Watch this space for our newly revamped wompus website, coming soon. Today: Matthew Inman, Craig Steven Wilder, Jodie Gummow, Just Detention International, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Neil Gaiman (with a special reprise appearance by Sxip Shirey). Matthew Inman on... Read More

Alice Munro wins the Nobel.  “A Small Sotry about the Sky” by Alberto Rios, in Poetry Pairing. Leah Umansky’s LIT: On Dealing With Rejection In Writing, in Luna Luna. When hip deep in alligators it is important to take a moment to straighten... Read More

It’s gray and raining here, the leaves have begun to turn. I’m reading xkcd and Too Much Coffee Man. In a minute I’m going back to production work on the workshop anthology we’re releasing tomorrow, and a couple orders. Saturday I... Read More

Sometimes somebody tells you something so sad it takes away your voice. Maybe for a minute you stop breathing. You want to answer. You know it’s important to answer. But the words have all gone underground. Maybe if you’re face... Read More

Picture this: An ice wall is the latest proposal to stem leakage of highly radioactive water from the TEPCO nuclear plant at Fukushima Daichi, a scant 150 miles from Tokyo, where a nuclear emergency has been declared again for the... Read More

Jeanette Winterson is always interesting, always risking something with her prose. I’d finished Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder in two days, a near miracle for me these days, and I wanted more, but neither the regular bookstore nor the used... Read More

Poets House has extended its annual showcase through August 17. You can see, fondle, sit and peruse this past year’s publications from the wompus along with a slew of other wonderful books by small presses throughout the US and beyond.... Read More

As difficult as this post is to compose, I have been avoiding the task. But for those of you familiar with her work and her presence, it imust be told: we have lost Kathleene West. Below is her obituary, written... Read More

Following Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin last night, I felt a sense of deja vu, a deep and exhausted dissapointment. Today in my inbox comes the response of Richard Cohen, President and CEO of the Southern Poverty... Read More

Too early this morning at the farmer’s market, shiitakes and asparagus, balsamic and salsa and spelt scones. It’s not California (we just got back from LA) but there’s stuff growing up the road, stuff being made around here. My partner... Read More