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Emily Koon’s short story, “The Ghosts of St. Louis,” was recently published at The Rumpus.
(Emily won our 2015 Innovative Short Fiction Contest, judged by Amelia Gray. Two of Emily’s stories appear in The Conium Review: Vol. 4.)
“The Conium Review: Vol. 4” ebook cover
Over the past seven days, we’ve showcased the nine different objects contained in this year’s collector’s edition. From the string-and-button closure on Emily Koon’s “Butterbean” to the accordion-style booklet for Ingrid Jendrzejewski’s “Shampoo,” there are some funky chaps and broadsides in this year’s edition. The Conium Review: Vol. 4 paperback edition launches today, and the collector’s edition goes on sale for a December 15th ship-date.
If you purchase a collector’s edition, all nine stories are wrapped in burlap, tied with twine, stuffed inside a decorative wooden book-shaped box. The box is hand-stamped with acid-free archival grade ink on the front cover, spine, and back cover. The box is hinged along the spine, and the front cover contains a small magnetic closure. This year’s 7.5″ x 10″ box is bigger than last year’s 5.5″ x 7.5″ box (see the last slide below for a comparison), but it’s still designed to fit on most standard bookshelves. Later today, we’ll show off some pics of the fully assembled collector’s edition in all its glory, and it’ll be available for purchase in our online storefront this evening.
Emily Koon’s “The People Who Live in the Sears” is the ninth and final item contained inside The Conium Review: Vol. 4 Collector’s Edition. Tomorrow, we’ll show off the book-shaped box that contains these beautiful handmade chapbooks and broadsides. The box is similar to last year’s, but it’s bigger (don’t worry, it still fits on most bookshelves). The entire box set will be available for purchase tomorrow (November 30th). A limited number of these boxes ship right away on the 30th, though most orders will ship closer to December 15th.
Emily’s story was the 2015 Innovative Short Fiction Contest Winner. The contest judge, Amelia Gray, noted that “The People Who Live in the Sears” is ” . . . a little George Saunders, a little Don Barthelme, but best of all a lot of its own thing, the neon Jazzercize glory of the 80s going up like the asbestos-fueled fire it features.”
This 12-page, 4.5″ x 6″ chapbook is printed on 67-lb. vellum paper with a 24-lb. ivory colored inner leaf and 24-lb. white linen pages.
Zach Powers was in our last issue with “Sleeping Bears,”and he’s back with a pseudo-vengeance in The Conium Review: Vol. 4. The paperback hits shelves November 30th—that’s also when the Collector’s Edition officially goes on sale. For this year’s Collector’s Edition, Zach’s “The Eating Habits of Famous Actors” appears as a 5″ by 5.25″ 8-page mini-chap. The cover is printed on 90-lb. white index stock. There’s a filmstrip silhouette punched through the paper, showing leaf of 65-lb. black card stock beneath. The inner pages are printed on 24-lb. ivory-colored paper.
