An Irrelevant Writer: The Letters of Shen Congwen; Alec Soth’s Las Vegas Birthday; A Word on Tomorrow; Plus Mary-Beth Hughes, Amy Leach, Yiyun Li, Tim O’Sullivan, W.S. Di Piero, Lawrence Weschler, and more.

Dear Darkness--consider this
my last attempt

to reach you. My previous
few missives

having boomeranged back
unread, postmarks blurred

by the gloved hands
that tried carrying

them to your door.
Or, torn

by the machines.
I wish

you could see the water
here, so clear

you can see the bottom--
though that's nothing

new for me. All afternoon
I let sun seep

my skin, steep me
like strong tea.

Despair,
if you've moved

I wish you would
send word

or ring.
How I would sing

like a kettle to keep you.

Read more in Issue 5

Fiction	Cattle Haul by Jesmyn Ward
	Off the Page and onto the Sidewalk
	I Don't Burn
	At-Talifoon
	The Rat Ship
	Secessionville
	Morphology of the Hit
	The Old Man
	The Revenge of the Angry Black Artist
	Shark Means Knife

03/01–03/30	7:00 PM	Stephen Dunn		+ Google Calendar + Yahoo! Calendar
03/12	6:00 PM	David Shields	New York	+ Google Calendar + Yahoo! Calendar
03/25	7:00 PM	Keith Lee Morris	New York	+ Google Calendar + Yahoo! Calendar

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Abdo Khal wins the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles, "a brilliant exploration of the relationship between the individual and the state."

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2009 is the 10th anniversary of the Caine Prize for African Writing: E.C. Osondu, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Monica Arac de Nyeko, Mary Watson, S.A. Afolabi, Brian Chikwava, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Binyavanga Wainaina, Helon Habila, and Leila Aboulela.

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The writers take over! Israel's Ha'aretz hands over the reins for a day.

Nam Le discusses the short story.

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One reason I think Mike Shatzkin is wrong.

2009 AltWeekly Awards Finalists Announced

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Arda Collins spends the night in a train station.

The World Digital Library: a free collection of cultural materials from libraries and archives around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs.

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Matthew Zapruder on John Ashbery and not knowing how to feel.

National Magazine Awards Winners and Finalists for 2009

PEN American Center Announces its 2009 Literary Award Recipients

"Real change is a slow accretion": Black Authors on Writing in the Age of Obama.

"I don't know who it was in what writer's workshop who first thought of this 'finding your voice' notion. I think it's destructive." Hugh Merwin interviews John Wray.