the bad stuff and all the good stuff collectively. So in some sense the title suggests that each of the characters, however flawed they are, have themselves bodily ascended. Characters that I’ve invented and characters that I’ve known. Like my friend Sunny Michelle, when he got a bottle broken across his head and he stood up with blood running down his forehead and said, “It takes two. It takes two bottles.” Now Sunny Michel is a crazy human being, but in my manuscript he is redeemed because of this title. All of my characters are.

Then there’s also, Ascension Parish, just hearing it. If you were just to hear it, you would probably assume perish p—e—r, as in die or destroy. And in that sense it’s quite the opposite, Ascension Perish, this idea of finding one’s community, finding salvation here among the living. This is a very Gilbertian notion—Jack Gilbert—this idea of finding the things that will redeem us not in a different world, but right here in the normal rituals of existence. Whether it’s through intimacy or risk or whatever.

14H: In addition to an affectionate view of the ordinary lives of poor people in the South, there’s a good deal about drinking, smoking, women, cheap motels, and people-watching in bars that goes on in your poems. Are you a fan of Charles Bukowski?

AL: If you ask anyone how they feel about Bukowski they downplay their love of him and they’ll tell you something like, well I love the way a broken old man can blah blah blah. They create a kind of distance. But I find him incredibly tender. And I think that he has a really beautiful secret heart. If you are easily put off, you don’t need to be reading him anyway. You should go back to the Crystal Worship Isle or something like that.

14H: Your poem, High Water Blues is one of the most authentic-feeling poems I’ve read about Hurricane Katrina. Where were you during that tragedy?

AL: Ah hell, I was in a college town in Bloomington, Indiana. My father had been the assistant DA [in Louisiana] but when my grandmother died, his mother, we moved further north. But it’s always been a kind of home for me. It’s where I learned to walk. It’s where I learned to talk. So it really affected me. I had a little money in savings and I took all of it. I gave my car to my dad and borrowed his truck and went down to New Orleans to help out a bit.

When I saw all of the destruction, I stayed. It was a fascinating time. You could drive clear across the city with no red lights. All the cops were downtown guarding the French Quarter so the whole town was cop-free. You could speed anywhere you wanted to go. All the bars were lit with candles. There was no electricity. Acoustic guitars. And for the people who came back early, there was this huge camaraderie…

To read the entire interview, including Austin’s philosophy of private languages, cigar store Indians and ancestor worship, please click here.

Born in Baton Rouge, Austin LaGrone got his first rifle at nine and his first Chevy at thirteen. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brilliant Corners, Black Warrior Review, The New York Quarterly, and Fourteen Hills. These days he lives happily without weapons or trucks in Brooklyn and is an MFA candidate at New York University.

-Hollie Hardy, Fourteen Hills Poetry Editor

Fourteen Hills In The News: A Small Press With Great Art

2010-03-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

We were just featured in the SF Examiner’s series on Bay Area small presses. Even though the article calls our managing editor D.W. Lichtenberg a poetry editor, it gets into the meat of what makes Fourteen Hills: the SFSU Review worth watching:

"The journal doesn't exist to make itself look good," says Fourteen Hills faculty advisor Matthew Clark Davison. "If we solicit something from an established writer and what we get is not something we feel we can stand behind, we don’t print it." Read the full article here.

The art of the Fall issue of our literary magazine also shows up on the NewPages.com blog.

Here’s what they have to say:

"Fourteen Hills has always had the talent for selecting cover-poppin' art, and their latest issue is no exception. ‘Stuck on Morning Thoughts’ by the Pfeiffer Sisters is the appetizer for the center portfolio section of the journal, which features more of their sadly/sweetly haunting characters."

Thanks, NewPages! If you haven’t seen the amazing portfolio by these very talented artists in our last issue, you can buy a copy at any of these bookstores. We’re also looking for new subscribers. Don’t be shy, help us keep independent publishing alive! And please come to our reading next week, in the Poetry Center. RSVP on Facebook and ask questions for our panelists here.

Ever Wanted To Ask Peter Orner A Question?

2010-03-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

New Standards, a selection of the best fiction of Fourteen Hills’ first decade, is being reprinted in two weeks. To celebrate its re-release in bookstores and libraries near you, Fourteen Hills is sponsoring an evening of literature and discussion on March 25, 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Poetry Center (Humanities 512).

San Francisco State faculty members Nona Caspers and Peter Orner, as well as contributors John Clearly and Eireene Nealand, will be reading from New Standards and taking your questions about process and craft. Admission is only $10 and includes a copy of the fiction anthology (a $15 value).

We are taking questions via our blog (leave a comment below), via email, or you can tweet us a question anytime before 10 a.m. on March 25.

If we ask your question at the event, you'll get a free back issue of Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review at the event.

Here’s a little bit more about our special guests:

Nona Caspers is the author of Little Book of Days (2009) and Heavier Than Air (2006), which received the Grace Paley Prize and was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. She has received a 2008 NEA Fellowship and an Iowa Review Fiction Award, among others. Her stories have been widely published in journals and anthologies including Cimarron Review, The Iowa Review, Ontario Review, Women on Women and the Hers Series.

Peter Orner is the author of The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo and Esther Stories. He's also the editor of Underground America. He proudly teaches at SF State.

John Cleary lives and writes in San Francisco. He is currently an editor for Sidebrow, a literary press dedicated to collaborative experiments in publishing.

Eireene Nealand graduated from San Francisco State in 2005. Her short stories, poems and translations have been published in ZYZZYVA, Fourteen Hills, Transfer, The St. Petersburg Review, and Sidebrow, among other places. She has won numerous awards, including the Elisabeth Kostova and Ivan Klima Fellowships in Fiction. She is currently an associate editor for the literary magazine Tarpaulin Sky and a resident at the Tannery Arts Center. She teaches creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in contemporary Russian literature.

When established writers take time out of their schedules to talk to students about their own hang-ups, habits, and driving forces, we get the unique opportunity to examine what works for them and what doesn’t. We might consider how their methods could apply to our own work, and at the end of the day, we might find ourselves trying something new.

Start asking questions; we’ll get you some answers.

-Editors, Fourteen Hills

Bay Area Featured Writers' Conference: The Tomales Bay Workshops

2010-03-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

We recently got wind of a writers' conference that sounded absolutely phenomenal. Pam Houston and Terry Tempest Williams are the featured instructors!

Here are the details for you.

The Tomales Bay Workshops
University of California, Davis · Creative Writing Program
October 27-31
Marconi Center, Tomales Bay, Northern California
Four days of working with an established author, receiving constructive feedback and generating new material.

More info at:

http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/tomalesbay

Should be great. Maybe we'll see you there!

- Daniel Lichtenberg, Fourteen Hills Managing Editor

Contributor Rhea DeRose-Weiss On The Catch-22 Of The Writing Life

2010-02-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Rhea DeRose-Weiss recently sat down with Fourteen Hills fiction editor Amy Glasenapp to discuss her story from issue 16.1, "The Neon Artist." Here, she offers insight into her craft practices and talks about how hard it can be to communicate with an audience while at the same time trying to distance yourself from it.

14H: What does it look like where you write? What can and can’t you tolerate in that space?

Rhea DeRose-Weiss: Right now, I write in my bedroom, which is about the size of a shoebox. I’m not a writer who has a routine; I don’t do the things we’re told we need to do -- like write every day, have a routine -- but I’d like to develop that. I’m usually just sitting at my tiny desk in front of my laptop, sometimes with music, sometimes not.

14H: Do you research first or do you just sit down and write, filling in information gaps later?

D-W: Well, I normally just sit down and write. I don’t usually write stories like The Neon Artist, where I’ve incorporated history from past eras, and I was actually trying to remember how that actually happened. I don’t remember what came first. I think the idea of the neon artist came to me and then I went to the library to do some research. I wrote the first version of the story several years ago in grad school. Then I went back to it and revised it and sent it out.

14H: Have you ever attempted a longer work, or do you primarily write short stories?

D-W: I primarily write short stories. I have attempted to write longer things but haven’t finished anything. There’s an idea I’m kicking around for a longer piece. It’s just an idea at this point.

14H: Is writing something you’d like to do professionally?

D-W: At this point, writing fiction is almost dangerously close to being a hobby, but I’d like it to be more of an elemental part of my life, because it’s pretty important to me. A lot of who I am is wrapped up with the idea of being a writer. I’m in my second year of teaching and still just figuring it out. My goal would be to get that balance between teaching and maintaining the regular practice of writing. I would like to put out a collection of stories.

14H: Were you inspired by any particular artists or artistic movements while you were writing The Neon Artist?

D-W: Inspiration? It’s hard to remember, because it’s been a few years. Some inspiration came from my own life and being in school for writing. I remember feeling like writing is a dying art form. Also feeling like the things that make me a writer are also the things that alienate me from the rest of the world. It’s sort of a catch-22, trying to communicate with an audience while distancing myself from people.

You can read the full interview here. You can also watch Rhea perform her story at the release party for issue 16.1 right here.

Rhea Derose-Weiss grew up in North Carolina but does not have a southern accent. She moved to San Francisco in 2004 to complete a Master's in Creative Writing from a school that no longer exists. She now teaches at The Academy of Art University, where she attempts to instill in students the importance of narrative arc and the danger of the comma splice. "The Neon Artist" is the title story of a book-length collection in progress.

-Editors, Fourteen Hills

Announcing A Call For Submissions For The Michael Rubin Book Award

2010-02-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

SUBMIT YOUR PROSE MANUSCRIPTS BY APRIL 15, 2010

The San Francisco State University Book Series annually publishes the fiction or poetry of students enrolled at SFSU whose work shows exceptional accomplishment and promise. The 2010 Michael Rubin Poetry Book will be selected through an open competition by an independent judge. Funding for the SFSU Book Series is provided by the students of SFSU through the Instructionally Related Activities Fund. The competition judge for 2010 is widely acclaimed writer Terese Svoboda.

DETAILS OF THE AWARD:

The winning manuscript will be published by Fourteen Hills Press and the SFSU Creative Writing Department.
In 2010, the award goes to a prose manuscript. In 2011, poetry. 500 copies will be printed of the winning prose manuscript or 300 copies of the winning poetry manuscript are printed.
The author will receive 50 complimentary copies one month after the release of the book. The author will also have the opportunity to purchase additional copies of the book at a considerable discount.
Fourteen Hills Press will layout the book and decide on a cover design in cooperation with the author of the manuscript.
Fourteen Hills Press will organize a release party in San Francisco scheduled immediately before the release of the book.
The book will be distributed through Small Press Distribution (spdbooks.org) and through the consignment efforts of the Fourteen Hills Press staff.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION:

You must be currently enrolled as a student at San Francisco State University.
You must submit your manuscript of prose (or poetry depending on the year) on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.
Your manuscript must be at least 45 pages in length and no more than 175 pages in length.
The first page of your manuscript must be a cover letter. The cover letter must include your name, the title of your manuscript, your phone number, mailing address, email, and SFSU student ID number.
You must include a table of contents if there are multiple works within your manuscript.
You must include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope). If you want your manuscript back, make sure there's enough postage on it. If you don't include enough postage on it, we reserve the right to dispose of your manuscript. If you don't want your manuscript back, include a standard letter-sized SASE.
Your submission materials should be sealed in an envelope. The envelope should be labelled "Michael Rubin Book Award Submission - Date".
No revisions to the manuscript will be accepted after submission.
Individual works may have been previously published in magazines or journals, but the entire manuscript must be unpublished. Manuscripts that have been previously self-published are ineligible.
You must have no prior relationship to the judge. This year’s judge is Terese Svoboda.

Learn more about past winners at our blog post about the history of the Michael Rubin Book Award.

And stay tuned for more updates about the Michael Rubin Book Award as we get closer to the submission deadline, which, again, is April 15. Every SFSU student currently enrolled is eligible. We hope to receive a lot of great submissions this year.

- Daniel Lichtenberg, Fourteen Hills Editing Manager

New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills

2010-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills
Purchase the anthology at Small Press Distribution for $15.00

"It’s always the same. Say hello to television. Say hello to advertising. Say hello to the suburbs. Say hello to the three-piece suit. Say hello to the adjustable thirty-year mortgage. Say hello to Frank Sinatra, to the U.S. Army , to Jesus Christ Your Personal Savior—but whatever you do don’t say hello to this, this alien thing—this existence that to us marks the unattainablility of the gullible entity writhing inside the family unit, the one we knew so well, that zero, that nothing, that organism trying to find sustenance—this alien thing that helps you achieve the unattainability of the departed."

So writes Christopher Sorrentino in “Julie Halo,” one of the twenty featured writers and stories in New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills, the first anthology from our international literary magazine. The anthology, published by Fourteen Hills Press in 2005, tackles themes of suburbia, family, and misguided love, while skirting the edge of this so-called gullible “unattainability.” The compilation features many of our most celebrated contributors, including: novelist Pam Houston; Stephen Elliot, whose recent memoir The Adderall Diaries has received a flurry of critical acclaim; San Francisco State University professors Peter Orner (The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo), Robert Gluck (Denny Smith), and Nona Caspers (Heavier Than Air); as well as narrative writers Lawrence Braithwaite (Wigger) and Joanna Howard (Frights of Fancy).

Just what kinds of “new standards” does Fourteen Hills Press offer? We’ve got everything from American expatriates fighting off cockroaches and Communists in Bulgaria, to a young lover trying to edge his way out of his mistress’ complicated love life, to a lost girl awakening from amnesia, only to find that her hometown is filled with conflicting street signs, and even teenage twins navigating that intricate space between emotional and familial love. Regardless what issue the stories were originally published in, where the stories are set, or what unique style they inhabit, they all share a common thread: they challenge us to reexamine ourselves and our culture.

Sometimes these reexaminations come in the form of deconstructing one’s life to reveal the nasty surprises lurking just beneath the surface. Nicholas Montemarano’s narrator notices this while confronting his family members at the end of their lives, in “Pretend”:

“The point you wanted to make about life—as I see it now—was that regardless of what a nice lily-hearted person might be, there will always be someone out there ready to pounce, and that the same things that may get you into heaven will certainly get you a swift kick in the ass in this world.” (p. 324)

Fourteen Hills readers should not be scared off by the intensity of these excerpts. The stories featured in our New Standards anthology also depict the other half of life’s complexity; love, connection, and the promise of something real.

Want more?
New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills
Purchase the anthology at Small Press Distribution for $15.00

.

If we haven’t yet sold you on the New Standards anthology, stay tuned for our March 25th event, an evening that features some of the fabulous Fourteen Hills contributors, all of them acclaimed writers in their own right.

The details so far:

Fourteen Hills Celebrates the New Standards Anthology: A Fundraiser
Join the Fourteen Hills Staff along with Nona Caspers, Peter Orner, and other guest readers (TBA) for a reading of and discussion about fiction.
Admission fee of $10 includes a copy of the anthology ($15 value)

Thursday March 25th, 7:00pm
The Poetry Center
Humanities Bldg, Room 512
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132
RSVP on Facebook

See you there. Stay tuned on the blog when we'll be asking our readers to post questions for us to ask the authors on the panel!

- Julia Jackson, Fourteen Hills staff

From The Archives: A Valentine’s Day Treat From Kim Addonizio

2010-02-12T10:00:00.001-08:00

Former Fourteen Hills contributor and recent Pushcart Prize winner Kim Addonizio makes drinking a Pacifico beer sound incredibly lascivious and illicit — like an affair — in this poem that first appeared in issue 4.2:

Affair

God it’s sexual, opening a beer when you swore you wouldn’t drink tonight,

taking the first deep gulp, the foam backing up in the long amber neck

of the Pacifico bottle as you set it on the counter, the head spilling over

so you bend to fit your mouth against the cold lip

and drink, because what you are, aren’t you, is a drinker — maybe not a lush,

not an alcoholic, not yet anyway, but don’t you want

a glass of something most nights, don’t you need the gesture

of reaching for it, raising it high and swallowing down and savoring

the sweetness, or the scalding, knowing you’re going to give yourself to it

like a lover, whether or not he fills up the leaky balloon of your heart —

don’t you believe in trying to fill it, no matter what the odds,

don’t you believe it still might happen, aren’t you that kind of woman?

*fans self* Why don’t you share that one with your sweetheart this weekend, and see what happens. You may also like Addonizio’s other contribution to issue 4.2, “No More Poems About The Marriage.” Remember, you can order back issues at any time through our website.

Have a great weekend, friends. Spread your love of words far and wide!

-Leanne, Fourteen Hills assistant poetry editor

Contributor Tsering Wangmo Dhompa On Reading Poems in the Bathroom and Other Topics

2010-02-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hollie Hardy, Poetry Editor of Fourteen Hills, sat down with Tsering Wangmo Dhompa in her San Francisco home to talk about a wide range of topics. Here are a few highlights from the interview:

14H: Can you talk a little bit about your poem “From Catabolism” published in Fourteen Hills, Vol. 15.2? I looked up “catabolism” in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and it is defined as: “the part of metabolism involving the break down of complex molecules.” The poem begins, “A body is not always everything we are taught to expect…” How does this title illuminate the themes of that particular set of poems?

TSERING: It is part of a larger set of poems. Initially I was going to title the book “Catabolism” because it was sort of this break down of certain ideas. What is perception? What is truth? That was my intention. But then I just realized that it was too confining of a title and also it makes me think too much. And then I was getting confused about the meaning and its relation with the poems. So then I made it a title of a smaller group of poems.

The poems in this group have to do with the process of thinking. Stemming from a particular verse in a Buddhist text that talks about how we see. The epigram is: “But if the mirage is the mind itself, what then is perceived by what?” The guardian of the word himself had said that mind cannot be seen by mind.

So in Catabolism, I sort of weave around the idea of how we say things, how we come to say what we say. They are sort of definitions but then they are reiterated. So we say it many times. Also the notion that learning to say correctly is no longer necessary. The notion of perfection, does that exist? All these different thoughts. How do you instruct the mind?

14H: What is your revision process like?

TSERING: I’ve become a little better about revision. I think I’m learning to be more patient. It seems like you need to read [a poem] so many times in order to really see each word.

So I have a few pages stuck on my wall and I’ll read them when I’m just walking around. Because when I’m reading on the computer, I’m reading with the intent to find something. But when it’s on the wall I’m sort of on the way into my closet and I’m just brushing my teeth. And then I’ll take them to the bathroom. I have two in the bathroom now. When I’m in the bathroom I’m just vacantly looking at them.

So there are different levels of concentration, perhaps, different methods of reading. And when I feel that, okay fine, I don’t think I should change anymore because then the whole meaning changes, you know, if you do too much, then I don’t know what the poem is about. So then I sort of consider it done for now.

14H: Do you ever get stuck with writer’s block? And if so, how do you unstick yourself?

TSERING: Oh I get writer’s block quite often, but I don’t think of it as writer’s block really. I just expect it. How can you just sit down and expect to just write away?

So, if I cannot write, I don’t. I don’t sit and force myself. I just read. Or I do something else. I’ll go for a walk. Or I’ll think about certain things. Very often I’ll just read. Somehow all of it influences. Every day I try to write something in the morning. Whatever it might be.

To learn more about Tsering’s life in Tibet and Nepal, and the many conflicting meanings the word “home” has for her, read the full interview here.

Check out her poem From Catabolism, published in Fourteen Hills and picked up by Verse Daily, here.

Tsering Wangmo Dhompa was raised in India and Nepal. She received her MA from University of Massachusetts and her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her first book of poems, “Rules of the House,” published by Apogee Press in 2002 was a finalist for the Asian American Literary Awards in 2003. Other publications include “In the Absent Everyday” (Apogee Press 2005), two chapbooks, “In Writing the Names” (A.bacus, Potes & Poets Press) and “Recurring Gestures” (Tangram Press). Tsering lives in San Francisco.

-Editors, Fourteen Hills

Truong Tran's "lost and found" at the Mina Dresden Gallery, Tomorrow Night

2010-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

It's our pleasure to bring to your attention the first time visual artist Truong Tran will be exhibiting his work to the public in a dedicated solo show.

You may remember Tran's artwork from Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review issue 15.1 or you might recognize his work as the same as the artwork on the homepage of our website, 14hills.net. Or, even better, you might've never heard of his work before now.

Tomorrow night, Truong Tran's first public exhibition, a solo show that will last the entire month of February, will have its opening reception.

Details:
Mina Dresden & Kearny Street Workshop Present:
Truong Tran's lost & found
Mina Dresden Gallery
Opening Reception
February 5, 2010
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
312 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

From the gallery:
Truong Tran is committed to making art accessible through the creative reuse of everyday materials. His process includes merging disparate objects, forcing them to compromise and accommodate one another in their process of becoming something new, something difficult and beautiful. In his work, Tran explores themes of surfaces, containers and the self-portrait. Tran uses wax, thread, light, color and found objects as a way of constructing veils that must be lifted to arrive at the meaning embedded within. He uses boxes to represent the containers that hold society's expectations of identity and self. It is here that he reinterprets and challenges these expectations and the construct of the self-portrait.

Artist bio:
Truong obtained his MFA from San Francisco State University and has received numerous honors including the Fund for Poetry Grant, three San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grants, and The Intersection for the Arts' Writer in Residency Fellowship. He has shown his work locally at Intersection, APAture, Kearny Street Workshop, and A. Muse Gallery. He has published many volumes of poetry, most recently Four Letter Words, Apogee Press. He is currently the Visiting Professor in Poetry at Mills College. Of his visual art, Truong says, "they are poems that won't fit on a page or in a book." Visit http://gnourtnart.com

There will definitely be at least a few Fourteen Hills staff members in attendance. You can count on it.

Cheers
-Editors, Fourteen Hills

What’s In A Name: The Genesis of “Fourteen Hills”

2010-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Back in October, we started wondering how the SFSU review came to be named after the picturesque hills in its hometown. Michelle Carter, a member of our esteemed creative writing faculty, brought to our attention the quote that inspired the name:

“The greatness of Rome is somehow associated – whether correctly or not – with the fact that it was built on seven hills. How much greater, then, should San Francisco be, standing on fourteen hills? … The answer, so it seemed to me, surely must be ‘Twice.’”

That’s Scottish writer A.G. Macdonell quoting the American Railroad Guide in his 1935 book, A Visit to America. Macdonell continues his ruminations on the wonders of San Francisco on the next page:

“I think that the compilers of that Railroad-Guide were lamentably deficient in the art of advertisement. Why did they stop at the comparison with Rome? Is not San Francisco therefore to be reckoned as fourteen times as great as either of them, or better still, seven times as great as Athens and Troy put together?”

Given that some believe San Francisco has as many as seventy-four hills, it seems that our city is exponentially as great as any other city in the world. We’re beginning to work on making the Spring issue of Fourteen Hills just as great right now.

You can read more from A.G. Macdonell’s book here.

And if you’re a fan of Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun and many other wonderful things, she was one of the original staff members of Fourteen Hills. We’ve heard that she was, in fact, the one to give the magazine its name. Thank you Frances!

-Leanne M., Fourteen Hills staff

Randall Mann Discusses His Use of Form: "It Gives Me Something To Push Up Against"

2010-01-27T22:53:00.000-08:00

Randall Mann took the time to discuss the use of form in his poems, and much much more, in an interview conducted by Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review poetry editor Tera Ragan. Here's an excerpt:

14H: Many of your poems can be called formal poems, with your use of traditional forms: villanelles, sestinas, pantoums, etc. How do you think these forms influence or affect your work specifically?

RM: I take every poem and the subject matter of every poem individually. I’m grateful that I was trained with the tools to be able to use formal mechanisms. I can’t imagine not being able to turn to subjects the way formal poetry allows you to turn to things, or the way it compresses arguments and reveals new insight.

If you think about one of the most famous formal poems, Elizabeth Bishop’s villanelle, as you go through her stanzas you know what she is saying, while at the same time knowing that more information is being kneaded out.

In my mortician poem, which is a sestina, we already know what happened to Harvey Milk, that’s not the question. I chose the sestina form because it let me look at this really huge historical moment both in terms of my queer history and in terms of how it changed this city.

But, how do you look at something so well known? Especially when the publication comes serendipitously after the release of the film Milk—now everyone knows him and gets this lesson of what happened—then the question becomes: how am I able to put my stamp on it and say something new? I didn’t feel comfortable doing that in free verse because sometimes I don’t know how to say something fresh or complex without the benefit of form. It gives me something to push up against and I trust those boundaries. They're really helpful to me as a writer.

14H: Do you feel that sometimes the form chooses you or do you have the form in mind for the poem in advance?

RM: I definitely choose the form but I’m cognizant that certain forms might work well. I have a poem in my book called “Career." It’s a bit of a satire about a younger poet sleeping with an older poet for a blurb, that’s told in trimeter tetrameter with rhyme. The music of that formal choice helped to bring out the satire of that particular moment. It shocks you and yet you have the comfort of the movement of form.

I think that titillating subject matter and traditional forms work extraordinarily well together because while there may be a shock, there’s also shock of the recognition of the poem.

Read the full interview on our website: 14hills.net

Randall Mann is the author of two collections of poetry, BREAKFAST WITH THOM GUNN (University of Chicago Press 2009) and COMPLAINT IN THE GARDEN (Zoo/Orchises 2004), winner of the 2003 Kenyon Review Prize; and the co-author of the textbook WRITING POEMS, Seventh Edition (Pearson Longman 2007). He lives in San Francisco.

- Daniel Lichtenberg, Fourteen Hills managing editor

Questions for Marcus Pactor, 14 Hills 16.1 Contributor

2010-01-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

A young man overhears his neighbors’ violent relationship, calls the police, and then goes fishing with the policeman who comes to investigate. Sound intriguing? We thought so, which is why we included Marcus Pactor’s short story, Let Me, in issue 16.1 of Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review.

Mr. Pactor, a Writing Instructor at the University of North Florida, flew all the way out to San Francisco to read at our release party in December. We were so intrigued by his work, and also impressed by his reading, and so we decided to feature him here on the Fourteen Hills blog.

14H: We published your story, Let Me, in our volume 16.1, because we felt it raised some interesting questions. We are curious about what inspired the story, and what it is about your characters that make them work so well.

MP: I think I hinted at the inspiration (if that's the right word) at the reading. I've lived in some places with thin walls. Twice, I've lived next to some seriously dysfunctional types. I guess I have a hero complex, or maybe I'm just stupid, but I've made it my business to try to help these abused girls. Those attempts never worked out well. One of them was so grateful to me that she nailed me with a phone to the back of my skull. So I imagined a guy who decided not to help, and everything ran from there

14H: We couldn't help but notice that although the policeman (Timmons) and the neighbor (Sarah) are named, the protagonist himself goes unnamed. Was that a conscious choice? If so, why?

MP: The narrator's namelessness just kind of happened as I was writing. He never seemed to need one, so...

14H: Your story explores themes of loneliness, as well as the paradox of needing and offering help. At one point, the main character distills the main idea to: "“We don’t help when we need to, and we do help when none is necessary. And we can’t possibly help ourselves.” When writing this story, did you start with this idea in mind, and then construct the characters around it, or did the story come first?

MP: I came across the idea as I was writing. I start with people, and as they find their way through the maze, they usually lead me to some idea or other. I know some writers come up with an idea and shape a story around it, but I'm always afraid that if I tried it, I'd end up with some Ayn Rand cut-out characters, 100-page speeches, and a lot of lousy moralizing.

14H: You live in Florida. Perhaps coincidentally, one of the story's main scenes takes place at the beach. How important is the setting throughout?

MP: Setting's always important to me. A story with a good setting suggests knowledge of particular places and particular worlds. When a reader trusts a setting, he can begin to trust the story. Particularity, specificity--these are friends to a writer.

14H: What is your writing routine?

MP: I teach four classes and I cook on weekends, so I write whenever I can, an hour here, twenty minutes there. Some days I get a magical three-hour block. But I can't wait for them.

14H: How did you first hear about Fourteen Hills?

MP: My ex-girlfriend was very good at finding places for me to send me work. I guess this was one last nice thing she did before we said good-bye

14H: How has your career as a writing instructor influenced or affected
your writing? Or, has it at all?

MP: Teaching is like detective work. When I read a student's story, and things go awry, they always go awry in a unique way. I have to read again and search for clues in order to solve the mystery and, later, offer some advice. It's made me a much colder reader and editor of my work.

14H: Sound advice. Thank you again for contributing to Fourteen Hills, and for reading your work at our party!

Marcus Pactor is a writing instructor at the University of North Florida. His work has also appeared in Peeks and Valleys.

- Julia Jackson, Fourteen Hills staff

An Interview With Yiyun Li: Featured Content From Issue 16.1

2010-01-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

After her first novel, The Vagrants, was released, I had the honor of sitting down with Yiyun Li to discuss the book and talk a little about her writing process. Here are a few of the highlights from our interview, which is featured in the current issue of Fourteen Hills:

14H: In your short stories and in The Vagrants, parents of girls born with physical or mental handicaps, like the parents of Beibei and Nini, often wish aloud that their children were dead or had never been born. Here, wishing away children is certainly taboo. Do you take such cultural disparities into account when you are writing?

YL: Well, I think people here, probably some of them, do wish. It’s just that they don’t speak. And I think it’s more of a cultural thing, where at that time people would make those comments, but they were only meant half-heartedly. A mother would say to a child, “I wish I’d never given birth to you. You are such a trouble.” But it didn’t mean she hated her child so much. Although I think Nini’s parents did wish, in a moment, that they didn’t have her.

But I was just reading Lydia Davis, her latest book, and there was one part about a teenage boy and a teenage girl who had a baby together. The baby was prematurely born, and the grandparents, especially the boy’s mother, wished that the baby would die in the ICU. It would be so much better for everybody. Those are the kinds of things people don’t talk about in their everyday lives. Those are the things I think writers should push to know. People do have those moments of doubt. It’s important to portray. Deep inside, it’s within human nature. I don’t think we should run away from those things.

14H: The fate of girls and women in Communist China plays an important role in your work. Your female characters are martyrs, caretakers, mother heroes, and orphans, yet you often choose not to portray your female characters sympathetically. Most of the time, you do the opposite. Why?

YL: That is a very interesting observation. And I don’t mean I hate women, and of course I can’t hate women because I’m one of them. But I do think, consistently, that communism turned Chinese women into less feminine, less loving, less gentle creatures, and I’ll always believe that. Because I’ve grown up with all these women. My mother, aunties, all these people. I feel that some traditional, beautiful things they didn’t keep.

Women’s nature, as a whole, got lost in forty years of revolution, and that was a huge loss. I’m not saying women should be weak or submissive, but I’m very close to how Teacher Gu felt about these things. These beauties he really appreciated and cherished were shut up. Women were not supposed to have long hair, they were supposed to have short-cut hair and wear very neutral colors. The system was taking away feminine beauty. It is a generalization that there would be less maternal love, after all this, but that’s how I see it.

14H: A New York Times book reviewer suggested your novel was comprised of a series of horror stories, and indeed, no thread leaves your reader without a palpable sense of despair. Has your work achieved a desired effect, leaving us feeling haunted?

YL: I think that feeling haunted is one thing, and despair is another. I notice that people always talk about the horrors. I think there is a lot of humor as well, but not all the reviewers talk about those moments. To me, they are a very important part of the work, and they were very important for me to write. Because otherwise, I would have just been writing a dark, dark novel without any hope. There are actually some very funny moments. I was laughing, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Some of the reviewers picked up on the lightness. I’d say about one-sixth of reviewers picked that up, and I was very happy for them.

You can read the full interview in the most recent issue of our literary magazine, plus many wonderful stories and poems. The journal is available through Small Press Distribution, and look for it in a bookstore near you.

-Amy Glasenapp, Fourteen Hills fiction editor

Now In The Archives: Bob Hicok’s “Trying To Stay In Shape”

2010-01-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010! Here at Fourteen Hills, we’re continuing to update our online archives. As part of that process, I just read a poem that took me back to my childhood. It takes a very special and honest poem like Bob Hicok’s “Trying to Stay in Shape” to unify my experience with his storytelling.

Here’s my favorite section:

…When I was a kid
I lied and said chlorine hurt my penis
so they’d leave me to land, where I understood
breath. I hadn’t thought of that in years,
I’m cringing, hoping I’ve become
a better swimmer, better liar…

This poem has such a wonderful voice. Every line breaks and sifts down. I'm most taken with his ability to combine a surreal and witty narrative inside such concrete diction. Hicok talks of values without sounding preachy. And his confession sounds like he is simply being himself. Every time I read it, I feel as though he's talking to me.

If you want to see how Bob Hicok succeeds in the rest of the piece then check out the full poem which appeared in the Fall of ’07 in Issue 14.1. While you’re at it, look for more established and emerging writers in upcoming issues of our literary magazine!

Cheers,
R.R. Reese, Fourteen Hills staff

Fourteen Hills interviews Jill Tidman, winner of the Bambi Holmes Award, 15.2 Contributor

2009-12-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Fourteen Hills fiction editor Fernando Pujals interviewed Jill Tidman, who was awarded the Bambi Holmes award by Fourteen Hills Editor-in-Chief for her story, "This is How I Saw It", which appeared in issue 15.2, Spring 2009.

Read the entire interview on our website. Here's some highlights from the interview:

14H: How do you know when you’re reading something really, really effing great?

JT: For me, when I read the sentence three or four times before I can move on. Often, for me, it's about how people put words together, I almost can’t see the story until I’ve really seen the sentences first. I look at it through that angle and then I have to let go of the sentence structure and get into the story line.

14H: What are you working on now?

JT: Well, I did that write 50,000 words in a month thing.

14H: What was that experience like?

JT: It was crazy. I decided to write on a typewriter so I couldn’t erase anything which was liberating because I often, I mean, I can’t really move on to another page, until one page is really set. With this experiment, because of the quantity over quality aspect of it, if something wasn’t going right I just kept [writing]. I was so unattached to the outcome, and that was fantastic. The story starts in a restaurant, during a conversation over dinner.

14H: Have you gone back to it?

JT: I let it rest, and then figuring how to get it into the computer was a really nice way to review it... I didn’t have to retype all of it. I probably salvaged about two percent of each page. I was able to pull the stuff that felt like there was something to work from, so I’m stuck piecing it together, it’s fun, it’s just a new way to generate material, I guess.

14H: Is that important, to find new ways to to generate and reenter your work?

JT: Sometimes. Yes, because life gets in the way. I have a full time job, and lots of distractions it feels. If I don’t have something that’s really tugging at me, I can easily fall out of the habit so this is definitely a trick.

More from this interview on our site!

An interview with Jill Tidman by Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review fiction editor Fernando Pujals

Check out Jill Tidman's story in issue 15.2 of Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review. Issue 15.2 is virtually sold out, but we may be able to scrounge up a few copies if you contact us.

- Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review Editors

Oh What A Night: Thank You To Everyone Who Came To Our Release Party!

2009-12-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

Wow. We certainly celebrated the release of Fourteen Hills issue 16.1 with style. Or, should we say, with amazing readers, applause-happy attendees, great food, even better drink, and raffle prizes galore. A full report on the evening will be up soon, but we wanted to send a quick shout-out to all the new people who came, enjoyed, and signed our mailing list (hi!).

While you wait (breathlessly?) for our release party recap, please check out Evan Karp's full report of the event in the Examiner. He has video of all of our readers including Stephen Elliott. So even if you couldn't make it, you'll feel like you did.

When you watch the videos in Evan's story, see if you can spot the pieces that were just published in issue 16.1. They're all wonderful. We promise.

The new issue won't be in stores until 2010, but you can still order a subscription here.

-Leanne M., Fourteen Hills staff

Fourteen Hills Goes Culinary: Gourmet Menu for Wednesday's Release Party

2009-12-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

Not only do we at Fourteen Hills love showing off our contributors’ work and beautiful new issues, but we are also know a thing or two about food! In honor of issue 16.1, which we will be launching into the atmosphere tomorrow, December 16, our fabulous party at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club will feature a full gourmet menu prepared by our very own copy editor—me!

You’re in for a treat. Nothing canned, frozen or packaged is used—I make everything from scratch, and will even use ingredients from my organic garden.

The menu will be Middle East meets North Africa. I’ll be preparing classic Middle Eastern fare such as hummous, muhammara, tzatsiki and baba ghanoush, fresh falafel, pita bread and vegetables. From Turkey, I will be making Cerkes Tavugu, or Circassian braised chicken in a walnut sauce. From Afghanistan comes a pumpkin, ground beef and yogurt dish called kaddo bowrani. From North Africa, I will be making a Moroccan vegetable tagine with harissa,* and couscous.

My falafel isn’t made from a boxed mix, or even pre-made garbanzo flour. I make it starting from whole dried garbanzo beans, which I soak overnight and blend with fresh spices and herbs, then fry in trans-fat-free rice bran oil. For the tzatsiki sauce, I make the yogurt myself.

Hummus? If you’ve only ever had store-bought hummus—pasty, gritty and tasting mostly of garlic—you haven’t had hummus. I make mine starting with dry beans, soak them overnight and simmer them, then pop the tough hulls off by hand. Then I put them through a food mill and blend them until silky smooth with fresh tahini, French sea salt, a balanced amount of roasted garlic, good olive oil, fresh ground cumin seeds and lemon juice from my Meyer lemon tree out back.

I will be making tabbouli with home-grown, late-season heirloom tomatoes and fresh parsley just picked from my garden.

Kaddo bowrani is an Afghani dish made with browned and roasted pumpkin drizzled in a (homemade) yogurt sauce, then topped with ground beef cooked with fresh turmeric root, coriander, tomato paste and garlic. I will be using one of my homegrown Musquée de Provence pumpkins for this dish.

Muhammara is a dip originally from Syria, made of roasted red peppers, walnuts, bread crumbs, oil and pomegranate molasses. It has gentle sweetness from the red peppers cut with a touch of heat from red pepper flakes, earthiness from the ground walnuts, and a pleasing texture. I make my own pomegranate molasses by simmering a bottle of POM pomegranate juice down until it is thick and syrupy, no more than 5 or 6 tablespoons. I will be using some of my homegrown peppers for this dish.

If I don’t give out from making all this fresh food, I will try to make a fabulous cake. If not, there will definitely be sweets there to complete the meal. I look forward to serving you my food at the party, so please come hungry. The party starts at 7pm.

-Janna K. Denig, Fourteen Hills Staff

*Vegan dishes include the Moroccan tagine, hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabbouli. No peanuts or peanut products will be used.

Tons of Amazing Raffle Prizes Can Be Yours at Wednesday’s Fourteen Hills’ Release Party

2009-12-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

When Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine throws a party, we like to get the whole community involved. One of our favorite parts about the biannual Fourteen Hills release parties, aside from the wonderful readers who come to share their work, is the exciting assortment of businesses who donate items for the Fourteen Hills release party raffles. This year we have an impressive selection of prizes including Clown Cabaret tickets, indie bookstore gift certificates, sock monkeys, sake, and so much more. Here's a list of participating businesses and the items they donated. We hope everyone who shops, eats, or drinks at these businesses will give them a big thank you for supporting independent literature next time you visit.

If you haven't bought your raffle tickets yet you can still buy them at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club the night of the party (Dec. 16th @ 7pm). Raffle tickets will be sold for three for $5 or one for $2. All the proceeds go to Fourteen Hills Press to help keep our non-profit journal publishing and partying for years to come!

Prizes for Writers and Bibliophiles

Free 1000 Word Translation English to Spanish, from Auerbach International (no poetry please- Fiction/nonfiction only).

$40 Gift Certificate to Pegasus and Pendragon bookstores. There are three bookstore locations where this gift certificate can be redeemed, so take a break from SF and make a trip to the East Bay!

Pegasus Books: 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 525-6888
Pegasus Books Downtown: 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA (510) 649-1320
Pendragon Books: 5560 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618, (510) 652-6259

$25 Gift Card for University Press Books, “In Berkeley, a place for books, people, and minds on fire” 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 ph: (510) 548-0585

$25 Gift Card for Half Price Books, a nationwide chain of used bookstores, selling books, music, movies and more! There are three stores in the Bay Area - Fremont, Berkeley and Concord. The gift card is good at all stores nationwide and never expires.

$10 Gift Certificate for West Portal Bookshop, a locally-owned, independent bookstore located in the heart of the West Portal neighborhood, just two blocks down from the West Portal MUNI Station. Check out their website for special promotions, events, and readings.

Three-Pack of limited edition, full-color illustrated books by Omnibucket. Prize includes: The Book of CLAV, God's Acre, Eleventy Billion Miles Away (complete with sound track!)

New hardcopy of David Carr's memoir, Night of the Gun, a book written by an investigative journalist who decides to report on his own life as a former drug addict.

Prizes to Entertain You

Free Tickets to Clown Cabaret at the Climate Theater, 1st Monday in the month of recipient's choosing, 7pm showing ($30 value). Climate Theater is located at 285 9th Street. At the corner of 9th and Folsom in San Francisco.

Free Movies from Four-Star Video, SF DVD/video rental place in Bernal Heights. Prize is for a one-month subscription (called "Kenflix," a la Netflix, where you can rent a certain number of movies for a flat rate in a one-month period--estimated value: $25-30) OR credit for five movie rentals.

Two Tickets to Jewish Theatre San Francisco, a hip little theater located in the Mission that features new plays by Jewish writers or utilizing Jewish themes. That said, it is an expertly run place that wants new audience members of any denomination and background. They often feature one "pay-as-you-can" night for students for every performance.

Prizes to Eat, Drink, and Be Merry With

Private Wine Tasting for 10 at Periscope Cellars Winery. You and 9 guests will tour Periscope Cellars, a leader of the Urban Wine Revolution. Winemaker Brendan Elasion will guide you through a barrel tasting from the previous harvest as well as his award-winning current releases. Operating out of a WWII submarine repair facility, Periscope Cellars works with small, family growers with a focus on hands-on growing and wine making to yield wines of unique character and quality.

$25 Gift Card for the Missouri Lounge, located at 2600 San Pablo Ave (between Carleton St & Parker St), Missouri Lounge is the hippest bar in Berkeley, offering: steak/chicken/sausage/pork/veggie hoagies, kabobs, ribs, full bar, dancing, djs, outdoor/indoor venue.

$15 Gift Certificates (2) for Mercury Café, donated by owner, Nick Parker. Mercury Café is located at 201 Octavia Street, SF in Hayes Valley, is a beautiful space with high ceilings and art by Hal Robins. They serve excellent coffee from De La Paz Rosters in the Mission. They also have Bridgeport IPA on draft, and a really nice house Chianti. They serve mostly organic foods, house-made pies, and the owner plays great music.

Free Entrance for Two + 2 Drink Tickets for 222 Hyde, a nightclub featuring a full bar, small plates, appetizers, and handmade gourmet pizzas, as well as one of the best sound systems in San Francisco. Hosting some of the finest DJs in the world in their basement lounge, this recently renovated nightspot has consistently been a Yelp and local favorite since opening its doors in 2004.

$25 Gift Card from Specialty's Cafe & Bakery, with numerous locations throughout the Bay Area including 8 in San Francisco.

1 Bottle of Gekkeikan Sake, from their state-of-the-art brewing facility in Folsom, Cali.

Fresh Roasted Beans from Four Barrel Coffee. The lucky winner of this raffle prize will receive hand-picked & roasted coffee beans from the newest member of San Francisco's coffee elite. Four Barrel Coffee is at 375 Valencia Street @ 15th.

$10 Certificate for Peet's Coffee & Tea, the premier specialty coffee and tea company in the United States. Peet's buys the highest quality beans in the world, artisan roasts every bean by hand to order, and delivers all of its coffee quickly for superior freshness no matter where it is sold.

$10 Gift Certificate for Starbucks, inspiring and nurturing the human spirit— one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.

Prizes Both Artful and Heartful

$200 gift certificate towards a purchase from Dark Garden Corsetry and Couture Using the finest fabrics, Dark Garden's amazingly talented craftspeople skillfully build each corset and couture garment.

$25 Gift Card for Under One Roof, the only non-profit retail store of its kind in the entire world, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for San Francisco Bay Area men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS.

Super Sock Monkeys by Becky: 100% handmade, unique plush animal

Metal United States Map (valued at $125) from Copper Leaf Studios. This metal artwork was created using a non-acid etching process and environmentally-friendly materials whenever possible. The designs are a mixture of organic and geometric, and the colors and textures are like a good cup of tea – sometimes rich, sometimes soothing, but perfectly satisfying in small, thoughtful doses.

-Keely, Fourteen Hills staff

Hear Fourteen Hills 16.1 Contributor Rae Freudenberger Friday on Pirate Cat Radio

2009-12-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Rae Freudenberger, whose poem “Red Light, Green Light” appears in the upcoming issue of Fourteen Hills, will read her work Friday, Dec. 11, at 3 p.m. on 87.9 FM, San Francisco’s Pirate Cat Radio. You can listen live at www.piratecatradio.com.

Rae lives in San Francisco and is a recent grad of S.F. State’s MA program. She is the winner of the Denise L. Scott Memorial Poetry Contest and has been published in various journals including L.A. Miscellany and S.F. State’s own Transfer.

You can also see Rae read at the Fourteen Hills release party, Wednesday, Dec. 16, along with several other contributors to the new issue as well as Stephen Elliot, author of The Adderall Diaries. The party starts 7 p.m. at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club, Folsom and 18th streets. RSVP on Facebook if you'll be able to join us. See you there.

-Leigh Ann D., Fourteen Hills staff

2009 Winner of the Bambi Holmes Award for Emerging Writers: Bay Area Writer, Jill Tidman's “This Is How I Saw It”

2009-12-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Fourteen Hills has selected Bay Area writer, Jill Tidman’s story, "This is How I Saw It" from Issue 15.2 of the journal as the winner of the Bambi Holmes Award for Emerging Writers.

By a generous donation from the family of Bambi Holmes (1946-1996), an annual literary award has been established to continue her lifelong patronage of aspiring writers.

The Holmes Award honors an emerging fiction writer published in Fourteen Hills during the year with a cash prize of $500 — “emerging” defined as not having published a book-length work as of yet. Each year (when funds are available), the Editor in Chief selects a story published in the Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall issues to receive the Holmes Award in Prose.

If you were one of the many who attended the Fourteen Hills reading at this year’s San Francisco LitCrawl, then you had a chance to see Jill Tidman perform her piece in person. If you didn’t make the event, you can still hear her memorable performance right here.

Of course, you can also buy the issue containing her short story at any of these bookstores nationwide, or directly from Fourteen Hills.

All work published in Fourteen Hills will be considered for the award; no special entry is required. For details on submitting, visit www.14hills.net.

Since Issue 16.1 will be out in just a few weeks, you may be able to spot the next recipient of the Holmes Award within its pages. We look forward to hearing what you think.

-Leanne M., Fourteen Hills staff

The Fourteen Hills Release Party: Here’s How To Get Your Friends to Attend

2009-12-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons to attend the Fourteen Hills Fall 2009 Release Party, but no reason to go alone. It is never hard to convince a fellow writer to go to a literary reading. Readings are a great source of inspiration, a grand opportunity for social networking, and a better resource than craigslist for potential hot dates.

However, speaking from experience, it can be tough to get your nonliterary (AKA employed) friends jazzed up about a literary event. The important thing to remember is that the Fourteen Hills Fall 2009 Release Party, coming up on Wednesday, December 16, is a party, and a free one at that. It just happens to feature up-and-coming writers reading their work.

Fabulous Fourteen Hills contributors are flying in from all over the country (or walking two blocks from their apartment in the Mission) to read for you, including Rhea DeRose-Weiss, Rae Freudenberger, Austin LaGrone, Gabrielle Myers, Marcus Pactor, Marc Stone, Katie Cappello, Gregory Mahrer, Sarah Cohen Powell, and special guest Stephen Elliott, author of The Adderall Diaries. You will also have a rare chance to view the original work of our featured artists, The Pfeiffer Sisters.

But that’s not all! We’ve got the makings of a real party that will have you rubbing your eyes and downing coffee on Thursday morning. Throughout the evening, DJ Martin Hodge will be spinning dance music so you can get your groove on. There will be delicious homemade food, a chance to purchase current and back issues, and best of all, tons and tons of amazing raffle prizes!

Raffle tickets are just $2 each or three for $5. Prizes include but are not limited to: A private wine tasting for 10 at Periscope Cellars Winery, free movies from Four Star Video, limited edition books by Omibucket, tickets to Clown Cabaret, Jewish Theatre SF, and 222 Hyde, gift certificates from Mercury Café, Under One Roof, and Half Price Books, assorted handmade Sock Monsters, a $200 custom corset from Dark Garden, and many, many more!

Still not convinced? Well on top of a chance to hear this great group of writers, dance the night away, and win amazing prizes, the Fourteen Hills Release Party is being held in the San Francisco Motorcycle club, one of the most unique venues in the city. Take a look at pictures from last year’s event.

The San Francisco Motorcycle Club was founded in 1904 and is the oldest motorcycle club on the West Coast. The clubhouse has been in this very spot for sixty-five years, and is plenty spacious enough to hold the large crowd of eager partiers we expect on December 16.

Wednesday, December 16th
7 pm to 1 am
San Francisco Motorcycle Club
2194 Folsom Street (at 18th St.), SF

RSVP on Facebook

We hope that you and your friends will be part of the fun.

-Stephen R., Fourteen Hills staff

The Michael Rubin Book Award Predicts Great Careers In Writing: A Look At Past Winners

2009-12-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

While the writer’s life is generally occupied by glamour and celebrity, we all know that there are certain challenges, for example, finishing your book. Then there’s the smallish chore of getting it published.

In his debut collection, D.W. Lichtenberg proved his immense literary talent: The Ancient Book of Hip, released November 18, 2009, was the recipient of the 2009 Michael Rubin Book Award. Established in honor of beloved professor Michael Rubin, the award is funded by the San Francisco State University Creative Writing Program. The winning work is selected by an independent writer or editor and is published annually by Fourteen Hills Press. Each year the award alternates between books of poetry and fiction.

The honor of winning the Michael Rubin Book Award (MRBA) extends beyond publication. If part of the point of an award is to herald new talent, the Michael Rubin Book Award seems to predict future success as well. In winning the award, D.W. Lichtenberg joins a long list of recipients who, since winning, have continued to produce works of acclaim, and establish thriving writing lives.

Past recipients include Kate Small, who in 1999 won the Michael Rubin Book Award for The Gap in the Letter C, a “fierce, tender, reckless, precise, alarming, loveley, and unforgettable” collection of eleven short stories (says Michelle Carter). Along with the Michael Rubin Book Award, Small won the Lorian Hemingway prize, a Vogelstein Foundation grant, and in 2002 she received one of 21 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships for prose. Her work has appeared in Nimrod, Prism International, The Boston Review, The Madison Review, and in the anthology Best New American Voices, edited by Tobias Wolff.

Part of what makes Small’s writing so inspiring is the diversity of perspectives and experiences she delves into, and the places and ways she finds her inspiration. Among her more recent projects is Maximum Sunlight, inspired by three days at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC. “I watched people come and go,” she says, describing the project. “I became fascinated by the intimate, confrontational aspect of Maya Lin's Wall: one must go close to read its texts, and in so doing, face one's own reflection in the polished granite. The wall's visitor's are various, but published writing which explores their relationship with it, isn't. I hope that Mira, its speaker, will put some pressure on the phenomenon of 'compassion fatigue' in America.”

In 2009, Robin Romm published the memoir The Mercy Papers. It was the New York Times Editor’s Choice Book and it received an A grade from Entertainment Weekly. Her 2007 collection of stories The Mother Garden was a finalist for the PEN USA prize and won the Northern California Independent Booksellers Book of the Year Award. It all began in 2005, when she won the Michael Rubin Book Award for her first collection of stories, The Tilt, which acclaimed writer Brian Evenson described as “a startling first collection.” Many of the stories in The Tilt later appeared in The Mother Garden, her first major publication.

These days, Romm lives in New Mexico with her boyfriend and writer Don Waters, and their cattle dog, Mercy. She shares her wisdom and imparts her talents to her students in the MFA writing program at New Mexico State University. Readers can find more of her fabulous work in numerous national journals including Threepenny Review, One Story, and Tin House, as well as many anthologies.

Past winner Jenny Pritchett was twice honored in 2008: her debut collection, At or Near the Surface, won the 2008 Michael Rubin Book Award, judged by Tin House managing editor Holly MacArthur, and her story “Bugaboo” was selected by Steve Almond for the Best of the Web 2008 anthology from Dzanc Books. Her work has appeared in Southwest Review, Northwest Review, Boulevard, Salt Hill, and Fiction Attic. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Jenny lives and teaches here in San Francisco, offering classes available to the public at the Writing Salon.

Poet, playwright, writer and songwriter Elizabeth Treadwell won the 1997 MRBA for her work Eleanor Ramsey: the Queen of Cups. She has published seven books and seven chapbooks. Along with these prolific literary credentials, her work includes music and performance pieces. Treadwell wrote the lyrics for the song JoLynn, performed by Molly Symns and her band, co-wrote the lyrics for Yolanda with Paul Jackson, performed by Stiff Richards. She wrote the play La Gnossienne and co-authored the screenplay Nonstop with Carol Treadwell.

Stay tuned for a post about the Michael Rubin Book Award submission guidelines, an award open to the student body of San Francisco State University. Anticipate an early 2010 submission deadline. In the meantime, dive in and read some of the great writing from past award winners.

-Nina, Fourteen Hills staff

Thanks To Fourteen Hills Archives: Ray Bradbury’s “What I Do Is Me – For That I Came”

2009-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

We’re here today to give thanks to cranberries, football, and poetry from great prose writers.

In the Fall of 1999, one of our editors commissioned a poem from the legendary science fiction short story writer and author of “Fahrenheit 451.” Proving to everyone that sometimes all you have to do is ask, Mr. Ray Bradbury sent Fourteen Hills a special poem from his collection. (Did you realize The Collected Poems of Ray Bradbury was published in 1982? Neither did we.)

And boy, was it special. “What I Do Is Me – For That I Came” is an ode to Gerard Manley Hopkins (the man who penned Pied Beauty – “Glory be to God for dappled things”).

From the first line to the last, Bradbury’s ode is a very … unusual … celebration of the Victorian poet. He seems to be commemorating the miraculous fusing of genes that created a literary genius

Here’s the way the poem ends. See for yourself how even a master of words can occasionally fail to wow:

Ten thousand futures share your blood each instant;
Each drop of blood a cloned electric twin of you.
In merest wound on hand read replicas of what I planned and knew
Before your birth, then hid it in your heart.
No part of you that does not snug and hold and hide
The self that you will be if faith abide.
What you do is thee. For that I gave you birth.
Be that. So be the only you that’s truly you on Earth.

Dear Hopkins. Gentle Manley. Rare Gerard. Fine Name.
What we do is us. Because of you. For that we came.

To read the full poem, and make your own judgments, visit Issue 6.1. And stay tuned as we continue to highlight forgotten gems from our literary magazine’s archives.

Happy thanksgiving, dear readers.

-Leanne M., Fourteen Hills staff

"Ordinary Genius" and "Lucifer at the Starlight" out now from contributor Kim Addonizio

2009-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Oakland resident and prolific poet Kim Addonizio, who had her first publication right here in our literary magazine, in issue 4.2, has released two books this year.

One is her fifth collection of poems, titled Lucifer at the Starlite, and the other is a book on craft for struggling and beginning poets, called Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within.

Ordinary Genius has received much praise since its release in Spring 2009. Lucifer at the Starlite was released in September, and the San Diego Union-Tribune called it a lyrically intense collection from “one of the nation’s most provocative and edgy poets.” You can read the title poem from the collection here.

Addonizio is also the author of at least nine other books including a novel in verse and The Poet’s Companion. Of writing books on craft, she says in a radio interview for New Letters with Robert Stewart, that her own writing is informed by reading other poets: “I read something that interests me and then I try to figure out how it works and then I try to show somebody else how it works... How do I learn what I learn, and how do I translate that to somebody else?”

If you live in the Bay Area, you can catch Addonizio on December 1 at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park (more info here) and on December 16, 7 pm, at By the Bay Studio in Sausalito (more info here).

If you’re outside the Bay Area, you can hear Kim read January 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., or January 21, 7:30 p.m. at Seattle Arts and Lectures, Ilsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Seattle, WA. She is a passionate and musical reader and I highly recommend grabbing any opportunity you get to see her in person.

-Leigh Ann, Fourteen Hills staff

Our Own D.W. Lichtenberg: Too Cool to be “Hip”

2009-11-20T00:59:00.000-08:00

San Francisco’s Space Gallery was a sea of hipster sunglasses last night at the release party of D.W. Lichtenberg’s first book, The Ancient Book of Hip. The sunglasses are just one of Lichtenberg’s ironic gimmicks, in addition to his signature baseball caps and poems stuffed into tiny envelopes. At one point, he asked his audience to put on their glasses and pose for a photo.

“Does anybody have a digital camera I can use?” he asked. “Man, you guys look so cool.” And, just like that, our very own D.W. had spun hipsterdom on its own sarcastic head. “Just so you know, the book’s name and introduction are bullshit. If you didn’t get that, well then, you didn’t get the book.”

The evening started with an introduction given by Matthew Clark Davison, Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine’s advisor and lecturer at San Francisco State University. Fourteen Hills Editor-in-Chief Christopher Hayter described the Michael Rubin Book Award, which is awarded to one SFSU creative writing student each year, and emphasized how hard Lichtenberg worked to write, edit, and market his own work.

“This guy is a marketing whiz,” Hayter said. “He wrote the book while living in New York, and since then has created his own website, found his own illustrator, designed the book’s layout, and lined up readings both in California and on the East Coast. If you want to learn anything about writing your own book and getting it out there, buy Dan a beer and get his thoughts.”

Hollie Hardy, one of Fourteen Hills Literary Magzine’s poetry editors, introduced Lichtenberg’s illustrator, David Gerbstadt, who had flown out from Philadelphia to wallpaper the Space Gallery in original artwork, all created specifically for that night. Gerbstadt had prepared more than 300 drawings, all of which were sold for $1. Many of the smaller drawings were done on pages from discarded library books.

Other presenters included fellow poetry editor Tera Ragan, who introduced poet Tess Patalano. Patalano, who is in her second year at SFSU's creative writing program, shared a series of poems, including a pantoum about a renegade bull at an illicit New York rodeo. She was followed by Fourteen Hills contributor Truong Tran, who is a poet, visual artist, and teacher. Lichtenberg worked as a teaching assistant in Tran’s Poetry Workshop last year, and so Tran decided to honor him in two ways: first, with a new baseball cap, and second, with a piece called A Mix Tape For Daniel Lichtenberg.

“I wanted to gather a mix tape that spoke to this new generation of writers,” said Tran after the event. “Dan is a part of that generation.”

When asked how he felt about working with Lichtenberg on the book, Gerbstadt replied that he was “...so honored that he picked me for the cover, and that I got to come all the way out here for his first reading.” Gerbstadt survived a harrowing accident with a semi, which Lichtenberg references in Poem for Dave Gerbstadt.

“Next time I see him, I am gonna give him a high five,” Lichtenberg read from the poem as he walked across the floor to the artist and offered him his hand.

All in all, The Ancient Book of Hip release party was a rousing success. By the end of the night, the Space Gallery was teeming with Lichtenberg’s supporters in sunglasses, eagerly buying Gerbstadt’s art right off the walls. And this was just the first in a series of reading events Lichtenberg has planned from coast to coast; for more information on future readings, check out his website.

Something tells us that this is just the beginning of something far hipper than even D.W.L. has yet to imagine.

--Julia, Fourteen Hills staff

Three more reasons to attend "The Ancient Book of Hip" Release Party: Poets Truong Tran and Tess Patalano, and Artist David Gerbstadt

2009-11-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Besides hearing D.W. Lichtenberg read from his Michael Rubin Award-winner The Ancient Book of Hip, attending Wednesday’s Fourteen Hills Press-sponsored release party also affords you a chance to hear an up-and-coming Bay Area poet and a respected writer, and to take home a work of art for next to nothing.

First on the evening’s agenda is Tess Patalano. Tess received her BA in Creative Writing from Hamilton College in New York and will receive her MA in Creative Writing (poetry) from San Francisco State (a program that has produced many fabulous writers, if I do say so myself). Her poetry emphasizes the beautifully uncomfortable aspects of life. She reads at Wide Open Mic at San Francisco State the first and last Wednesdays of every month and at Brainwash Cafe Open Mic on Monday nights in San Francisco.

Second to read will be Truong Tran. Truong has five collections of poetry and a children’s book to his name, and was awarded the San Francisco Poetry Center Book Prize in 2002 for dust and conscience. Claire Light, in a review for KQED, said of his most recent work: “’Four letter words’ is the most resoundingly accomplished of all of Tran's books; every piece is a new effort, every page offers a new angle.” Truong is also a visual artist and was featured in Fourteen Hills 15.1. You can check out his art at g nourtnart.com. Truong teaches creative writing at San Francisco State and Mills College.

On display will be works by Pennsylvania-based artist David Gerbstadt, who created the cover for The Ancient Book of Hip. Gerbstadt sees art in everything around him and uses whatever’s within reach to make his colorful, ecstatic multimedia pieces. Gerbstadt also has an incredible life story (he survived miraculously after being hit by a truck while riding his bike in 2007) and a viral YouTube presence. You can check him out on MySpace and YouTube. Gerbstadt’s art will be for sale and there's no way you can't afford to take some home. He believes in sharing art, and used to leave his creations in public places for the taking. He now rarely charges more than 10 dollars for a piece; his MySpace page advertises everything for a dollar.

Doors open at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18 at Space Gallery, 1141 Polk Street, San Francisco. Cost is $10 (for a good cause) and includes a free book, three amazing performances, killer art, and a DJ set. RSVP now on Facebook. (21 and older, please.)

See you there!

-- Leigh Ann D., Fourteen Hills staff

A response to HTML Giant's blog post: "Fourteen Hills, WTF?"

2009-11-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

As editors of a small, mostly-student-run publication produced in the context of a university course, as much as we hate to say it, the staff of Fourteen Hills sometimes makes mistakes. Recently, we were called out on one of our favorite lit blogs, HTML GIANT, in their post "Fourteen Hills, WTF?" for mailing a form rejection letter to an author more than two years after we received the submission.

Here's the story: About a month ago, the current editors of Fourteen Hills were cleaning the office and found a bag of sealed, self-addressed envelopes buried under a pile of back issues. This bag had been misplaced or lost in the shuffle by former editors of the magazine (an editor-in-chief at Fourteen Hills stays EIC for a max of one year). But now it was two years later, and our editors had two options:

1) Throw out the bag and pretend it didn't exist. Letters get lost in the mail all the time.

2) Add a few extra cents of postage to each letter and drop them in the mailbox.

The editors chose the latter. The number of letters was substantial, so writing a personal note to each writer while under the deadlines for our current issue and our single-author book didn't seem feasible. Our managing editor explains: "We often get emails from writers wondering about the status of submissions. Even though we weren't on staff when some of these people submitted, we still do our best to try to track the submissions down and respond. In this case, we think it was better to respond really late than never."

"Perhaps we should've written apologies to each of the writers whose envelopes were in that bag," says Matthew Clark Davison, who has been the Faculty Advisor for the magazine for the past two years. "We've really come a long way in implementing systems to make sure the people who consider us for their creative writing are treated as well, if not better, than the authors published in the bigger publications. The magazine also exists in the context of an MFA course, there are a lot of hands in the process. Fourteen Hills receives hundreds of submissions per month and given the context, we have a great record of responding according to our published turnaround times. Once in a while, however, something slips. We offer this as more of an explanation than an excuse, and we're sorry if the authors who took the time to send us their work were offended by our over/under sight."

The current budget crisis with public education in California has been well-publicized. To offer some perspective, since 1994, Fourteen Hills has been operating with the same university-funded annual budget of $7,000.

Most Universities (like Emerson College, University of Iowa, Georgia, Massachusetts) who produce, distribute, and promote books have full-time staffs. They pay graphic designers. They have office support and up-to-date equipment provided by the university. 90% of our magazine is put together by unpaid students who have an interest in learning the process. Fourteen Hills pays one graduate student to take on all of the above-described responsibilities and run a class.

Additionally, Fourteen Hills Press, out of the same budget and labor force, produces and promotes a book of one of the University's most promising students each year. While university funding for this publication has been cut, the staff and students have kept publishing it because we really do believe that what we do makes a difference in the lives of writers.

For comparison's sake, Fourteen Hills recently interviewed a staff member at Ploughshares, Emerson College's literary magazine that also offers a first-book award to one of their contributors (essentially they do what we at Fourteen Hills do).

* The staff person said they operated on an annual budget of $260,000 (and at the time of the interview were in negotiations for an increase).
* At the time the staff member reported that they had two full-time salaried employees that are able to apply for additional funding grants.

Fourteen Hills is operating a budget $253,000 less than Ploughshares. Yet, because of our efforts, our authors have won many of the same awards as theirs. Because of the quality of our contributors' work, we also receive close to the same number of submissions as our sister publications, and we haven't always been prepared for the ever-increasing demand.

The staff recently implemented a new system to track every submission and follow-up communication. "It's a lot of work," says Managing Editor Dan Lichtenberg, "but we do it so these things won't happen in the future, when we are no longer on staff."

If you were one of the writers to receive a form rejection letter from us two years after the fact, please let us know and we'll send you any back issue we have in stock. Your choice. And please accept our deepest apologies. In the meantime, submit again. We'll get back to you. We promise.

-Fourteen Hills Editors

We Won! Fourteen Hills’ D.W. Lichtenberg Takes Home Title of Literary Death Match SF Champion!

2009-11-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

You are a spectacle; a roving, plodding panther on the stage. It takes balls to turn your back on the crowd, said performance judge, cartoonist Michael Capozzola, when discussing D.W. Lichtenberg’s mesmerizingly raw reading at Literary Death Match SF on Friday night.

D.W. Lichtenberg read a short story called Jason Look about an aimless twenty-something who breaks up with his girlfriend, quits his job, and goes on a gum-shoplifting, chain-smoking bender; all in the name of reclaiming his story.

Shoving stick after stick of Juicy Fruit Gum into his mouth while pacing in circles across the stage, Lichtenberg kept judges and audience alike in a constant state of suspense over what would happen next, both in the story and on stage. Several judges later confessed that the performance had kept them in a constant state of anxiety over whether Lichtenberg would finally trip over his microphone cord and tumble off the stage.

Such worries were thankfully unfounded as Lichtenberg did not falter, neither in his footing nor in his performance in the competition.

Lichtenberg beat out Seth Harwood, author of the novel Jack Wakes Up, in a head-to-head reading competition. He then cemented his victory by besting Charlie Haas, Oakland journalist and author of the novel The Enthusiast in a rousing game of musical chairs.

D.W. Lichtenberg, one of the youngest readers ever to perform at Literary Death Match, is now the youngest reader to have won the competition (pending fact-check; 23 at official time of victory).

If you missed Literary Death Match SF, you can view videos from the match posted by Evan Karp over at Examiner.com.

You can also see D.W. Lichtenberg perform this Wednesday at the Space Gallery at 1141 Polk St. in San Francisco at the release party for his new book, The Ancient Book of Hip. DWL will be doing some other bay-area readings, found at: http://www.dwlichtenberg.com/readings

-Keely, Fourteen Hills Staff

Fourteen Hills' D.W. Lichtenberg Battles It Out At Literary Death Match San Francisco

2009-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

This Friday, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to witness the most anticipated word-to-word match in the history of professional literature, the Literary Death Match Championship of San Francisco.

Are you ready? Literature fans, are you ready? For the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world, from the literary capitol of the world, San Francisco, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble.

Your judges for tonight’s contest will be Porchlight’s Arline Klatte, cartoonist Michael Capozzola, and Opium’s Todd Zuniga.

And now, on your feet, time to greet your home-town poet, D. W. Lichtenberg, from San Francisco State University, representing Fourteen Hills Press, by way of New York and Philadelphia. He is 23 years old, the author of The Ancient Book of Hip, and the winner of the 2009 Michael Rubin Book Award.

And now ladies and gentlemen, from the Elbo Room, let’s get ready to rumble!

(O.K., fine. So maybe San Francisco's Literary Death Match is an event that's been happening
once a month since 2006. Still, it isn't every month that Fourteen Hills gets to root for one of its own.)

Here's the info. Be there and cheer loud!

DATE: Friday, November 13, 2009

TIME: Doors open at 6:30pm, show at 7:15 p.m.

LOCATION: The Elbo Room, 647 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA

-Robert, Fourteen Hills staff

A Tribute to Virgil Saurez, Leading Cuban American Writer Published In Fourteen Hills Vol. 7.2

2009-11-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

I was recently flipping through the pages of a back issue of Fourteen Hills. And what did I find? The work of Virgil Suarez, a poet whose work I have admired for many years. Being a writer of color
myself, I was already blown away at what emerging writers of color were being printed in Fourteen Hills. But seeing the renowned Cuban-American writer had me smiling even more. Virgil Suarez is one of the leading poets in the Cuban American community. He has been nominated for five Pushcart prizes, won the Latino Literature Hall of Fame Poetry Prize, has held a fellowship with the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been published in Best American Poetry.

In Suarez's piece Dona Inez’s Abecedarion Del Amor, he entertains readers with his musical voice.

Absence is her daily companion
by the porch swing, white walls

clandestine doves on the eaves
diurnal in their love making

The music in his verse is something reminiscent of Nicholas Guillen, except Virgil Suarez already comes to us in English. His simple verses and practiced cadence act like musical notes tuned by the strings of his heart and mind. You can read this piece for yourself in the archives on 14hills.net, volume 7.2, and you can purchase the issue for only $5.00 including s&h direct from us. It's also available at Small Press Distribution. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I did when I discovered him in Fourteen Hills.

For more info on Suarez, visit poets.org .

-Robert, Fourteen Hills staff

Book Release Party: The Ancient Book of Hip by D.W. Lichtenberg!

2009-11-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

On November 18th, D.W. Lichtenberg will read from The Ancient Book of Hip, recipient of the 2009 Michael Rubin Book Award, judged by poet John Skoyles. Described as an exploration into the phenomenon of hip, the book is a case study, a documentation, a journaling, a bunch of poems about girls, sex, cigarettes, PBR and everything else that is the world of hip. The book will be released by Fourteen Hills Press on Nov. 18, 2009.

WHERE: The Space Gallery SF, 1141 Polk St. (at Sutter St.)
WHEN: November 18, 2009 Doors at 7PM
HOW MUCH: $10.00 · Admission includes free copy of book
WHO: Everyone 21+
WHAT ELSE: Guest readers Truong Tran and Tess Patalano. Artwork by David Gerbstadt. DJ sets by DJ Ty Styx and DJ Snow Crash.

D.W.L. Hails from the Main Line of Philadelphia. He attended NYU where he studied film. His credits include associate editor on feature film Fifth Form, and camera operator on feature documentary Fool in a Bubble. He is the author of the bestselling unwritten novel I Ate Too Much For Dinner But I Always Have Room For Curmudgeon. The Ancient Book of Hip is his debut collection.

The Michael Rubin Book Award is awarded annually in honor of former SFSU professor Michael Rubin. Funded by SFSU's creative writing department, Fourteen Hills Press releases a book of fiction or poetry, alternating each year, judged by an independent writer or editor.

If you didn't make it out to see D.W.L. perform at Lit Crawl this year, we expect to see you next Wednesday for the book release party!

-Stephen Rosenshein, Fourteen Hills staff

Recent contributor is now "Shoplifting from American Apparel"

2009-11-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Prepare yourself for a thirteen-second introduction to the world of Tao Lin:

Fourteen Hills published Lin's short story Cull the Steel Heart, Melt the Ice One, Love the Weak in Volume 12.2. His poetry, short story collections, and novellas reflect an emerging trend in the Fourteen Hills aesthetic: he knows how to spin "hip" on its head.

Lin is a 26-year-old New York writer whose latest novella, Shoplifting from American Apparel , was published by Melville House Publishing in September. To get a taste of his irreverent voice, read this exclusive excerpt he published on the blog Hipster Runoff.

A Florida native, Lin migrated to New York to study and write. In 2007, his first short story collection Bed and novel Eeeee Eee Eeee were published simultaneously. His 2008 poetry collection Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been used in college psychology courses around the country. (You can read the first seven pages on the website. Sample passage: "the secret of life is that i miss you, and this describes life / tonight my heart feels shiny and calm as a soft wet star / i describe it from a distance, then move quickly away")

Although his work has been described as "Camus' The Stranger or sociopath?", moody, funny, and revolutionary, his imperceptible sense of irony is consistent throughout. His word choice is deliberate, a snapshot into the internet chat generation. In a Bookslut interview, Lin admits that he loves the trickery of titles like Eeeee Eee Eeee, or his personal blog, whose url is the mischievious http://heheheheheheheeheheheehehe.com/. As with any new media-savvy writer, he can also be found on Twitter and Tumblr.

If you live in New York and want to witness his personal style in action, stop by his next reading at Center for Performance Research in Williamsburg on Wednesday, November 11, at 8 pm.

To read his Fourteen Hills piece, visit our archives. Back issues are available for only $5.

-Julia, Fourteen Hills Staff

Vol. 1.1 contributor, Bay Area Poet Gillian Conoley, Reads From Her Latest Work

2009-11-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

It was Fall 1995 when we released Fourteen Hills Volume 1.1. And one of the poets featured in our inaugaural issue was Gillian Conoley, the current poet in residence at Sonoma State University. This week, she's reading all over the Bay Area to promote her seventh book of poetry, The Plot Genie.

The title for The Plot Genie comes from a plot-generating device invented in the 1930s by former silent screenwriter, Wycliffe A. Hill. The plot genie was a cardboard spinning wheel with the numbers one through 180 printed on its rim, and an accompanying list to tell you what character trait or plot twist each number corresponded to. Conoley’s book is written from the perspective of film characters, some familiar (Frankenstein makes an appearance) and some invented, who are waiting to have their personalities and futures dialed up for them. As the narrative progresses, the plot genie itself becomes a character in the narrative, a force that rules the other characters, and is yet, itself a tool of chance and thus not fully culpable for its actions. For more information on The Plot Genie, visit the Omnidawn Press website.

This November, Bay Area residents have four opportunities to hear Conoley read her work:

Date: 11/06/09
Time: Doors open at 7pm; Reading is at 7:30pm
Location: Studio One Art Gallery, 365 45th St., Oakland, CA
Event & Participants: Studio One Reading Series featuring Gillian Conoley & Shannan Tharpe with music by Utrillo Kushner.
Find more event details here.

Date: 11/10/09
Time: 7pm
Location: Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Road, Berkeley
Event & Participants: Onmidawn Book Party featuring Gillian Conoley, Bin Ramke, Donald Revell, Michelle Taransky, & Richard Greenfield
Find more event details here.

Date: 11/13/09
Time: 7pm
Location: Koret Auditorium of the deYoung Museum of Fine Art, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Event & Participants: The deYoung Poetry Series featuring Gillian Conoley & Rae Armantrout
Find more event details here.

Date: 11/14/09
Time: 7pm
Location: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera
Event & Participants: Celebration of W.W. Norton Anthology, American Hybrid
featuring Gillian Conoley, Paul Hoover, Stephen Ratcliffe, Martha Ronk, & Carol Snow
Find more event details here.

And don't forget you can always order back issues direct from us for only $5.00. Download the form here and request Volume 1.1.

-Keely, Fourteen Hills Staff

Shadows, Ghosts, and Throats, Oh My!

2009-10-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Halloween with a spooky poem from our archives!

Here in the Bay Area the days are getting shorter, the air is crisper, and zombies are running wild in San Francisco. In celebration of Halloween, we at Fourteen Hills want to highlight a poem from our archives that embodies this seasonal, spooky mood. Few poems make our hair stand on end as much as Andrea Baker's "The Last Hour of Throats," originally published in Fourteen Hills Issue 13.1:

THE LAST HOUR OF THROATS

The town that cast the largest shadow

lived in its own dark grace

and elegance there concealed
the great who gathered about the war

though the rivers outside were blank and weary

and the storm doubled as regret

and everywhere the dead were in need
of boxing
even if

they were still alive

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

Whether Baker is describing a post-war ghost town or questioning what keeps us alive, her poem has a chilling effect. What elegance is there in reliving a complex past? Baker challenges readers to reevaluate who is alive and who is dead, and asks us to examine our own doubts and regrets. Or maybe—maybe these throats are a throwback to something macabre yet kitschy: vampires. Think about it: who else pays such close attention to the last hour of throats?

Baker's poems have been published all over since appearing in Fourteen Hills. You can see her work in Fence, Drunken Boat, Volt, The Denver Quarterly, and many other places. She was awarded the Poetry Society of America's Chapbook Award in 2004 for her first book, Gilda. Slope Books published her first full-length collection, Like Wind Loves a Window, in 2005. She is also a poetry editor of 3rd Bed Magazine.

If this hasn't quenched your thirst for Halloween poetry, let us know. What's your favorite ghost story? How would you describe a ghost town? And if you were a vampire, would you be watching for the last hour of throats?

Happy Haunting.

-Julia, Fourteen Hills Staff

Fourteen Hills: What's in a name?

2009-10-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

While the seven hills of early Rome figure prominently in Roman mythology and politics, the city of San Francisco seems to encourage visitors and residents to argue over how many hills fill our small city. There’s certainly a lot more than seven, and many more than fourteen.

The usually reliable Wikipedia lists forty-four hills in SF, from the lowest (Rincon Hill at 100 ft.) to the highest (Mount Davidson at 925 ft.). For pictures and a map to forty-three of those hills, visit MisterSF.

But the most complete and accurate list we’ve found identifies SEVENTY-FOUR HILLS in San Francisco and its surrounding areas (Goat Hill on Yerba Buena Island makes the list). Check it out at the SF Gazetteer.

All of this comes down to: Why is the SFSU review called Fourteen Hills? Which hills does it reference? Send in your ideas, and stay tuned for the rest of our investigation.

-Leanne M.
Fourteen Hills staff

Terese Svoboda, contributor in upcoming Fourteen Hills 16.1, has a book out in December

2009-10-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Fourteen Hills contributor Terese Svoboda never stops working. In an interview she admitted that writing was an addictive habit, something she did every day. Daily writing is a ritual many established authors claim is absolutely necessary but difficult to adhere to, as writing is often associated with existential anguish. Svoboda, who must revel in this anguish, has the hard-earned reputation of being prolific without the usual assembly line connotation. She has a multiple books slated for 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Although she is best-known for her poetry and nonfiction, she has written over one hundred short stories and is working on her sixth novel. The New Yorker, TLS (Times Literary Supplement) and Poetry have recently featured Svoboda’s poetry, and her short stories are forthcoming in One Story, Fairytale Review, Wigleaf, Sleepingfish and Freight Stories. The Movie Business, a short story by Terese Svoboda, will be featured in Fourteen Hills, Issue 16.1.

Squeezed in between the releases of All Aberration (The Contemporary Poetry Series, Sept. 1 2009), and her fifth novel, Pirate Talk or Mermalade (Dzanc Press, 2010), is the paperback release of Trailer Girl and Other Stories (December, 2009).

Trailer Girl is a collection of seventeen short stories, many of which feature nameless women who deal with life in the shadows. Her characters manipulate their own stories within Svoboda’s framework, a playground she sets up for them to tear down. Her stories are vividly imagined and often deemed “inaccessible” because they do not adhere to a familiar logic. She is known for her feverish prose and inimitable style, not for her user-friendliness. In an interview with Ms. Svoboda by David F. Hoenigman, he asks:

“What is the most misunderstood aspect of your work?”

“The words.”

The hardcover edition of Trailer Girl was released by Counterpoint (February 2001), and the paperback will be released in December of this year.

Some selections from reviews:

“Her poetic language is spare, disjointed, confusing, brilliant, and piercing, but her angst-filled tales are neither pleasant nor pretty. Hers is a dark world of vagrancy, abuse, drug addiction, and alcoholism, containing a litany of life's losers and wounded.”
- Library Journal

“Svoboda, sounding here like a cross between William S. Burroughs and Dorothy Allison, has been lauded in edgier venues like Spin and the Village Voice. While this may not be a mainstream hit, she could find an audience of more adventurous readers.”
–Publishers Weekly

“The kind of satisfaction that one gets from [Svoboda’s] stories is quick and blinding, governed more by instinct than reason.”

—Francie Lin, San Francisco Chronicle

You'll be able to read Svoboda's story, The Movie Business, when issue 16.1 of Fourteen Hills is released on December 16. Save the date for the release party at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club. See you there!

-Amy Glasenapp, Fourteen Hills Fiction Editor

Fourteen Hills Lit Crawl Wrap-up

2009-10-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

It was great to see so many new faces at the Fourteen Hills reading at the City Arts Gallery during Saturday’s LitCrawl. We love introducing new people to our magazine. We also love being paired with great magazines like Eleven Eleven.

Contributors Jenny Pritchett, D.W. Lichtenberg, and Jill Tidman rocked the mike to great applause. A few times the content veered into slightly racy territory (Jenny, we have you to thank for that), and one of our young audience members had to be escorted outside to protect her innocence. Contributing to the delinquency of minors, that’s Fourteen Hills in a nutshell. (Just kidding!)

"I'm certainly biased, but the Lit Crawl is the most fun part of Litquake,” Jenny said afterwards. “For one evening out of every year, the Mission [District of San Francisco] comes alive with fans of literature! How strange! How wonderful! Artsy types throng alleys, cafes, galleries, and bars to hear their versions of rock stars read –gasp -- poems and stories. It's a beautiful thing, and I'm honored and pleased to have been involved.” Check out Jenny's reading on Dublit.com: Jenny Pritchett reads at Lit Crawl 2009

D.W. showed off his frenetic reading style at the mike, and we asked him about his unique style. “I can use my nervous energy on stage to my benefit,” he said. “I don't rehearse. My writing aims for purity of voice, and so does my performance. Realness is the most important thing in my work. When people think I'm being brutally honest, the vulnerability of the work can hit a lot harder.” Click to listen on Dublit.com: D.W. Lichtenberg reads at Lit Crawl 2009

Jill Tidman finished the reading off with a story that's set in a bar just a few blocks from the gallery. Her publication in Fourteen Hills 15.2 was her first. "To be given a tremendous stage like Litcrawl is quite an opportunity. It's a brilliant way to bring people together through poems and stories, which have a way connecting us as physical and emotional beings—and these days it can be easy to forget that's what we are." Listen to Jill Tidman's reading on Dublit.com

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and become our fan on Facebook. That way you’ll be one of the first to know about upcoming readings and events.

See you at the next event, which will be the release of The Ancient Book of Hip by D.W. Lichtenberg on November 18, 2009 at the Space Gallery.

- Leanne M.
Fourteen Hills staff

Fourteen Hills contributor Linh Dinh releases new book: “Some Kind of Cheese Orgy”

2009-10-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Prominent Vietnamese poet and past Fourteen Hills contributor Linh Dinh has a new book out Oct. 15 from Chax Press called Some Kind of Cheese Orgy. The title alone makes me want to read it. Dinh is a writer who takes poetry just seriously enough.

“Imagine a concoction that mixes Shakespeare’s Falstaff and Celine’s Bardum, frank, rollicking humor and hair-raising disgust. After adding fish sauce, a smelly cheese and sexual sweat, shake vigorously. Out of the bottle rises Linh Dinh.” That’s poet and critic John Yau’s description of the new collection on SPD’s website (where you can buy the book for $16). If you want to sample it first, here’s the title poem of the collection.

Linh Dinh, based in Philadelphia, has already embarked on a traveling tour around the states, and our readers outside the Bay Area can catch him here:

- Chicago, October 24, 7 p.m. at Myopic Books.
- San Marcos, Texas (at Texas State University), October 27, 3 p.m. in room 315 of the Academic Services Building South. This is not a poetry reading but a discussion of Linh’s photography project, State of the Union.
- Austin, October 27, 7 p.m. at Possum Casa de Nguyn Smith, 2208 Trailside Dr. #A
- Tuscon, venue and time to be announced
- Orange County, CA, November 3, 4 p.m. at Chapman University
- Kansas City, MO, November 7, 7 p.m. at Kansas City Art Institute
- Glassboro, N.J., November 9, 7 p.m. at the Art Gallery at Westby (Rowan University)

Also, if you happen to be in Boulder, Dinh will be teaching in Naropa University’s 2010 Summer Writing Program, from June 14-20 (the entire program runs through July 11). You can get more information on that program at swpr@naropa.edu.

Next up for Linh Dinh? According to Wikivietlit, of which Dinh is editor, as of May 2009 he was working on a collection titled The Deluge: The New Vietnamese Poetry. We’ll look forward to that.

Check out Linh Dinh's work in issue 13.1 of Fourteen Hills. Buy the issue on Small Press Distribution. Take a sneak peak at one of the poems in the Fourteen Hills archives.

-Leigh Ann D.
Fourteen Hills staff

Fourteen Hills Will Be At San Francisco Litcrawl 2009!

2009-10-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 17th from 6pm -9:30pm San Francisco’s 10th annual Litquake will conclude with the most anticipated literary event of the year: Litcrawl.

Fourteen Hills wouldn’t miss it and we hope you feel the same!

During Litcrawl, for three and a half hours only, San Francisco’s Mission District will be host to dozens of writers represented by almost every major literary organization in the Bay Area. The writers and audience will be stuffed into bars, galleries, restaurants, coffee shops, and bookstores; and the readings and spoken word performances will happen more or less simultaneously. To add to the joy (and general chaos), this year’s Litcrawl will also be attended by over 20 street food vendors so you can get your gastronomical stimulation at the same time as your literary stimulation.

To provide some loose structure to the melee and to keep the crowds moving, Litcrawl has been arranged into three phases:

Phase 1 is from 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Phase 2 is from 7:15pm – 8:15pm
Phase 3 is from 8:30pm -9:30pm

Fourteen Hills will be given a reading with Eleven Eleven during Phase 2 at the City Art Gallery at 828 Valencia St.

Here is some information on the three writers reading for Fourteen Hills:

Jenny Pritchett is currently teaching classes at the San Francisco Writer’s Salon. She is the former managing editor of Fourteen Hills, and has taught or lectured at SFSU, California College of the Arts, and Ex’pression College for Digital Arts. Her debut story collection, At or Near the Surface (Fourteen Hills Press), won the 2008 Michael Rubin Chapbook Award. She has published work in Southwest Review, Northwest Review, Boulevard, Salt Hill, Fiction Attic, Best of the Web 2008 and elsewhere. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

D.W. Lichtenberg is 23 years old & living in San Francisco. He is the author of The Ancient Book of Hip (Fourteen Hills Press), an exploration into the phenomenon of hip, to be released November 2009. He is a writer, a filmmaker, a caffeine addict, an obsessive cleaner.

Jill Tidman lives in San Francisco with her posse: Wil and Izy. She is Program Director at the Redford Center and a Masters candidate at Bread Loaf School of English. She is a contributor to Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review Issue 15.2

RSVP to the event on Facebook.

We hope to see you there.

-Keely

Fourteen Hills Staff

Contributor Sherman Alexie Comes to San Francisco: See Him Live

2009-10-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

Former Fourteen Hills contributor, and National Book Award winner, Sherman Alexie will be reading from War Dances at two local venues this week. We’re big fans of Alexie, and published four of his poems in Vol. 3.2, Spring 1998. Remember, back issues of our literary magazine are always available for purchase for only $5.00.

Alexie’s pseudo-memoir about growing up poor on an Indian reservation in Washington, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, won the National Book Award for young adult fiction in 2007. It’s a great read, whether you’re a young adult or not. It’s about trying to break free from your family and forging a new path in life. Heartbreaking, inspirational, and highly recommended.

Now Alexie is touring to promote a collection of short stories called War Dances. There’s lots of great information on his website, but if you really want to find out more, go see him in person tonight or tomorrow. Here’s the info:

Thursday, October 8, 7:30pm

Sherman Alexie

Berkeley Arts & Letters at First Congregational Oakland

2501 Harrison St at 26th, Oakland

$12 advance ($6 students with ID in advance), $15 at door

Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets.

More info here.

Friday, October 9, 7pm

An Evening with Sherman Alexie

The Women’s Building,

3543 18th St, San Francisco

$8 at door

More info here.

See ya there!

-Leanne, Fourteen Hills staff

Poems from Fourteen Hills Appear at Verse Daily Online Anthology & Best New Poets

2009-09-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

Tsering Wangmo Dhompa's poem "from Catabolism" · Bill Hicok's poem "Certainly Uncertain: a love of tone poem" · Lisa Olstein's poem "Was to Have Been Called Whip-poor-will" & Victoria Chang's poem "Dear P. XII" were selected to be part of Verse Daily's online anthology.

Also, Josh Robbins' poem "The Man in Hopper's Office in a Small City" has been selected for inclusion in the anthology "Best New Poets" · an anthology of 50 of the best poems of the year selected by Kim Addonizio. More about the awards here.

Congratulations to these great poets! All these poems & more by these great authors are available in the newest issue of Fourteen Hills, Vol. 15.2. Subscribe to the magazine or buy at Small Press Distribution online or in these bookstores.

Cheers

Editors

Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review

Fourteen Hills 15.2 Released

2009-07-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review Volume 15.2
has been released!

It is available online as small press distribution to order now.
And will be available at these bookstores in the fall.

It features work by:
Poetry
Jen Bills, Victoria Chang, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Geoffrey Dyer, Katherin Garrettson, Rodney Gomez, Bob Hicok, MC Hyland, Lindsay Key, Brian D. Morrison, Lisa Olstein, Alexandra Michelle Red, Joshua Robbins, and Josh Wallert
Fiction
Chelsea Bolan, Liz Chamberlain, Michael Filimowicz, Mickey Hess, Sara Jaffe, Maggie Shen King, Liz McWhirter, Tripp Reade, John Somerville, and Jill Tidman
Art
Danny Neece and Nathan Cordero

To order a subscription to the magazine, go here.

Stay tuned to the Fourteen Hills Online Supplement for exclusive interviews with some of the authors from issue 15.2 and others including Tsering Wangmo Dhompa and Randall Mann.

On our website, we will be posting a few excerpts from issue 15.2 in coming weeks.
14hills.net

Welcome to the Online Supplement of Fourteen Hills

2009-04-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Online Supplement to Fourteen Hills.

We will be posting content here that's exclusive to the web and supplemental to the print edition of Fourteen Hills.

We will also be checking in from time to time with news about the magazine and the writers in our pages.

Stay tuned.

Cheers

Editors
Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review
14hills.net