Hosting/DJing: Gigantic Talk NYC Launch w/ Marie-Helene Bertino, Sparrow, Anna Wiener, Bluntfang, DJ Chipotle (Thu Tran and Syed Salahuddin), and DJ Lincoln Michel
The Silent Barn, 603 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY
7pm until late, $10 (incl. a copy of the new issue)
Two readings in the next two weeks. To paraphrase a sign I once saw hanging in an IKEA, I pledge to never, ever stop providing you and your family and friends high-quality readings at an affordable cost--in this case (and in most cases), free.
Here are two more examples of this unwavering dedication:
Performances in the garden by:The Socially Acceptable Situations (new band of Preston Spurlock and Fran Agnone) Little Cobweb / The Johns / Julie LaMendola supergroup Kung Fu Crime Wave Catherine Lacey James Yeh
and more! Private residence in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, email for details
And here is something that was recently published (and one I'm currently working on):
2) I'm putting together a segment about Andy Kaufman and audio for the Organist--the Believer/KCRW's great new internet radio show, otherwise known as podcast. If you have any insights you would like to share with me on his work (or radio/podcast production in general), you should get in touch!
Happy to have three stories up on the BOMB Magazine site. On the bottom of the page are links to an interview conducted with my good friend Michael Barron and two poems by Jenny Zhang. (Art by Dominic Fortunato.)
I also have two stories in this year's edition of NOON, alongside some of my favorites, including Lydia Davis, Lincoln Michel, Deb Olin Unferth, Christine Schutt, Anya Yurchyshyn, Brandon Hobson, Clancy Martin, and others.
My short interview with one of my favorite contemporary American writers, Julie Hecht, is now up on the Gigantic site. Among the topics discussed: garbage bags, rats, cabs, Mayor Bloomberg, Roz Chast, David Letterman's conversation with George W. Bush, and Woody Allen's "hick girls." You know, all those things we know and love about New York.
--
Julie
Hecht is the author of Do the Windows
Open?, Happy Trails to You, The Unprofessionals, and Was This Man a Genius?: Talks with Andy
Kaufman. An excerpt from her book, May
I Touch Your Hair?, will be appear in Harper’s Magazine soon.
Happy New Year! Here are four very short things/one-liners that just went up on the Wonder tumblr. Thanks to editors Andrew Durbin and Ben Fama for publishing these! Hope you enjoy.
My story "Crawlspace" is in the summer 2012 issue of Fence, alongside, among others, Denis Johnson(!), Jacob Severn, Ana Božicević, and Lonely Christopher.
My story "I Did Not Want to Be Wrong and I Did Not Want to Be Embarrassed" is in the 2012 edition of NOON alongside, among others, Deb Olin Unferth, Lincoln Michel, Ann DeWitt, Lauren Spohrer, Anya Yurchyshyn, Clancy Martin, Brandon Hobson, Kim Chinquee, Dylan Nice, and A. L. Snijders (translated by Lydia Davis).
I'm thrilled to be a part of these two fine issues from persistently fine publications. Special thanks to Fence fiction editor Lynne Tillman and NOON editor Diane Williams.
If you're bored at work today, my story "I Was Confused and Just Wanted to Know" is now up on the Tin House website. It's about a bike, some
boys, and is fairly short.
An essay I wrote about Flannery O'Connor is in the new issue of PEN America.
The first line:
There’s a great moment in her 1964 story “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” where Flannery O’Connor writes of a snobby wannabe writer’s complicated feelings toward his ancestral Southern home: “He never spoke of it without contempt or thought of it without longing.”
Upcoming events for February/early March, delineated by city and event type, for your ease of
consideration:
MANHATTAN
(reading) 2.10.12 dead letter office hours reading w/ lincoln michel,
kristen o'toole, and others, 401 broadway suite 1620, nyc, 7pm, free
(reading and DJing) 2.14.12 w/ mitchell s. jackson, claire barwise, robb
todd, and shamar hill, 580 eighth ave 21st Floor (door code: 2639),
nyc, 8pm, free
CHICAGO
(functionary)
thu 3.1.12–sat
3.3.12, working the gigantic table at the awp 2012 book fair
(panelist) fri 3.2.12 "the internet and literature in 2012,"
awp 2012, w/ blake butler, stephen elliott, and roxane gay (moderated by
kyle minor), 9am–10:15am
(reading) fri 3.2.12 beecher's magazine/parcel reading,
manhattan's, w/ lincoln michel, rebecca evanhoe, and others, 6pm, free
(DJing
w/ lincoln michel) fri 3.2.12 literature party, awp 2012, lincoln hall, featuring
tim kinsella, dorothea lasky, mary miller, jesse ball, and others, 8pm
(panelist) sat 3.3.12 "writers on reading like an editor" w/ dawn
raffel, kristen iversen, and kate bernheimer, awp 2012, 1:30pm–2:45pm
I had heard that this was true, but then did not actually really believe it was true until just now, when I looked it up: my chapbook "9/16/10," originally published in a run of 150 by Swill Children (the rad Bushwick-based press founded by Jesse Hlebo), was cited as a "notable" story in Best American Nonrequired 2011. Really psyched to see this, even though Best American was actually published a few months ago, in October 2011, and I had heard something about it since, I guess, maybe May 2011 or so.
Many thanks to Dave Eggers, the series editor, and the 826 kids who liked the story (also special thanks to Jesse Nathan, who helped facilitate!)
A few months into this time, around December, a journalist named McGee
came to interview him for Rolling Stone. In the published interview, the
journalist describes the room as “ill-lit” and “vomit-green” with porn
magazines and cigarette butts strewn all around. In spite of this, or
maybe because of this, the journalist and him became friends. The
journalist and his wife would invite him over to their house for dinner
every now and then. He would sit at their table feeling shy but happy.
I judged something for HTML Giant's Tourney of Bookshit: "emailing yr writing to people you dont know" vs. "readings w/ so many readers no one listens."
From "emailing":
The grievously undercompensated Web editor starts typing out the polite,
nonspecific response: “Dear [author], Thanks so much for getting in
touch…”
From "readings...":
The reader at the reading, not talking right into the microphone,
wondering if people will care if he goes on a little longer than the
amount of time he’s been allotted by the organizer, whom, deep down, he
doesn’t actually take very seriously,
My story "Your Mother and Henry Rollins," published in lovely Beecher's Magazine No. 1, was discussed by Nathan Huffstutter on HTMLGIANT. (Feel free to leave a comment up there, by the way--the post looks kind of lonely.)
The story, says Huffstutter, is "not at all about Hank R." and "only somewhat about a mother." And he's right.
The piece isn't super long, but here's a bit of insight from Huffstutter that I liked:
Conflict, such as there is, exists not between James and “you”, not
between James and her mother, but between James and the page, with the
struggle to honestly locate and give label to his feelings.
(If you are interested, I would be happy to send along a Word document of the story itself.)
--
I had a conversation over beer with Vol. 1 Brooklyn's Jason Diamond for Impose Magazine about the new Real Estate album. (The album is really good, by the way.)
Jason: I know this sounds corny, but I would like to put the first
two Real Estate records on my iPod and just walk around New Jersey.
James: People assure me that there are a lot of nice gardens to walk around.
Jason: I always wondered if the Garden State thing was bullshit. I
also don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but there’s a song called
“Wonder Years” on here. That makes me feel pretty good.
James: Was that set in New Jersey?
Jason: I think it was.*
*Jason had a lot of good lines during the conversation--way more than I did--but here is one part that requires refutation. From The Wonder Years Wikipedia page:
The series depicts the social and family life of a boy in a typical
American suburb from 1968 to 1973, covering his ages of 12 through 17. The suburb's name and location are never specified but different
elements overwhelmingly suggest that the setting is California. In the
first episode the Arnolds attend the funeral of Winnie's brother Brian
Cooper at Golden Gate National Cemetary, in San Bruno, CA. In one
episode, Kevin displays his driver's license issued by the "State of California."
The killer first single from the album, "It's Real":
I did two readings, one
at the Center for Fiction in Midtown, the other at a smallish bar in
Bushwick called Goodbye Blue Monday, where I once played bass back in, I think, 2008 or 9.
The readings seemed to get positive responses.
--
I should include that, on my way to the Bushwick reading, I spilled off my bike and landed awkwardly on my knee and wrist.
--
Here
is me with the DIY splint I constructed around approximately 5am (which
was when I finally got home from the reading [and the DJ set I had to
do after]):
(The cloth you see is old tube socks; the cut-up cardboard box is, shamefully, from Amazon.)
--
Here
is me with the "professional" splint I later obtained,
wrapped/constructed by my doctor friend/former college roommate Evan:
--
Meanwhile, I'm laying low for the indeterminate future. Reading a book a night. Last night was The Lover by Marguerite Duras, the last page of which killed me. (I don't think it gets much better ending with a phone call.) The night before was The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, while also completing the last 200 pages or so of Bolano's behemoth 2666, one of the best books I've probably ever read. So beautiful and giant. Today I wanted to read Jakob Von Gunten by Robert Walser (or Selected Stories), but the library I went to didn't have either. I sit here, at this desk in Midtown Manhattan, where there are other people ostensibly writing things all around me. I walk outside and it's surprisingly cold. I realize I am underdressed. I think to myself, at least my wrist is getting better. The split is off.
-New online issue of Gigantic,
themed "Gigantic Bodies," up on our website. Featuring new short
fiction from Lynne Tillman, Anelise Chen, Mitchell S. Jackson, Dan
Bevacqua, Lena Bartone, Brian Kubarycz, James McGirk, Matt Dennison, and
Daniel Borzutzky; a conversation between Gary Lutz, Mary Caponegro, and
Tim Horvath; all paired with truly beautiful art by Maria Kondratiev.
Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 10/27/11 Reading: An Evening with the Center for Fiction Fellows
with Mitchell S. Jackson, Marie-Helene Bertino, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan,
Elizabeth Shah-Hosseini, Geneviève Mathis, Caleb Leisure, and Ted Bajek
Center for Fiction
17 East 47th Street
Midtown, Manhattan
free, 7pm, RSVP if you would like
B, D, F, or M to 47th-50th Street/Rockefeller Center
Friday, 10/28/11 *"Double-header"*
Reading: Stain of Poetry Reading Series with Bruce Covey, Emily Kendal Frey, Elena Rivera, and Angela Veronica Wong
Goodbye Blue Monday
1087 Broadway
Bushwick, Brooklyn
free, 7pm
J, M, or Z to Myrtle
followed by:
DJ set: Kings County Society for Fitness, Science & Musical Merriment with Lincoln Michel
632 Manhattan Ave (btw Bedford and Nassau Ave)
Manhattan Inn
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
free, midnight until last call
G to Nassau or L to Bedford
Co-curating: Sat 9/10 Gigantic Exquisite Corpse* featuring short readings from Lynne Tillman, Dan Bevacqua, Anelise Chen, and Mitchell S. Jackson
Home Sweet Home
131 Chrsytie Street, NY, NY
8-9pm
Reading: Tues 9/13 30 Under 30 Anthology Reading** w/ Rachel B. Glaser, Mike Young, Danielle Adair, and Michael Stewart
Center for Fiction
17 East 47th Street, NY, NY
7pm
Representing Gigantic: Fri 9/16 PEN Literary Pub Quiz w/ Lincoln Michel, Sasha Fletcher, and Skyler Balbus
St. Ann's Warehouse
38 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY
7-9pm
DJing: Fri 9/30 Kings County Society for Fitness, Science & Musical Merriment w/ Lincoln Michel
Manhattan Inn
632 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Midnight-last call
*Part of LitCrawl 2011.
**Part of The Brooklyn Book Festival.
Just wanted to let you all know about some things I'll be doing next
week. I promise them to be fun, literary and/or danceable or, failing
that, at least located in places that are less excruciatingly hot and
humid than it is outside today. Also, they're all free. (Facebook event
links embedded.)
Tuesday, July 26, 9pm* Reading @Dang It I'm Thirsty Reading Series with others
D.B.A.
113 North 7th Street (btw Berry and Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
*I'll be reading in the second half (probably around 10pm or so?)
Saturday, July 30, 4pm Reading @ First Annual New York Poetry Festival (Supermachine Reading with Lily Ladewig, Anne Cecelia Holmes, and Ben Fama)
Governor's Island
Just received my two contributor's copies for 30 Under 30, "an anthology of innovative fiction by younger authors," edited by Blake Butler and Lily Hoang. Other contributors in the anthology include Joshua Cohen, Rachel Glaser, Mike Young, Shane Jones, Andrea Kneeland, and many others.
Love the cover, which is by Zach Dodson, who is also a contributor.
Wigleaf selected their Top 50 Very Short Fictions of 2011. I'm honored to say that Saša Stanišić's Gigantic-published "Let's Go Sleep Japan Soon" was selected by selecting editor Lily Hoang, along with my own Andrew Bulger-collaborated-with story “Girl with Cool, Damp Mouth."
It's exciting (and flattering) that this is the second year in a row a Gigantic-published story has been included in Wigleaf's Top 50. In 2010 selecting editor Brian Evenson selected Carmen Lau's "Nothing Has Changed about Me," as well as a piece by my good buddy (and fellow Gigantic editor) Lincoln Michel.
Many thanks to Wigleaf, the selecting editors, and, most of all, our wonderful Gigantic contributors!
"[James Yeh is] probably one of the four or five best writers in the United States who hasn’t yet published a book."
--Kyle Minor, HTMLGIANT
--
Nice words about my chapbook "9/16/10," cited as a notable story in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011:
"Spit out in tense, hypnotic prose, James Yeh's Taiwanese-American kaddish can be read in the time it takes you to brush your teeth, but I'm going to bet you don't forget its sadness or its post-Brooklyn dread for a long, long time."
--Ed Park, author of Personal Days/a founding editor of the Believer "Yeh’s quiet meditation on death will sneak in and throw up a window in your soul with its intensity."
--Deb Olin Unferth, author of Revolutionand Minor Robberies
--Julia Jackson, Electric Literature's The Outlet blog
"An eight-page auto-bio zine that tells the story about James Yen [sic] being nervous about playing a show at a bar. A lot of it is about loneliness. There are only ten copies so I don’t know why I’m reviewing it."
James Yeh (born in 1982 in Anderson, South Carolina) is a writer, editor, and occasional DJ. His fiction appears in NOON, Fence, BOMB Magazine, Tin House,and PEN America, as well as several anthologies, and his nonfiction appears in VICE magazine, the Organist, 'SUP Magazine, the Rumpus, and the Faster Times. His chapbook, "9/16/10," published by Swill Children in 2010, was selected as a notable story in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011. A recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Columbia University, he was a 2011 Center for Fiction New York City Emerging Writers Fellow. He lives in Brooklyn, where he coedits Gigantic, and is at work on a novel. Freelance copy editor and proofreader by day. For queries, questions, or concerns, he may be reached at jamesyeh82 [at] gmail.com.
