Tordotcom Publishing is thrilled to announce that Ellen Datlow and Ruoxi Chen have acquired Burning Girls and Other Stories, a debut short fiction collection by award-winning author Veronica Schanoes. In Burning Girls and Other Stories—publishing in March 2021—Schanoes crosses borders and genres with stories of fierce women at the margins of society burning their way toward the center. This debut collection introduces readers to a fantasist in the vein of Karen Russell and Kelly Link, with a voice all her own.
We’re also excited to reveal the gorgeous cover!
The deal, for World English Rights, was brokered by Jennifer Udden at New Leaf Literary.
When we came to America, we brought anger and socialism and hunger. We also brought our demons.
With a foreword by Jane Yolen, these folklore-inspired stories will feature a mix of brand-new stories and reprints. Emma Goldman—yes, that Emma Goldman—takes tea with the Baba Yaga and truths unfold inside of exquisitely crafted lies. In “Among the Thorns,” a young woman in seventeenth century Germany is intent on avenging the brutal murder of her peddler father, but discovers that vengeance may consume all that it touches. In the showstopping, award-winning title story, “Burning Girls,” Schanoes invests the immigrant narrative with a fearsome fairytale quality that tells a story about America we may not want–but need–to hear.
Dreamy, dangerous, and precise, with the weight of the very oldest tales we tell, Burning Girls and Other Stories introduces a writer pushing the boundaries of both fantasy and contemporary fiction.
Praise for Veronica Schanoes
“This book is for those who like their fairy tales strong and dark. A beautifully written, sharply imaginative collection—stories of vengeance and fury, stories of wit and grit. Many pleasures and many surprises and highly recommended.” –Karen Joy Fowler
“Veronica Schanoes’ work effortlessly blends the modern with the archetypal. It is constantly surprising, endlessly rich, and terribly needed.” –Catherynne M. Valente
“Brilliant tales of enviable imagination, gracefully written, and with a strong feminist center. One of the best collections I’ve come across in recent years.” –Jeffrey Ford
Buy the Book
Burning Girls and Other Stories
Veronica Schanoes is an American author of fantasy stories and an associate professor in the department of English at Queens College, CUNY. Her novella Burning Girls was nominated for the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award and won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella in 2013. She lives in New York City. Burning Girls and Other Stories is her debut collection.
