I got an e-mail today from Stuart Bernstein in New York, telling me the good news about Dinuba native Manuel Muñoz, author of "The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue," a collection of short stories published by Algonquin Books. According to the Irish Times, he is among six finalists for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize, which carries a prize of about 35,000 euros. Right now, that's about $48,300.
Manuel Muñoz' work last appeared in The Bee on May 6, when he wrote a commentary for us titled " Life Lessons from a Woman of her Word," a story about a Cornell professor who took special pains to convince his family that he should pursue graduate studies on the East Coast. His first collection of short stories, "Zigzagger," was published by Northwestern University Press in 2003. Muñoz graduated from Harvard University and received his master's degree in fine arts in creative writing at Cornell. He now lives in New York City, where he is at work on a novel. If you like his work, he will be coming to Reedley on Oct. 11 for a reading.
Have you noticed Riverpark is one of the very few things that your blogs have gotten comments on? Sure you have.What does that tell you.
I was blessed to be able to review "The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue" in this month's issue of Fresno Magazine. Big thanks to them, KMPH and the Bee for giving more recognition to the largely unknown wave of literary talent coming out of the Valley. It's truly appreciated! There's so much more to be proud of than just Saroyan and the Fresno Poets.
Now if only the Bee would restore its Sunday book review coverage space.
Here's a great article from the National Book Critic's Circle on why newspaper book review sections are so valuable to society:
~C