Reviews & Praise for "The Spud"

Reviews & Praise for "The Spud"

“Through the infinite layers of experience, Brilliant grabs the reader by our shoulders.”
— Jessie McCarty, for Hooligan Mag

Read an interview with Brielle Brilliant in Hooligan Mag

“The writing zips between inner memory and outer world with such speed that the boundary between the two begins to melt away … To read The Spud is to find yourself at the center of a constellation of possibilities rather facing down a single hard, cool reality … Brilliant is masterful at conjuring this experience, playing and tinkering with the point at which narrative breaks down into naked, exposed words without ever letting them dissolve into chaos.”
— Colin Flynn, for Cleveland Review of Books

Read a review of The Spud in Cleveland Review of Books

“Startling and haunting, an unforgettable debut.”
— David Gutowski, for Largehearted Boy

Check out Brielle Brilliant’s notes & music playlist for The Spud on Largehearted Boy

Our First Work In Translation (It's a DoozY)

Our First Work In Translation (It's a DoozY)

We are THRILLED to announce the resolution of a conundrum that has ensnaggled us existentially for 3 years!

Finally Finally Finally we can announce the FIRST EVER ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS of Au Dos De Nos Images (Volumes 1 and 2) by Luc Dardenne.

Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne are giants in contemporary world cinema, steadfastly radical in both principles and approach. Their films tackle social and political issues by focusing keenly on the intimate stories of individuals locked into their fates by unjust systems.

Brought to life in English by award-winning translator Jeffrey Zuckerman, these two volumes collect almost 25 years of Luc's journals as the brothers work through their films. The second half of each volume includes the shooting scripts of these films.

For creative people working in any discipline, this is the document of a master artist’s mind at work, measuring sustained introspection against true and constant engagement in the lived world.

Volume 1 (1991–2005) will be out spring 2019, to be followed soon after by Volume 2 (2005–2014). 

Announcing "The Spud" by Brielle Brilliant

Announcing "The Spud" by Brielle Brilliant

KP is the brother of a mass shooter. JD is the shooter's number 1 fan. The pair drives through rural Idaho, the physical and psychological landmarks of the violence imposing themselves on the characters and the reader.

The Spud is a puzzle: thinking/watching/living a movie rerun…

The book is timely, given the terrible frequency of mass shootings in this country. And its structure reflects the complex nature of the topics it covers, using an internal logic that only reveals itself the deeper you get into it.

While its content is most similar to A Clockwork Orange, Sartre's Nausea, or the work of Cormac McCarthy, its form has more in common with indie films like Badlands and Deleuze's philosophies on cinema. Fans of films such as Gus Van Sant’s Elephant and Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers are gonna love it.

“I can’t think of another writer like Brielle Brilliant right now. She’s doing something really unforgettable with language and narrative and memory and time.”
— Scott McClanahan, author of The Sarah Book

The Spud will be IN STORES EVERYWHERE NOV. 6 but available direct from us very sooon! In the meantime, read an excerpt on our website and watch the teaser video below. Brielle will travel extensively to promote the book this fall—we promise these events are not to be missed!

We Need Your Submissions

It's a long story, but Roosevelt University's lit mag, Oyez Review, is now in the exceedingly capable hands of our managing editor, Sammi. And who knows what we're gonna do with it now.

One thing is certain, though: for a limited time only, we're looking for your submissions. That means fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction (hybrid/experimental work = welcomed & encouraged), as well as art for the cover.

There's a $2 fee to send in stuff via Submittable, but just for this month, you can also email submissions directly/for free to sammi [at] featherproof.com (with Oyez in the subject line). If you ever wanted your work in front of a Featherproof editor, this is your best chance. Guidelines are available at the Submittable link—submit by January 31st!

See You at the Chicago Book Expo!

Make sure to stop by our table at the Chicago Book Expo this Sunday, October 1. We'll have deals on most of our titles (+ freebies!) from noon to 5 pm. Info on flier below.

 

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Zachary Schomburg's Mammother is Out Today!

It's finally high time for a Pie Time!

Today, 9/26/2017, is the publication date for Mammother, poet Zachary Schomburg's first novel! If you've had a chance to crack open a copy, you already know it's about as weird & wonderful & twisty as they come. And now it's available everywhere!

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Here's what people are saying:

“It is impossible for me to sum up this book. But I know it shines like a gilded symbolist triumph in the desert of the real.”

-Queen Mob’s Tea House

 

“A surrealist comedy about death and a deeply human tragedy about love.”

-Willamette Week

 

“I read most of the novel in a single sitting, because Schomburg kept reeling me back in with good stingers.”

-The Portland Mercury

Snag a copy here!

FP Event: Lindsay Hunter, Leyna Krow, & Brielle Brilliant

FP Event: Lindsay Hunter, Leyna Krow, & Brielle Brilliant

Featherproof's yesterday, today, and tomorrow--all on one stacked bill!!

Please join us for a reading/chill hang featuring past Featherproof author Lindsay Hunter (2010's Daddy's), present Featherproof author Leyna Krow (2017's I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking), and future Featherproof author Brielle Brilliant (2018's SPUD), graciously hosted by Volumes Bookcafe. 

About the authors:
Lindsay Hunter's latest book is Eat Only When You're Hungry. She owes everything to featherproof.

Leyna Krow is the author of I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking. Her stories have appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Prairie Schooner, Ninth Letter, and other publications. She lives in Spokane, Washington.

Brielle Brilliant is an unauthorized investigator who writes, films, and prank calls. Her first book, SPUD, will be published in 2018 with featherproof Books. 

Some praise for Lindsay & Leyna's newest releases:
"It is with Eat Only When You’re Hungry that Hunter arrives at her first masterpiece; a novel of staggering vision and tremendous heart." - LA Review of Books

"I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking will remind you of the magic just waiting to be discovered around every corner of your otherwise-mundane surroundings." - Bustle

Free

6-8 pm

Sunday 9/24

Volumes Bookcafe
1474 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago IL 60622 | 773-697-8066 | info@volumesbooks.com

Event page is here.

Facebook listing is here.

Mammother Book Tour

Mammother Book Tour

Renowned poet Zachary Schomburg, author of Scary, No Scary and three other books of poetry, is touring with his debut novel, Mammother (Featherproof Books, 2017)! 

In Mammother, the people of Pie Time are suffering from God’s Finger, a mysterious plague that leaves something inside a death hole in each victim's chest. With a large cast of characters, each struggling with their own tangled relationships to death, money, and love, Mammother is a fabulist tale of holding on and letting go in a rapidly growing world.

Tour Dates: 

Portland, OR: Saturday, Aug 19 @ OUTLET

Seattle, WA: Wednesday, Aug 23 @ MOUNT ANALOGUE

Seattle, WA: Thursday, Aug 24 @ PHINNEY BOOKS

Boise, ID: Saturday, Aug 26 TBD

Boulder, CO: Tuesday, Aug 29 @ INNISFREE BOOKS

Denver, CO: Wednesday, Aug 30 @ COUNTERPATH BOOKS (w/ featherproof author Mairead Case!)

Lincoln, NE: Thursday, Aug 31 @ U OF NEBRASKA / BAILEY LIBRARY

Omaha, NE: Friday, Sep 1 @ SOLID JACKSON

Omaha, NE: Saturday, Sep 2 @ JOHNSON DECONSTRUCTION

Bellingham, WA: Sunday Sep 3 @ Village Books https://www.facebook.com/events/300086217132807

Minneapolis, MN: Thursday, Sep 7 @ MILKWEED BOOKS

Madison, WI: Friday, Sep 8 @ Art In

Chicago, IL: Sunday, Sep 10 @ RAINBO CLUB https://www.facebook.com/events/1088823051253705/

St. Louis, MO: Monday, Sep 11 @ LEFT BANK BOOKS

Tulsa, OK: Tuesday, Sep 12 @ BOOKSMART TULSA at BLACKBIRD ON PEARL

Austin, TX: Wednesday, Sep 13 @ MALVERN BOOKS

Lubbock, TX: Thursday, Sep 14 @ TBD

Marfa, TX: Monday, Sep 18 @ MARFA BOOK CO

Los Angeles, CA: Thursday, Sep 21 @ STORIES

San Francisco, CA: Saturday, Sep 23 @ TBD

Chicago, IL: Sunday, Sep 24 @ Volumes Bookcafe https://www.facebook.com/events/823575364473898/

(East coast leg begins in November.)

 

 

FALL RELEASE PARTY!!

FALL RELEASE PARTY!!

Please join us to celebrate the release of Mammother, the debut novel by award-wielding superpoet Zachary Schomburg (author of Scary, No Scary & three other books of poetry)! Right around the corner from the Renegade Craft Fair at Rainbo Club.

Melina Ausikaitis (Joan of Arc, Aitis Music) will also perform her singular hybrid of songs and stories.

All Featherproof titles will be available for purchase at a super low discount bargain rate ya can't get anywhere else, including our newest summer release, From the Inside. 

All the literary action you need!

Sunday, 9/10

6PM

Rainbo Club

1150 N Damen Ave

Chicago, Illinois 60622

Free, 21+