Category Archives: John Updike Review

John Updike Review Vol. 4 No. 1 is published

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Levine-witchesVolume 4, Number 1 (Fall 2015) of The John Updike Review was recently published. The journal, edited by James Schiff and Nicola Mason and published by the University of Cincinnati and The John Updike Society, features a striking (and strikingly playful) David Levine drawing of Updike as one of his alter ego witches.

It’s an appropriate graphic, since Schiff’s innovative “Three Writers on . . .” section this issue features three different takes on The Widows of Eastwick, Updike’s 2008 sequel to The Witches of Eastwick (1984).

In addition to essays on Widows from Judie Newman (“Updike’s Black Widows: The Widows of Eastwick“), James Plath (“The Widows of Eastwick: Updike’s Book of the Dead . . . or Rather, Dying”) and Schiff (“A Second Look at The Widows of Eastwick: Aging Women, Assuaging Guilt, and Updike’s Sequels”), the issue features an Updike bibliography from Schiff and four essays:

“Male Sexuality in John Updike’s Villages,” by Brian Duffy

“Betrayal by Sandstone Farmhouse: Forgiveness in Updike’s ‘Pigeon Feathers’ and ‘The Cats,'” by Peter J. Bailey

“John Updike in Dialogue with J.D. Salinger,” by David Penn, and

“Updike in Love,” by Donald J. Greiner.

If you are a member and you haven’t received your copy yet, either you live abroad and it’s on its way, or you moved and forgot to tell the society. The John Updike Society is free to members. To join or to send an address update, contact James Plath, jplath@iwu.edu. For information on institutional subscriptions only, contact James Schiff, james.schiff@uc.edu.

Winter 2015 issue of JUR is published

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JUR3-2small2Watch your mailboxes, John Updike Society members. Volume 3, Number 2 (Winter 2015) of The John Updike Review has been published and mailed. The issue features a stunning cover photo by Ara Guler and two plenary talks from the Third Biennial Conference: “The Bulgarian Poetess: John and Blaga,” by Ward Briggs and Biljana Dojčinović, and “Starting Out at Chatterbox: The Apprenticeship of John Updike,” by Donald J. Greiner. Also in this issue is the winning essay from the JUR’s Second Emerging Writers Prize—”The Long Goodbye: The Role of Memory in John Updike’s Late Short Fiction,” by Matthew Shipe—and “Engendering Pleasure: Sringara Rasa in John Updike’s S.,” by Pradipta Sengupta.

Editor James Schiff has done another fantastic job, and his innovative Three Writers feature, in which three invited writers are asked to contribute an essay on the same Updike story, novel, poem or essay, this issue spotlights the short story “Gesturing”: Robert M. Luscher’s “Motions of Meaning: John Updike’s ‘Gesturing,'” Dario Sulzman’s “‘I Feel I’ve Given Birth to a Black Hole’: Existential Motifs of Bachelorhood in John Updike’s ‘Gesturing,'” and Kathleen Verduin’s “Gestures of Reflection.”

Rounding out the issue is Matthew Shipe’s review of Bob Batchelor’s John Updike: A Critical Biography.

The John Updike Review is published twice a year by the University of Cincinnati and The John Updike Society and is based at the University of Cincinnati Department of English and Comparative Literature. To subscribe to The John Updike Review, simply join The John Updike Society (https://blogs.iwu.edu/johnupdikesociety/). Membership ($25 regular, $20 grad students/retirees) includes a subscription to the journal. Institutional subscriptions are available through EBSCO.

JUR has started shipping

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James Schiff, editor of The John Updike Review, reports that the very first issue has begun shipping. The issue is free with membership, though there’s also a special edition hardcover version, with slipcase, available for those who are interested.

“I’m pleased with our inaugural issue,” Schiff writes. “We have a mix of essays, academic and belletristic, as well as tributes and reviews from scholars, novelists, short story writers, and poets.  Further, and in line with Updike’s thinking when it came to making books, we have aimed high in regard to aesthetics: design elements, photographs, art, quality and care of the editing. We hope our readers will be pleased.”  Email Jim (james.schiff@uc.edu) for more information, or for ordering extra copies of the journal or the special edition. Otherwise, keep checking your mailbox!

First issue of JUR arrives in September; Emerging Writers Prize announced

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The first issue of The John Updike Review will arrive in September, with a hard copy mailed to all paid-in-full members (dues statements are on their way). In addition, editor James Schiff announced the sponsorship of The John Updike Review Emerging Writers Prize, which consists of $1000 and publication in the Review.

Anyone 40 years of age or younger is invited to enter. Submissions are open and rolling. Depending upon the quality of submissions, one or more winners will be announced annually.

The John Updike Review is looking for an essay by a young writer or critic that deepens our understanding of the work of John Updike. The writing may be scholarly or belletristic in nature. Academics, critics, graduate students, assistant professors, novelists, poets, and short story writers are encouraged to submit essays, which should be 10 to 30 pages long.

Send submissions via attachment to:  Prof. James Schiff, Editor, The John Updike Review, james.schiff@uc.edu. For more information about the journal, visit the website.