That's the premise of this experimental novel, a dark Borgesian romp into the labyrinthine depths of language. And in this America, citizens are born to fail - mainly because they lack the language and cognitive skills by which to identify their condition. Really missing my friends and the special literary community in Pittsburgh this evening.What if the apocalypse already happened and you just didn't notice? That's one of the central questions of Silverfish, a novel that details a slice of life in the Incorporated States of America: a country much like our own, but one in which the corporatization of culture is so total and complete, so deeply ingrained so long ago that no one can remember an alternative. Special thanks to Fred Shaw for this lovely review.

This is ‘showing.’” In his latest, the Mary McCarthy Prize winning collection of 18 short-stories, “Impossible Children” (Sarabande Books), novelist Robert Yune clearly gets this, using place and well-rendered, self-aware characters to great effect, making for some of the most compelling reading I’ve done in a while. According to Nancy Pagh, author of the thoughtfully written “Write Moves: A Creative Writing Guide and Anthology,” scene “can be as forceful as an explosion at a fireworks factory or as subtle as a lover’s eye contact shifting slightly away… creat(ing) the impression we’re there, experiencing what happens through our senses.

Hemingway’s classic “Hills Like White Elephants” stands as an exemplar, as the brief story relies on little more than setting and dialogue. In the creative writing classes I teach, scene often becomes an early point of emphasis, especially when it applies to fiction. Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton, published by Soft Skull Press When the Whales Leave by Yuri Rytkheu, translated by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse, published by Milkweed Editions Temporary by Hilary Leichter, published by Coffee House Press

Telephone by Percival Everett, published by Graywolf Press Silverfish by Rone Shavers, published by CLASH Books Silence Is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia, published by Graywolf Press Hezada! I Miss You by Erin Pringle, published by Awst Press For more info about the winner, tune into the virtual awards ceremony, which will be hosted by The Center for Fiction on Jat 7pm ET.ĭavid Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College by Ed Lin, published by Kaya Pressįiebre Tropical by Juli Delgado Lopera, published by Feminist Pressįurther News of Defeat by Michael X. Congratulations to the finalists and their presses! It was truly an honor to judge this year’s fiction entries alongside Natanya Ann Pulley and Irene Yoon.