Recalibrate Your Writing Life (Aditya Intro)

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review. Submit to our Flash CNF Contest, judged by Nick Flynn! Introduction by Aditya Desai.

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My 2020 was supposed to be the year of clearing the slate of a few things. At the start of the year, I felt as if my many literary projects and partnerships were beginning to encroach on each other, and had to be scaled down so that I could make space to figure out what I wanted artistically. When quarantine kicked in, life decided to slow things down for me, without exactly clearing my slate. In that time since, I’ve been more productive than ever.

As I’m sure it is for most writers, life is constantly trying to find the happy medium in the Venn Diagram between the art, the work, and the community. The Reviews section, for example is where those three circles truly come together — a review can be an artistic statement, a marketing platform, and a gracious favor to the book and its author all in one. During my two-and-a-half-years editing the section, this was my aim.

This is all a roundabout way for me to announce that at the end of June, I will be leaving the book reviews editor post with

Atticus Review

. I’ve been mulling it over since January, but was unsure of why it had to be this. Quarantine gave me the space to figure that out.

I am learning it’s not enough to simply say, “I’m doing the things!” but also figure out how each of these projects was meeting the happy medium. When I turned to friends, the advice was that yes, while it's important to cut back at times, it’s also important to recalibrate, so you can stay balanced.

I want to thank all of the wonderful publishers, press managers, publicists, and authors who kept sending their books to review. Each deserves the best readership it can get and was a joy to cover. I want to thank the

Atticus

masthead, especially David Olimpio and Dorothy Bendel, who were always a saving editorial grace if and when I missed something! And thanks of course to my predecessor and buddy Michael B. Tager, who waved me through the door to this larger world.

And lastly, I have to give it all up for every single writer who took the not-insignificant time to read, wrestle, and review a book for us. Every review we publish is a months-long volunteer job, and if the reading and writing weren’t enough, they also had to deal with my edits as a cherry-on-top. For these last weeks, I’ve been able to lay runway to give our regular contributors a final showcase and debut some amazing new ones. 

Wherever 2020 ends, though we keep hearing of cutting back, know that doing so doesn’t change the endeavor. But it may help you figure out what you’re endeavoring for.

Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.

Aditya Desai

Book Reviews Editor

ATTICUS NEWS

Send us your honest, raw, CNF!Deadline July 26th. Only $10 to enter. First Prize: $350; 2nd: $100; 3rd: $50. All pieces considered for publication.SUBMIT

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS REVIEW

BOOK REVIEWDEPTH AND HUMANITY AGAINST A BACKDROP OF CONFLICTA review of THE CLAY URN by Paul Rabinowitz from Main Street RagReview by David Crews"[the book].. offers space to move a little closer to that great mystery of what it really means to love."GET THE BOOKREAD THE REVIEW

FICTIONDECOYSby Alyson Mosquera Dutemple "I said, 'Were we ever that young?' but maybe what I meant a little was 'Were we ever that in love?'"READ ON

POETRYADOBO VARIATIONSby Allison AlbinoSecond Prize in the 2020 Atticus Review Poetry Contest"We’re at a restaurant in Queens, something’s missing in the sauce, it’s not brownenough. They add coconut milk. It whitens – this is not right."READ ON

POETRYTHE SOFT EDGES OF DIFFICULT THINGSby Jeffrey LetterlyThird Prize in the 2020 Atticus Review Poetry Contest"I’m drinking cherry marzipan green tea,like eating cake first thing in the morning, like I amthe rich and famous, like I amaddicted to salty sugar, to kisses..."READ ON

POETRYNEIGHBORHOODby Jeffrey LetterlyHonorable Mention in the 2020 Atticus Review Poetry Contest"You know you used to be scaredof the big kids,the cornfields at night,the neighbor’s dogthat started to act funnywhen you were watching itfor the week they were gone"READ ON

POETRYHOW I LEARNED NOT TO SMILEby Peggy Robles-AlvaradoHonorable Mention in the 2020 Atticus Review Poetry Contest"Stoic faces framed by bouffant or pompadour hair stiffened byAqua Net and years of learning to tolerate the dry heat of salonhair dryers and marriages that lasted too long..."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONHOW DOES YOUR LIGHT SHINEby Tex GreshamPart of our "Superunknown: Stories About Songs" series."She introduced you to music––gave you mixtapes when tapes were all there was and not a trendy thing at Urban Outfitters."READ ON

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