Vexations, Caitlin Horrocks, Little Brown – Caitlin Horrocks, author of The Vexations, had finished her MFA at Arizona State University in 2007 and had been writing short stories for a few years, when she signed up for a summer workshop in 2010.
Ellen Birkett Morris
Ellen Birkett Morris is the author of Beware the Tall Grass, winner of the Donald L. Jordan Award for Literary Excellence, judged by Lan Samantha Chang, published by CSU Press. She is also the author of Lost Girls: Short Stories, winner of the Pencraft Award and finalist for the Clara Johnson, IAN and Best Book awards. Her fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, Antioch Review, Notre Dame Review, and South Carolina Review, among other journals. She is a winner of the Bevel Summers Prize for short fiction. Morris is a recipient of an Al Smith Fellowship for her fiction from the Kentucky Arts Council.
Morris is also the author of Abide and Surrender, poetry chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in The Clackamas Literary Review, Juked, Gastronomica, and Inscape, among other journals, and in eight anthologies. Morris won top prize in the 2008 Binnacle Ultra-Short Edition and was a finalist for the 2019 and 2020 Rita Dove Poetry Prize. Her poem “Abide” was featured on NPR’s A Way with Words. Her essays have appeared in Newsweek, AARP’s The Ethel, Oh Reader magazine, and on National Public Radio.
Morris holds an MFA in creative writing from Queens University-Charlotte.
https://www.ellenbirkettmorris.com/
Building a Short Story Collection with Patience and Persistence
We Love Anderson Cooper, R. L. Maizes, Macmillian – In her debut short story collection, We Love Anderson Cooper, R.L. Maizes takes readers into some intriguing scenarios: a young man who decides to come out during his bar mitzvah, a disfigured tattoo artist who discovers healing powers, a therapist, whose new couch has the power to take away sadness, a woman haunted by the spirit of her dead dogs.
The Editor Explores Mother/Son Relationships
The Editor, Steven Rowley, Peguin Random House – The Editor Explores Mother/Son Relationships – I can’t lie. I was drawn to Steven Rowley’s novel THE EDITOR for the chance to spend time, even fictionally, with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The Magnetic Girl: History and Imagination, a Compelling Tale
The Magnetic Girl, Jessica Handler, Hub City Press – History and Imagination Yield Compelling Tale
Shaman of Turtle Valley Explores Cultural Differences
The Shaman of Turtle Valley, Cifford Garstang, Braddock Avenue Books – A painting hangs over the fireplace in Clifford Garstang’s home in rural Virginia of a temple with the Mountain God between two mountain ranges.
Southern Roots Lie at the Heart of Ripples
Ripples, Evan Williams, Southern Fried Karma – Place is essential to storytelling. This is a concept author Evan Williams is quick to embrace.
Community Fuels Creativity for Lynda Loigman’s Novel
The Wartime Sisters, Lynda Cohen Loigman, St. Martins Press – Lynda Cohen Loigman was taking her first creative writing class at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College when she discovered the power of having a writing community to better her work.
Shelf Life of Happiness Explores Complexity of Love
Shelf Life of Happiness, Virginia Pye Virginia Pye had always written, but when she took a class from Annie Dillard at Wesleyan University in Connecticut she began to get a deeper sense of what writing requires.
THE WIDOWS by Jess Montgomery Explores Modern Concerns
The Widows, Jess Montgomery, Minotaur Books – Every writer knows that idea that won’t leave you alone, that book that begs to be written.
The Collector’s Apprentice by B A Shapiro
The Collectors Apprentice, B A Shapiro, Algonquin Books – Art, history, romance, murder, and a cast of characters that includes Henri Matisse, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso propel B.A. Shapiro’s latest novel, The Collector’s Apprentice.
