Cathryn Hankla

Cathryn Hankla is past director of the Jackson Center for Creative Writing and the MFA-CW program, and currently holds the Susan Gager Jackson Professorship in Creative Writing at Hollins University...

Fortune Teller Miracle Fish

Cathryn Hankla

Winner: 2011 New York Book Festival Award, Compilations/Anthologies

Listen to Cathryn Hankla Radio IQ interview, 'Virginia Conversations,' January 25, 2013.

Short stories about characters who struggle toward more truthful expressions of themselves: A mentally challenged teen in a coma, a WWII veteran weighing his beliefs, an intersexed man anticipating a relationship, a single woman who has kissed far too many frogs, and a first grader suffering at the hands of a family friend. These are just a few of the unforgettable characters in Fortune Teller Miracle Fish, an innovative collection of stories from award- winning novelist and poet Cathryn Hankla. The figures in these stories struggle toward more truthful expressions of themselves, as outsiders whose dilemmas, emotions, and desires make them unmistakably human. As varied as they are vivid, they strive for closer connections of love and community. Through humor and understanding, Hankla intrepidly navigates the transitions that define them, unplanned pregnancy, divorce, death, and gender change, to name a few. Acutely attuned to her subjects inner landscapes, Hankla captures the full spectrum of human experience, from childhood to old age, with heart, rare skill, and nerve.

Reviews

"The precise language and memorable images will beg that you slow down so as not to miss a single twist or turn. Beautifully written, masterful and moving." — Jill McCorkle, author

"Cathryn Hankla's compassionate, intelligent stories shine with original metaphor and precise language...Every word, every pause, every sentence counts in Hankla's beautiful and surprising new book.” — Valerie Miner, author