Great Writers, Great Lives: Those We Lost in 2015

André Brink (1935-2015)         The work: A Dry White Season (1979) was his masterpiece, but he wrote 20 other novels, many of which explore the legacy of apartheid in South Africa. The life: Brink was raised by Afrikaner nationalist parents, who supported apartheid. He became an outspoken critic of the system when…

Damnificados recommended by O: The Oprah Magazine

                  I’m happy to see that my novel Damnificados made the “10 Titles to Pick Up Now” section of Oprah’s O Magazine (January 2016). Besides using the adjective “powerful”, the short review described the novel as “willfully strange.” Yup – that’s about right.

Sonoran Strange – by Logan Phillips

Logan Phillips’s Sonoran Strange is a magnificent debut, awash with poems full of wit and stunning imagery. As one would expect from the title, the collection is strongly rooted in its sense of place. Deserts, canyons, rocks, wide skies abound. Yet the best poems in the collection transcend this locale. The author is clearly one…

Review of “Damnificados” in the LA Progressive

Many thanks to award-winning author/activist Diane Lefer for her piece about Damnificados, which appeared in the LA Progressive this week. It’s an in-depth appraisal of the novel, which also examines the socio-political conditions of the poor and oppressed (the world of Damnificados).                     Lefer asks, “How…

Night at the Fiestas – by Kirstin Valdez Quade

As debut collections go, give or take the odd Junot Diaz or Ray Carver, this is about as good as it gets. The writing is measured and beautiful, witty yet restrained, and there’s not a single dud among these tales. The ten stories that make up Night at the Fiestas, set in the badlands or…