Today we present not five, but six stories selected from our Workshop's April nominations and sent to Chuck.  Yes, Chuck's been gracious enough to up the ante and read our top six stories each month.

What does this mean for you?

Well, it means an even better chance of getting your story selected, read by Chuck, reviewed in a careful way that will shed insight and enhance your skills at self-editing, and ultimately, the opportunity to have a story of your own featured in our upcoming Anthology.

So, don't miss out. read more »

Join The Workshop!

Looks like the good people behind Operation Havoc have awarded a winner of thei photo contest.  Chuck himself selected his favorite pic.  See below for an update from their newsletter.

A message to all members of Operation Havoc:

All hail most Glorious King of the Pygmy Photo Challenge. Most deftly has he demonstrated the tactic of Flying Giant Stork Death Kick.

Aaron Bonogofsky is now relishing his copy of Pygmy, inscribed and signed by comrade Chuck Palahniuk.

*To see the favorite photo larger, click the below link or the smaller image to the right: http://operationh.ning.com/photo/flying-giant-stork-death-kick-3?context=top read more »

Well, there's a catch.  But fortunately for you, it's a GREAT catch.  Because you'll be getting all of Chuck's books loaded onto a brand new Sony Digital Reader!

All you have to do for a chance to win is click here and enter your information.

Your information is not used for ANY PURPOSE other than this sweepstakes.  When you submit, you are not taken to another site, but stay right here at The Cult. 

Besides the opportunity of rewarding you with this awesome prize, the purpose of this sweepstakes is to promote PYGMY with a fun giveaway AND to promote a new feature on The Cult's Vortex. read more »

We have some great news to share with you today!  Badass author and fan favorite, Craig Clevenger, has relented (after much wheedling on my part,) to share two exclusive short stories!  The first one is called mother howl and can be read in our Author Shorts section.  (The second, subcarrier, will be posted next week.) Both are from his forthcoming novel, Saint Heretic (2010).

In addition, we have a few exciting updates from Craig:  His story 'The Numbers Game' was published last February in the anthology San Francisco Noir Two.  Next week he is heading to Oregon to read both 'Dermaphoria' and 'The Contortionist's Handbook' for Blackstone audio books!

Most exciting OF ALL...drum roll, please... Craig and I have been discussing his return to The Cult as a visiting instructor.  Craig is interested in leading a series of two week long "shotgun" workshops, limited to 12-15 students.  The focus will be geared intensely on one aspect of the writing craft.  These workshops will run throughout the year as his schedule permits. 

We are discussing it further when he returns from narrating the audio books. But we should have an update for you by the end of this month.  So stay tuned for more details as this exciting opportunity develops.

For now, enjoy mother howl, and be sure to check out San Francisco Noir Two!

Recently I've noticed a lot of questions popping up in our inbox about our Writers' Workshop Anthology on the ChuckPalahniuk.net website.  So I figured I'd take a few minutes to provide some much needed details. read more »

1. So what exactly is this thing?
   
   First of all, this isn't primarily a 'short story' contest.  I made it the title of this thread because many people are referring to it this way and it is very important to clarify that it is not a contest, but something much, MUCH more exciting!  If you think about this venture we're doing as a contest, you're probably going to be let down.  This is a Writers' Workshop, meaning, you submit your original work to our website and it gets rated, read and reviewed by your peers.  Then, depending on its overall standing each month, it has the possibility of being selected to be screened by our editors.  If it makes it past that process, it goes before our final screeners.  And it it makes it past that, it goes to Chuck Palahniuk himself.
   

Our friends over at JoBlo.com have recently posted the latest episode of their JoBlo Movie Show into an homage to the 10-year anniversary of Fight Club.  According to their founder, Berge Garabedian aka JoBlo, it was made by fans, FOR fans.  Enjoy! read more »

Today we unveil the next five stories that were selected from our Workshop in March and sent to Chuck.  Wait... sent to Chuck?  You mean best selling author Chuck Palahniuk actually reads original stories by his fans?  Why, yes!  Where the hell have you been?  Okay, maybe you need a recap.

For 2009, Chuck Palahniuk has decided he wants to take our Writers' Workshop up a notch. In previous years, Chuck provided monthly craft essays to help writers improve their work with trusted methods and tools he applied to his own writing.  This year, Chuck wants us to select five stories every month and email them to him.  He will then read and critique the stories, providing feedback on what works and what doesn't work.  Then, at the end of the year, Chuck will be selecting the best stories from the year and will work to have them published in an anthology that he's paying for.  He's even going to write the foreword for it! 

Due to this announcement in January, activity on our Writers' Workshop has blown up.  We now receive over 100 stories a month from talented up and coming writers.  Everything from shorts, to novel excerpts to even poetry and screenplays.  (*Note:  Chuck only accepts fiction for the Anthology). read more »

BURNABY, BC:  Thursday, May 21
7pm, Chapters Metrotown Eaton Centre, 4700 Kingsway.
FREE / *Wristband policy in effect for autographing.
For information call: (604) 431-0463

Don't forget to use this thread to post feedback, accounts, pictures, links and more!  Also, if you have any questions about the event, post them here.

Lastly, we have set up a Flickr group specifically for the tour.  You can join it by following the link below.  You can also assign the tag pygmytour to any pictures you upload to Flickr yourself and they'll show up on our page.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/chuck-palahniuk-pygmy-tour/ read more »

Wow.  Chuck has hit a homerun with his latest novel "Pygmy".   It just debuted at #3 on The New York Times Best Seller List.  I think this might be an all-time high for a Palahniuk release.   (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

All of you deserve a big round of applause for coming out and supporting Chuck, like you always do.  It was all the purchases of the hardcover of "Pygmy" that led to this awesome achievement.

See the list here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html?_r=1

As is his custom when visiting Canada for book tour, Chuck Palahniuk will be on the popular late night talk show "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos (takes a breath after spelling that one).  The show was recorded last week and was originally set to air Monday May 11th, but was delayed last minute due to the Hockey playoffs up there.  The new details for Chuck's appearance on the show are:

The Hour, Monday May 18th, 11pm, on CBC.

Here's the link with more info:

http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=733698251

Enjoy!