What Is Found, What Is Lost by Anne Leigh Parrish is a captivating look at the lives of two sisters raised by a mother who, at seventeen, hit the road to follow a revivalist minister. Parrish's gritty details are impressive as the reader witnesses the girls sleeping on a dirt floor and living with no [...]
Gail Chehab's stellar new novel The Tunnel transports you to a whole new world, unless you've already lived on the Gaza Strip right before the Arab Spring. Many of us only think about this region when we see the news. Chehab's richly-drawn book, though, gives us front row seats as a revolution is going on, [...]
One of the beautiful things about writing colonies, besides the nature that often surrounds, the artwork being created, and the solitude, is the amazing people you meet, some of whom become life-long friends. Such is the case with Elizabeth Evans, whom I met at MacDowell one summer probably more decades ago than either of us [...]
Those of us who have the pleasure of knowing and reading Rusty Barnes are completely aware of what a talented writer he is, and I better just say it right off—I'm a long-time fan. His fiction is gritty and human, his setting as real as it comes. Especially in this high-stakes novel Reckoning, set in [...]
Robin Stratton, highly respected in literary circles for her many contributions, hails from Boston, MA. Her work shines in everything she writes: flash, dribbles, poetry, haiku, novels, chapbooks, nonfiction, and seemingly every genre you can think of. Aside from being a four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she's been a writing coach for almost 25 years, teaches [...]
One of the great things about writers conferences is getting to meet so many talented writers that you might not get to meet otherwise. Especially if you're from a place not exactly considered a literary mecca. Such is the case with Jennifer Murphy, a very gifted writer from Seattle, whom I first met at the [...]
Len Joy and I have been writing buddies for over a decade. We were both involved in Zoetrope Virtual Studio, a big online writing community where we shared news, discussed writing, and critiqued each other's work. I've always loved his flash fiction and stories and was honored to get to read some excerpts of his [...]
After years of knowing Bud Smith casually on Facebook, I finally had the pleasure of meeting him in person at last year's AWP, where we participated in a private Hot Pillow AWP reading in someone's hotel room. I was so impressed with what he read from his book Tollbooth that I couldn't wait to get [...]
P amela Erens’s second novel, The Virgins, was published by Tin House Books in August 2013. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and was named a Best Book of 2013 by The New Yorker, The New Republic, Library Journal and Salon. The novel was a finalist for the John Gardner Book Award for the best book of fiction [...]
We San Diegans are proud to list T. Greenwood as one of our best fiction writers. She's the author of eight novels, all of which are great, but her latest, Bodies of Water, is exquisite. She's an active member of our writing community, teaches, and it's always fun to run into her at readings. Tammy [...]