In the second installment of This State of Literature this week, Secrets and Lies by Dan Shewan, we brought you a discussion of what it means to write nonfiction/memoir/personal essay. Relevantly, the good ladies at summerbooks brought this TriQuarterly essay, The Facts of the Matter, to our attention, an essay dealing, also, with truth, facts, lies, deception and what nonfiction really is and ought to be. 

At Housefire, there’s this poem by Scott Sweeney with espresso machines, washers/dryers, heavy metal. Check out, also, Matthew Burnside’s Escapology from the current NAP. Another great set by SDL favorite, Karrie Waarala, with How to Be the Sole Woman Working in a Tattoo Shop (do we need to describe that at all?) and How to Be a Soft Place to Land. Rounding out the wicked poetry this week is Matthew Burnside’s Chronology of a Black Hole, from the ILK Journal.

Want some literary science fiction? How this George Saunders story from the New Yorker?

How NOT to Put Together a Short Story Collection, by Amber Sparks at HTML Giant. Read it. Amber knows. She’s published a collection. She has some wisdom for you. Also, this interview with Junot Diaz at The Millions, as well as Edan Lepucki talking about the attributes of the literary fiction genre in Literary Fiction is a Genre.

At Ecotone Journal, My Nonsexual Affair by Andy Mozina.

And, because there is no one who shouldn’t read John Jeremiah Sullivan, here is something from the NY Times Magazine on getting a series of massages.

BONUS: As always, we would love to have you contribute a guest Friday Rex – perhaps a Halloween-themed list for next week? – and accept unsolicited ideas via sundoglit AT gmail DOT com.