Ellen Birkett Morris

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/
Discovery Drives Creation of Fennelly’s Micro-Memoirs

Discovery Drives Creation of Fennelly’s Micro-Memoirs

Dec 1, 2017 | ,

Heating and Cooling, Beth Ann Fennelly, W.W.Norton – Good writing in any genre rings with truth, personal and universal. In her latest book of micro-memoirs, Heating & Cooling, Beth Ann Fennelly shares her truth about life’s moments, big and small, with poignancy and humor. 

Extraordinary Adventures: A Journey of Discovery

Extraordinary Adventures: A Journey of Discovery

Oct 1, 2017 | ,

Extraordinary Adventures, Daniel Wallace, Macmillan – Daniel Wallace is not particularly interested in tracking the origin of his latest novel Extraordinary Adventures. In the years it takes to write a book, Wallace says the creation of the writing starts to get fictionalized.

Stansel Pens Contemporary Western

Stansel Pens Contemporary Western

Sep 1, 2017 | ,

The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo, Ian Stansel, Houghton Mifflin – Ian Stansel had been working on a novel for two and a half years when he decided to lay that project aside to write what would become his debut novel, The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo.

Goodman Explores the Power of Words and Images in The Chalk Artist

Goodman Explores the Power of Words and Images in The Chalk Artist

Aug 1, 2017 | ,

The Chalk Artist, Allegra Goodman, Random House – In her latest novel, Allegra Goodman explores the power of images and words through the prism of a romance between a young teacher named Nina and a chalk artist named Collin and twins Aidan, who is addicted to videogames, and his sister Diana, who are Nina’s students. 

Write the Stories You Want to Write

Write the Stories You Want to Write

Jul 1, 2017 | ,

How to Survive a Summer, Nick White, Penguin Random House – Nick White had just started an M.F.A.in Creative Writing at Ohio State University when he received a piece of advice that would change the way he saw himself and his writing.

Tell It Slant

Tell It Slant

Jun 2, 2017 | ,

The Fall of Lisa Bellow, Susan Perabo, Simon & Schuster -Susan Perabo’s forte is the plight of regular people, people who do their laundry and play board games, dealing with extraordinary circumstances.

Persistence and Grit Guide Rivers and Her Heroine

Persistence and Grit Guide Rivers and Her Heroine

Mar 1, 2017 | ,

The Second Mrs. Hockaday, Susan Rivers, Algonquin Books – When Susan Rivers’ agent told her she wouldn’t debut with her first novel, Rivers was disappointed. These words are spoken to many writers, but they came at a particularly difficult time for her.