Lynne Barrett saw a gap online and envisioned FloridaBookReview.com. Photo by Michele Baker

By John Hood

Contrary to popular cliché, we Floridians read. And if traffic at Books and Books and other local bookstores is any indication, we read lots. We also write, in volumes as voluminous as our interests — and as diverse as our lives. Until now, though, we’ve never had a one-stop shop where we could find all we might wanna read, not to mention all that our fellow Floridians have written. The just-launched Florida Book Review has remedied all that, and we’re damn glad it has.

We grilled Editor Lynne Barrett — who not only runs Florida International University’s creative writing program, but also happens to be a wily writer in her own right; and, as you might suspect, we got as good as she gives.

 

First the obvious: Why the Florida Book Review? 

This winter, I checked out the world of book reviewing on the Web and found that while there were some sites devoted to the literature of the South, they minimized or excluded Florida. And when I thought about the tremendous number of Florida books being published — crime and poetry and history books like The Swamp, and our long writing tradition (Key West alone could fill pages) — I said, there really should be a FloridaBookReview.com, someplace where all that we have going on could be seen and talked about. Susan Parsons, to whom I mentioned this, challenged me to edit it if she set it up, and within weeks, we had a Web publication whose possibilities and dimensions keep unfolding.

 

Are you a Florida native? Miami?

No, I was born in New Jersey. I’ve lived in Miami almost 20 years, though. And in doing readings at bookstores and teaching at conferences all around the state, I’ve fallen in love with it. 

 

Who are some of your favorite Florida writers — past and current? 

From the past: Elizabeth Bishop, Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston. I read The Yearling in school, but am just discovering more Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings now. And over on the crime side, I enjoy Charles Willeford’s evil novels — I met him just once, near the end of his life — and the Travis McGee books once got me through a woeful season, so I’m fond of them. 

 

Among current writers, there are many I admire, including all of my colleagues at FIU, and many of the writers around the state who I follow with interest are friends, which means I can’t review them myself. I’m being careful to make sure our reviewers are not friends (nor enemies) of those they assess. As a reviewer and editor, I am making exciting discoveries. Bill Belleville’s Losing It All to Sprawl has stuck with me ever since I read it. Right now I’m reading Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids by Lu Vickers and Sara Dionne. 

 

Any emerging talents you care to mention?

I am looking forward to Preston Allen’s novel, which centers on gambling, due from Akashic this fall, and I just enjoyed Anthony Gagliano’s Straits of Fortune, which got a great review from the FBR, and a big plug as summer reading from The New York Times. 

 

FBR features Keith Ferrell’s rather comprehensive Memories of MacDonald, Memories of MacDonald's McGee. Will in-depth coverage of Florida’s best writers be a continuing component of the FBR? If so, what’s slated? 

 

Yes, we plan a range of offerings which are not strictly “reviews.” We’ll have thoughtful reconsiderations of older, classic Florida books: Ones up right now look at Russell Banks’ Continental Drift and Edna Buchanan’s The Corpse Had a Familiar Face — each 20 years old, which is an epoch in Florida time. Keith Ferrell’s in-depth assessment of MacDonald’s career and his McGee books is our first full-length feature but we plan more, sometimes with multiple pieces on an author. Upcoming is a look at Hemingway’s legacy in Key West, with a review of Papa Hemingway in Key West (a revised edition just out from Ketch and Yawl Press), a reconsideration of To Have and Have Not, and a piece by contributing editor Scott Cunningham on this month’s Hemingway Look-Alike contest, with photos. 

 

How often will FBR publish?

One of the pleasures of a Web publication is that we can [post] new material all the time, as we get it, with something new every week, at least. New items are highlighted on our home page. And we are expanding our coverage. Our first travel review (Weird Florida) just went up and we’ll have some reviews of food writing very soon. We plan to have a focus on the seasons — that is, the Florida seasons, Hurricane and Tourist and so on, as well as the literary seasons. So we plan to time some of our features to those. 

 

What do you look for in a book?

Of course it depends on the genre, but great writing, strong story, compelling characters — I want those in fiction or nonfiction, young adult books or history. And for the Florida Book Review, the fascinations of place are important, the little known, unknown, potentially forgotten. Florida changes so fast and is so diverse that I find there’s a great curiosity about it. Many people have told me that they’ve been living here unaware of our literary history or the wealth of interesting material being published, and I want to seek out books, including ones from the Florida presses, which help to illuminate the state. 

 

How does one submit their book to the FBR?

We review new books, and nothing self-published. Publishers should send review copies to the address which is listed on the Web site. 

 

What do you look for in a review?

I want to get the flavor of the book, so that I can assess for myself whether I might like it even if the reviewer didn’t. And I want to know about the story (no plot spoilers, though), ideas, setting. I like a reviewer who is well-read and thoughtful, but not stuffy. A Web publication — especially a Florida Web publication — is no place for pomposity. We’ve been fortunate to gather a group of interesting reviewers who write well, because I think a review should be a pleasure in itself to read. 

 

How does one contribute?

Anyone who wishes to write for us can get in touch with us via the e-mail address on the Web site, and let us know about his or her writing background, areas of expertise and interests.

 

Any plans of a print edition?

Not yet, but it is possible. We have some thoughts about sponsoring a workshop or conference too. But right now our main focus is building the Web publication. 

 

Now you: Your “The Noir Boudoir” was among those collected in Akashic’s fantastic Miami Noir. Are there plans for a sequel? 

Les Standiford, the editor of Miami Noir, says that a followup is “in the works.” 

 

You’re also founding editor of the FIU Creative Writing Program’s Gulf Stream Magazine. Is that still being published? If so, how often, what kind of works and who’s the current editor?

Yes, Gulf Stream Magazine is still being published, twice a year. John Dufresne is the editor. It’s a literary magazine featuring fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Info is at: http://w3.fiu.edu/gulfstrm.

 

What’s next for Lynne Barrett? 

I have another noir story coming out soon in A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir (Busted Flush Press — there’s a McGee reference, but the press is in Texas), and a short tale in Susan Tiberghien’s One Year to a Writing Life (Marlowe Books), and I’m close to having a third collection of short stories done. I’m also working on a textbook on plot.