You can pre-order Audiovile NOW from Shocklines

Listen to sample tracks on the MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/arnzen

Order the expanded hardcover of 100 Jolts together with Audiovile and get a $3 discount.

This will only be available during the pre-order.

June 10, 2 pm
Ruskin Reading Series
Ruskin Art Club
800 S. Plymouth Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90005
Eckhard Gerdes

June 12
Pig Iron's reading series
Youngstown, OH
Eckhard Gerdes

July 5-6
Odyssey Fantasy Workshop
Saint Anselm College
Mt. Vernon, NH
Michael Arnzen Guest Lecturer

July 5-8
Science Fiction Research Association
38th Annual Conference
Kansas City, Missouri
D. Harlan Wilson

Harold Jaffe, RDSP and Editions Cambourakis have struck a deal to get 15 Serial Killers translated into French.

Jaffe's collection was our first release and the first of our books to be translated, hopefully there will be many more to come.

• Jeremy C. Shipp interviewed by Gunslingers

• And Your Point Is? reviewed at zone-sf.com

• An article about Ronald Damien Malfi in Hometown Annapolis

The second issue of this very cool zine is available for free download. It includes art by Steven Archer and a short story, "Mining Medusa" by Donna Lynch whose novel, Isabel Burning, will be released next year.

What inspired this anthology? What does the name mean to you, and what are its roots?
The series name, Text:UR is a bit of a double entendre. First, it points to the texture of a work, the voice, cadence, form, etc. Secondly, the German adjective Ur connotes something that comes from the beginning of time, from the most base human needs—in this case, the need to communicate through language through symbols, through the written word. The New Book of Masks is a revisitation of Gautier’s Book of Masks, the famous symbolist work of the 19th century. The New Book of Masks was inspired by the use of form to mask meaning which, in turn, evokes our fascination with masquerade, obfuscation, and spectacle.

Are there any distinctions between “genre fiction” and “literary fiction?” Is mixing the two generally considered taboo?
The New Book of Masks addresses both aesthetics at once, blurring the line between “genre” and “literary” fiction through experimentalism. Taboo or not, it’s been done for ages—go read Homer’s works for a start and follow the stepping stones all the way to Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon. The best writers don’t care much for such distinctions. They simply write that which is great fiction in the most appropriate form for communicating with the reader.

What is it about fantasy that lends itself to literary experimentation? Or, what is it about experimental writing that lends itself to fantasy?
It’s difficult to separate the two, as the blatant artificiality of form found in experimental work has a corollary in the blatant artificiality of content in fantasy. I don’t think that any of the writers in Text:UR, The New Book of Masks would limit themselves to being either a “fantasist” or an “experimentalist.” They are simply great writers who write great stories that connect with, challenge, and reward great readers. The playfulness in the language is both entertaining and thought evoking, whether it’s called experimental fiction or fantastical fiction. The “read” is the end, and these stories are a great read.

What is the future of the Text:UR series?
The Text:UR series can, look back on earlier literary traditions, but it does so through the mirror of the future, morphing the visions of the past, creating new, fresh perspectives. I will begin working on vol. 2 of the series, tentatively titled Pages from the Yellow Book forthwith. The Yellow Book was a quarterly famous during the Victorian era. Oscar Wilde was mistakenly accused of reading the Yellow Book while going from one decadent activity to another. Willa Cather claimed that by the late 1920’s the book no longer had the “power to seduce and stimulate…” It’s time to dust off the top-hat, visit the opium den, and dig up these musty volumes of yore. Beyond that, I have more ideas of where to take the Text:UR series, pushing the experimental envelope with baroque pieces that shake the complacent out of their literary stupor. But, for now, I’m keeping those plans under my top-hat!