The relaxed days and nights of summer are just the right time to settle down with a good book or two – whether on the beach or in the shade of Taylor Garden.
As always, UNC Greensboro’s MFA in Creative Writing Program faculty and alumni have been busy churning out high quality and engaging literature, so readers should have no trouble keeping their tote bag libraries stocked.
Check out a few of our favorites for summer reading among UNCG faculty and alumni books published in 2019:
Prairie Fever (Workman Publishing)
By Michael Parker
A novel that follows the lives of two sisters who, as children in the early 20th century, travel miles to school on horseback across the frozen plains of Oklahoma. Parker is a household name in contemporary southern literature and a newly emeritus professor.
Brass (Random House)
By Xhenet Alieu
“Brass,” a debut novel, tells the story of a diner waitress in pursuit of a new life, and her daughter, who searches for the father she never knew. Xhenet Alieu will join the UNCG faculty this fall.
This One Will Hurt You (Ohio State University Press)
By Paul Crenshaw ’03 MFA
Poignant, thoughtful essays that consider tornadoes, a haunted sanatorium, Maurice Sendak, small southern towns, parenthood, a possum’s behavior, and the history of big and small things.
Staff Picks (LSU Press)
By George Singleton ’86 MFA
Comedic short stories that chronicle the odd and relatable lives of a set of quirky characters in the fictional town of Steepleburg, South Carolina.
Temporium: Before the Beginning to After the End (Press 53)
By Kelly Cherry ’67 MFA
Somewhere between short stories, prose poems, and mini-essays, the pieces composed by the former Virginia poet laureate are, in her view, “a museum of moments.”
Fluid States (LSU Press)
By Heidi Czerwiec ’95 MFA
A collection of short lyric essays that ponder the oilfields of North Dakota, the ephemeral quality of perfume, tomato canning, transformations in mushrooms, and internet rage, among other topics.
As it Were (LSU Press)
By Fred Chappell
The prolific emeritus professor and former North Carolina poet laureate retells Aesop’s Fables through verse, with humor and wise observations.
Story by Susan Kirby-Smith, University Communications
