The Art of the Short Story
The Art of the Short Story: Elizabeth McCracken on The Souvenir Museum with Paul Lisicky
Tuesday, 7:30 pm EDT April 13, 2021
Online via Zoom
Short story virtuoso Elizabeth McCracken joins her friend Paul Lisicky (The Narrow Door, Unbuilt Projects) for a conversation on the heartrending and vibrant stories in McCracken’s newest collection, The Souvenir Museum, available April 13, 2021. McCracken is the author of six books, including Bowlaway and The Giant’s House. Her work has earned her the 2014 Story Prize and a finalist spot for the National Book Award.
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In Conversation
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Paul Lisicky
Paul Lisicky
Paul Lisicky is the author of five books, including Later: My Life at the Edge of the World, The Narrow Door, and Famous Builder. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts, among others. He teaches in the MFA program at Rutgers University and lives in Brooklyn.
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Elizabeth McCracken
Elizabeth McCracken
Elizabeth McCracken is the author of six books: Bowlaway, Here’s Your Hat What’s Your Hurry, The Giant’s House (a National Book Award finalist), Niagara Falls All Over Again, the memoir An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, and Thunderstruck & Other Stories (winner of the 2014 Story Prize, longlisted for the National Book Award), three of which were New York Times Notable Books. She has received grants and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has served on the faculty at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently holds the James Michener Chair for Fiction at the University of Texas at Austin.
Featured Book
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The Souvenir Museum
By Elizabeth McCracken
Published by Ecco
In these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified. A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins. An actress who plays a children’s game-show villainess ushers in the New Year with her deadbeat half brother. A mother, pining for her children, feasts on loaves of challah to fill the void. A new couple navigates a tightrope walk toward love. And on a trip to a Texas water park with their son, two fathers each confront a personal fear.
With sentences that crackle and spark and showcase her trademark wit, McCracken traces how our closely held desires—for intimacy, atonement, comfort—bloom and wither against the indifferent passing of time. Her characters embark on journeys that leave them indelibly changed—and so do her readers. The Souvenir Museum showcases the talents of one of our finest contemporary writers as she tenderly takes the pulse of our collective and individual lives.
About this series
The Art of the Short Story
Featuring masters of the genre and debut authors alike, The Art of the Short Story explores the endless possibilities for storytelling in the short form.