HOW WE FRACTURE, my prize-winning short story collection is available for pre-order.

 

How We Fracture is a literary collection of sixteen modern-day stories told from female points-of-view of teenagers to women in their fifties and sixties at points of fracture in their lives. The stories delve into conflicts surrounding financial instability, reproductive rights, body image, sexuality and sexual preference, relationships, illness, death of loved ones, aging, infertility, addiction, and mental health. The main characters are students, visual artists, fashion designers, a legal secretary, house sitter, vet assistant, jewelry maker, a collector of miniatures, a nurse, and a breath facilitator.

I'm thrilled to announce that my debut fiction publication, HOW WE FRACTURE, a collection of short stories which won the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize, is now available for preorder from Minerva Rising Press. It's scheduled for a January 23rd release date.

It’s also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here are what several authors have said about the book:

“How We Fracture is a captivating literary collection that gives readers incredible insight into the lives of women facing pivotal moments of fracture. With sixteen phenomenal stories, George expertly weaves together narratives that span generations, giving voice to characters ranging from teenagers to women in their fifties and sixties. George fearlessly explores a wide range of complex issues in a way that is elegant and evocative. These stories serve as a reminder that despite our individual struggles, we are all connected by the shared experiences and emotions that shape us. George’s collection will leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads them. Once again, George has illustrated her masterful ability to take readers on a journey they will never forget.” —Angela Jackson-Brown, author of The Light Always Breaks

 

"How We Fracture is an outpouring of sixteen short stories, encircling a startlingly wide sweep of human emotion and experience. At the point of ‘fracture’, characters encounter loss and fear, doubt and indecision; they also break through into hope and unforeseen new life. Karen George’s keen observations—of both the human and the natural world—are revelatory. At the core of this beautiful collection are the complexities and intricacies of love: the setbacks and betrayals as well as the moments of dazzling beauty." — Eleanor Morse, author of Margreete’s Harbor and White Dog Fell from the Sky

 

"The lives of the women and girls in Karen George's How We Fracture are rendered in exquisite detail as they mourn, covet, bear witness, seek the truth and fall in love. These compelling stories are a strong testament to the power of women and girls to navigate a complex world." — Ellen Birkett Morris, Lost Girls 

 

 

 

 

The Cover of My Short Story Collection, HOW WE FRACTURE, forthcoming in January 2024 from Minerva Rising Press

 

I'm over the moon to reveal the cover for my short story collection, HOW WE FRACTURE, which won the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize. The collection is scheduled to be published by Minerva Rising Press in January 2024. A big thank you to Brooke Schultz, who designed the lovely cover. I'm also deeply thankful for all those at Minerva Rising Press who have been working to bring my first book-length fiction work into print: Executive Editor Kim Brown, Fiction Editor Nikki Kallio, and Fiction Editorial Assistant Paula Sàbat Martínez. I'm deeply grateful to the judge Anjali Enjeti for selecting my manuscript from the finalists for the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize.

 

My Latest Publications:

An ekphrastic poem inspired by Edvard Munch's painting "The Girl by the Window," 1893, was published in Issue 20 of the journal "MacQueens Quinterly." MacQueen’s Quinterly

 

An ekphrastic poem inspired by a Konstantin Somov's 1918 painting was published in Issue 20 of the journal "MacQueens Quinterly." MacQueen’s Quinterly: Knock-your-socks-off Art and Literature

 

 A poem was published in the summer 2023 issue of “Still: The Journal.” It's a cento for which I borrowed lines and phrases from various works by selected members of the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame: Wendell Berry, Nikky Finney, James Baker Hall, bell hooks, Barbara Kingsolver, George Ella Lyon, Sena Jeter Naslund, James Still, and Jesse Stuart. https://www.stilljournal.net/karen-george-poetrylocations...

My Latest Publications:

My short story "Naked" was published in Valparaiso Fiction Review's Summer 2023 issue: Valparaiso Fiction Review. 

"Naked" is one of the stories in my collection How We Fracture, which won the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize, and is forthcoming from Minerva Rising Press in Fall/Winter 2023.

A poem was published in Willawaw Journal.

A poem was published in Mayday Magazine.

 

 

Latest News:

My poem “Because every moment’s an occasion for attention” won the 2022 Slippery Elm Poetry Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I will be the judge for the 2023 Slippery Elm Poetry Contest, deadline February 1, 2023: Contest Guidelines – Slippery Elm (findlay.edu).

My poem "Emily Carr’s Zunoqua of the Cat Village, 1931" was nominated for Best of the Net by OyeDrum.

 

 

 My Latest Publications:

My poem “Playing for the Lost,” inspired by Kees Van Dengen’s 1920 painting The Violinist, was published in Volume 7.2, Winter 2022 issue of Sheila-Na-Gig online.

My poem inspired by Frida Kahlo’s 1949 painting titled “The Love Embrace of the Universe” was published in the journal Persimmon Tree.

My poem inspired by Remedios Varo’s 1948 painting “The Flautist” was published in The Ekphrastic Review.

Heron Tree published “Dear Mother, last night I dreamt,” my found poem created from “The Pomegranate Seeds” in Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1853).

My poem, “Calving at Glacier Bay,” appeared in the ONE GOOD MEMORY Series of Silver Birch Press. It was originally published in my chapbook, Inner Passage (Red Bird Chapbooks) and my collection Swim Your Way Back (Dos Madres Press).

My poem inspired by Canadian artist Emily Carr’s 1930 painting “Guyasdom’s D’Sonoqua” was published in The Ekphrastic Review December 5, 2022.

My found poem “Totem,” created from Canadian artist Emily Carr’s painting titles, was published in Issue 22 of Panoply.

My poem “Shadow Travel” was included in The Ekphrastic Review challenge to write about Salvador Dali’s 1931 painting “The Persistence of Memory,” 1931.

 

I’m over the moon to announce that I won the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize. Minerva Rising Press will be publishing my short story collection, How We Fracture, in Spring 2023.

Happy to have my photo titled "Tree-Cradled Moon" on the cover of the latest issue of 3Elements Literary Review.

 

 

Latest News:

An excerpt from my novel-in-progress was longlisted for the 2021 Novel Excerpt Contest at The Masters Review.

 

 My Latest Publications:

3 poems inspired by Andrea Kowch paintings at Cultural Daily. To see Andrea Kowch art, visit: Andrea Kowch Studio.

An erasure poem of a page in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Circe’s Palace,” part of his collection “Tanglewood Tales” at Heron Tree.

2 poems at Verse-Virtual.