Searching for Greatness in the Fiction Slush Pile

Michael Noltemeyer is a first-year MFA student in fiction at the University of New Mexico as well as Fiction Intern for Blue Mesa Review.

Another year is nearly over, and with December almost upon us, we begin making plans anew to gather in observance of that most cherished of holiday traditions: the release of next year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

Wait—what? Baseball? I know that’s probably not what you were expecting to find on the blog of your favorite literary journal, but bear with me for a minute.

Excellent Review of BMR 25 in NewPages

Blue Mesa Review 25 received a very nice review over at NewPages!  Check it out here.

If you are interested in donating to Blue Mesa Review so that we can continue publishing excellent writing, you have a couple of options!  You can make a check out to UNM Foundation, and indicate “Blue Mesa Review Fund” on the memo line.

                                    Mail to:

UNM Foundation
Two Woodward Ctr
700 Lomas NE, Ste 108
Albuquerque, NM 87102

or you can give online at https://unmfund.org/online-giving , select “Arts & Sciences, College of” as the Primary College/Program and indicate “Blue Mesa Review Fund” in the Secondary Program/Fund box.

Once your gift is processed by UNM Foundation, you will receive a receipt for tax purposes in the mail.

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BMR’s Editor-in-Chief in the Daily Lobo

Check out wise words from BMR’s Editor-in-Chief Nora Hickey in today’s Daily Lobo!  You’ll get some insight into, not only BMR’s mission, but also the challenges the journal faces due to budget cuts.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS- Artwork for Blue Mesa Review

Seeking original artwork of all styles (photography, digital artwork, images of drawings, paintings or sculpture) for publication in Blue Mesa Review Issue 26.

Blue Mesa Review is the literary journal of UNM’s Creative Writing MFA program, publishing emerging and established creative voices. We are excited to launch the re-designed online journal with Issue 26, and want to celebrate the work of New Mexico artists. Artwork will be presented alongside written work in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction.

Selected artists will receive an online bio and blog post. Images will remain online for the duration of the issue. This is a great opportunity to create visibility for your work and reach a new audience.  Please submit up to 5 images (.jpg only) at https://bluemesareview.submittable.com/submit

SUBMISSION DEADLINE NOV 23

Sherman Alexie Reading at UNM

On Wednesday November 14th, 2012, at 7:00 p.m., much lauded author Sherman Alexie returns to Albuquerque for a reading at UNM’s Woodward Hall in promotion of his new book, Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories.  The reading is FREE and open to the public, and is sponsored by Bookworks and UNM’s Creative Writing program.  Blue Mesa Review had the opportunity to interview Sherman in October and the interview will appear in our upcoming online issue in December, but we decided to give you a little taste below!

The Importance of Place: Dinner with Lee Maynard

Jill Dehnert is a first year fiction writer in the MFA program at the University of New Mexico and serves as the Blog Intern for Blue Mesa Review.

The stories that I find myself drawn to lately are those set in a raw place, a place I’ve never been and never even imagined, a place so far removed from the overly saturated literary interpretation of New York City, where the grit of the city is trying to pass for the grit of what? Gentrified, upper-middle class life? Perhaps I am not alone in my longing for something new and maybe this is part of the reason for the recent resurgence of CRUM, a novel written by Lee Maynard in 1988. In fact, Maynard was recently interviewed on Fresh Air.

What is it about CRUM that so interests our contemporary literary tastes? Is it, perhaps, the rawness of it, the naughtiness? Or the fact that many of us could never imagine growing up in a place so poor, so desperate, so ignored? How could a place like Crum, West Virginia exist in the United States of America? It is fascinating. Like not being able to turn your eyes from a particularly brutal car crash.

BMR’s Nonfiction Co-Editor Talks Performance

Ben Dolan is Blue Mesa Review’s Nonfiction Co-Editor, and a second year MFA student at UNM in Creative Nonfiction.

I’ll start this entry by demanding you read fiction writer Kevin McIlvoy’s story, “The Last Things We Said,” published in Keyon Review’s Spring 2011 issue.  I know, I know—it’s much more than you were expecting to have to read when you clicked over to this blog. But I think it’s a good introduction to today’s writerly topic: Performing Prose.