Hello Friends,
While working on grad school and my thesis, I had to let some things slide. Writing here was one of them. I missed it and you. Thank you to everyone who reached out to make sure I was okay. School offered a much-needed bubble of reading and writing for the past two years (check out my Reading Corner for the great books I’ve read, but it doesn’t include articles, single short stories, essays, articles, or poems.) I’ve also been working with writers as a Developmental Editor (click here for more and here for a blog I wrote for Resilient Writers.) With all this going on, I haven’t been sharing, and I love sharing what I’m reading and doing.
Beyond reading for my classes, I’ve compiled a list of short story collections and novels from around the world to find new authors to enjoy and inspire my writing. Within the list, many have location-based themes. A bunch have a touch of magical/marvelous realism, even if that wasn’t the focus. Some have body horror, slipstream, speculative, fantastical, fairytale, and fable elements. Several are linked short story collections. And contemporary women wrote a good chunk of them.
The list may seem a hair all over the place, but I’ve been on a quest to discover more authors along the strange, weird, and dark paths that I love so much. I spoke to a friend the other day about writing in the style you love reading. Absolutely! That’s what a lot of this list is. But, mostly, they’re lovely and intriguing storytellers.
A goal of mine is to share these writers with you in case they pique your interest or remind you to pick up something you’ve had sitting on your to-be-read pile for a while or even to spark a memory of something you enjoyed. Over the past two years, I’ve been asking people for author names and book/story titles beyond what I’ve been able to Google. So I’m throwing the same question out to you. Who can I add?
Below is my ever-expanding list. I’m still working my way through it and will be for a while. Along with these fantastic works, I’ve been reading books about Maine and by Maine authors. I have also been researching and trying to better understand magical/marvelous realism. I’m using both terms because it’s more commonly known as magical but is also referred to as marvelous, which feels more fitting. And I’m studying plants, colors, and history. Been busy getting my word nerd on.
Enjoy the list. Let me know who I can add. I’ll start telling you about these books in the coming weeks and share more about developmental editing. So glad to be back with you.
Allen, Paula Gunn The Woman Who Owned the Shadows
Arimah, Lesley Nneka What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky
Armfield, Julia Salt Slow
Ausubel, Ramona A Guide to Being Born
Barrett, Andrea Natural Stories
Bender, Aimee The Color Master
Bender, Aimee The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Bender, Aimee Willful Creatures
Carson, Jan Malcolm Orange Disappears
Correas De Zapata, Celia ed Short Stories by Latin American Women
De Mello Breyner Andersen, Sophia Exemplary Tales
Erdrich, Louise Antelope Woman
Erdrich, Louise The Red Convertible
Habermeyer, Ryan The Science of Lost Futures
Harrison, Jim The Woman Lit by Fireflies
Hunt, Samantha The Dark Dark
Hunt, Samantha The Seas
Jackson, Shirley The Lottery and Other Stories
Kingston, Maxine Hong The Woman Warrior
Lee, Caroline The Glass Woman
Lee, Rebecca Bob Cat and Other Stories
Link, Kelly Get In Trouble
Link, Kelly Magic for Beginners
Naylor, Gloria Mama Day
Machado, Carmen Maria Her Body and Other Stories
Martin, Emily Winfield Snow & Rose
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia Mexican Gothic
Nutting, Alissa Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls
O’Connor, Flannery The Complete Stories
O’Donnell, Roisin Wild Quiet
Oyeyemi, Helen Boy, Snow, Bird
Oyeyemi, Helen Mr. Fox
Oyeyemi, Helen What’s Not Your Is Not Yours
Ozeki, Ruth A Tale For The Time Being
Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla The Once Lived A Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In
Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla There Once Lived A Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, And He Hanged Himself
Rhys, Jean Wide Sargasso Sea
Russell, Karen Orange World
Russell, Karen St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves
Russell, Karen Vampires in the Lemon Grove
Sparks, Muriel The Go-Away Bird
Van Meter, Crissy Creatures
Vaz, Katherine Our Lady of the Artichokes
