Cheap Wine, Plastic Chairs: Junot Díaz at Book Court
November 06, 2012
A weekly series that celebrates everyone's favorite part of the author reading: the Q&A. The same clangers are always asked, but a good writer can provide the most generic question with a stimulating answer. This week, Junot Díaz tackles that tried-and-true Q&A imponderable, the creative writing MFA. Read More
On Twit-Lit and Succinct Storytelling
November 01, 2012
"It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book,” says Nietzsche in Twilight of the Idols. Suck it, Fred: 21 contemporary writers have upped the ante in The Guardian's Twitter challenge (#140novel), unleashing emotion's full spectrum in 140 characters or less. Read More
A Virtual Tour of Rochester (or Two) with Bill Peters
October 29, 2012
A lot is happening in the City of Quality. In addition to Publishers Weeklynaming Maverick Jetpants a book of the week and author Bill Peters making a heartbreakingly funny contribution to Dear Teen Me, the Jetpants website (somewhere between a geotagging community and a scavenger hunt) went live. Somewhere in there, Bill found the time to discuss a few choice Rochester spots — the good, the bad, and the divey. Read More

If brevity is truly the soul of wit, then your Twitter feed is the Algonquin round table of today's digital Dorothy Parkers and Ogden Nashes. Here's a selection of our favorite tweets from the week; nominate yours by submitting to @blackballoonpub with #twitwit.

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Getting out of Banal Here
October 25, 2012
I'll be honest: I read travel writing because I fantasize about escaping my life. “Escaping” and “my life” take on different meanings depending on when you’re asking me... Read More