His most recent volumes of poetry are Rooms Are Never Finished and The Country Without a Post Office. He is also the editor of Ravishing Disunities: Real Ghazals in English.

    A man crushes pills on the bathroom counter while his son watches from the hallway; missionaries clumsily navigate an uprising with barbed wire and broken glass; a boy disparages memorized scripture, facedown on the asphalt, as he fails to fend off his bully. From Kentucky to Florida to Haiti, these seemingly disparate lives are woven together within a series of nested repetitions, enacting the struggle to remain physically and spiritually alive throughout the untamable turbulence of their worlds. In a masterful blend of fiction, autobiography, and surrealism, Kyle Minor shows us that the space between fearlessness and terror is often very small. Long before Praying Drunk reaches its plaintive, pitch-perfect end, Minor establishes himself again and again as one of the most talented younger writers in America.

    The novel sweeps across India, from an island, to a valley, a city, and a snow desert to tell a love story of epic proportions. We follow a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who speaks to them; a geologist working to end futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a mother struggling to free her revolutionary son; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who transforms first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents. Binding them all together is a vision of life as vast as the universe itself. A young writer awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in India for this novel, Shubhangi Swarup is a storyteller of extraordinary talent and insight. Richly imaginative and wryly perceptive, Latitudes of Longing offers a soaring view of humanity: our beauty and ugliness, our capacity to harm and love each other, and our mysterious and sacred relationship with nature.

    When his father announces that he’s going to a reaper conference with three of his siblings, Braden is disappointed to miss out on the trip but excited about being the boss. That is until he finds out which sibling is staying behind with him. Braden and his only sister Aisling have never gotten along. Still, Braden has seniority. Aisling has to do what he says. Of course, Aisling has other ideas. Grimlock Manor is rocking with arguments (and maybe a few petty games) when someone breaks into the house. Aisling insists on staying at the family mansion because she’s got party plans. Those go out the window when the security system keeps going off. Braden thought he would be a man about town but he’s a man stuck at home … and trying to figure out a mystery. Who is going after his family? And will Aisling ever shut her mouth long enough to help him figure it out? Come along for the ride. Things are about to get loud. Note: This is a 30,000-word short set in the Aisling Grimlock world. It’s set back and can be read at any point in the timeline.

    Gay returns with Difficult Women, a collection of stories of rare force and beauty, of hardscrabble lives, passionate loves, and quirky and vexed human connection.The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail. A pair of sisters, grown now, have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children, and must negotiate the elder sister's marriage. A woman married to a twin pretends not to realize when her husband and his brother impersonate each other. A stripper putting herself through college fends off the advances of an overzealous customer. A black engineer moves to Upper Michigan for a job and faces the malign curiosity of her colleagues and the difficulty of leaving her past behind. From a girls’ fight club to a wealthy subdivision in Florida where neighbors conform, compete, and spy on each other, Gay delivers a wry, beautiful, haunting vision of modern America reminiscent of Merritt Tierce, Jamie Quatro, and Miranda July.I will follow you --Water, all its weight --The mark of Cain --Difficult women --FLORIDA --La negra blanca --Baby arm --North country --How --Requiem for a glass heart --In the event of my father's death --Break all the way down --Bad priest --Open marriage --A pat --Best features --Bone density --I am a knife --The sacrifice of darkness --Noble things --Strange gods

    Music. DEATH TO THE BULLSHIT ARTISTS OF SOUTH TEXAS is a psychedelic romp through the Rio Grande Valley music scene. This collection of 10 punk rock fairy-tales offers a prismatic view of a subculture so rich that if it knew its own worth, it just might revolt against itself. This is the book you wish you had as a teenager, headphones on, waiting at a bus stop for a ride to the record store.

    This anthology celebrates twelve such moments of discovery, and is the first volume of an annual collection--launched alongside PEN's new Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers--that recognizes outstanding fiction debuts published in North America. The dozen winning stories included here--selected this year by judges Kelly Link, Marie-Helene Bertino, and Nina McConigley--take place in South Carolina and in South Korea, on a farm in the eighteenth century and among the cubicles of a computer-engineering firm in the present day. They narrate ancient themes with current urgency: migration, memory, technology, language, love, ecology, identity, family. Together they act as a compass for contemporary literature; they tell us where we're going. Each work comes with an introduction by the editor who originally published it, explaining why he or she chose it. The commentaries provide insight into a process that often remains opaque to readers and aspiring writers, and offer a chance to showcase the vital work literary magazines do to nurture our boldest and most exciting new voices.

    Playful, erotic, at times mysterious, his work describes the immanent value of everyday experience. Straightforward language and simple narratives become gateways to the most powerful formulations of beauty, wisdom, and divine love.

    Family, old friends, a lifetime of memories awaits her, and that includes the man she couldn’t forget about, no matter how hard she tried. Royce Harris knows how to take care of himself. That’s what he’s done ever since the day he lost his mother and went to live with her best friend’s family. Growing up, he and Mika had a special relationship, but now, years later, the lines of their friendship are blurred by their growing feelings for each other…but there are too many hurdles to climb if they’re going to make a relationship work. Are these lifelong friends willing to take a chance on love or is the risk too great? Find out what happens in part one of Love On The Low!

     Book 1: The Sweet Smell of Murder Ally Sweet is happy to be returning for a short break to the small town where she grew up. She is planning on using the time off to get over her messy divorce and she is looking forward to spending time with her much-loved grandmother and relaxing making chocolates and anything chocolaty. But then… the delivery driver for her grandmother’s chocolate shop is found murdered. The detectives investigating the crime have a prime suspect, Ally’s high school sweetheart, Brent. Ally believes that Brent would never murder anyone, so with the help of her trusted feline friend, Peaches, she tries to uncover the truth. The search for the killer leads Ally straight into the line of danger. Will she be able find the murderer before she becomes a victim herself? Triple Chocolate Muffin Recipe Included! Book 2: A Deadly Delicious Delivery Ally Sweet is settling into life in Blue River. She loves spending time with her grandmother and making delicious chocolate creations. But then someone is poisoned by the chocolates from ‘Charlotte’s Chocolate Heaven’ and all the evidence points to Ally and Charlotte. Detective Luke Elm is on the case, but with her grandmother’s business on the line and their freedom at stake Ally feels she has no choice but to try and find out the truth. Ally and Charlotte, with some help from Peaches and Arnold, do some digging to try and uncover the murderer. With the suspects piling up it is a race against the clock to discover who the murderer is so the chocolate shop doesn’t remain shut and Ally and Charlotte don’t land up behind bars. Will Ally and Charlotte be able to find the killer before they go to jail? Or worse get murdered themselves? Will hunky Detective Luke arrest Ally? Or will they develop a new romance? Decadent Chocolate Cake Recipe Included! Book 3: A Bitter Sweet Murder Ally Sweet is excited to be staying the night at a new luxury hotel for free because ‘Charlotte’s Chocolate Heaven’ is negotiating a lucrative deal for the hotel’s bed turndown service, where a chocolate will be placed on each guest’s pillow every night. But then Ally stumbles across a dead body. It looks like she is being framed and when hunky Detective Luke Elm is inadvertently implicated in the murder, Ally does everything she can to find the killer. With a little help from her grandmother, feline friend, pot-bellied pig and some chocolate creations, Ally sifts through the suspects to uncover the truth. Will Ally’s snooping make the shop lose the deal? Will Ally find the murderer and clear her and Luke’s names before there is another victim? Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Ganache Frosting Recipe Included! Book 4: A Treacherous Tasty Trail Ally and Charlotte Sweet are running a booth for ‘Charlotte’s Chocolate Heaven’ at a local farmer’s market. Their primary concerns are selling cookies and keeping their cat, Peaches, and pot-bellied pig, Arnold, under control at the market. But then the son of a prominent and influential farmer is found dead and an old acquaintance of Ally’s is suspected of the murder. Ally’s investigative nature takes over and she goes on a search to find the killer.

    This story was first published in THOSE WHO MAKE US: CANADIAN CREATURE, MYTH, AND MONSTER STORIES.

    In the stunning conclusion to this three-part series, Harper's step-brother, Tolliver Lang, finds himself in trouble with the law while Harper struggles to clear his name.

    The interviews that follow have echoes of another, far more famous literary journey, undertaken long ago and in another world.Drawing on the original, unexpurgated tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, six of their most famous works are re-imagined in the rich and endlessly varied landscapes of contemporary America.From the glass towers of Manhattan to the remoteness of the Blue Ridge mountains; from the swamps of Louisiana to the jaded glamour of Hollywood, New World Fairy Tales reclaims the fairy tale for the modern adult audience. A haunting blend of romance and realism, these stripped-back narratives of human experience are the perfect read for anyone who has read their child a bedtime fairy story, and wondered who ever said these were stories meant for children.

    A girl with a strong will, a full heart, and much to learn. Born into a family reeling from the ruptures of Partition in India, we follow her as she crosses the precarious lines between childhood, teenage discovery, and realizing her adult self. In the process, Paro must confront fear, desire and the darkest parts of herself in the search for meaning and, ultimately, empowerment.Nikita Gill's vivid poetry and beautiful illustrations have captured hearts and imaginations--but in The Girl and the Goddess, she offers us her most personal and deeply felt writing to date: an intimate coming-of-age story told in linked poems that offers a look into the Hindu mythology and rich cultural influences that helped her become the woman she is today.

    Used most commonly as condemnation or censure, it aims to break the spirit of women yearning for personal power. The female protagonists in these eleven stories recklessly pursue their sensual paths through a complex social world that seeks to shut them out. With wily irreverence and a willful rawness, Kamani pulls back the veil of convention, inch by inch, and draws the reader into the disquieting truth of women's lives, charting territory both intimate and bizarre."In these 11 short stories, characters span the gamut of women, the irony being that in India's sexually repressive traditional society, this pejorative term [junglee girl] could be applied to any self-aware woman. But Kamani, a gifted, savvy writer, combines such precarious, complex elements as class, caste, gender and eroticism into readable, imaginative and often hilarious tales."—Publishers Weekly