Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726

Pif Magazine
1426 Harvard Ave. #451
Seattle, WA 98122-3813

From: turtle9@bright.net
Date: October 2, 2000
Subject: Editor's Desk

Dear Folk:

I subscribe to your emailings, and I just wanted to let you know that, if you would put some of the color and type font variations in the first half of these "Newsletters" as you do in the second half of them, you just may capture more readers for a longer period.

Just a thought...

Mike Farahay
(I've just got to cut back on the use of that word, "just".)

From: exile3@hotmail.com
Date: October 3, 2000
Subject: Out of Print Poetry by Anne Doolittle

Dear Pif:

Thanks for another great issue. I had particular affinity with Anne Doolittle's article on out-of-print poetry. As a lover of Giuseppe Ungaretti's poetry (1888 - 1970), I found it discouraging that books of English translations of his works were out of print. However, thanks to a few good websites, hard-to-find commentaries in libraries, and two rare collections in the University of Arizona's Poetry Center, I was able to transcribe quite a list of his poems -- I think 120 or so.

Thanks again...looking forward to the next issue!

'pax vobiscum'

JC Alfier

From: aecoughlan@starpower.net
Date: October 3, 2000
Subject: Patchwork Girl by Shelly Jackson, reviewed by Lisa Ciccarello (Jan. 2000)

Lisa,

I think your review of Jackson's hyperfiction is nothing more than a scathing critique with little merit. It sounds as though your unexamined assumptions about how a hypertextual format should operate clouded your ability to fairly assess Jackson's dexterity-- both in terms of her use of Storyspace (playful, original, and self-reflexive) and her development of a sophisticated poetic style (multifaceted, humorous, and even on a few occasions, rather profound).

It's one thing to offer a constructive, well-developed argument that challenges a particular hyper-author's performance, but it's simply irresponsible to appropriate their text to buttress your own agenda, which is, quite frankly, not that sophisticated.

My apologies for my defensive tone, but I think it adequately reflects my disappointment with your review. For more helpful assessments of Jackson's Patchwork Girl and other hyperfictions that display technical problems and undeveloped narratives, you might consult articles written by N.Katherine Hayles and Espen Aarseth.

Elizabeth Coughlan

From: mworden@wizzards.net
Date: October 3, 2000
Subject: Out of Print Poetry by Anne Doolittle

Out of print poetry is a good example of redundancy. Most poetry never gets in print.

Mark Worden

From: eprideaux@hotmail.com
Date: October 21, 2000
Subject: Interview with Jhumpa Lahiri by Arun Aguiar (Aug. 1999)

To Arun Aguiar :

Hello,

I'm a writer living in Japan. I just read your interview with Jhumpa Lahiri, who has this month become my favorite writer. Your discussion with Lahiri was an inspiration, a new tool in my toolbox; I'm going to print it out and re-read it monthly.

Thanks and best regards,

Eric Prideaux

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