Charity Event for Haiti

Charity Event to Raise Funds for Disaster Relief in Haiti.
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, 5:00PM - 8:00PM
at Macao Trading Co., Tribeca - 311 Church St, NYC

In partnership with PARTNERS IN HEALTH (www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti) and H.O.W. Journal.

- Suggested donation $25.

- Complimentary Hors D'oeurves & Cocktails

- All proceeds will be donated to Partners in Health. A non-profit organization with a strong reputation for providing health care options and advocacy for the poor in Haiti and other parts of the world. www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

Event Details >>

Contest Announcement

Short Story Contest Judged by Susan Minot
H.O.W. Journal is hosting its first short story contest to be judged by acclaimed author Susan Minot. The deadline is May 15th, 2010. The contest is open to all writers and all themes.

1st Place - $1000
2nd Place - $300
3rd Place - $100.

All winning stories will be published in H.O.W. Journal.

Guidelines and More Info. >>

Fiction - Issue 5

"The Story I Just Finished Writing" by José Luís Peixoto
Translated by Ellen Miller and the author
Last week I showed my mother a story I had just finished writing. She put on her eyeglasses, sat down, lifted up the pages, and started to read them. I waited for her to finish reading, looking at her occasionally. While she was reading, I saw the expression on her face change many times. After finishing the last sentence, she placed the pages on the table and looked at me over the lenses of her eyeglasses as if she needn't say anything, as if what she had to say was obvious. Then she said, "You can't publish this." Not so much asking as telling me, she said, "What will people think?" I looked at her and laughed. I told her that she wasn't really understanding the story. I tried to explain to her that when reading I, people wouldn't think that I was actually talking about me, in the same way that by reading my mother, they wouldn't automatically think I was talking about her. My mother has very curly hair, so as an example, I showed her a sentence in which I had written, my mother has very straight hair.

Read more >>

Fiction - Issue 5

"Three Movies I Liked" by Tao Lin
The fIrst movIe was a documentary called Planet-B-Boy. The movie said there are four aspects to hip-hop culture. One aspect was break dancing. Some break dancers in the movie wore helmets while spinning on their heads. They wore helmets even in competitions. The movie followed five teams to the break dancing finals in Germany. About three-fourths through the movie Kelly said the American team was not very good. After that we talked shit about America a lot while watching the movie. The Americans really did act like assholes. Kelly used the word "douchebags" to describe the American team. I used the word "assholes" to describe the American team. I liked the Koreans and the Japanese the most. I felt they were humble and calm. One of them worked in his parent's green-tea shop. After the movie I said "We should try to spin on our heads." We talked about starting our own team. We said we would never practice and just stand on stage at the finals representing America by moving our arms and legs sometimes. People would like us because we would be ironic.

Read more >>

Art - Issue 5

Issue 5 >>

Nonfiction - Issue 5

Excerpts from Rock! by Piero Negri Scaglione
When Andrea Bosco, the Editor of paperbacks at the Torino-based Giulio Einaudi publishing house, asked me if I knew someone who could write a book on the essential records in rock 'n' roll history, I started to think who would be the best choice. I called a couple of contributors to Rolling Stone Italia (I was a managing editor at RS back then) then I finally realized—I had to write this book.

Rolling Stone (the original and American one) is the only magazine I have been reading all my adult life. My life—as the German filmmaker Wim Wenders famously said—has been saved by rock 'n' roll. Saved—well, let's say changed—in significant ways. I had decided to learn English to understand what Jefferson Airplane was singing about. I had decided to graduate in American literature because of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, and I had started to work as a music journalist while still at university.

Read more >>

Poetry - Issue 5

"Freedom Song" by Willie Perdomo
big man big man come here big man got these lady liberties big
man shhhh they might be listening come here big man let me
show you some freedom
looklooklook she glows in the dark turn her to the East and
she smiles, turn her upside down and stars come out of her oh
and you know why she was carrying that torch right big man
because she was smoking something lovely c'mon big man two
for five three for ten I'm just trying to make an honest living my
name is Sincere but my friends call me Supreme I ain't selling

Read more >>

H.O.W. Journal, Helping Orphans Worldwide, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.
Contributions to H.O.W. Journal are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

H.O.W Journal is a proud member of
Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
www.CLMP.org