Songbirds & Stray Dogs is an astonishing accomplishment in a debut novel and there is no surprise that this book won the ‘Next Generation Indie Book Awards for best novel‘ because it is a scintillating book, one that grips the reader and takes them on an unforgettable encounter, one which you will leave battered, bruised,
‘My body was my mother’s unfortunate toy.’ I came to True Crime not knowing what to expect, all I knew was that it was a debut and that it was recommended by Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror to many other people) – and that recommendation was all I needed. So I picked up my book and
Geovani Martins is a name that I’d not heard of before, but it is a name I shall always remember – with The Sun On My Head he announces himself to the masses with a collection that is dripping with relevant and important themes such as masculinity, corruption, poverty and resilience in the face of
‘Ruin’s Wake imagines a world ruled by a totalitarian government, where history has been erased and individual identity is replaced by the machinations of the state. As the characters try to save what they hold most dear – in one case a dying son, in the other secret love – their fates converge to a
With her debut short story collection, Amy Bonnaffons gives us modern day magical realism complete with inquisitive, hopeful 21stcentury female characters in The Wrong Heaven. Compared to the literary powerhouses George Saunders (on more than one occasion) and Alissa Nutting, Bonnaffons’ writing is funny, sometimes goofy and incredibly inventive. These short stories mostly address young
There are times, when reading a short story collection, that my interest dips. I’m half-way through, around four stories in, and only the opener has really hit the high mark that was promised. It becomes a task then, the finish the rest. Show Them A Good Time by Nicole Flattery is enthralling from start to finish
We had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Denslow an emerging voice on the short story scene regarding his breakout hit and debut collection ‘Not Everyone Is Special‘ – here’s what he had to say to STORGY Magazine… Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your first engagement with literature? I’m a dude
For me, writing good fiction is about punching the reader through the chest and laying hold of their still beating heart, crushing it, and not relinquishing that hold until the book is finished. If that’s your type of writing then look no further than this very bold and daring debut collection from Josh Denslow. Not
If you didn’t know The Study Circle was a debut novel before you read it, I guarantee you never would’ve guessed. I certainly didn’t. Haroun Khan’s first novel is raw in subject matter and sophisticated in style. In an essay titled “My Political Novel”, Khan explains how the novel was a written over a two-year period.
Who is Ezra Maas? Is he Daniel James the author of this ambitious fiction (or is it non-fiction?)? Is he a real artist? Is it a fake name that a group of artists hide behind? Or did James make him up for this book? These are some of the questions that’ll follow you as you
