Thursday, August 4, 2011

New upstreet Fiction Editor

Beginning with the upcoming eighth issue, Joyce A. Griffin of Suffern, NY, will be upstreet’s Fiction Editor. She replaces Robin Oliveira, who held this position for the previous five issues.

Joyce holds a BA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, where she  worked with authors Mary Grimm, Phyllis Barber, and Lawrence Sutin, among others. She is Managing Editor of The Hastings Center Report and IRB: Ethics & Human Research, journals published by The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute in Garrison, NY. Her fiction has been published in The Berkshire Review and upstreet (“Bits and Pieces,” number one, and “Michael Ryan,” number three). She has been an Assistant Fiction Editor at upstreet for the past two years, and has a novel in progress whose working title is How High the Moon. She and her husband, Michael Mittelman, have a five-year-old daughter, Zooey, and are expecting their second child in September.

Asked to comment on what she would look for in a fiction submission, Joyce said: “What I want to read is a story whose author has spent enough time with it to make it work on every level so that its seams are invisible and what is uniquely wonderful about it can shine through as clearly as possible. I want upstreet to publish the kind of story that envelops me—the kind that makes me forget on its first page that I am reading for upstreet, and instead, just lets me read.”

Submissions for upstreet number eight will open September 1, and close March 1, 2012. For detailed guidelines, and to submit, please visit the upstreet website.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Two upstreet scholars named for
Postgraduate Writers’ Conference

Tiff Holland of Round Rock, TX, and Leah Soderberg of Tempe, AZ, have been named the recipients of two $500 scholarships for the 16th annual Postgraduate Writers’ Conference at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. These scholarships were provided by upstreet for two qualified students who might not otherwise have been able to attend the Conference. Preference was given to applicants who had been published in upstreet or served on the magazine’s editorial staff. Tiff will be a participant in Ellen Lesser’s short story workshop, and Leah will be taking Kevin Young’s poetry workshop.

This year’s Postgraduate Writers’ Conference will take place August 9-15. Designed for experienced writers with MFAs or equivalent backgrounds, the Conference features workshops limited to six participants, faculty and participant readings, craft classes, issues forums, and individual consultations with faculty, all within a vibrant, inclusive community atmosphere.

upstreet authors serving on this year’s award-winning faculty are Conference Director and short story workshop leader Ellen Lesser (“Impound,” upstreet number seven), short story workshop leader David Jauss (“Depositions,” number six), and creative nonfiction workshop leader Sue William Silverman (Interview, number six). Conference participants whose work has appeared in upstreet are Tiff Holland (“Ooh Baby,” number four, and “Eidetic,” number five) and Meg Harris (“You Could Save My Life,” number two). upstreet Editor/Publisher Vivian Dorsel will also be a Conference participant, for the fourth time.

For more information on the VCFA Postgraduate Writers’ Conference, go here.