Monday, November 2, 2009

DZANC Best of the Web 2010 Nomination

I received one, for my micro "Circling" in BURST. Kevin kindly wrote, I selected "Circling" because you said so much in so few words, and you said it in a way that was original, captivating, powerful, and sincere. Thank you, Kevin!

The Medulla Review

I'm also thrilled to be in Issue One of The Medulla Review, alongside Eric Beeny, Heather Fowler, Adam Moorad, Karl Koweski, J.A. Tyler, and others. Congratulations, Jennifer Hollie Bowles and Gindy Elizabeth Houston, Editors.

As a girl in Dublin, we lived close to the Royal Canal. The canal flowed past Mountjoy Prison, and a group of us made the greenbelt in the shadow of the prison our stomping grounds. Swans shared that space with us also, and are a bird and image that loom large in my imagination. Maybe that's why J.A. Tyler's short made my throat tighten, or maybe it's that it's powerful writing that speaks to me. It's both:

And these swans here in this lake, they are like Susan, the opposite of dirty, just surrounded by the mud. And maybe that is how I am. Maybe at heart I am clean and pure, like my mom sometimes calls me, SNOW WHITE YOU she says. But there is just too much mud around, too many chances to get dirty.

The swans don’t blend into this lake, they stick out, and I am the same way sometimes.

J.A. Tyler, "The Swans" [excerpt], TMR, Issue One

The Emprise Review

And again, I'm excited and grateful to be included in Volume 11 of The Emprise Review, an outstanding issue packed with great work by writers I deeply admire. Enjoy!

9 comments:

  1. Excellence all around, Ethel! Congrats on the nomination.

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  2. So many good things, Ethel! Congratulations!

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  3. Congratulations on the Nomination and I can't wait to read your new story before bed tonight you are such an awesome writer - You deserve this nomination and many more.

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  4. Thanks, all. Is it sad, egotistical of me, that I love getting your comments? Paula, that's especially kind. The writer in me feels like a punch-bag, some days I can take the blows better than others. I've been reading so much great fiction lately it's easy to get that sinking feeling. That "damn I'll never be that good" anxiety. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I fear you're being too generous, but I so appreciate your continued support.

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  5. Hi, Ethel - you do deserve the support -you are awesome! I just read Circling and your new story in Medulla Review. You have a collection in the making. Both stories are heart-wrenching and sensual without being crass. There is heart in both and a bond between spiritual and physical self - sexuality often frees our spirit- if our heart is truly in the physical act. I think both stories speak to this -healing power...spiritual power...love and I bet you DO have a collection, if you looked...maybe you already have.

    Anyway, just wanted to tell you -BRAVO!!! keep it up!

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  6. Thanks again, Paula, and congrats again on "Opium Fingers." Ever since reading, every time I walk by our piano I get a little shiver!

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  7. Wow, Ethel, just terrific news. Congrats on the nomination!!

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