On Being Mentioned, Honorably

A friend recently wrote to congratulate me. I asked, What for? For the Pushcart thing, she said. What Pushcart thing? I said. The honorable mention, she said.

It was news to me.

Happy news!

And soon confirmed, also happily: a story called "Falling Through," originally published in the Spring/Summer 2007 issue of Alaska Quarterly Review, had gotten an Honorable Mention in the latest volume, XXXIII.

But I did wonder why the 'Cart hadn't gotten in touch directly.

The answer was obvious enough: that many more email addresses to track down, et cetera.

But still: it is a happiness-provoking thing, hearing that a story has been honored in some way, and happiness is rare enough already. Why wouldn't an editor--or anyone else--take the opportunity to cause a little more?

But then I thought, Okay, Kesey, back to work.

But then I thought...

And I went to check.

Amazon, search function.

And sure enough:

"Wait," first published in Volume 28, Issue 4 of the splendid Kenyon Review, received an Honorable Mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: 20th Annual Collection.

And "Asuncion," first published in McSweeney's Issue 15, had been HM'd the previous year, in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2006.

And I thought again:

Why didn't they let me know?

Were they afraid I was already too happy?

That the slightest bit more happiness would push me over the edge?

Or were they just too busy?

And so to all you anthologizers I say:

We know how hard you work, and for such little recompense in the idiom of mammon.

We know!

And we thank you for it.

We do!

But also:

No one is ever too happy.

January 31, 2009, 3:54 p.m.Categories: Litmags, Short Stories

If you too

will be in Chicago for the upcoming AWP conference, by all means track me down.

January 30, 2009, 11:03 a.m.Categories: Interviews, Litmags, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Travel