Pushcart Board nominatesfour upstreet works

In addition to the nominations sent in by independent publishers and literary magazines, Pushcart Press also considers work nominated by its own Board of Contributing Editors. For the fourth year in a row, the Pushcart Board has nominated work from upstreet to be considered for inclusion in the next Pushcart Prize anthology, along with the six nominations made by our editors. The nominated works from upstreet number six are a poem by Karen Chase, "Leaving Home," a short story by Erik Wennermark, "The True Story of Yu Tien," and two essays, "That Furrowed Brow," by Andrew D. Cohen, and "The Barest Shapes of Light," by Nina Feng. It is a great compliment for upstreet to be singled out by this Board, which contains many distinguished writers. Congratulations to all four nominees, and best wishes to them in the competition.

Robin Oliveira novel chosen fortwo community reading programs

My Name is Mary Sutter (Viking Penguin, 2010), a novel by upstreet Fiction Editor Robin Oliveira, has been selected by two communities for their annual reading programs. Community reading programs typically include book discussions, readings, lectures, workshops, film and/or theatrical productions, and other events directly or thematically related to the chosen book.

The city of Roswell, Georgia, selected the book for its Roswell Reads Program, which began in February and will conclude with a literary luncheon at 11:30am Saturday, March 5, at the Roswell Adult Recreation Center, at which Robin will give a talk on her novel.

Schenectady County, New York, chose the novel for its One County, One Book Program, which will take place in April and feature a talk by the author at 2pm Saturday, April 9, at Schenectady County Community College, followed by a reception and book signing. Area book groups may enter a drawing to have lunch with Robin preceding her SCCC appearance.

Set in the mid-19th century, My Name is Mary Sutter follows the aspirations and difficulties of a brilliant, somewhat odd, yet remarkable young midwife from Albany, NY, whose lofty hope of becoming a surgeon far exceeds what her family and the physicians and medical schools of her time are willing to accept. She travels to Washington, DC, to work in the Civil War hospitals, only to find the challenges formidable and the pull of home unavoidable.

Robin Oliveira grew up in Loudonville, NY. She holds a BA in Russian from the University of Montana and an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is a Registered Nurse. In 2007, she won the $10,000 15th annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship, awarded to an American author of a first-novel-in-progress by the James Jones Literary Society and Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA. She has been Fiction Editor for upstreet number three, four, five, six, and the upcoming seven, which will appear in June of this year. Robin lives in Seattle with her husband, Andrew, their daughter, Noelle, and their son, Miles. My Name is Mary Sutter is her first novel.

Tiff Holland wins Rose Metal PressShort Short Chapbook Award

upstreet author Tiff Holland has received the Rose Metal Press Fifth Annual Chapbook Award for short fiction. Her book, Betty Superman, was chosen from among 117 contestants by judge Kim Chinquee, and will be released in July 2011.

Rose Metal Press describes the book this way: “The stories in Betty Superman are true, except when they’re not. They’re based on Tiff Holland’s relationship with her mother, a story arc all its own, only Betty isn’t her mother and Holland’s not the narrator, not completely. … In unsentimental and percussive prose, Holland examines Betty as character, dragon lady, and mother.”

Tiff’s essay “Ooh Baby” was published in upstreet number four, and her essay “Eidetic” in upstreet number five. She earned her PhD in Creative Writing from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in many other journals and anthologies, including Hobarts, Smokelong Quarterly, The Atlanta Review, The Mississippi Review, and Elimae. In 2007 her story “The Boys” was named one of StorySouth’s top 100, and the following year “Cadet” one of Wigleaf’s top 50. She has also won a Wick Award from Kent State University. Her poetry chapbook, Bone in a Tin Funnel, is available through Pudding House Press.

Tiff lives in Round Rock, Texas, with her husband and daughter, and teaches at Austin Community College.