A Look Back at the 2025 Atticus Season
The Lifespan of a Literary NFT vs
The Lifespan of a Literary Blog Post
You might be wondering: what’s the difference between putting work on the traditional web in [insert any literary magazine name here] and putting work on the blockchain and publishing with Atticus Review? Why is this a better way to publish creative work?
To illustrate the value blockchain can bring to publishing literary work, let’s take a hypothetical look at the lifespan of two different publishing trajectories.
“Connie and Paula,” by K. Uwe Dunn, An NFT Collection
Atticus NFT Collection: 1.4
Title:
“Connie and Paula”
Collections:
- Blue Bed
- Green Eye
- Pink Door
- Purple Purse
Notes:
Four images accompany the text, distinct elements of the visual vocabulary that K. Uwe Dunn establishes in the piece. A purse full of “unholy things.” Connie’s blue eyes. A single bed that changes ownership. The locked doors on the memory care unit, a maze of darkened hallways in a nursing home.
About the Work:
A love story told from the point of view of a nurse aide who takes care of elderly people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Deeply, achingly human. And because it is human, it’s a little bit sexual. A jewel of gentle observation.
The Author:
K. Uwe Dunn, CNA, MFA (in painting), former newspaper editor, writes in both English and German. His work has been featured in The Gramercy Review, The Northern Virginia Review, The Petigru Review, and Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art, among other publications. He lives in rural Pennsylvania with his wife, Isabella.
Broader Strokes:
Do we have to know each other to love each other? Do we simply recognize ourselves in the other, and fall in love with the reflection? Where do we sleep?
Poetry Brings Me Back…Home
A new Atticus on Air. Submissions open now in any genre on the topic of “home.”
In this newsletter:
- A new podcast episode. Boo speaks with poet Marcia LeBeau.
- Submissions are open now through Thanksgiving in any genre on the topic of “Home.”
- David reflects on the evolving sense of “home” in his life.
“Telling people where I am from has become a more-complicated question to answer the older I’ve gotten. When I’m asked it now, New Jersey comes to mind as one of the first responses. I grew a lot in that place. Became the person I am now while living there. Wrote my first and, thus far, only collection of essays there. A part of me will always identify with that place, will be inextricably linked to it.” Read More
“A Misplaced Tropical Pond Leads to a Feminist Daydream,” by Marcia LeBeau, An NFT Collection
Atticus NFT Collection: 1.3
Title:
“A Misplaced Tropical Pond
Leads to a Feminist Daydream”
Collections:
- Apple Green
- Red + Blue
- Pink + Green
- Blue + Green
- Green + Teal
Notes:
Christina Cook for The Rumpus: “Marcia LeBeau’s debut collection, A Curious Hunger, is a powerful testament to the unabashed wholeness of womanhood and…a deeply political book…because I consider writing about the personal to be a political act, especially when it comes to a woman’s sexuality, bodily autonomy, and roles in society.”
About the Work:
Right now, the poet’s favorite “thing” in this poem is the raspberry preserve. We therefore floated a spilled jar of jam on the lake for the NFT image. The editor’s favorite “thing” in the poem is the word laundered. It’s astonishing how much wild elegance a starchy, domesticated word can gather in the lines of a poem.
The Author:
Marcia LeBeau is the author of A CURIOUS HUNGER (Broadstone Books, 2024). Her poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, New Ohio Review, Rattle, and elsewhere. She was a third-place co-winner of the 2023 Allen Ginsberg Award and received an honorable mention for the Rattle Poetry Prize. Her work has also received several Pushcart Prize nominations. She has an MFA in poetry from VCFA and is the founder of The Write Space, a co-working and literary hub for creative writers in The Valley Arts District of Orange, New Jersey.
Broader Strokes:
Bloody sheets, they happen every day.
Writers Deserve More
Last month, we spoke with three writers about literary NFTs. Listen and watch now.
Last month, we spoke with three writers, Ana María Caballero, Jo Unruh, and Katie M. Zeigler, who have all been involved in literary NFT projects. We were excited to chat with these folks and get their perspective on this space.
“Benny and the Heart” by Katie M. Zeigler, An NFT Collection
Atticus NFT: 1.2
Title: “Benny and the Heart”
Collections: Purple, Turquoise, Orange, Violet Gold, Fuchsia
Notes: Katie Zeigler’s book of flash fiction was the first runner-up in a chapbook contest at Flume Press, judged by Farnaz Fatemi. He says this: “With a freshness of point-of-view and a welcome oddness of language, The Last of the Cursive Writers notices and illuminates moments of change.”
About the Work:A charming, complex blend of satire and fantasy. The suspense revolves around futuristic heart science. What can a mother’s heart survive? What if it gets wet, crushed, or cold? What if it gets forgotten? So many questions. (Answers in the text.)
The Author: Katie M. Zeigler
Broader Strokes: It’s a hoot.
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