DEAR EVERYBODY

Thanks, Everybody.

2011-03-31T12:50:00.002-04:00

This is it for the Dear Everybody blog. All news and announcements and life stories will now be posted here. Thanks, Everybody.

Us

2011-03-17T13:47:00.006-04:00

I think that I love this book more than any of my other books. I had more fun writing Dear Everybody, but writing Us changed me in fundamental way. The novel was first published in the UK, South Africa, and Australia in 2005. The Spanish translation came out last fall and there is an Italian translation in the works. I couldn't be happier that it is now getting its American release with Tyrant Books, where pre-orders are now open. Thank you, Gian.

Αγαπητέ όλοι

2011-02-22T13:51:00.002-05:00

I'm very excited about this one, Αγαπητέ όλοι, the Greek translation of Dear Everybody.

It Was a Good Year

2010-12-23T13:45:00.002-05:00

Here is my year in words, by the numbers.

44 publications in magazines and anthologies.
20 interviews of other writers.
16 readings.
12 readings by my pseudonym, Andy Devine.
11 screenings of films.
10 interviews of me.
2 translations, Dear Everybody in Korean and How Much of Us There Was in Spanish.
1 documentary, 60 Writers/60 Places.
1 paperback, Dear Everybody.
1 book under a pseudonym, Andy Devine's Words.

Andy Devine Does Teleportal

2010-12-14T00:57:00.008-05:00

After reading in two places at once on November 14th (Champaign and NYC), Andy Devine needed a little recovery time, but Being Andy Devine, the national book tour for WORDS, just passed through Austin, Texas for the Teleportal Readings, which was part of the Indie Lit Roadshow. Many thanks to the wonderful Jess Sauer for organizing, and, as always, to brilliant Andy Devine for being Andy Devine. Here is Andy's reading from Teleportal, which had to be recorded in a van outside the venue because of legal reasons.

Andy Devine Does Teleportal... from Monofonus Press on Vimeo.

The National Indie Lit Roadshow

2010-12-09T13:25:00.005-05:00

The Baltimore wing of the National Indie Lit Roadshow is an open house thingy that is sponsored by Monumental People and Publishing Genius and JMWW and probably some other book people. It's running at 24 East Mount Vernon Place between 11 and 8. There will be great book shopping, drinky drinks, cash money poker, and a couple reading samplers (at 2pm and 7pm). I'll be reading something brand new as part of the 2pm sampler and then running the poker game. Click on the flyer for bigger details.

Devine Remix

2010-12-08T13:31:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned, below, Robert Kloss is doing a series of remixes at Necessary Fiction this month. Up today is the Andy Devine story, Plots, which is from WORDS, which Publishing Genius published earlier this year.

Being Andy Devine

2010-12-07T12:56:00.003-05:00

After reading in two places at once on November 14th (Champaign and NYC), Andy Devine needed a little recovery time, but Being Andy Devine, the national book tour for WORDS, continues in Portland on December 9th at the Smalldoggies Reading Series--along with Tom De Beauchamp, Jackie Treiber, Michael Roberts, and musical guest Antique Summer. Thanks to Matty Byloos and Carrie Seitzinger for organizing and hosting.

Necessary Fiction: Remix

2010-12-03T14:02:00.007-05:00

Robert Kloss is doing a series of remixes at Necessary Fiction this month. Up today is my story -- "The Birds, the Light, Eating Breakfast, Getting Dressed, and How I Tried to Make It More of a Morning for My Wife" (which originally appeared in Open City #20 and is actually an except from HOW MUCH OF US THERE WAS, which Tyrant Books is bringing out in the spring) -- and then Robert's remix, which removes the context to create a different tone. I remix one of his later this month.

Smile Politely, Andy Devine

2010-11-12T15:21:00.007-05:00

There's a nice conversation with and around Andy Devine and his national tour, Being Andy Devine, at Smile Politely. It includes his publisher, Adam Robinson, his editor (me), as well as writer Aaron Burch, the host of Stories & Beer, where Andy Devine will be reading on November 14th. At the same time on the same day, November 14th, Andy Devine will also be reading at the Soda Series in NYC, with Mairéad Byrne, Daniel Groves, Stephanie Barber, and Adam Robinson.

Plus, there's a really nice post by Tom DeBeauchamp about reading Andy Devine's novel, Apartment City, over at Htmlgiant.

Only Jackasses Use Whom

2010-11-11T15:39:00.006-05:00

I have an interview with Andy Devine up at The Faster Times. We talk about alphabetical stories, making people cry, aphorisms for t-shirts, etc.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Laura van den Berg, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Dylan Landis, Padgett Powell, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Kevin Sampsell, Gina Frangello, Evan Lavender-Smith, Ken Sparling, Matt Bell, Ingrid Burrington.

Four Years of Genius

2010-11-09T13:29:00.002-05:00

November marks the four year anniversary of Publishing Genius. To celebrate the head genius, Adam Robinson, has posted a selection from Andy Devine's "A Grammar for Fiction Writers" at Everyday Genius.

TRNSFR #3

2010-11-05T16:05:00.005-04:00

My contributor copies of trnsfr #3 arrived the other day and it is an amazing-looking book-thing. Six of the postcard life stories are reproduced as postcard tear-outs. Plus, there's a broadside fold-out from Paul Maliszewski. Plus, there is great work for J.A. Tyler, Robert Hinderliter, Blake Butler, Janet Freeman, Ryan Bradley, Mark Gluth, Chelsea Martin, Matthew Simmons, Sutherland Douglass, James Greer, Paul Kavanagh, Thomas Michael McDade, Michael Stutz, Catherine Lacey, Molly Gaudry, and Scott Bradfield. Many thanks to Alban Fisher.

Electric Literature

2010-11-04T15:54:00.004-04:00

There's a great piece on Andy Devine and WORDS and the national book tour for WORDS, Being Andy Devine (BAD), over at Electric Literature. Andy would like to thank Julia Jackson and Adam Robinson -- who talk about pseudonyms, Andentity, and Andy Kaufman.

Being Andy Devine

2010-11-03T13:43:00.006-04:00

Being Andy Devine (BAD), the national book tour for Andy Devine's first book, WORDS, is underway. The next stop is Atlanta for the Solar Anus reading series. That's with Gabe Durham and Todd Dills and music. That's November 5th, 8pm, at the Beep Beep Gallery. Then it's Champaign for the Stories & Beer reading series on November 14th and NYC for the Soda Series on November 14th -- yes, Andy Devine will be in two places at once.

Word-Things

2010-10-28T12:25:00.003-04:00

I have an interview with Ingrid Burrington up at The Faster Times. We talk about word-things, protest signs, Venn diagrams, etc.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Adam Robinson, Kevin Sampsell, Gina Frangello, Evan Lavender-Smith, Ken Sparling, Matt Bell.

Being Andy Devine

2010-10-25T16:17:00.000-04:00

Being Andy Devine (BAD), the national book tour for Andy Devine's first book, WORDS, is underway. The next stop is Providence for couscous sur l'herbe on October 26. From 9-10, there is music with Jonathan Bonner Cape Breton Fiddle and Laila Aukee Ukelele plus Vocals Extraordinaire. From 10-11, it's Andy Devine with Mairead Byrne, Karen Donovan, Rachel Glasser, and Mike Young. From 11 on, Dave and Mark play the blues.

Mudluscious Stamp Story Anthology

2010-10-25T15:40:00.002-04:00

The mudluscious 2011 titles are up for looking at their covers and subscribing and such. I have a little piece in [C.] the stamp story anthology, as does Andy Devine.

Literary Fundraising

2010-10-25T15:35:00.004-04:00

There's a great post about literary fundraising (and other kinds of fundraising) and kickstarter by Rebekah Silverman over at htmlgiant. It mentions The Understanding Campaign, which is making its last push for funding. There's also Ampersand's re:Telling anthology, in which the postcard life story project is part of the $100 premium.

Meowpolis

2010-10-18T13:37:00.004-04:00

I'm very excited to be a part of Meowpolis, a show of cat art, as is Moose the Cat. The show will open on October 19th at Baltimore's Whole Gallery, which is 405 W. Franklin Street, which is the H&H Building, 3rd Floor. Thanks to Rahne Alexander and Freda Mohr for putting it together.

Being Andy Devine

2010-10-14T15:24:00.009-04:00

Being Andy Devine (BAD), the national book tour for Andy Devine's first book, WORDS, is underway. The next stop is Philadelphia, October 16, 7pm, Fergie's Pub, which is 1214 Sansom--with Andy Devine, Jamie Gaughran-Perez, James Belflower, Kate Greenstreet, Joe Hall, Steven Karl, Lauren Bender, Dan Magers, Adam Robinson, and Ben Segal.

T-SHIRT @ BLIP

2010-10-11T13:06:00.003-04:00

I have a new piece called T-SHIRT that is about a t-shirt up at Blip (formerly Rick Magazine and, before that, formerly MississippiReview.com). Thanks to Blip's This Week editor Meg Pokrass.

A Monument to Love

2010-10-08T14:34:00.003-04:00

There's a great review of Lo Que Queda de Nosotros, Tusquets' Spanish translation of How Much of Us There Was. Pepe Rodriguez calls the novel "a monument to love" ("un monumento al cariño").

New York Tyrant will release How Much of Us There Was in the US in early 2011.

A Sentence of Mystery

2010-10-05T16:26:00.004-04:00

I have an interview with Matt Bell up at The Faster Times. We start with the ways in which Matt begins a fiction, talk about working with ideas and working with language, and then finish with the way a fiction ends.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Adam Robinson, Kevin Sampsell, Gina Frangello, Evan Lavender-Smith, Ken Sparling.

The Andy Devine Tour

2010-10-04T13:58:00.004-04:00

The Andy Devine Tour kicked off in Baltimore, made its way to NYC (attached), and will move on to dates in Muncie, Indiana -- Portland, Oregon -- Nashville, Tennessee -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- back to Baltimore, Maryland -- Ann Arbor, Michigan -- Brooklyn, New York -- et cetera. Even if you don't live in any of those place, you can still read WORDS to yourself.

So Meta

2010-10-01T15:17:00.004-04:00

The good Ellen Moynihan has written the postcard life story of Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard). It's at The Dirty Durty Diary.

CityLit and UBaltimore: Wednesday, 7pm, the New Barnes & Noble Bookstore

2010-09-28T14:26:00.002-04:00

The Baltimore Book Festival

2010-09-24T14:08:00.003-04:00

The Baltimore Book Festival starts in a few hours and, for the first time in years, it isn't going to rain. The 5ive:Ten Readings will be doing a special date in the CityLit tent on Saturday, 5pm. The lineup is Paula Bomer, Aryn Kyle, Jen Michalski, Justin Kramon, Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch (whose reading will be a kind of duet or dialogue), and I'll be reading something brand new. I hope to see you there.

60 WRITERS/60 PLACES @ The New School

2010-09-21T14:21:00.002-04:00

There's a screening of 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES at The New School in NYC on Wednesday, September 22 at 6pm. Time Out New York calls the film "innovative ... striking ... poignant ... humorous." The Los Angeles Times says: "The idea is so beautiful." It's free and open to the public. I won't be there, but Luca Dipierro, who co-directed, will be, along with a bunch of the writers in the film. Click on the pic for more info.

What Is Andy Devine's Words?

2010-09-13T14:10:00.006-04:00

There's a very nice write up of Andy Devine's Words by the good Thomas Baughman in which he asks this smart question: "Is this a fine example of avante-garde writing or a brilliant parody of postmodern pastiche and reader-response criticism?" Can the answer be yes to all parts of that question?

The 5ive:Ten Readings

2010-09-11T16:58:00.005-04:00

Sure, we took the summer off from The 5ive:Ten Readings, but we want you to know that we missed you and that nothing has changed between us. The first episode of the Fall 510 is going to feature readers from Unsaid Magazine, one of the greatest literary magazines ever published. The September line-up features Michael Kimball, Kim Calder, Kate Wyer, and Andy Devine. That's Saturday, September 18th, 5pm at the Minas Gallery. There are some good looking photos and bios at the link.

The Saturday after that, the 25th, The 5ive:Ten Readings will be at the Baltimore Book Festival in the CityLit Tent at 5pm with Paula Bomer, Aryn Kyle, Jen Michalski, Michael Kimball, Justin Kramon, and the writing duo of Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch.

I'm going to be reading brand new work. I hope to see you there or there.

I Will Smash You and 60 Writers/60 Places

2010-09-11T16:26:00.008-04:00

There's a screening of I Will Smash You at the Minas Gallery (scroll down for more info) on Thursday, September 16, 7pm. There's a rave review in the City Paper. Bret McCabe says some really nice things, including this: "What's disarming about the entire process is not the clever, collateral entertainment damage that comes from staged violence; what emerges from these brief snippets are miniature personality portraits of human beings."

Or, if you happen to live near Bay City instead of Baltimore, then a few segments from I Will Smash You will be screened as part of the Clean Shorts Film Festival. That's September 17, 7:30pm (doors at 6:30pm). In case you're wondering, the film festival is mom-approved. Click on the pic for more info.

Or, if you'd rather see 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES, there's a screening at The New School in NYC on Wednesday, September 22 at 6pm. Time Out New York calls the film "innovative ... striking ... poignant ... humorous." The Los Angeles Times says: "The idea is so beautiful." I won't be there, but Luca Dipierro, who co-directed, will be. Click on the pic for more info.

Meowpolis

2010-09-08T15:20:00.004-04:00

I'm very excited to be a part of Meowpolis, a show of cat art, as is Moose. The show will go up at Baltimore's Whole Gallery on October 19th. Thanks to Rahne Alexander and Freda Mohr for putting it together.

The One Question Interview

2010-08-24T13:54:00.005-04:00

I have an interview with Ken Sparling up at The Faster Times. I ask him one question and then he talks about everything.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Adam Robinson, Kevin Sampsell, Gina Frangello, Evan Lavender-Smith.

Andy Devine @ Big Other

2010-08-23T12:53:00.006-04:00

The good Davis Schneiderman interviewed my pseudonym, Andy Devine, at Big Other. Andy and Davis talk about numbers v. words, dead parents, how to write alphabetically, and, of course, WORDS.

Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard): The Book

2010-08-19T13:06:00.006-04:00

Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard) started as a one-night-only performance at the Transmodern Festival. Then it became a blog. After a while, I started calling it a side project or an art project or a collaborative art project. Lately, I've just been saying that it is one of the things I do--write life stories on postcards. And now it is also going to be a book, a selection to be published by the wonderful people at Mud Luscious. The publication date is a ways off, 2013, but that'll give me time to finally catch up with the waiting list.

Lo Que Queda de Nosotros

2010-08-12T13:26:00.010-04:00

The Spanish translation of How Much of Us There Was, Lo Que Queda de Nosotros, officially pubs next month. It's always a special thrill each time one of my books gets translated, in part because I can't read any of them (not in any full sense). I can mostly only look at them. I think that's why I developed the habit of setting a bunch of copies out on the kitchen table, all face up, so that I can look at them every time I walk through the kitchen, which is quite a few times a day, some of which are to get a piece of my book cake. Anyway, the publishing house, Tusquets, which also published the Spanish translation of The Way the Family Got Away, Y la Familia Se Fue, has been wonderful through every step of this. They work with great translators and make really beautiful books.

Publishers Weekly Long List

2010-08-10T13:47:00.007-04:00

Publishers Weekly added their own list of underrated writers to the ongoing discussion of lists of writers. I was a little surprised to find my name on the list. It's nice to be noticed, but less so to be noticed for not being noticed. Still, it's nice that they made a long list (60 writers, though Cheryl Strayed is listed twice) and that there is some range to the list, including at least one person that I'm almost sure is dead. Still, there are so many names that are missing. Taking a quick look at my shelves, and the fact that PW included dead people, I would also include Joe Brainard, Elizabeth Crane, Stanley Crawford, Sheila Heti, B.S. Johnson, Stephen Graham Jones, Sarah Manguso, David Markson, Mary Miller -- and given that these lists are kind of arbitrary, I'm going to stop there with the letter M.

The Way the Family Got Away

2010-08-02T13:08:00.008-04:00

The Way the Family Got Away was published just over 10 years ago (after being rejected 119 times) and went on to be translated into a bunch of different languages. The wonderful Karen Lillis, the small press librarian and a great champion of independent publishing, wrote up a really nice review of it, which begins with this line: "Michael Kimball breathes life into American experimental fiction in this moving debut novel."

Dark Sky Magazine

2010-08-02T12:54:00.007-04:00

The wonderful Ethel Rohan interviews me over at Dark Sky Magazine. We talk about writing, fancy hats, something you don't know about me, and I do a 5-minute free write using the word blood, a little piece that will end up in the new novel that I'm working on.

Work in Progress

2010-07-29T18:37:00.002-04:00

16,683.

I Have a Character in My Head

2010-07-28T13:09:00.004-04:00

I have an interview with Gina Frangello up at The Faster Times. We talk about Slut Lullabies, character, and the cultural class, among other things.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Adam Robinson, Kevin Sampsell.

City Sages @ Creative Alliance

2010-07-20T13:41:00.003-04:00

New York Tyrant #8

2010-07-15T11:55:00.006-04:00

New York Tyrant #8 is now out. I have a piece in it called We Lived Together on Paper -- and Andy Devine has a condensed novel in it called Apartment City from into Our Please We Went. There's also a ton of great work by Sam Lipsyte, Ken Sparling, Noy Holland, Breece D’J Pancake, Padgett Powell, Daryl Scroggins, Brandon Hobson, Ken Baumann, and Sean Kilpatrick. Plus, there are lots of knives in the stories.

Two Unofficial Rules

2010-07-07T14:02:00.004-04:00

I have an interview with Kevin Sampsell up at The Faster Times. We talk about A Common Pornography, listing memories, and two unofficial rules for writing memoir.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel, Adam Robinson.

Dear Everybody in Chinese Complex

2010-06-29T12:48:00.008-04:00

I'm excited to have just signed the contracts for the translation of Dear Everybody into Chinese Complex with Ace Publishing in Taiwan, especially since Citic Publishing in Beijing is already working on the translation into Chinese Simplified.

Juniper Summer Writing Institute

2010-06-18T12:03:00.005-04:00

Next week, I'm going to be at the Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts. I'll be reading on Wednesday night with Matthew Zapruder and Lisa Olstein. Thursday morning, I'll be giving a craft talk, The One-Hour MFA. The readings are free and open to the public. Here's the rest of the reading schedule: June 20, James Tate & Joy Williams; June 21, Stephen Graham Jones & Heather Christle; June 22, Mark Doty & Noy Holland; June 24, Thomas Sayers Ellis & Leni Zumas; June 25, Charles D’Ambrosio & Dara Wier; June 26, Paul Lisicky & Alex Phillips.

Dear Everybody @ The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog ... Period

2010-06-12T12:52:00.002-04:00

The good Cortnee Howard asked me some smart questions and I did my best to answer them @ The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog ... Period. We talk about Dear Everybody, soundtracks, and e-readers.

Interview @ The Next Best Book

2010-06-09T17:14:00.004-04:00

The good Lori Hettler at The Next Best Book Blog asked me some questions and I did my best to answer them. We talk about Dear Everybody, the 510 Readings, Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard), 60 Writers/60 Places, I Will Smash You, and dog-earring books.

How Much of Us There Was

2010-06-07T14:37:00.004-04:00

I finished writing How Much of Us There Was in late 2003. It was first published in 2005 by Fourth Estate in the UK, then in paperback by HarperPerennial the next year, but it was never published in the US and I ended up firing my agent at the time. Now I'm happy to say that How Much of Us There Was will finally get its US release with Tyrant Books this fall. To honor the occasion, I re-read the novel and ending up making over 500 mostly little changes. Plus, I changed the ending.

Redivider 7.2 (Spring 2010)

2010-06-01T12:22:00.005-04:00

I have a flash called "I Was Supposed to Be an Actor" in the new Redivider. There's also fine work from Keith Alexander, Emily Bobo, Traci Brimhall, Alison Doernberg, Alison Doernberg, Bill Edmondson, Timothy Fitzmaurice, David Huddle, Richard Jackson, Isaac’s Janet Jennings, Michael McFee, Michael McFee, Wayne Miller, Wayne Miller, Cecily Parks, Isaac Pressnell, James Richardson, James Richardson, Milan Rufus, Ali Shapiro, Gary Soto, Patrick Swaney, Matt Bell, Christopher Boucher, J. Bowers, Ron Carlson, Joe Celizic, Dan Moreau, Kelcey Parker, Molly Reid, Davy Rothbart, Jake Wolff, Ellen O’Connell, Chantel L. Tattoli, K.C. Wolfe, Kathleen Rooney, Elizabeth Crane. Thanks to Matthew Salesses, Cat Ennis, and Brooks Sterritt.

Dear Everybody @ HtmlGiant

2010-05-27T15:13:00.004-04:00

Dear Everybody and Zombies
at HtmlGiant.

Reading Local

2010-05-25T17:30:00.004-04:00

There's a super nice write-up at Reading Local. Celeste Sollod titles the piece "Michael Kimball Is Perfect." She concludes the article with this: "the next great new literary discovery." Plus, there are a few excerpts from Dear Everybody posted here.

Dear Everybody @ The Next Best Book Club

2010-05-24T14:23:00.007-04:00

There's a super nice review of Dear Everybody over at The Next Best Book Club. The good Lori Hettler calls Dear Everybody "a beautifully crafted collage of life"--along with all kinds of others nice things.

Free Movie Night in LA

2010-05-18T23:37:00.003-04:00

Los Angeles: On Thursday, May 20, at 10pm at Sunset 5 Theater, there will be a free double feature, both I Will Smash You and 60 Writers/60 Places. Many thanks to the great Ken Baumann for making this happen. There is more information about both documentaries, plus stills and trailers, at Little Burn Films.

Words: Uncompromisingly Original

2010-05-18T10:17:00.008-04:00

Over at Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network, David McLendon says a ton of great things about Andy Devine and WORDS. It begins like this: "The appearance of Andy Devine’s Words in 2010 is not dissimilar to the appearance of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons in 1914. Though published nearly a century apart, Words and Tender Buttons share a kind of compositional timelessness that frames them as kindred texts. Each is uncompromisingly original, and neither is marked by an anxiety of influence. What they hold in common is an uncommon difference. Each is held apart from anything that has ever been written, which in itself is a nearly impossible task."

It also says this: "Devine’s Words has sidestepped the ordinary a few steps further than Beckett’s masterpiece." This: "Devine is the sole poet of this form." And this: "The 'Thoughts' section is comprised of 'A Grammar for Fiction Writers' that I feel essential for any writer who wishes to produce serious writing." There's more here.

Meeting Words: A Live Editing Performance

2010-05-17T12:55:00.003-04:00

This week at Meeting Words, Matt Bell is writing LIVE. The whole schedule is explained at Everyday Genius. I'll be doing a LIVE editing performance on Tuesday night, 9pm. Then Lily Hoang will edit LIVE on Wednesday. Then Matt will rewrite.

City Sages: Baltimore

2010-05-17T12:40:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, May 18th, 7pm. It's a City Sages reading at Barnes & Noble--Hopkins (33rd & St. Paul). Jen Michalski, Jessica Anya Blau, Madeleine Mysko, and I will be reading from the new anthology of Baltimore writers (edited by Jen Michalski). I hope to see you there.

Giant Lecture #6: Acoustics

2010-05-13T12:31:00.003-04:00

Lecture #1 is about openings. Lecture #2 is about ways to keep the fiction moving forward. Lecture #3 is about some ways to get yourself to sit in the chair and write. Lecture #4 is about story and plot. Lecture #5 is about language and sentences. Lecture #6 is about acoustics.

60 WRITERS/60 PLACES at Eyedrum in Atlanta

2010-05-12T12:31:00.004-04:00

There is an enthusiastic review of 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES by Wyatt Williams at Creative Loafing, which calls the documentary "a clever and surprising experience" and ends like this: "You start wondering which writer and place will come next, only to be confounded by each marvelous and gem-like revelation."

60 WRITERS/60 PLACE will be screened on Friday, May 14. at 8 pm, at Eyedrum in Atlanta, after a reading by Zachary Schomburg and Ann Stephenson. Event starts at 8PM.

If you can't make the screening, DVDs of 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES can be gotten at Little Burn Films.

Alice Blue

2010-05-11T15:32:00.005-04:00

I have tiny piece called Plots in the new Alice Blue. There is also fine work by Amelia Gray, Brian Evenson, A. D. Jameson, Susan Moorhead, Erik Leavitt, Julio Peralta-Paulino, Erika Kristine Bogner, Sam Schild, Timothy David Orme, Benjamin Buchholz, and Aron Block.

Reading @ The Laughing Yeti

2010-05-07T12:24:00.004-04:00

Shome Dasgupta has started a nice series over at The Laughing Yeti where writers write brief statements about reading. My few sentences are here. Andy Devine's are here. There is also Steve Almond, Roxane Gay, Stephen Elliott, Sarah Eaton, and a bunch of others.

Screenings in ATL and LA

2010-05-04T16:28:00.008-04:00

Atlanta: On Friday, May 14, at 8pm, at eyedrum, there will be a screening of 60 Writers/60 Places. There will also be readings by Zachary Schomburg and Ann Stephenson. Many thanks to the great Blake Butler for setting this up.

Los Angeles: On Thursday, May 20, at 10pm at Sunset 5 Theater, there will be a free double feature, both I Will Smash You and 60 Writers/60 Places. Many thanks to the great Ken Baumann for making this happen.

There is more information about both documentaries, plus stills and trailers, at Little Burn Films.

This Furniture

2010-04-30T13:26:00.003-04:00

The great Luca Dipierro made a wonderful one-minute animation based on a single sentence from Dear Everybody.

Live Giants

2010-04-29T15:53:00.005-04:00

I'm doing Live Giants tonight at 9PM at HTMLGIANT -- with special guest Andy Devine.

Each Moment of It Is Magical

2010-04-28T15:59:00.005-04:00

The good Brian Allen Carr wrote a a great review of Dear Everybody that's up at Dark Sky Magazine. He says a ton of nice things. Here are three of them:
(1) "Each moment of it is magical."
(2) "Using smooth rhythms, polished tones and humorous observations, Kimball gives us a monster of a family that somehow the reader needs to know."
(3) "The explicit humanity rendered throughout, make Dear Everybody a truly great read. That Kimball is able to polish each element–each entry–in the collection to a high sheen evidences a talent not often seen."

Live HTMLGIANT Reading

2010-04-26T14:39:00.007-04:00

I'm doing a live reading at HTMLGIANT on Thursday, April 29th, at 9pm. Andy Devine will be opening for me.

The PRISM Index Is Coming to Town

2010-04-26T13:55:00.006-04:00

The PRISM Index is coming to town and the show will be on Sunday, May 2, at 9pm, at Rocket to Venus. I'll be reading from the paperback of Dear Everybody and showing a couple of shorts from Little Burn Films. There will also be musical performances by David Heumann (Arbouretum) and Robinson Lee Earle, plus live painting troupe Root 222.

If you can't make the show, Issue #1 is now available. It's 80 pages/88 min DVD/72 min CD and has a huge list of contributors, including me: Belly Boat, Jeffrey Bowers, Jeffrey Brown, Jeff Brush, Castanets (Ray Raposa), Diane Cluck, William Fowler Collins, Josh Cotter, Jay Duplass, Jeremy Bradley Earl, Robert Earle, Theo Ellsworth, Steve Emmons, Fantastic Magic, Grant Falardeau, Chema Garcia, Golden Ghost (Laura Goetz), Lisa Hanawalt, Chadd Harbold, Trent Harris, David Heumann, Brent Hoff, Michael Hurley, Azazel Jacobs, Hermann Karlsson, Michael Kimball, Mike Kuchar, Michael Langan, Robbie Lee, Julia Marino, Daniel Martinico, Charlie McArthur, Colin McDonald, Gavin McInnes, Brian McMullen, Carson Mell, Mi and L’au, Adam “Meadows” Mitchell, Mr. Leg, Louis Munroe, Annelies Monsere, Ormo, Parker Paul, Bill Plympton, Bhob Rainey, Brett Eugene Ralph, Luke Ramsey, Dan Reeder, Jay Rosenblatt, Mick Rossi, Chris Schlarb, Chriss Sutherland, Justin Taylor, Thee More Shallows (Dee Kesler), Dustin Thompson, James Jackson Toth, Schon Wanner, Sarah Warda, Virgil Widrich, Women & Children (Kevin Lasting), David Zellner, Nathan Zellner.

Andy Devine Week (6)

2010-04-24T13:36:00.005-04:00

There's an incredible interview with Andy Devine at the always incredible elimae. I couldn't have written the Afterword to WORDS without Devine's answers to Josh Maday's brilliant questions.

This concludes Andy Devine Week.

Andy Devine Week (5)

2010-04-23T12:26:00.008-04:00

There's an Andy Devine Sampler sprinkled around the internet machine. Besides pieces like Top Ten Implicit or Explicit Writing Tips and Plots, which have already been a part of Andy Devine Week, there is the chapbook As Day Same That the the Was Year at Chapbook Genius. There is also a small selection from Words That Should Not Be Used in Fiction and a small selection of Words That Should Not Be Used in Fiction at Unsaid 4, one of the single best issues of a literary magazine ever published. Plus, there is a lot more in the whole copies of WORDS at Publishing Genius. Plus, there is more from Andy Devine coming in New York Tyrant #8 and Unsaid #5. Thank you for reading this and being a part of Andy Devine Week.

Poets & Writers: Beyond Words

2010-04-22T12:53:00.003-04:00

I have a little Writers Recommend piece at Poets & Writers. Also, there is now a link to the Poets & Writers article about writers who practice other arts, Beyond Words, in which I talk about painting (and Michelle Wildgen talks about cooking and Jesse Ball talks about drawing).

Andy Devine Week (4)

2010-04-22T12:28:00.003-04:00

#255: The Alphabetical Andy Devine
Andy Devine was born in Flagstaff, Arizona and it is probably significant that his first name begins with the letter A. From an early age, Andy loved to play with his wooden letter blocks and as he got older he would alphabetize them into walls of letters. In kindergarten, he was mesmerized by the alphabet that hung over the chalkboard—both the uppercase and the lowercase. Andy did not talk much, though, so it was a while before his parents realized that he had a speech impediment, a kind of stutter (which some have sited this as a possible explanation for his conceptual fictions). When he was 8, there was a terrible incident concerning the family’s baby being killed, though it is unclear how and who killed the baby. It is known, however, that Devine was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Toms River, New Jersey after this and worked in the family grocery store growing up there. He spent a lot of the daytime in the backyard where he taught himself to sit so still that birds would land on him and squirrels would crawl over him. In middle school, Andy started reading a lot of books, his favorites being dictionaries, encyclopedias, and thesauruses—anything that arranged the material alphabetically. In high school, Andy was a small forward on the basketball team and a middle-distance runner on the track team. He began to notice girls and fell in love with girl after girl whose names started with the letter A—Abby, Alice, Amy, Angie, Ann, Anna, Audrey (in that order). The first girl he ever kissed was named Birdy. In college, Andy played in a punk band called Babylonia that only played covers of songs that were written in languages they didn’t understand. And Andy studied library science and, after graduating, worked for a time at the main branch of the New York Public Library, but he eventually became disenchanted with the Dewey decimal system as an organizational system. While living in NYC, Andy developed a hatred for actors and a taste for a thoughtfully constructed indexes. In his late 20s, his girlfriend Zooey broke up with him and she was the last woman that he ever loved. Andy tried to read novels to console himself, but he felt as if novelists were choosing the wrong words. In response, Andy started creating lists of words that should and shouldn’t be used in fiction, works that became implicit critiques of contemporary writing and publishing. In spring 2010, Publishing Genius will bring out his first book, WORDS. Other acknowledgments of his remarkable work are the fact that Andy Devine Avenue (in Flagstaff, Arizona) is named after him and his mention in a Frank Zappa song (“Andy”). Someday, there will probably be a bridge or maybe a mountain that is named after him.

[Get Words by Andy Devine.]

Andy Devine Week (3)

2010-04-21T14:48:00.006-04:00

The good Dylan Landis posted a great write-up of Andy Devine's book WORDS. After noting that Andy Devine is "an invented genius," Dylan says this: "I am amazed to find myself joyful over the whole thing." And then: "This feels like getting my brain rubbed right through the dura mater." And then: "The book made me bizarrely happy."

And the good J.A. Tyler has a nice review (and reading) of WORDS up The Rumble. Among the many thoughtful things J.A. says, he calls WORDS "a kind of life-raft for the literary weary."

Andy Devine Week (2)

2010-04-20T12:03:00.004-04:00

Andy Devine's first book, WORDS. The best place to get copies is at Publishing Genius. As part of the celebration, Andy wrote a piece on the origins of WORDS over at JMWW, which discusses disgust with contemporary fiction. If you scroll down from there, there's also a piece of Devine fiction, "Plots."

Plus, here's the beautiful and haunting trailer that the great Luca Dipierro made for WORDS.

Andy Devine Week (1)

2010-04-19T13:03:00.003-04:00

The official publication date for WORDS is tomorrow, April 20th, so I've decided to make it Andy Devine Week. To start us off, there's a nice review of WORDS at the good Nik Perring's blog. Plus, there's a thing from Devine called Top Ten Implicit or Explicit Writing Tips. WORDS is still in pre-orders for one more day over at Publishing Genius.

Mud Luscious Eleven

2010-04-19T01:17:00.003-04:00

There's a great issue of Mud Luscious (#11) up with incredible work by Amelia Gray, Rachel Glaser, Peter Markus, Robert Lopez, Scott Garson, Joanna Ruocco, Alissa Nutting, Ken Sparling, Roy Kesey, Lily Hoang, Aaron Burch, Jac Jemc, James Kaelan, Adam Robinson, James Chapman, Ted Pelton, and Dawn Raffel. My piece is from How Much of Us There Was, which comes out later this fall with Tyrant Books.

DEAR EVERYBODY @ American Chronicle

2010-04-09T23:59:00.004-04:00

William Hughes wrote a wonderful and personal review of DEAR EVERYBODY at American Chronicle. The review begins with this sentence: "Michael Kimball's third book, DEAR EVERYBODY, will kick you hard in the ass!" And then William thoughtfully breaks down the many perspectives in the novel--while also weaving in bits from Eckhart Tolle, Albert Camus, and about his own brother.

The Way the Family Got Away

2010-04-09T12:06:00.006-04:00

There's a great descriptive review of The Way the Family Got Away at The Collagist. The good and smart John Madera says all kinds of thoughtful things here.

The Way the Family Got Away was published 10 years ago this month.

How Much of Us There Was

2010-04-07T17:31:00.004-04:00

The good Nik Perring put up a great little post about How Much of Us There Was, which gets its US later this year with Tyrant Books. Along with some other nice things, Nik says: "How Much of Us There Was broke my heart. ... It is ... utterly brilliant and incredibly affecting."

I Don't Actually Mention Michael Jackson

2010-04-07T13:10:00.006-04:00

I have an interview with Adam Robinson up at The Faster Times. We talk about his new book, Adam Robison and Other Poems, dopplegangers, consciousness, Judas Priest, and the index.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte, Dawn Raffel.

WORDS by Andy Devine by Luca Dipierro

2010-04-01T13:19:00.004-04:00

The great Luca Dipierro made a beautiful and haunting trailer for Andy Devine's WORDS, which is still in pre-orders at Publishing Genius.

Roxane Gay on Good Stories

2010-03-31T15:37:00.004-04:00

The good Roxane Gay has a very thoughtful post about good stories up at HTMLGIANT in which she discusses Little House on the Prairie books, Dylan Landis' Normal People Don't Live Here, and Dear Everybody, of which she says, in part, this: "Dear Everybody is one of the finest, most heartbreaking books I’ve ever read ... Kimball writes his characters with a tenderness that moves me profoundly ... The complexity in Dear Everybody builds subtly, but by the end of the book the immensity of the story that has been told is staggering." Thank you, Roxane.

Source of Lit: At Emerging Writers Network

2010-03-31T13:16:00.004-04:00

Emerging Writers Network, Dan Wickett and David McLendon say some really nice things about a story I published in Unsaid that is called "The Clothes that They Were Wearning, the Things that They Did." Dan calls it "sensual" and David says this: "It's as if his mother ate pages from the OED and manuals of style while Kimball was in her womb." This is part of ongoing series where Dan and David have been writing about the work of each author from Unsaid #4, one of the single best issues of a literary magazine ever published.

What We Do With Loss

2010-03-30T13:57:00.003-04:00

I have an interview with Dawn Raffel up at The Faster Times. We talk about her new book, Further Adventures in the Restless Universe, syntax, layering, breaking off, and what a writer can do with loss.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs, Sam Lipsyte.

Fictionaut Five

2010-03-30T01:06:00.007-04:00

This also went up while I was in Argentina, a very nice interview with the good Meg Pokrass, the Fictionaut Five. I answer questions about writing the life stories of objects and one of my pseudonyms, Andy Devine, among others.

Invented Genius

2010-03-27T12:57:00.005-04:00

Bowling Green

2010-03-24T10:48:00.003-04:00

I can't believe I'm getting on an airplane again so soon after all those flights to and from Argentina, but I get to see my family in MI later today, and then I'm looking forward to talking (4pm) and reading (730pm) at Bowling Green on Thursday. OK, Airplane, Let's me and you work this out.

The Nervous Breakdown

2010-03-22T13:06:00.005-04:00

I was in Argentina for the last two weeks and I'm still thinking about the different ways that things happen there, my 40 new tios and primos, and the best helado I've ever had in my life. While I was there, I was the Featured Fiction Writer at The Nervous Breakdown, which included excerpts from Dear Everybody and a self-interview (I find it much easier to ask other people questions). Thank you, Gina and Shya.

Now in Paperback

2010-03-06T19:43:00.000-05:00

DEAR EVERYBODY is now in paperback. I've been told that it is on display tables at McNally Jackson and other great bookstores, and its now available online at Powell's and Amazon and all that. Everything is the same, even the cover, except it's $5 cheaper and it has that great pull-quote from The Believer review about the book being a "curatorial masterpiece" for which I will forever be thankful.

An Outtake from 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES

2010-03-06T19:37:00.002-05:00

The DVDs of the two documentaries that I made with Luca Dipierro -- 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES and I WILL SMASH YOU -- are now available here.

Words, Andy Devine

2010-03-05T14:57:00.006-05:00

Andy Devine started as my Vegas name back in 2000 and then it evolved into a pseudonym that I've been using for conceptual writing for the last 10 years. It's always been a kind of open secret, so it seems a little silly to be doing this reveal, but I don't want anybody to feel duped. I want everybody to be in on it. Andy Devine's first book, WORDS, will be published by the great Publishing Genius next month.

Giant Lecture #5: Language and Sentences

2010-03-03T13:35:00.002-05:00

One Reading, One Talk

2010-03-03T13:29:00.002-05:00

On March 4th at 7pm, I'm reading at Atomic Books with Zachary German.

On March 6th from 11:30-12:45, I'm giving a talk--The 1-Hour MFA--at a free writing conference at CCBC-Catonsville (in the Barn Theater).

People Rise Up Out of the Sentences

2010-03-02T13:53:00.002-05:00

I have an interview with Sam Lipsyte up at The Faster Times. We talk about his new book, The Ask, narrators, characters' jobs, and our wives reading our work.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German, Christopher Higgs.

Gigantic #2: America

2010-03-01T13:59:00.001-05:00

I just received my contributor's copies of Gigantic #2 and it's an amazing looking book-object. Plus, there's stuff from Lydia Millet, Adrian Tomine, Sam Lipsyte, Robert Coover, Leni Zumas, Thomas Doyle, Thomas Allen, Meg Pokrass, Luke Goebel, Brian Allen Carr, Harriet Calver, Ben Siegel, Brian Beatty, Sibyl O'Malley, Able Brown, Ravi Mangla, Stuart Downs, Dylan Godwin, Marc T. Wise, Blake Butler, Claudette Bakhtiar, Dylan Nice, Ben Stroud, Reese Kwon, Luca Dipierro, I. Fontana, Sasha Fletcher, Max Fenton, Andre da Loba, Jordan Bruner. Plus, there is a section of collectible biographies of famous Americans as written by Deb Olin Unferth, Clancy Martin, Stephen O’Connor, Margo Jefferson, Ken Sparling, Joe Wenderoth, and mine is called "Edgar Allan Poe, as Told in the First-Person and Today's Language, Even Though I'm Dead."

Word-Things

2010-03-01T12:57:00.001-05:00

I interview Ingrid Burrington at Hobart about protest signs, Venn diagrams, and other word-things.

DEAR EVERYBODY, in Paperback

2010-02-26T14:21:00.007-05:00

DEAR EVERYBODY gets its paperback release next week. The official pub is March 1, but I'm already hearing reports of it being displayed on tables at McNally Jackson and other bookstores, and its already available at Powell's and Amazon and all that. Everything is the same, even the cover, except it's $5 cheaper and it has that great pull-quote from The Believer review about the book being a "curatorial masterpiece" for which I will forever be thankful.

To celebrate, a little, I have two events coming up. On March 4th at 7pm, I'm reading at Atomic Books with Zachary German. On March 6th from 11:30-12:45, I'm giving a talk, The 1-Hour MFA, at a free writing conference at CCBC-Catonsville, in the Barn Theater.

Kevin Sampsell Week @ HTMLGIANT

2010-02-25T14:44:00.001-05:00

I interviewed Kevin Sampsell for Kevin Sampsell Week at HTMLGIANT.

60 WRITERS @ LA Times' Jacket Copy

2010-02-24T18:04:00.002-05:00

There's a nice write-up of 60 WRITERS/60 PLACES at the Los Angeles Times' Jacket Copy. Caroyln Kellogg say, among other things, that "the idea is so beautiful." If you're not in a city where we are planning an upcoming screening (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Austin, and Saginaw are in the works) and you want to see it, there are now copies available here.

Smash Cuts and Non Sequitors

2010-02-24T13:48:00.003-05:00

I have an interview with Christopher Higgs up at The Faster Times. We talk about his new book, The Complete Works of Marvin K. Mooney, issues of authorship, and why stories are boring.

More interviews @ The Faster Times: Gary Lutz, Blake Butler, Rachel Sherman, Laura van den Berg, Ben Tanzer, Brian Evenson, Robert Lopez, Samuel Ligon, Dylan Landis, Joseph Young, Andrew Porter, Padgett Powell, Zachary German.