The Maris Review

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Kimberly King Parsons received her MFA from Columbia University. Her fiction has been published in The Paris Review, Best Small Fictions 2017, Black Warrior Review, and The Kenyon Review, among others. Black Light is her debut story collection.Recommended Reads:Large Animals by Jess ArndtGod Shot by Chelsea BiekerThe Collected Short Stories of Amy Hempel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shelly Oria is the author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which earned nominations for a Lambda Literary Award and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, among other honors. She coauthored a digital novella, CLEAN, commissioned by WeTransfer and McSweeney’s, which received two Lovie Awards from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Oria's fiction has appeared in The Paris Review and elsewhere; has been translated to other languages; and has won a number of awards, including the Indiana Review Fiction Prize, a Sozopol Fiction Seminars Fellowship in Bulgaria, and the LMCC Workspace Grant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Gondelman is a comedian and writer who has earned two Peabody Awards, three Emmys, and two WGA Awards for his work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He is currently a writer/producer for Desus & Mero. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, New York magazine, and the New Yorker. Nice Try is his debut essay collection. He lives in New York City with his wife and pug.Recommended Reading:Red at the Bone by Jacqueline WoodsonMostly Dead Things by Kristen ArnettMedallion Status by John Hodgman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Weinman is the author of The Real Lolita. She’s the editor of Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 50s (Library of America) and Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives (Penguin). She has written for the New York Times, the New Republic, the Guardian, and Buzzfeed, among other outlets. Recommended Books in This Episode:White Flights by Jess RowWhite Fragility by Robin DiAngeloThe Wedding Party by Jasmine GuilloryLady in the Lake by Laura LippmanThe Swallows by Lisa LutzYour House Will Pay by Steph Cha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristen Arnett is a queer fiction and essay writer. She won the 2017 Coil Book Award for her debut short fiction collection, Felt in the Jaw, and was awarded Ninth Letter's 2015 Literary Award in Fiction. She is a columnist for Literary Hub, and her work has either appeared or is upcoming in numerous literary publications. Mostly Dead Things is her first novel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

R. O. Kwon is a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. The Incendiaries is her first novel, and it was named a best book of the year by over 40 publications. Kwon's writing is published in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Paris Review, Buzzfeed, New York Magazine, NPR, and elsewhere. Born in South Korea, she has lived most of her life in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. She is the author of My Sister, the Serial Killer, which won the 2019 LA Times Award for Best Crime Thriller, the 2019 Morning News Tournament of Books and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019, and, most recently, was longlisted for the Booker Prize.Recommended Reading:Milkman by Anna BurnsThe Turn of Midnight by Minette WaltersEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail HoneymanLink to Oyinkan’s drawings: https://oyinkanbraithwaite.com/sketches/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyz Lenz’s writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Pacific Standard, and others. Her book God Land was published Indiana University Press. Her second book Belabored, is due out from Bold Type Books in Spring of 2020.. She lives in Iowa with her two kids and two cats and is a contributing writer to the Columbia Journalism Review.Recommended Reading:Savage Appetites by Rachel MonroeFurious Hours by Casey CepHeavy by Kiese LaymonIn the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. She has also written for GQ, ESPN the Magazine, and many other publications. Fleishman Is in Trouble is her first novel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio and the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour. Evvie Drake Starts Over is her first novel.Linda's Recommendations:Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali DevNice Try by Josh GondelmanBig Little Lies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices