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Get Breaking News on your cellThe latest "The First Line," and an ill literacy festival in Arkansas
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April 2008
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David LaBounty, publisher of The First Line, sends word from Plano that the journal's spring issue is available. Their Web site explains what "The First Line" is all about: "Each issue contains short stories that stem from a common first line; it also provides a forum for discussing favorite first lines in literature." (For example, their summer edition -- you can submit until May 1 -- offers the prompt, "Nick had considered himself a lucky guy, until now." ) This marks the nationally distributed journal's 10th year, which is impressive for an independent literary magazine anywhere, much less in Plano. (Which is a fine city, but Collin Creek is not exactly the Left Bank of the Seine, right? Although there is that Barnes & Noble at Creekwalk Village ... ) Anyhow, to mark the occasion, the editors have released a fresh anthology, "The Best of The First Line, Editors' Picks: 2002 - 2006." I spent some time with that anthology last weekend. It's fun reading for writers. I was constantly surprised and amused at where the contributors' imaginations took them. Finally -- if you want to find out what kind of dedication it takes to make something like this work, read David's dispatch from the Arkansas Literary Festival. |
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