Publication

My short story, "Pajamas for Mr. Kafka" will be published in the new issue of Shoefly, the KU literary magazine. It will be published towards the end of April, in Shoefly 2011. I should be reading the story at the April 20th launch event. The story is about a woman's obsession with Franz Kafka's life and works. More details to come soon. J.

Literary Non-News Stories

New Kafka papers to be revealed to the public? I think not.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10682482

According to the BBC, these documents (part of a long-running feud) will only come under the eye of a "Kafka Specialist" and will not be released to the public.

I don't understand this. Why not make these public? Even Nabokov's manuscripts have been seen in public. Laura has come into the public eye (after 25+ years of debating). I have a Laura manuscript upstairs, in Nabokov's own hand.(*)

They've even discovered Kafka's stash of pornography and made selections of the contents public knowledge.(**) If his choice of porn has literary value, why not let us see the real stuff?

JPC

*Attention possible theives, the "manuscript" of Nabokov's Laura is no real manuscript, it's just a copy of the book, which reproduced the index cards he wrote the text on.

**http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2008/aug/15/kafkasguiltypleasures