Are you Going?

The UnSilent Film Festival

The deadline is just about up for the Un-Silent Film Festival. If you have a short silent film and would like to be a part of a very unique and interesting film festival I recommend you head over here, check out the requirements and get your film in very quickly.

New Issue!!

Things have been a little crazy in the InDigest offices and we're feeling a little scattered. With the Anniversary Reading in St. Paul, and the kick off of InDigest 1207 But it's nice when you find a few pieces and start getting your shit back together. So, in an effort to get all caught up I thought I would post this, since we have completely forgotten.

We have a new issue!

Here is what is happening in the InDigest One Year Anniversary Issue:

Here is the scoop on the issue:


InPoetics:
New poetry from Stephen Burt, Ada Limon, Brad Liening, Meggie Elder, Jess Grover, and Erica Wright

InNarratives:
"The Town Secrets," an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, Kings of the Wild Frontier by Meakin Armstrong.

"Interior Illusions," an excerpt from a novella in progress of the same title by Lech Harris.

"Hunting Bambi," a new short story from J. Albin Larson.

InErratica:
In Blunt Force Trauma, a new column about underrepresented books and authors, columnist Joe Finck tackles the legacy of Jim Thompson, the classic pulp novelist.

In Bedside Stacks, Ashleigh A. Lambert takes on The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg by Geoff Herbach and Vacation by Deb Olin Unferth.

InMusic:
InDigest editor Dustin Luke Nelson interviews composer Ted Hearne, and John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

InGallery:
Paintings from Kara Hendershot.

Thanks, once again and always, for reading. We can't overstate how pleased we are to have the opportunity to publish new, interesting, and compelling work for just over a year now. And a special thanks to all who have lent a hand to make this past year possible. First, Dustin and I would like to thank Jesse Sawyer and Chris Koza, two of the founding editors of InDigest. This magazine would not exist without their presence in the beginning. And thanks to all who have given their time in some way or another over the year: Jeremy Smith, Reina Podell, Jay Peterson, Alex Lemon, Charles Greene, Ashleigh Lambert, Jess Grover, Ryan Thompson, Chris Thompson, Dan Wieken, and Neil Reiter - there are a probably a lot of people we are missing here, and we're sorry if we missed you. Suffice to say that David and Dustin are not InDigest by themselves, it takes a whole lot of people to keep this running. Thank you all. And thank you for reading.

David and Dustin
Editors, InDigest Magazine

R.I.P. Harold Pinter (10/10/30-12/24/2008)

The Nobel Prize winning playwright passed away on Christmas eve. Here is a video special of his Nobel Prize for Literature speech. It's lengthy, but I just made my way through it and it was worth it.

Anniversary Party Videos

Again, these are all courtesy of Minnesota Microphone.

Lech Harris reading "Dozetown":


Peter Bognanni reads from his forthcoming novel The House of Tomorrow:



Meggie Elder reading Taxis:


Paul Engels performing a solo set at the party:

Videos From One-Year Anniversary Party

Cole Sarar has a great new blog called Minnesota Microphone that is sure to be a lit blog to watch. There is a nice post up over there about the anniversary party, there are photos and videos of all the readers and Paul Engels performing. You can see the post here.

There is a small photo gallery of the night here as well.

Friday's Reading

Thanks to everyone who turned out on Friday in St. Paul for our One-Year Anniversary Party. It was great. I, personally, had a great time, and the readers and band were all fantastic. We're going to be posting pictures very soon of the whole event, so check back to relive all the fun you had (or missed). If you have any photos please send them over to us or let us know where we can find them online (you can e-mail us at indigestmag [at] gmail [period] com).

For now you can see a great photo of Coffee News and a cool one of Lech Harris reading over at The Minnesota Microphone.

Reading Tonight!!!!

The One-Year Anniversary Reading is tonight!!!

Coffee News Cafe in St. Paul
Featuring:
Peter Bognanni
Lech Harris
Meggie Elder

and music by Crack in the Damn

It's free. And it's going to be great. Come join us for a beer, some music, some words, some celebration.

Also, we were featured in Rake Magazine's Secret's of the City today, as an event to go to. So, if that doesn't convince you I don't know what to do. Unless you don't live in Minneapolis or St. Paul. Then you don't have to come, I guess.

One-Year Anniversary Reading Update: Peter Bognanni Added to the All-Star Line-Up

Hey everyone,

We're very excited that our good friend Peter Bognanni has agreed to read at our anniversary reading on Friday, December 19. Peter will be joining Lech Harris and Meggie Elder, as well as Crack in the Damn, which is the musical incarnation of those fine young gentlemen Paul Engels, Ryan Thompson, and Dan Lehn.

Should be a good time had by all.

Here's a little more info on Peter:

Peter Bognanni is a native Iowan, and a former student of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His first novel, The House of Tomorrow is forthcoming from Amy Einhorn Books (Putnam/Penguin). His short fiction and humor pieces have appeared in Gulf Coast, The Bellingham Review, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Monkeybicycle, and Stop Smiling Magazine. His work was listed in the "100 Distinguished Stories of 2006" in The Best American Short Stories 2007, edited by Stephen King, and he is 2008 Pushcart Prize nominee. In addition to writing fiction and nonfiction, he is also a screenwriter. He was a quarter finalist for the Nicoll Fellowship in Screenwriting in 2007.

Impressive.

Our New Flier & The Antlers

Check out our nice flier for the first reading in the InDigest 1207 series. This was designed by Peter Silberman, who has a great band named The Antlers. They are playing a few shows in the next week on the east coast, if you happen to be on the right-hand side of the country you should check them out. They are playing on the 16th at the Cake Shop in New York with some Minneapolitans named Dark Dark Dark who are also really great.

That's all.

InDigest out.

1 Night 1 Flight

Remember tomorrow is the last day you have to get in any submissions to the 1night1flight criticism contest with the extended deadline through InDigest. Their deadline has passed, you have till tomorrow to tell them that InDigest sent you and still have a chance and getting your criticism published and win the $100 publication prize. That sounds worth it to me.

Stay tuned for more InDigest very soon.

RSS Feed

After a few requests and suggestions we have finally added an RSS feed to the blog. It's much easier than the standard newsletter we send out (which you can get by sending an e-mail to indigest.newsletter [at] gmail [period] com). There it is over there, just to your right. You can do the regular RSS reader, or enjoy e-mail emissions every so often. With all the alliteration actualizing aqui, how could you suspend serendipitous subscription? What?

Jess Grover's Review of Alex Lemon's Hallelujah Blackout Reprinted at TCDaily Planet

The nice folks over at Twin Cities Daily Planet picked up The Jess' article.

Read it again here>>>

Musical Guests Confirmed for One-Year Anniversary Reading

InDigest 1207 has confirmed Crack in the Damn (featuring Paul Engels, Ryan Thompson, and Dan Lehn) to perform at the One-Year Anniversary Reading in St. Paul.

Check out InDigest 1207 for more information.

Ada Limon

In case you read the last post early on, and are really on top of your InDigest news I thought I would off an update. The below post has been revised with some new information.

Ada Limon has been added to the January 7th reading. Awesome. Come hang out with us at LPR.

Let Us Introduce You to InDigest 1207

Introducing the
InDigest 1207 Reading Series
presented by InDigest Magazine and (Le) Poisson Rouge


December 19th, 2008
InDigest One Year Anniversary Reading with:
Lech Harris
Meggie Elder
TBA
Music by: Crack in the Damn (Paul Engels, Ryan Thompson, and Dan Lehn)
9:30pm
@ Coffee New Cafe
St. Paul, MN


January 7th, 2009
InDigest 1207 Reading Series featuring:
Ada Limon
Sam Osterhout
Jess Grover
6pm-10pm
@ (Le) Poisson Rouge
New York, NY

InDigest Magazine is proud to announce a new reading series, bringing
together new and established voices for a night of reading, drinks and
entertainment. In the first installment, Poets Ada Limon and Jess Grover will be
joined by short story writer and humorist Sam Osterhout (of the Lit 6
Project). In addition to reading their own
work, authors will read the work of other authors who have informed
their work, made them want to write, inspired a moment of brilliance,
or showed them how they don't want to write.

Please join us at (Le) Poisson Rouge for these amazing writers.
Drink, listen, and be merry.

All attendees will be able to listen to the writers and enjoy the fine
gallery space, currently featuring artists Chuck Close & Devorah
Sperber, and join in the happy hour specials all night.

Prior to the first installment of InDigest 1207 we will be having a
very special One-Year Anniversary reading in St. Paul at Coffee News
Cafe. Featured readers will include Lech Harris and Meggie Elder, with
music by Crack in the Damn (Paul Engels, Ryan Thompson, and Dan Lehn). Please join us in St. Paul for a
celebration of one year of InDigest.

Happy Anniversary

InDigest turned one year old today. Nice. It was Dec. 3rd, 2007 that our first issue, featuring Alex Lemon, Jess Grover, J. Albin Larson, Lech Harris, Dan Wieken, Rachel De Joode and others, was released. Happy Birthday us.

Thanks for continuing to read us, we appreciate your support.

Twitter Twitter

InDigest is now sporting a brand new Twitter.

You can find us at twitter.com/indigestmag

Call For Entries: 1night1flight

There is an interesting project taking place with some folks called 1night1flight. They are creating a traveler's guide for fiction. They are currently seeking submissions on novellas 140 pages or less. It's a great idea, you check their site to get some more details on the project. Below is a little something from the folks at 1night1flight:


What would you do if you had more time in your day?
What would you do if you had more time in a year?
Would you possibly finish that book sitting on your night table? In your drawer?
Or would you get on a flight and travel the world?
What if you could do it in 1 night, or 1 flight?
And maybe take a personal tour guide with you?

Participate in an innovative book project: "1Night1Flight: A Traveler's Guide to Short Fiction"

CALL FOR ENTRIES:

What's the best book you've ever read under 140 pp.?
Submit an entry. Get published. Win $100. Nov. 30 deadline.
DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR THE INDIGESTED: DEC. 10
www.1night1flight.com

What? That's right. They are extending the deadline if you read InDigest. So get your entries to them by the 10th and mention InDigest in the e-mail.

Issue 8

Issue 8 of InDigest is up and at it, right now.

What You'll Find In InDigest This Time:

New fiction from Jimmy Chen:

Each party was documented extensively using digital cameras. Everybody at the party took pictures of the party—either of other people, or more commonly, of themselves with other people, using a method in which one extends one's arms out at an upward angle, holding the camera at a backwards orientation towards themselves while taking a picture.

A gallery of animalia influenced paintings by Gina Germ



In Poetics both Eric Gudas and Nathan Hoks offer up some wonderful new work.

Charles Greene continues to purport that Ulysses is the greatest novel ever, in part II of The Ulysses Sage. Part II delves a little deeper into why exactly the novel is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literary fiction ever created.

Jess Grover takes on the newest collection of poetry from his former professor Alex Lemon in this month's Is That Cowardly? Jess acknowledges his bias, calls Lemon out once or twice, and states:

Make no mistake: I love Alex Lemon...This is a review of his second volume, Hallelujah Blackout, and it will likely contain descriptions such as magnificent, fractured, ardent, spatially resistant to replication on this page and seductive like a heart drawn on a splintered windshield by lipstick held between the toes of a young person with some sort of prominent facial asymmetry. (Crooked tooth, cleft lip, small stone of gravel healed into the chin).

Bedside Stacks takes a closer look at Anthony Varallo's newest collection Out Loud. Varallo's intentionally tepid dissection of suburban life, the objects that give the life meaning and the fantasies encounter in this landscape are both the pleasure and the bane in this month's column.

That's all for this issue. But keep checking back. We are about to have our one year anniversary here in the InDigest offices and we are going to have a special issue and a big announcement to accompany that special day.

As always, thanks for reading.

Dustin Luke Nelson & David Luke Doody

The Lab is Seeking Donations

The Lab has initiated it's annual "Angel Donor" program, where all donations made between now and Dec. 1 will be matched (up to $1,000) by the anonymous "Angel Donor."

For those unfamiliar with The Lab, it is a program that both David and I have been involved in previously. The program works with St. Paul students to give them time outside of regular class time to pursue the arts that they are interested in. From their website:

The Lab is a small group experience where youth are inspired, encouraged and empowered to discover, understand and share their voices and the truth of their lives.

Through four modalities, the Lab encourages the use of creativity in community as a healthy coping strategy. The small group experience offers a forum in which youth can practice social skills, creative self-expression and self-care, as well as improve skills in reading, writing, technology and performance.

It's truly a great program. So, if you are looking to give your X-mas time donation in the near future please consider this program, which is offered to students for free and has offered many students the chance to turn themselves into college bound students, allowed them to engage in their community and into students who are proud of what they are doing in school.

You can find more information visit their site at thelabspps.com or make a donation online at www.sppspay.org. (once you are there, click on The Lab icon)

Nosferatu

The kids over at Bear Parade have posted a new novella by Noah Cicero titled Nosferatu for Halloween. I know. Halloween is over. Still. Go read it.

A Poem Before the Election

The times are nightfall, look, their light grows less
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

The times are nightfall, look, their light grows less;
The times are winter, watch, a world undone:
They waste, they wither worse; they as they run
Or bring more or more blazon man’s distress.
And I not help. Nor word now of success:
All is from wreck, here, there, to rescue one—
Work which to see scarce so much as begun
Makes welcome death, does dear forgetfulness.

Or what is else? There is your world within.
There rid the dragons, root out there the sin.
Your will is law in that small commonweal…

If We Are What We Read, Than Who Are Barack Obama and John McCain?

Heidi Benson of the San Francisco Chronicle asks this question in a recent article published in the Chronicle. Among the favorites listed by the candidates are For Whom the Bell Tolls, All Quiet on the Western Front, & History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire on McCain's list, and Moby-Dick, Self-Reliance (Ralph Waldo Emerson), & Song of Solomon on Barack Obama's list.

These lists are kind of interesting, in that way where you are sick of hearing how Obama was raised by his grandmother and McCain was a POW and you need to read something a little different. Benson asks a few Bay Area authors to chime in on what they think about the lists. Susan Griffin, while analyzing McCain's choices, says, "This strange conglomeration leads me to wonder if the confusion McCain has displayed throughout his campaign may reflect a profound inner ambivalence."

Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) may have my favorite response to the lists when he said:

All of us polish those lists for public view, and you can't get more public than running for president. But these lists do tell us something, even if it's not the truth.

Obama's list says that he'd like to convey a willingness to face heartbreak and irony, that he's open to the new and to the experimental, but that he's serious of purpose and true of heart.

McCain's list says that sure, he reads books, but he's not a pansy boy.

Read the article at the above link, and weigh in on what you think.

InDigest out.

Jazz Poetry

Every now and then I get really into poets.org. It largely focuses on more classical forms and authors, but also has a nice selection of some contemporary work.

Anyhow, they just featured Hayden Carruth in their recent newsletter and I thought I'd share how a person can get lost at poets.org for a couple of hours.

1. You begin by reading the bio of a poet (Hayden Carruth), and if you can avoid clicking all the links provided then you may proceed to step 2. Otherwise click through the links, get lost, then return for step 2.

2. Read some poetry by the author (Of Distress Being Humilated by the Classical Chinese Poets). You can often find recordings of the poets reading the poem embedded in the page for you to read along to. Nice.

3. Read another poem by your selected poet. (The Cows at Night)

4. Decide to look into the larger framework of their movement and read about the history of the movement they may have been a part of. Follow links or not as stated in step 1 (A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry). Ultimately choose another poet whose work is listed in this section and begin again. (Jayne Cortez)

That's all there is to wasting time reading poetry at poets.org. I suppose you could do that anywhere. But that's what I was just doing. And it's not really a waste of time. So there.

UPDATED: I seem to have forgotten to mention that Hayden Carruth passed away this month. Read his Washington Post obituary.

InDigest Offices Temporarily Move to NYC

The InDigest office is temporarily located in New York for the week, as you may have read in the previous post (instead of being spread across the country like no office you've ever seen). This evening the whole office went out to the KGB Bar and saw two pretty great poets and the evening ended with David emerging a hero.

The reading consisted of both Rick Barot and CA Conrad reading some new poetry and I thought I'd provide some links here for you to go and check them out. I didn't get to see Mr. Barot read, but David promises that it was good, and I rather enjoy the poem that is located here. Mr. CA Conrad was also a very solid poet (and had a great delivery). His poems were funny in the way that you chuckle at a funny line, but can't full laugh because he then makes you grimace as you realize that, yes, life is both funny and very not funny. You can read his "Dear Mr. President There Was An Eggshell Under Your Desk Last Night in My Dream" here.

That's all for now.

I Could Use Your Lips on Me and a Little Bit of Dramamine

Holly Munoz, participant in Issue 7's Music section, invited me to ride on a bus with her and all the bands from Draw Fire Records on their trip out to New York for CMJ, where eight bands will play Friday night, before everyone piles back in the bio-diesel bus and drives another 20 hours back to the Twin Cities.

I am writing from Illinois about to cross over to Indiana. We have a long trip ahead still. It's not what you might expect from a bus full of bands. A lot of people (yours truly) are on their computers and, at least to my knowledge, there has been no drug use or drinking. And, if there has been, it certainly hasn't been in excess. Everyone panicked briefly before realizing that the bus was in fact equipped with wireless. We have updates heading into a number of places online: Twitter, How was the show, Facebook, etc.

The first few hours were kind of rough for me. When we stopped in Madison I picked up a little Dramamine and I seem to be doing better now.

I'll try to keep the updates coming. But it might be night time soon.

Our Friends at Whistling Shade Have a New Issue

Our friends over at the fine literary magazine called Whistling Shade have a new issue hitting coffee shops, book stores and the like across Minneapolis (and the world wide webs very soon). The intoduction to the release sounds familiar to us here in the InDigest offices, "I see that another issue of Whistling Shade is pulling into the station. This is a train that always makes its run - if not always quite on schedule!"*

Their new issue will contain poetry from Mary Kay Rummel, Gary Dop, Norita Dittberner-Jax, Thomas R. Smith and Bryan Thao Worra; new fiction from Eric Stener Carlson and Justin Teerlinck, and lots lots more. Check frequently to find out when the new issue is online...


*Look for issue 8 of InDigest to be out very very soon, and following on it's heels our One Year Anniversary Issue!

Some Good Stuff to Listen to From NPR

Poet Sharon Dolin talks about her new book Burn and Dodge. (there's a poem in it called "To The Family of the Man We Ate 130 Years Ago")

Neil Gaiman talks about his new book.

The Best Foreign Books You've Never Heard of.

Other Stuff to read:
Muumuu House is a new publishing house started by Tao Lin.

InDigest Columnist Jess Grover has new poems in the Fall '08 Forklift, OH. (the poems will be posted soon)

Ok, go read (and/or listen).

Travis Lindquist Gallery

New York artist Travis Lindquist, published in the Gallery of Issue 4, has an opening this weekend featuring many new pieces. The gallery, titled In The Darkest night, will take place at the McCaig Welles and Rosenthal Gallery in New York. The gallery opening will be held Friday night at the McCaig gallery from 7pm-10pm, and will be on display from October 10th - November 10th. The gallery is located in Brooklyn at: 129 Roebling Street, Suite B Brooklyn, NY 11211. We highly recommend you go and check out his work, Lindquist is a very engaging presence who's work is engaging, dark, fractured and incredibly beautiful.

The piece to the left is the gallery's title piece "Darkest Night".

Huffington Post

In case you haven't seen this yet, David has a great article up on the Huffington Post.

In case you haven't heard, I'm excited about the start of the hockey season. (I had to link to a page about the Wild, because I'm still in panic mode about not having found a bar in New York that will play all of the WIld games).

Are You Registered?

This here is a friendly reminder from your buds at InDigest: are you registered to vote?

If not you should go here to register. I know that this is an Obama endorsed site, but you can register here if you are voting for McCain, or writing in Ron Paul, if you want to vote for Bart Simpson, or vote Green or Libertarian. It doesn't really matter to us who you want to vote for (though InDigest is certainly endorsing Obama) it's just important that you get registered and that you vote.

It's a cliche, but I'm going to go there, it is important no matter who you vote for. This is said every election in an effort to galvanize American citizens into participating in the democratic process, but, no joke, this is one of the most important elections in decades. Obviously, it's been something of a historic race, and you should be a part of it. For the first time in decades there is no incumbent (or VP) running for president, the country is in a state of crisis, we're in the midst of a protracted war in two countries, our stock market and economy are in one of the worst crashes in decades, among a host of other issues that extremely important and this won't be dealt with by the Bush administration, it's up to whomever we elect (that's not supposed to be a jab at their lack of ability to get anything done, but merely a fact of their limited time left in office).

So, before I ramble on too long, please register to vote. Leave comments on your funny registration story, encourage your friends and family to vote and get involved. It's easy to say that your vote doesn't make a huge impact, but how many anecdotes are there about congressional elections being determined by 500 or less votes? Lots. And that is where the change comes from, having your candidates in control of state or national congress, every election makes a difference and every vote counts for something. Saying that your vote doesn't make a difference is hypocritical, how can we expect our voices to be heard at a national level when most of America isn't using the little say they do have? I'll get off the pedestal now and hope that you are going to click that link and register if you haven't already.

Much love from InDigest.

Poetry Politique

Wave books has just kicked off a brand new site that will post on politics and poetry everyday until the election. PoetryPolitic.com is a pretty fantastic site doing some interesting stuff. Go check out a site that sort of doesn't use as many of those, you know, vagueries, like some literary blogs do, sometimes.

Issue 7 is now up

Issue 7 of InDigest is now up. Thanks for your patience on this one, folks. As some of you may know, Dustin has recently moved to New York, so it's been a new adventure getting this issue together with half a country between us. Among other things this move prompted us to do our first Letter From the Editors.

What else you'll find in this issue:

Crows and the poltical machines of the world are satirized and recontextualized in a series of paintings by Pamela Kirton. HERE>>>

Flash Fiction from Brandon-Scott Gorrell.

The other men in black suits and sunglasses began running around in small circles and shooting at Alex with Uzis. Alex shot them and killed them. Alex said something to Keith about how good he was with the sniper rifle.

The hardest working woman in music, Holly Munoz, sits down with Ellen Frazel to talk about running Draw Fire Records, plotting cross-country bio-diesel tours, and recording a new album with her band Aviette.

Reverend Billy talks to Dustin about consumerism run amok in the U.S. Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir have been singing and screaming the perils of over-spending, global warming, and frivolous globalization for over a decade.

On the heels of the Republican National Convention, I offer my thoughts about rappers Atmosphere, Mos Def, and The Pharcyde not speaking up enough at a concert that took place right next to where the Republicans were congregating. There are fewer than two months until we vote for the next President (and VP) and all opportunities have to be taken advantage of.

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for continuing to support this thing, InDigest.

David Luke Doody & Dustin Luke Nelson

David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)

David Foster Wallace, author of the novel Infinite Jest and fantastic collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, passed away Friday, in an apparent suicide. From the NYT:

David Foster Wallace, whose darkly ironic novels, essays and short stories garnered him a large following and made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, was found dead in his California home on Friday, after apparently committing suicide, the authorities said.

Mr. Wallace, 46, best known for his sprawling 1,079-page novel “Infinite Jest,” was discovered by his wife, Karen Green, who returned home to find that he had hanged himself, a spokesman for the Claremont, Calif., police said Saturday evening.

It's sad every time a literary figure of this stature passes away. The world of letters is better for having him in it.

Call for Submissions

InDigest, a literary magazine that seeks to create a dialogue about and between the arts, is interested in submissions focused on Hurricane Katrina. Why Katrina? Why now? We at InDigest were extremely troubled by the politicizing of events surrounding Hurricane Gustav—the photo ops, the self-serving talk of doing good for others, et al.—while people affected by Katrina are still living in FEMA trailers three years after that hurricane hit. We feel that, unlike our other national tragedy—9/11—Katrina has been dismissed, forgotten. We have our own opinions about why, but we seek artists’ and writers’ response to this national scar. It is our small way of trying to not be a part of the ignoring.

Please refer to indigestmag.com/submit.htm for guidelines to submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and music.

New Literary Art Form Discovered! - Forgotten in Abandoned Mine Shaft With Both Bigfoot and the Yeti

Ron Rosenbaum, a scribbler over at Slate has penned an article on, what he assumes, is a new wave of poetic criticism. (The article is actually quite good) Among the critics he quotes are WNBA enthusiast and poet Stephen Burt and previously published at InDigest poet Rebecca Porte. If you haven't read any of Rebecca's poetry I recommend you start at InDigest and then hunt some more down. That's all, Spaceman out.

Arts & Politics

As we gear up for the release of Issue 8 I just thought I'd take a bit of my down time to point something out. If you aren't familiar with Guernica (or maybe it's InDigest that is the missing link for you) you should check it out. InDigest editor David Doody runs the BLOG>>> over there, and over the last few weeks I have been feverishly reading it. It's largely focused on the politics side of the magazines content (arts and politics), and there have been some fantastic essays over there from the guest bloggers. Some great stuff from Frederick Lane (who just ran an excerpt in InDigest's last issue) and Norman Solomon (and David himself) covering the election and the nomination of Sarah Palin. Some fantastic content lately, one of my current favorite blogs.

Interview with Alex Lemon

Read it, it's short.

Who is Sarah Palin?

David has a few good posts on the Sarah Palin fervor over at his blog This Is How I Love You. Go read it.

"Police State" violence in St. Paul?

Our friends over at the The TC Daily Planet are doing a great job covering the recent raid on protesters residing in St. Paul for the upcoming Republican National Convention. In a very mysterious, and slightly enraging, series of events it seems that "police" of some form or another conducted raids on a meeting grounds for many of the protesters converging on the city. It appears that the warrants were shady at best, and that no one was arrested. They were just temporarily detained and photographer for some unknown purpose. The TC Daily Planet began reporting on the event immediately.

Activists, reporters, and attorneys — more than a hundred people in all — milled about on the sidewalk opposite the RNCWelcoming Committee “Convergence Space” at midnight, after police, with guns drawn, used a battering ram to knock down a second floor door and seize the building. St. Paul police blocking the street outside the building could not say what the Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies inside were looking for. “Police state” said activists, who had been ordered to the floor and handcuffed. “This isn’t the way we do things in St. Paul,” said City Council member Dave Thune.

Continue reading at the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Help Save Cinema Revolution

For readers in the Minneapolis area:

If you are like me, you enjoy a good cup of coffee, a nice tumbler of whiskey, rain storms, and movies. Particularly movies that are not going to be found at your local Blockbuster. Also you probably enjoy all of these things at locally run businesses (damn those FOXNEWS sponsored thunderstorms...).

This isn't just a random rant about something that pissed me off so stick with me here.

I frequented Cinema Revolution (and they are good friends of InDigest) for many years, it's easily one of the best video stores (if not the best) in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and they are in trouble. The store is having some financial difficulties and I thought I'd throw something up in hopes that you value what John and Cinema Revolution do for the community as much as I do. The store is run by volunteers who support film screenings around town, host cinema discussion evenings, allow you to rent local filmmakers (often for free) and have a selection that no one else in town can compare to. So here's a little bit of an e-mail John Koch (owner) sent out to some today, about why Cinema Revolution is important:

We believe that a local store run by live local people is something of value - a store that curates film as a gallery would curate any other form of art, a store that actively promotes film in the community, a store with a real, tangible personality. Cinema Revolution creates an artistic context for your DVD rental experience; we help guide you through innumerable choices, and celebrate films that otherwise are marginalized or ignored. We are active in the community as well. Through the nearly five years of our existence, we have shot a feature film using all local talent, we have held dozens of film screenings through Cinema des Artistes and our Film Society, commissioned new original short films from local artists, held weekly live film discussion groups, started a local record label, and have helped actively promote countless festivals, performances and screenings by local producers. It is a major part of our mission to connect, support and inspire our local artistic community. If you value what we do for the community, we ask you to please help us continue in these endeavors.

So, if you can donate a little bit to help them out, if you can't do that, make an effort to rent some films from there, go to a screening hosted by Cinema Revolution, or participate in one of their weekly film discussions.

Here are the details sent out about how you can help out:

We are seeking to raise $5,000 by September 15th to help make our move to a new location a reality, as it cannot be done without this additional support. The suggested donation is $20 (and if 250 people can do this, we will make our goal), but please feel free to give at any level you can afford. With your collective help we can make this happen.

We are also seeking volunteers to help in this fundraising effort. If you are interested in helping out, contact john@cinemarevolution.com. We are also open to any suggestions or advice anyone may have to help us along.

In just the past two years we have lost legendary video stores Discount Video and Box Office Video. We have seen the Oak Street and Bell Auditorium film programs vanish, we have watched the entire film editorial staff at the City Pages lose their jobs, and Hollywood fare is now seeping into our beloved Lagoon Cinema. Please help keep an active, inspiring film culture alive in the Twin Cities and donate securely via PayPal today at www.cinemarevolution.com (Click on the link below).

Please note that if for any reason we do not achieve our financial goal, your generous donations will be refunded directly through PayPal. If we should raise more than our goal, the extra money will be applied to growing our movie collection to help fill our new space. Also be aware that we are not organized as a non-profit organization for tax purposes, so your donation is not tax deductible.

That's all I've got, it's well worth a little bit of your time or money to help keep filmmaking in the city alive. Adios.

Correction to the Last Post

Our boy Tom printed the hippo t shirts; he didn't design them. Keep an eye out for his stuff in the coming weeks.

Still I'm gonna get one of those hippo ts.

Buy Uniquely

By now we all know the importance of buying locally. Whether we follow through on this or not is another case. But, I preach enough, so I'm not going to do it here, because God knows someone could hold up a mirror when I get started, and I would have to shut up.

Instead, I'm going to tell you about a cool new collaboration that has just begun. It's called Overproof and I'll let them describe themselves to you:

Overproof Affiliates is a group of individuals with a variety of creative backgrounds working together to conceive, produce, market and exhibit art. We are not limited to specific artistic mediums and seek to embrace new challenges that help ourselves push creative boundaries. The Overproof network consists of a diverse assortment of trained professionals practicing fine arts, fashion design, graphic design, arts administration, photography, music production, jewelry, sculpting, screen printing and graffiti arts, just to name a few. Through Overproof, affiliates are provided with facilities and material to produce and hone their craft, assistance with marketing, promoting and selling their work and given opportunities to expand their artistic talents by collaborating with other artists.

My favorite description they give comes later: "Our t-shirts and upcoming product lines are all hand crafted original pieces that are usually produced in limited runs and seek to be exceedingly unique."

Exceedingly unique. Right on! That's what people need to strive for. And I think they're pulling it off so far. Just look at the hippo t-shirts designed by our friend Tom. That's unique as all get out. I'm getting one.

Now, Overproof is just getting up and running, so be patient as they work out the kinks that come with any new endeavor. Dustin and I are very sympathetic to kinks in online endeavors. And flood them with orders. Nothing like demand to work out kinks a little bit quicker.

So, next time you go to your local farmer's market and buy something locally, treat yourself by buying something uniquely, too. Exceedingly unique. Like a shirt with a damn hippo on it.

Dissenting literary giant Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89

One of the great dissenters of the Soviet regime, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, passed away Sunday evening. At 89 the author died of heart failure, his son reported. Solzhenitsyn came of age during Stalin's Russia working as a science teacher in a Rural town. His first novel "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" propelled him into the literary world, and eventually winning the Nobel Prize in 1970. His novels sold over 300 million copies worldwide, and that isn't really his great achievement. He was an author of a type that is rarely seen right now (at least in the west), someone who stood up against an entire school of thought and was cast away for it, but managed to outlive the system by nearly two decades. Check out the article in the New York TImes if you're interested in learning a little more about his life and work, this is a blog, so that's all you get.

Divided We Fall

If you recall Issue 3 of InDigest you will remember that Charles Greene interviewed writer/producer Valarie Kaur about her post-9/11 documentary Divided We Stand. The film still hasn't seen a wide theatrical release, but it is slated to be shown in every state in the US on September 11th of this year. Nonetheless, I thought I would point out that the film is currently available for viewing online. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet you should head over here and watch this (you should also attend it's theatrical screening to support independent cinema, and political debate). It's a powerful film. It comes highly recommended out of the InDigest Offices.

Minneapolis News

Our friends at MNArtists and Whistling Shade have some big news.

Whistling Shade (a great, free, literary magazine in Minneapolis) has started a publishing imprint and they are about to release their newest book Tales from the Tinker's Dam, a collection of odd short stories from Daniel Gabriel. You can find out more about the book at their website. Or, you could go to the reading, which is being held on Thursday July 17, at Kieran's Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis. This is sure to be a very interesting book, so check out the page, check out the reading, and pick up a copy of Whistling Shade's literary magazine.


MNArtists is still in the midst of their MiniStories contest as well. They are still accepting flash fiction submissions for the contest. MNartists is a very bad ass place for artists in Minnesota to connect and get seen. If you aren't a part of this (or if you live in another state) check this out, it's great. The deadline for submissions is July 13 (which is tomorrow), so get on it, submit something you've got lurking in a file and haven't found a home for, or spend tomorrow trying to put together a bomb collection of 300 words or so. Do it. If you want more info go here.

As always, we are accepting submissions as well.

Issue 6

Issue 6 has arrived, finally, and it's a grand one. We've got all sorts of new content up. New poetry from Canadian poet Ryan Bird. New in the narratives section is an excerpt from Frederick Lane's new book The Court & the Cross. The book focuses on the influence of the religious right in American politics and the often-tenuous relationship that has developed between organized religion in America and the legal system.

Donald Van Auken presents a series of paintings focusing on an imaginary circus full of odd dark characters.

In Erratica there are is a new column from Ashleigh Lambert and Bedside Stacks, reviewing the new novel from Tom McCarthy Remainder, and the newest Susanna Moore novel The Big Girls. The new Is That Cowardly? takes a look at the new collection from poet Dorthea Lasky titled Awe. Also in Erratica is a piece but occasional contributor Charles Greene covering the global celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses called Bloomsday.

Keep checking back as there will be more updates this month, a new column, some interviews and some new music from some of our favorite artists.

As always, thanks for reading.

Cpt. Koza

Hey, look at that, Chris Koza's "Straight to Video" is the Current's Song of the Day.

On Considering a New Issue

Hey, we've been at work on a new issue, and it will be out very soon. It will also be very full. Full of goodness. Goodness gracious. New columns. New art. New wave. Not really. Check back soon.

On Considering This Blog

Considering this blog is not even linked to on InDigest Magazine it is clear to see what it has become: a venue where Dustin and I can go from time to time to make each other laugh. To find some refuge from the hectic world around us. In this day and age of instant access by millions of people to personal thoughts through various means and avenues on the blogoshpere I find this a refreshing realization. It is our little tree house in the forest on the outskirts of town. Our fort in the living room of a hectic house. Our, well, you get it. Or rather, we get it.

Footrubs at the InDigest Office have been temporarily suspended

I have found the security camera footage from an incident that took place just hours ago in the InDigest offices, watch as an intern loses it after repeated demands for a footrub from David. David bends down and begins to show him precisely how the last intern would give him footrubs, and the intern decides to take the money-grubbing-non-profit online magazine down.


http://view.break.com/513310 - Watch more free videos

Sometimes Dustin Gets a Little Overworked and Goes a Little Crazy

A portion of an email to me, from Dustin, that was, until this point, completely prudent:

this week has been filled with running and I vastly prefer to walk,that or I need to get a metaphorical bike. Or a trolly. yes, that's better something that isn't powered by me. Al gore would be disappointed in my metaphorical steam engine, but metaphors only pollute the minds of the children, and they can't be any worse than power rangers. Do kids still watch power rangers? I hear they still do the macarena. Is that how you spell macarena? Is it a real Spanish word? I don't think it is. I think those chumps made it up. Nevermind, changed my mind on the potential damage of metaphorical pollutants. They suck.

Send help to the InDigest offices, please.

-David

Some Sad News

St. Paul author Daniel Hardy died of a heart attack on Saturday (Read his obituary here).

Daniel had been working on a book about a man who he thought--and had pretty strong evidence to back it up--was the basis for Fitzgerald's Gatsby. According to the obituary Daniel had just finished the book, which is little consolation, but if you are involved with writing, you know that this fact offers at least some.

I had talked to Daniel about possibly excerpting part of this book in InDigest when talks with publishers got further along. According to the obituary, his wife, Mary, is going to try to publish the book posthumously. I hope she can. I was always severely interested in Daniel's updates on the progress of the book. I would see him in a local coffee shop or bookstore and he would excitedly--well, as excitedly as he got, he seemed a pretty laid back guy--tell me some far fetched story that he had learned through his research about his Gatsby's escapades.

It really does seem like a fascinating book. Maybe InDigest will still have the opportunity to publish an excerpt.

But that's for another time.

Now is a time to offer our condolences. To say our thoughts are with all of Dan's loved ones. To mourn the loss of a literary St. Paulite. And to celebrate his life's work and passion.

-David


I think this highlights some thoughts from David's last post as well - writing is really fucking hard.

Talking frequently to Daniel about his ten plus years of work on his book made me remember how important writing is to society, and to individuals. He put a lot of passion and hard work - and a good chunk of his life - creating an in depth study on whether Cushman Rice could have been the real inspiration for the legendary Gatsby. Something that could have been a little literary and intellectual, but he made chatting on the subject something to look forward to, something that was unabashedly intriguing.

We wish Mary Hardy the best of luck continuing Daniel's work. It's a heavy task, but if the book is even half as fascinating as talking with Daniel about his research was it could only be a remarkable book.

It is surely no easy task to pick up his year's of labor at this point, so we offer our condolences for the loss of very funny, intelligent man that we had the good fortune to meet. Our thoughts are certainly with his family and friends.

-Dustin

Writers Are Babies

& I say that as a writer.

Over at the Virginia Quarterly Review blog a post that included reader comments that were, well, none too kind towards submissions they thought particularly awful, has been met with an outpouring of "You should be nicer to that helpless writer" comments & responses from readers of the blog.

Here's the deal: writing is hard. A lot of people don't understand that. Just look at all the books out from celebrities--models, actors, politicians, etc., ad nauseam--who think that they have an interesting story to tell. Or, better yet, look at the books jammed into the Memoir sections of your local (hopefully, independent) bookstores. Everyone thinks his story is interesting, that people should hear it, and, worst of all, that he--the would-be story teller--can write it. Let me say this again: This shit's hard. Writing is fucking hard. And on top of that, it's really not easy. And there's not a whole lot of understanding towards this fact in this day of self-publishing, vanity presses, and, ahem, blogging.

The simple fact is most writers don't go gallivanting into other professions spouting off about how easy those professions are and how they--the writers--can do them just fine while continuing to be writers. (There are exceptions: see Barack Obama, writer, then politician.) Yet that is exactly what many do to the profession of writing. They think they can just stroll in because they, or their life, are interesting. Living is interesting. Who was it that said, if you make it through childhood, you have enough material to write for the rest of your life. The question is--and apparently not too many people are asking themselves this--should you write down all that material? Are you capable of writing it?

We read a lot of submissions at InDigest--not as many as VQR or many others, but, for our little two-person staff, a lot. & both of us harbor thoughts of being writers. We see this world from both sides. Never (!) have I sent out a poem or a short story for possible publication with any sense of entitlement attached to it. If I do so it's because I believe it is something that someone else should read. I believe that. I don't expect someone else to. And it shouldn't matter. If that's why you're in this, then get out now. You're in for a world of hurt otherwise. I believe it was James Merrill interviewing John Berryman (I could be way off on this) who asked something along the lines of, "How do you know when a poem's good?" To which Berryman replied with, You don't. You never do. And it shouldn't matter. (Once I find the actual exchange, I'll post it, as I'm fairly confident I butchered it here.)

The fact that some first readers over at VQR tore into some submissions by writers who more than likely did not take the time it takes to make something readable, much less good, should be no cause for such a stir. Should they have posted the readers comments? Probably not. Better to keep that stuff in-house? Who knows. This whole business is subjective. There are countless author interviews in which the author admits--or even wears as a badge of honor--that a certain piece of writing (novel, poem, story) has been rejected five, ten, 20 times before finally being accepted for publication.

The fact that VQR chose to publish some of these comments does not pull the curtain back on some Wizard of Editor Cruelty. At least not to anyone who has even a minor working knowledge of writing and publishing. If you didn't know about this aspect, you probably need to do more homework & less writing. Are there ways to do this all more tactfully? Of course. But how many times in your job do you say something that may be less than tactful?

The only thing that this post by VQR did was show the ultimate sensitivity of writers. Think what musicians go through on a nightly basis when they are not a recognizable name. These comments come to them face-to-face, from drunks in tiny bars in places like Winona and Rapid City. Just be glad you're not them. Just be glad that it's only one person reading your crappy (to them) or brilliant (to you) writing. Just be happy they're only ripping it on some obscure (even if it's well-known, it's still literary) blog and not dumping a beer on your drummer and telling you you suck.

Of course then you could at least jump off stage and punch 'em in the face for talking all that shit.

-David

Best of the Web

Funny, I don't see InDigest on this list. It's all politics with these things. Dustin and I went to the award ceremony, and everyone was all, "Oh, I really like what you guys are doing" and "Oh, I totally think what you're doing is more important than the New Yorker and Slate in this day and age, but, you know, those guys have their hands in everyone's pockets in this place...not me, of course. I TOTALLY voted for you guys."

Whatever. It was a nice excuse to go to NY (on someone else's dime, obviously), and there were free drinks all night. Plus, I got to meet Fran Hauser of People Group Digital (what a fox) and Stephen Saunders of TechWeb, one of my personal heroes (& he should be one of yours, too, damn it).

-David

Friends, oh, friends

Well, here we are, on the eve of the new look for InDigest, and I would like to share some cool things that people, who rate much higher than either David or I on the coolometer (above a 4), are up to.

Jess Grover has some poems in the new issue of Forklift, Ohio. I think you have to buy to see them, so buy it, Forklift is cool. (at least a 7.5).

As we have said previously, Alex Lemon has a new collection of poetry out called Hallelujah, Blackout. His been spotted all over the nation recently reading poems from said book. Maybe you will spot him. Maybe not. I don't know how to find out where he can been seen, but he can be seen. As can David on Alex's blog under the photos from the book release.

Chris Koza has a new disc coming out in June and is currently out on tour all over our fair nation (this is at least an 8, probably a 9). You can find tour dateson his myspace page. Go see him, tell him InDigest sent you.

Sam Osterhout. is out traveling the nation and reading to the kids. he is traveling with our friend Geoff Herbach for the release of his new novel The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg. (yet another 8 or 9)

Also David has a new article up at Guernica, read Guernica, it's good.

There is much more to tell, but then that would spoil the fun of the news section on the stie, which will be updated shortly when the new issue goes up (aww, awesome, a 10).

A New Look!

In the near future -- maybe a week or two; maybe sooner -- InDigest will be getting its first major makeover. It's a little nervous. It's still young, so big changes are kind of scary. But it's adventurous, too, and told us, after a long, pleasant Sunday-night dinner (Dustin, myself, InDigest, and a few of our very close friends...very pleasant) that it was up for the change. We're all very excited around the InDigest offices. Dustin high-fived the mailman today; the guy just couldn't keep it inside anymore, had to outwardly express himself. So, a high-five for the bewildered, but kind mailman it was. He's a sport, the mailman, and we give him a Christmas card with a wad of cash every year, so he puts up with our antics.

Anyway, InDigest is in the shop as we speak getting detailed. Unfortunately we haven't figured out how to put switches on it yet to make it hit that three-wheel motion, but we're working on it. Until then, we hope you enjoy the changes we are making. And feel free to let us know (comment on the blog or email us) what you do think when all these changes go down.

FOU

There is a great new lit mag online. FOU Magazine has just published their first issue. I believe they are just publishing poetry, I haven't actually finished the first issue, but everything I've read has been very good. The first issue includes two poets previously published in InDigest Alex Lemon and Tao Lin, also featured are Michael Earl Craig, Matt Hart, Dorothy Lasky, and many other great poets. It's a good looking mag, you should take a look.

Random Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about the role of art in this world and if it can really move anything towards change. Ed Abbey thought that in the long run art, and more specifically, a novel could have an impact on the world. But, Ed Abbey was much like Kurt Vonnegut in that he did not see us long for this place (or most of us anyway, and in that he differs from KV, who thought we were all doomed). He was a man of action and respected most those who were greater men--and women--of action. Change, change in the here and now, he thought, could not come from talking about it. You had to do it.

I read in some class or another about literary journalism a quote from a journalist writing in the Vietnam era. He asked something to the extent of if you weren't there, covering and writing about the war, then just what the hell was it you were doing? The unnecessary answer being, of course, nothing. Or what you were writing amounted to that.

This has been on my mind lately; there's just so much wrong with the world. Can poems and short stories and pictures really make anything better...in any real way. I haven't come to any conclusion yet. I tend to lean towards the opinion of Mr. Abbey, but do we have the time?

Anyway, I was pondering this over one night with a new friend--really I just met this girl--and she had these positive things to say about InDigest, which gave me hope. People still surprise me with their kindness, and so I guess I'll believe for a while longer.

"So our conversation at the bookstore the other day, and reading the writing on indigest got me thinking about how having public places to express art, writing, ideas, are central to having a healthy society...I was thinking about how dull and repressed our world would be if people were not allowed to create art and share it with others. I feel like art makes us slow down and pay attention to details. To notice. Sometimes it's the only way to truly express one's experiences. So I don't think you should feel like you are not contributing to the good of society-I think we need more people to connect on those levels."

-David

I'm reading it right now

Alex Lemon

We just want to take a moment here to thank Alex Lemon (Issue 1) for acknowledging us in his newest book of poetry, Hallelujah Blackout (Milkweed, Feb. 28). His poems, "It’s Hard to Tell Who Will Love You the Best" and "Spotless" first appeared in these pages, and it says so right in Hallelujah Blackout. Very cool.

Thanks for everything, Alex.

Check out Alex's review of Li-Young Lee's knew book of poems.

Issue 4

If you haven't been to the site in a while you should return, because Issue 4 is up. We've got new poetry from Ingrid Chung and Rebecca Porte, new art from Travis Lindquist, new Bedside Stacks and new Dorkolopogous. Look for the rest of issue 4 to be online very soon, it will include a brand new column to the magazine, new fiction and an interview with director Robert Stone. Thanks for continuing to read InDigest.

Whistling Shade Winter Issue

An interesting Editor's note from Whistling Shade Editor, Joel Van Valin (Click on "From the Whistler" in the top left of the screen once you get to the site). Although I can't say I agree with his take on Joyce and creativity, this is still an introduction to the Winter issue that preps one's brain to dig into the content that follows.

And look: Whistling Shade will be publishing books soon, too.

-David

What Light

For readers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area there is a great event happening on Sunday. Magers & Quinn and mnartists.org are hosting the What Light reading, celebrating the third year of the What Light poetry series. Past winners Margaret Hasse, Jen March, Todd Pederson, and Greg Watson will be reading, Chris Osgood Director of Artists Services at Springboard for the Arts will "wax poetic on the topic of wine and offer samples from his portfolio of wines." This will be a good time: poetry and wine on a Sunday, how can it go wrong? It's taking place at Magers & Quinn in uptown at 5:00 Sunday. Go support local artists and exercise your right to drunk on a Sunday afternoon.

The Kindle

Do any of you own, or use, the Amazon Kindle? If you do we've got a couple of questions for you, if you would be so kind please leave a comment with your e-mail address or you can e-mail us at indigestmag@gmail.com. Thanks everyone...

New interview in Issue 3

Hello all, just a little reminder that we have a new interview up in the InDialogue section of the magazine. Charles Green interviewed filmmaker Valarie Kaur about her documentary Divided We Fall. The film takes a look at Sikh life in America after 9/11. To get the full story go to InDialogue.

If the interview interests you check out this clip, it's the first seven minutes of the film:

Stupid, stupid, stupid

If Dustin and I get around to it we're going to write more about the stimulus package being proposed and just how stupid it is and how it proves that "trickle-down" economics don't work and, how, after years of spending wildly beyond my means, I may be "unpatriotic" and put my government check in the bank and...well, just read this for now.

Wholphin Mag

So it's maybe weird to advertise for another magazine on our magazine, but I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you check out Wholphin. It's a digital mag (there is stuff online or you can subscribe and get the whole magazine sent to your home on DVD) that showcases rare and unseen short films. It's run by McSweeney's and has a similar slant. Stuff you haven't seen from people that everyone has heard of and then some great stuff from people no one has heard of, and the mag is very good. There that's all I guess, I'm a fan, check out their site, I just bought an issue and I love it. One of my favs is a short film from a Minneapolis filmmaker (who is making some waves on the festival circuit this year), Coleman Miller. The film is called "Uso Justo," it's an "experimental" short (oh that word sends shivers throughout my torso, it's a dirty word, I apologize), he told his friends that he was going to make a foreign film and sometime later this is what came out.

Watch this:
Baby Squid, Born Like Stars:

A Poet You Should Read

I was thinking about the links we have on this blog and that readers of InDigest may not really know why all of these are linked. Some, well most, were previously published in InDigest and we like them so that's why it's there. Others are blogs or sites from people who work relentlessly to bring you new issues of InDigest. But some are just there because you should read them. I thought I would clarify on one of these right now. (Links are at the bottom of the page).

Meggie Elder is a poet that most of us from InDigest are good friends with. She was originally form our neck of the woods up here in frigid Minneapolis/St. Paul, but now she lives in Germany (we miss you). Her blog, Little Lost Causes and Little Relaxed Minds, is essentially just poems of hers, and little else. Which makes it many times more tolerable than most blogs. Beyond that the poems are great. Since we only publish new poetry every so often I thought I would highlight her here, she's a poet you should give a chance. Great sense of place and beautiful imagery that always seems to take draw you into a collage of imagery before you realize where it's going and realize you're already there. You're online reading a blog anyway, doesn't reading poetry online give you a great sense of accomplishment anyways? Go read.

Here are a few of the poems that you could start with, happy reading:
All Day
A Whole Kitchenette of Cigarettes
Vomitice
Farming

APB: Issue 3 Exists

Hello Faithful InDigest Readers,
InDigest forges on...new content for the first time in the new year. There is new poetry, fiction and art at the site. In Poetics we have 3 new poems from Brad Liening. Brad has a chapbook called Ker Thunk from H_ngm_n B__ks that you should check out through their site h_ngm_n dot com, they've got some great chapbooks available and online poetry.
In Narratives we've got a flash fiction-esque piece from Tao Lin, accompanied by a lovely paint drawing of a disappointed ant done by Tao. (he's got a bunch of great collections you should have already read)
And in the Gallery we've got paintings from artist Kara Hendershot. Which you will like - ergo you should go there.
New stuff. More to come.
That's all.

Guernica Poetry

So I was turned onto this poem by David and Erica Wright (who we published in Issue 2). It's a poem by Peters Bruveris who I had never read before. But this poem (in translation) is just beautiful. So I had to post a link to this and gives dues to Guernica for publishing a great poem.

The poem opens:

"I am given ten cubic meters of darkness
every night I pace over them obediently"

It's just beautifully written (and translated).

Now go read the whole thing and bathe in the silky words.

mmm...french silk pie...mmm