Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Straight out of Santa Cruz: Elizabeth McKenzie's story in the New Yorker

Our friend, the talented fiction writer Elizabeth McKenzie, the author of a well-received novel as well as a story collection, showed a short story to our writing group out in Santa Cruz early this fall. It gave me chills; reading it was a waking dream, and I could not stop thinking about it afterwards. Her story made me think about families and the way nostalgia and loss can warp the way we view the past. It also made me think about the way writers cannibalize memories. Anyway, after reading it, I thought, "wow, if only the world could see this story."

Well, now it can. The story, "The Savage Breast," appears in this week's New Yorker magazine. Congratulations, Lisa, and here is a nice review that just rolled in from the literary blogosphere. The author of this piece is Majnun Ben-David.

And if you're thinking that you're about to hear more from this wonderful fiction writer, your hunch is correct.

4 comments:

Majnun Ben-David said...

It's cool that you got to see that story well-before it hit the New Yorker. And yes, it is the kind of story that stays with you. Thanks for linking to my review.

Majnun Ben-David said...

Um, I didn't mean to hyphenate "well before", but I can't seem to edit my comment. Oh well.

cactuseaters said...

Yes, it was great to see it before it hit the magazine-- and you're about to see a lot more of her work (including her new book.)

D

cactuseaters said...

also, i forgot to mention that she'll be teaching fiction in mid-August in Pebble Beach at the Catamaran Literary Conference.