Ben Bush's Blog
September 15, 2024
Fiction“Introverts” The Iowa Review“Succumb Your Thumb” V...
Fiction
“Introverts” The Iowa Review
“Succumb Your Thumb” Vol. 1 Brooklyn
“The Overseer” The Literary Review
“Seven Bedtimes for Seven Bonzos” Yeti
“Firewater & Firecrackers,” The Dogs (Karyn Lovegrove Gallery)
Interviews
Louis Chude-Sokei, The Organist (KCRW/McSweeney’s/The Believer.)
T. Geronimo Johnson, Los Angeles Review of Books
Joshua Cohen, Los Angeles Review of Books
William Vollmann, Bookforum (And, many years early in Poets & Writers.)
Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Bookforum
Paul Beatty, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Chalmers Johnson, Clamor
Articles
“Can You Bring a Gun to GOP debate?” Salon
“Like Trenton Without the Thrills” (on names and the writing of Camden Joy / Tom Adelman), Los Angeles Review of Books.
“Chronicling Conflict” (profile on photojournalist Mimi Chakarova), Bitch / Alternet
“Vonnegut Inspired to Some Invective,” San Francisco Chronicle
Panels
“The Emotional Currency of International Writing Programs,” Association of Writers and Writing Programs, virtual, 2021
Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies (Green Conference), Los Angeles 2020 (Paper: “Omissions from the Record: Amitav Ghosh and the Literary Absence of Climate Change and Oil Production”)
“For the Editing with Love and Fear,” Sozopol Fiction Seminars. Panelists: Barbara Epler (New Directions), Anna Kelly (HarperCollins UK), Anne Meadows (Granta), Georgi Gospodinov, Manol Peykov (Janet 45)
“Ode to Joy: The Career of Camden Joy,” Midwest Modern Language Association 2013 (co-panelists: Samuel Cohen, Trinie Dalton, Adam Wilson, David N. Meyer).
January 8, 2020
At AWP with Garth Greenwell, Kelly Luce, and Christopher Castellani, and on Amitav Ghosh at INCS in Los Angeles
On March 6, I’ll be moderating a panel on writing and cultural exchange programs with Garth Greenwell (What Belongs to You, FSG), Kelly Luce (Pull Me Under, FSG), Christopher Castellani (Leading Men, Viking), and Eireane Nealand at AWP in San Antonio. On March 5th on Los Angeles at a conference on eco-criticism sponsored by INCS (Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies), I’ll be presenting a paper on Amitav Ghosh’s Ghosh.Petrofiction and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Our discussion at AWP will center on our experiences in Bulgaria through Sozopol Seminar created by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation.
January 22, 2019
Small Countries in Big Literature
I will be reading from some forthcoming non-fiction about Bulgaria at this event at Unnameable Books (a fave) in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn on 02/01. I’ll be there alongside Charlotte Crowe, who will be reading from her novel set in Greece. This reading series is a project of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation with support from New York State Council on the Arts.
October 21, 2018
Succumb Yr Thumb
[image error]I have a short odd story up at Volume 1 Brooklyn. It’s a sort of parable of the information age with an economics T.A. and a plagiarizing undergrad at a morale-boosting pre-finals bar night. “The undergrad sunk his hand into the water to pick up a can but I grabbed his wrist and held it there.”
I’ll also be reading a short piece about my time in Bulgaria this Wednesday Oct. 24 at the Sofia City Library’s 90th anniversary celebration along with Georgi Gospodinov and other writers.
September 6, 2017
Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a f...
Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a former Fulbright Fellow to Bulgaria. He is currently a Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southern California creative writing PhD program, where he is completing a novel.
His fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Yeti, The Fanzine, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and The Dogs (an exhibit catalog including writing by Dennis Cooper, Dodie Bellamy, and Kevin Killian.) His non-fiction and interviews have appeared in Salon, Bookforum, The Believer, Flavorwire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, Alternet, Bitch, and Conversations with William T. Vollmann (University of Mississippi Press).
He has received fellowships and scholarships from the Truman Capote Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Key West Literary Seminars, Sozopol Fiction Seminars, and Poets & Writers / the New York State Council on the Arts. He was a finalist for the 2019-2020 Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship. He has served as managing editor for McSweeney’s podcast the Organist and the website the Fanzine, and ran the Hoyt Commission reading series in New York City. He has taught creative writing in Morocco, Bulgaria, and at the University of Iowa. He currently teaches at the University of Southern California.
As managing editor at the Organist podcast from McSweeney’s / KCRW (NPR-LA), he solicited and edited fiction from writers, such as Fiona Maazel, Carmen Maria Machado, J. Robert Lennon, Yuri Herrera, Vu Tran, Elizabeth McKenzie, Eugene Lim. He was also a founding board member of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies.
In New York City from 2010-2014, he ran the Hoyt Commission Reading Series, which included Rachel Kushner, Ariana Reines, Joshua Cohen, John Haskell, Matthew Derby, Darius James, Stacey Levine, Monica Youn, Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Lonely Christopher, Trinie Dalton, Louis Chude-Sokei, and musician Brian Dewan.
As an editor at the Fanzine, he solicited and edited fiction and non-fiction, including work by Alissa Nutting, Darius James, Matt Bell, Grace Krilanovich, Matthew Derby, Chelsea Martin, Stacey Levine, Trinie Dalton, Linh Dinh, Mike Young, Kevin Sampsell, and Joanna Ruocco.
email: benjaminhbush at gmail dot com
Ben Bush is a Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southe...
Ben Bush is a Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southern California creative writing PhD program, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a former Fulbright Fellow to Bulgaria
His fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Yeti, The Fanzine, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and The Dogs (an exhibit catalog including writing by Dennis Cooper, Dodie Bellamy, and Kevin Killian.) His non-fiction and interviews have appeared in Salon, Bookforum, The Believer, Flavorwire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, Alternet, Bitch, and Conversations with William T. Vollmann (University of Mississippi Press).
He has received fellowships and scholarships from the Truman Capote Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Key West Literary Seminars, Sozopol Fiction Seminars, and Poets & Writers / the New York State Council on the Arts. He was a finalist for the 2019-2020 Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship. He has served as managing editor for McSweeney’s podcast the Organist and the website the Fanzine, and ran the Hoyt Commission reading series in New York City. He has taught creative writing in Morocco, Bulgaria, and at the University of Iowa. He currently teaches at the University of Southern California.
As managing editor at the Organist podcast from McSweeney’s / KCRW (NPR-LA), he solicited and edited fiction from writers, such as Fiona Maazel, Carmen Maria Machado, J. Robert Lennon, Yuri Herrera, Vu Tran, Elizabeth McKenzie, Eugene Lim. He was also a founding board member of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies.
In New York City from 2010-2014, he ran the Hoyt Commission Reading Series, which included Rachel Kushner, Ariana Reines, Joshua Cohen, John Haskell, Matthew Derby, Darius James, Stacey Levine, Monica Youn, Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Lonely Christopher, Trinie Dalton, Louis Chude-Sokei, and musician Brian Dewan.
As an editor at the Fanzine, he solicited and edited fiction and non-fiction, including work by Alissa Nutting, Darius James, Matt Bell, Grace Krilanovich, Matthew Derby, Chelsea Martin, Stacey Levine, Trinie Dalton, Linh Dinh, Mike Young, Kevin Sampsell, and Joanna Ruocco.
email: benjaminhbush at gmail dot com
Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a 2...
[image error]Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a 2017-2018 Fulbright Fellow to Bulgaria, and a contributing editor at The Organist podcast from McSweeney’s / KCRW (NPR-LA).
His fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Yeti, and The Fanzine. His non-fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Salon, Bookforum, The Believer, Flavorwire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, Alternet, Bitch, and Conversations with William T. Vollmann (University of Mississippi Press).
He has received fellowships and scholarships from the Truman Capote Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Key West Literary Seminars, Telus, and Sozopol Fiction Seminars. He was a founding board member of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies.
He ran the Hoyt Commission Reading Series from 2010-2014, which included Rachel Kushner, Ariana Reines, Joshua Cohen, John Haskell, Matthew Derby, Stacey Levine, Monica Youn, Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Lonely Christopher, Trinie Dalton, Louis Chude-Sokei, and musician Brian Dewan.
email: benjaminhbush at gmail dot com
Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, whe...
[image error]Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received a Truman Capote Fellowship and a Teaching Writing Fellowship, and a 2017-2018 Fulbright Fellow to Bulgaria. He is currently managing editor at The Organist podcast from McSweeney’s / KCRW (NPR-LA) and teaches at the University of Iowa.
His fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Yeti, and The Fanzine.
His non-fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Salon, Bookforum, The Believer, Flavorwire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, and Conversations with William T. Vollmann (University of Mississippi Press).
He has received a work-study scholarship from Key West Literary Seminars and a Sozopol Fiction Fellowship. He was a founding board member of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies.
He ran the Hoyt Commission Reading Series from 2010-2014, which included Rachel Kushner, Ariana Reines, Joshua Cohen, John Haskell, Matthew Derby, Stacey Levine, Monica Youn, Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Lonely Christopher, Trinie Dalton, Louis Chude-Sokei, and musician Brian Dewan.
email: benjaminhbush at gmail dot com
Introverts
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I have a short story “Introverts” in the current issue of the The Iowa Review. Scenes in Baltimore and surroundings: in a social work office, a hipster banh mi shop, a jail parking lot, the suburbs, and a 10k race. It’s alongside work from T.C. Boyle and Margot Livesey—good company.
January 10, 2017
About
[image error]Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received a Truman Capote Fellowship and a Teaching Writing Fellowship. He is currently managing editor at The Organist podcast from McSweeney’s / KCRW (NPR-LA) and teaches at the University of Iowa.
His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, The Dogs (exhibition catalog), Yeti, KQED Writers’ Block, and The Fanzine.
He has received a work-study scholarship from Key West Literary Seminars and a Sozopol Fiction Fellowship. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies.
His non-fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Salon, Bookforum, The Believer, Flavorwire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, KCRW’s The Organist podcast, and Conversations with William T. Vollmann (University of Mississippi Press).
He ran the Hoyt Commission Reading Series from 2010-2014, which included Rachel Kushner, Ariana Reines, Joshua Cohen, John Haskell, Matthew Derby, Stacey Levine, Monica Youn, Camden Joy / Tom Adelman, Lonely Christopher, Trinie Dalton, Louis Chude-Sokei, and musician Brian Dewan.
email: benjaminhbush at gmail dot com
