Analecta Blog

Analecta is having its first ever release party on Sunday, April 29, 2012 from 2:30-4pm in SAC 2.120! We are excited to celebrate the hard work of the writers, artists, and staff who have made this issue what it is.

The party will feature an “art gallery” of publish artists’ work on the walls surrounding the room as well as a poetry/prose reading by published writers that will start at 3pm. Copies of Analecta 38 will be sold for a ONE DAY ONLY reduced price of $12 each, and select older issues of Analecta will be on sale for $10 each.

We hope to see you all there!

It’s a rare thing to find a writer who can combine style, substance and plot in a way that gets you almost literally addicted. A few years ago, I stepped into a miniature Borders bookstore in a Philadelphia airport. I was in a hurry and in desperate need of reading material for the flight back home. In my haste, I picked up the novel Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann from the “best-selling paperback” shelf. The book had a shiny National Book Award sticker on it, and the cover illustration was of a small scribbled man balancing on a thin red line over a sweeping illustrated New York City. I read the back briefly, and bought the book on a whim.

It sounds a little over-stated, but that was a purchase I equate to a sort of literary meet-cute.

Over the next few months, I eagerly devoured every book by Colum McCann I could find in my local Barnes & Noble. His writing is intoxicating; the stories are rich, ranging from the historically-based tale of a gypsy who was famously shunned by her people for writing down her poetry, to the true story of a French man who tightrope walked between the Twin Towers in the 1970’s and the mosaic of stories taking place beneath his spectacle. The imagery is stunning, drawing influences from the damp tunnels of New York City, to the beaches of Ireland, to the gray streets of Leningrad. It is an understatement to say that I was hooked.

So, like any true fangirl, I made it my business to become an expert on the life of Colum McCann. There’s not a whole lot of grisly detail to find, but perhaps the most relevant for my purposes is the fact that he finished his Bachelor’s degree in English and history right here at the University of Texas. He was, in fact, an early contributor to Analecta. His short story “Dried Apples” appeared in Analecta XVII, and was later published in Britain’s Best Short Stories of 1993. McCann often credits the University of Texas for jump-starting his career. Even though he has since moved to New York City to live with his wife and children, he has many times made it clear that Texas holds a special place in his history and heart.

Well into my McCann obsession and around the time that college acceptance and rejection letters were coming out, I was beginning to feel a little dejected and apprehensive about the future. A good friend of mine, knowing the fears I had about UT (which turned out to be unfounded, but that’s a different story), went out on a limb and sent an e-mail to Colum McCann himself to see if this great writer would offer one of his devoted fans a little advice and reassurance about the University of Texas. To the shock of everyone – most of all me – he responded.

“I have to say that I think the University of Texas has a wonderful program,” he wrote. “I wrote so many of my first stories there. There’s something in the high arc of the sky that allows to be ‘elsewhere.’”

Needless to say, I have found my all-time favorite UT graduate. His work is spectacular, and I encourage every avid reader and dedicated Longhorn to crack open one of his books. It’s an inspiring thing to read those gorgeous tales of distant times and countries, and know that they were first imagined on the lawns we walk daily.

On December 10th, I had the pleasure of discovering a fairly new Austin art gallery as well as two artists to add to my list of favorites. The art space, called Tiny Park, featured the work of Sam Prekop and Michael Sieben.

Upon entering the gallery, my friend and I were greeted by the exhibit’s organizers, Brian Willey and Thao Votang. In the first room was the work of Sam Prekop, singer and songwriter for the Chicago-based band The Sea and Cake. The subtlety and restraint demonstrated in his paintings and photography were captivating. He used limited or pastel colors and placed small geometric shapes and lines clustered together or repeated over a section of the canvas. The careful use of simple forms and negative space felt light, free and even random, but at the same time purposeful and controlled. Delicate lines created beautiful spaces in the pieces that at times reminded me of looking down on a city in a dream. This exhibit came at a good time for me because I’d just learned of The Sea and Cake and attended their concert at the Mohawk on December 8th. Prekop’s work in oil and gouache was the perfect aesthetic to accompany the compelling, intricate music of the band. Fittingly, Prekop designs the artwork for The Sea and Cake and his own solo albums.

Michael Sieben’s work was displayed in a smaller room connected to the first. Except for one sculpture, “Abandoned Ladder to Heaven,” all of his pieces were on 3” x 6” flash cards, drawn in ink, marker, coffee and pencil. On each card was a unique, strange-looking creature that was slightly awful but almost cute at the same time. Many had wrinkled eyes, round heads or strange body parts. I enjoyed their illustrative qualities. The dark ink outlines, bright colors, faces full of emotion and the way the characters interacted with their limited drawn environment all made it seem as if each card represented a mysterious story. I later learned that Sieben graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999, and that since then he’s founded Okay Mountain Gallery in Austin and worked as a skateboard designer, among other things.

The gallery rooms were connected to the home of the organizers and located at 607 ½ Genard Street. Their out-of-the-way location, along with the fact that we were the only visitors at the time, allowed for a quiet, intimate and meditative experience with the art. I highly recommend looking up these artists or seeing the exhibit for yourself. It’s open until January 14th, 2012 and is available for viewing 12pm - 5pm on January 7th and 14th and by appointment. I admit; the sweet, tail-less cat roaming the gallery also had something to do with me falling in love with Tiny Park. I’m greatly looking forward to seeing which artists they choose to showcase next.

Out of all of the scheduled events for the Texas Book Festival, I only made it to one around 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 22nd. The event was a Lit Crawl with Chuck Palahniuk, taking place at Scoot Inn on E. 4th street.

When I first arrived at the inn, a line was already forming along the street to enter the wooden, eclectic shaped building. A wedding was taking place and running a little late, so the assortment of Chuck Palahniuk fans had to wait outside. It was truly an assortment of people. From high schoolers, clutching copies of Choke, to smug college students, to a variety of adults, all were eagerly waiting to see the oftentimes disturbing author that had provided the world with the classic Fight Club.

We were finally allowed into the building, only to realize that it was actually a concert-like venue with a wooden stage and no roof. It wasn’t too long until a Book Festival representative came out and introduced the event, a new one of its kind at the festival. An author I didn’t know came out and read selections from his own book and the audience clapped politely. But when Chuck Palahniuk came out all smiles, the audience showed who they were really there for.

I’m not going to lie, I was expecting Palahniuk to be rude and abrasive based on his writing, but I was delightfully surprised. After reading a short story called “Romance” he had written for Playboy, filled with the all too typical moments in his writing that make the audience cringe but laugh at the same time, Palahniuk threw out plastic inflatable brains, skeletons, and hearts. Weird, I know. He explained something about wanting everyone to blow their brains out and on his command, everyone in the audience should start blowing up the inflatable objects. Whoever blew them up first would receive a prize, a book or a plastic black skeleton piggy bank. I managed to snag an inflatable brain, signed by Palahniuk himself, and that was prize enough.

After the prizes were handed out, Palahniuk answered a few questions from the audience. One girl asked what situation he needed to be in to write and he responded that he either needed to be very sad or feel trapped (like in an airport). The audience loved it.

The night passed quickly. After the event was over, everyone had a chance to buy signed copies of Palahniuk’s books. I snagged his new one, Damned, and an old one, Diary.

As I look at my inflatable brain, now blown up and sitting in my closet, I think of how lucky I was to have such a personal evening with a famous author. The Texas Book Festival provides such a great opportunity for people to see and talk to authors of all kinds in a close setting and…of course…for free! Next year I will definitely try and check out more of the events (I’m unashamed at my regret at missing Alton Brown) because of how unique this event is, and since all the events take place downtown it’s right in our backyard.

-Cindy Brzostowski

As an aspiring book publisher, it pains me to say that few people really know what the book industry is about. My Asian parents for one, after protesting profusely about my transition from a Biology Major to an English Major, had no idea what I meant when I stated my desire to pursue “publishing” in the slightest. They were unaware that such a job still existed in this day and age where almost everyone relies on technology, or that such a career would provide me with the sufficient amount of money needed to support myself in the future. And I can’t say much for the latter, but what exactly does technology and progress mean for the modern-day book publisher? Let’s take a look at the most recent portrayal of the publishing industry in pop culture—The Proposal, a popular rom-com featuring America’s Sweetheart, Sandra Bullock, and heartthrob, Ryan Reynolds.

Representing an executive editor in chief of a book publishing company, Bullock plays the role of a pushy and cold woman, incapable of feelings and sympathy. While as Reynolds, an aspiring writer, plays her hopeful, yet consistently disappointed and overworked employee. Now what does this say about the publishing industry? It implies that at the headline of all our favorite books are power hungry executives in New York, all of whom are not in the industry for their love of books, but rather just in it for the profit. In addition to this, the movie suggests that the employees that make up publishing companies are mostly unhappy, overworked individuals who seem to hate their monotonous jobs. But is all of this based on fact or fiction? Now, speaking as an outside source, most of my information originates from copious amount of online research; however, from what I can tell, much of this publishing stereotype has many parallels with the realities of the book industry. Let’s face it. In this day and age, it’s all about the money. And as long as the leading publishing companies reside in New York, California, and Boston, that’s not something that’s bound to change any time soon. Now, I’m not saying The Proposal is in any way a perfect representation of the publishing industry, but even with its romantic clichés it manages to successfully portray the businessmen in charge. With the other publishers, depending on the field and person, the reality probably ranges from being extremely successful to something that probably coincides with Ryan Reynold’s character.

You’re probably wondering then why I, someone who seems well aware that publishing is a difficult industry where finding an entry-level position can be almost near impossible, still desire to pursue such a career. Well, call me an optimist—or maybe just naïve—but as an avid reader and a lover of all things pertaining to English and books, I still have hope for the book industry. I am a firm believer that there is much more to it than money. It’s about giving hopeful authors an opportunity to express themselves to others through the written word and spreading the love of books and reading. Because we’re not a dying breed. Even with advancements in technology, television, and film, there are still individuals like us who enjoy spending time with a good book. Here in Austin, TX, there are a few independent publishing companies, such as the Greenleaf Book Group, who still strive to maintain this ideal of preserving the love of books. Like Ponyboy, I just want the publishing industry to “stay golden”, so to say; something that I hope, as a publisher, I’m able to achieve.

-Krysia Garcia