Each day as we count down to the announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2015 Novel and Short Story finalist Heather A. Slomski.
Elegant Stories of Loss and Regret
The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons by Heather A. Slomski
Published by: University of Iowa Press
Category sponsored by Education Minnesota
Winner of the 2014 Iowa Short Fiction Award, this debut story collection takes loss as its primary subject and holds it up to the light. Two couples meet for dinner to acknowledge an affair. A mannequin recalls a lover and the life she mysteriously lost. Two girls observe a young widow’s grief through a café window. A man’s hat is as discerning as Cinderella’s shoe. With elegant, but spare and daring prose, the stories in this collection are evidence of Slomski’s keen eye about relationships, exposing the desires that pull us together and the betrayals that tear us apart.
About the author:
Heather A. Slomski received her MFA from Western Michigan University and held the Axton Fellowship in Fiction at the University of Louisville. Her stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, American Letters & Commentary, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, The Normal School, and elsewhere. A recipient of a 2013 Minnesota State Artist Initiative Grant and a 2013 Minnesota Emerging Writers’ Grant, she currently lives in Moorhead and teaches writing at Concordia College.
The reviews are in:
“From sentence to sentence, the writing is spare and forceful. Terse poetic dialogue more often than not gives way to poetic reverie, image laden description, or artful surprises in plot. . . . This is a very strong debut full of variety, charm and intrigue.” – MN Book Awards judge
“Slomski is a writer’s writer, with a gift for lyrical prose, clever plotting and significant detail that reveals depth of character.” – Kirkus starred review
“The last story, especially, will break your heart. Sometimes you wonder how a writer can penetrate life’s mysteries so deeply.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune
Links:
Interview in Isthmus: A Literary Review 11/3/2014
Join us at the Awards Gala!
Award winners will be announced at the 27th Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala on Saturday, April 18 at the historic St. Paul Union Depot. The opening reception begins at 7 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 and are available by visiting www.thefriends.org/gala.
Have you read The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons? What are your thoughts? We welcome your comments!