Leapfrog takes on Buffalo’s Small Press Book Fair!

I think everyone who attended the event would agree that this weekend’s book fair was a success! Dozens of Leapfrog books were distributed along with tons of information on our press. It was inspiring to see the support Buffalo has for small publishing companies like us along with self-published authors and other crafters.

Here’s the beautiful building that hosted the fair & intern, Leo, poking around

 

our colorful table:

past & present Leapfrog interns looking at books & getting eaten by birds:

food trucks!!:

Our splendid raffle prizes:

Crossborder’s spring issue is on its way!

Somewhere out there, at this very moment, a copy of Crossborder’s stellar spring issue is winding through the channels of the US Postal Service, working its way toward your mailbox. Keep an eye out.

Not subscribed? Really, really want to be? Have at it. 

Rough week for literature: Günter Grass has died at 87

You’ve probably all heard this, but Nobel Prize-winning German author and social critic of the post-WWII era Günter Grass has passed away at age 87.

In the wake of WWII, Grass established himself as the moral compass of a nation very much in need of one. He wrote extensively about how Germany needed to confront the ugliness of its past in order to make peace with itself. Which is why it was all the more shocking when, in 2006, he revealed that he’d been an active member of the Waffen SS, one of the more notorious arms of the Nazi military.

While Grass has maintained that he himself never fired a shot, the revelation has made him something of a troubling figure for Germans. On one hand, he provided much-needed moral direction in the wake of tragedy. On the other, he was complicit, if not active, in that tragedy. For many, the revelation negated his moral authority. 

Another interesting read: Jochen Bittner, “Günter Grass’s Germany, and Mine”

Remembering Ivan

We’re so sad to see Ivan Doig pass on, however, it’s nice to remember and acknowledge his incredible craft. Cory Walsh of missoulian.com put together a nice article on the subject. Read it here.

“Friends, fellow writers and book lovers remembered award-winning author Ivan Doig as a gracious and kind person who loved both literature and diligent historical research.”

“‘He talks about words as though you could just put them in your hand and pet them,’ said Welch, a retired University of Montana English professor.”

“Lois Welch, a longtime family friend, described Doig as ‘alive to language,’ a trait that drew him toward fiction from his original career as a journalist.”

“The 75-year-old White Sulphur Springs native died at his home in Seattle. The cause was multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, from which he’d suffered for eight years, Riverhead Books wrote in a statement.”

Attention book enthusiasts of Western New York!

We’ll be at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair on April 18th and 19th, along with more than 100 other outrageously cool booksellers, artists and assorted craftspeople. We’d love to see you there.

We’ll have the new issue of Crossborder for sale, and back issues for free if you subscribe at the fair. We’ll have books for sale at discounted prices, and every purchase you make will enter you into a raffle to win an awesome frog painting that you can hang on your wall as a reminder to submit to our fiction contest, which is still open until May 1st.

And we’ll have our beautiful faces, waiting to look at and talk to your beautiful faces.

Check out the BSPBF’s website for directions, detailed schedule and any other information you might need.

We’ll see you there!

2015 Neil Shepard Prizes are open for submission!

Do you write Poetry? Fiction? Creative NonFiction? Submit to Green Mountains Review’s 2015 Neil Shepard Prizes by April 15th for a chance to win $500 and publication. All submissions will be considered for publication. This year’s contest will be judged by Mike Young (Poetry), Molly Antopol (Fiction), and Amy Fusselman (Creative Nonfiction).

Good luck!

For more info: click here.