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Black Clock

Singular, idiosyncratic and a little mysterious, Black Clock is one of America's leading literary journals.

Author Archive for Sara Gerot—

On a Mission Creek

The Mission Creek Festival cannot compare to the LA Times Festival of Books, The Frankfurt Book Fair, or the London Book Fair in glitz or breadth. The significance of a festival like Mission Creek is that it brings literati and publishing trends to nooks of the cultural universe beyond the campuses of sweeping grandeur and vitalized urban centers. These smaller fairs and festivals are microcosms full of innovative presses, journals and authors. They happen in places often considered far between.

The Mission Creek Festival, which took place from March 28th to April 4th in Iowa City, is just one of the many growing gatherings.  And its continued success shows that yes, people care about books. People care about literary journals. People care about Tao Lin. Drawing crowds of people to see authors like the beatific Tao Lin at the Prairie Lights Bookstore, and the risible Sam Lipsyte at The Mill, the festival flooded The Ped Mall with musical acts and readings spanning a week. This included a lit crawl that featured twenty-five different writers reading “quickies” in six different locations including the Foxhead, famed hangout of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop folks. Joe Tiefenthaler, one of the organizers took the time to fill Black Clock in on some of his thoughts on the festival this year.

BLACK CLOCK: What surprised you about the festival this year?

JOE TIEFENTHALER: Turnout. We all sort of wondered early-on whether or not the events this year would work… there were just so many of them, on more days than ever before, but more people came out than I could have imagined. Speaking on the literary side of the festival’s events, the fair had well over 350 people walk through the tables, nearly double last year, and I saw arms stacked with books walking away. At the lit crawl, audiences of 20 per event would have made me happy enough, but more than 50 showed up at each event–at any point, more than 150 people were out somewhere downtown engaging emerging young authors doing their thing… I’m ecstatic!

What is the most rewarding part of putting on a festival like Mission Creek?

Just that, what the audiences took away, whether it was books or having just seen one of their idols in person (the number of times I heard “I can’t believe I just saw Guided By Voices,” “Sonic Youth,” and “John Waters.”) And everyone new to town loved this place, so the reward is just that–the town and artists we love supporting and excited about having just engaged with one another.

What do you feel Iowa City lends to the experience?

Iowa City is tight-knit, and ready to devour so much… a town of diehard fans ready to consume a range of artistic (and athletic) endeavors in places they frequent and love. It’s a town of people that like to stay engaged, and whether through financial support (a la buying tickets or sponsoring) or volunteering, the community will participate in any way it can.

What are your hopes for the future of the literary portion of the festival?

I’ve already met with other head producers (Andre Perry, our Director, and Chris Wiersema) on the ways in which the literary programming can rival the music, including the pieces of the puzzle we just won’t sacrifice. More events, a larger book fair, etc. My best advice, stay tuned in for next year…

by Sara Gerot
a writer and Associate Editor of Black Clock

Being Born

www.bornmagazine.org

Born Magazine would make any Marxist proud. Its meshing of media and text — the collaborative volunteer outcomes of artists, writers, musicians, and other creative types — is rendered and wrought at times with tenderness, at times with brashness, and is never boring.

The second issue of Born Magazine is particularly captivating. My personal favorite is the work “Zoology” done by Sasha West and Ernesto Lavendera. The subtle sort of interaction that it requires allows the viewer to have this sort of light participation: comfortable, no decisions, except whether to go on, and I couldn’t imagine not wanting to read the provoking text to the last.

by Sara Gerot
a writer and an Associate Editor of Black Clock

image of Karl Marx happy after reading Born Magazine

Bookslut: Review of Reviews

www.bookslut.com

Bookslut archived columns go back to 2002 and it is easy to get caught up in the back issues.  It is a webzine and blog that reviews books, and publishes essays on topics in current literature.  A great space to gather directions for reading less conventional titles that slip away from the mainstream, making them difficult to find.  Some of their recent reviews include The Discreet Pleasures of Rejection, French author Martin Page’s second novel; the first novel of Adam Haslett entitled Union Atlantic; and the Three Novellas by Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard.

There are reviews for more than just fiction.  Bookslut makes an effort to include reviews of most any genre of published text, favoring the independent publishers, including even cookbooks.  The interviews with writers such as Nate Pritts, the poet Zachary German, and one of Black Clock’s editors Bruce Bauman are insightful and fresh takes on the writing process and the literary world of work and publishing.  There are essays on the industry, cover art, and irreverent takes on literary industry propaganda such as a reformed “summer reading list.”

Full of great links, more material than one could possibly read, Bookslut is one to bookmark.

by Sara Gerot
a writer and an Associate Editor of Black Clock

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