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Day 7: Julia Elliott Blends Genres

“THE PROMPT

Choose two very different and seemingly incompatible genres and think about how you might combine them to create an interesting piece of fiction.

Sketch out a plan for a longer story or experiment with a single scene for a story.

Some genres: fantasy, folk tale, sci-fi, dystopian, horror, slipstream, magic realism, fairy tale, mystery, detective, noir, Southern Gothic, Appalachian noir, bodice ripper, gorno, tall tale, picaresque, yarn, mockumentary, conspiracy, parody, LGBTQ, pastiche, dark comedy, slasher, chick-lit, new weird, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, saga, historical, pandemic, alternate history, period piece, ghost story, bildungsroman, feminist sci-fi, action, planetary romance, space western, fan fiction, cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, nanopunk, steampunk, biopunk, superhero, new age, forensic, psychological thriller, docudrama, medical drama, slapstick, Christian, instructional, self-help, dinosaur erotica, cli-fi, postmodern, memoir, disaster, family saga, high fantasy, epistolary novel, fake blog, fictional autobiography, Afrofuturism, fictional biography, space opera, reality, supernatural, speculative, roman a clef, young adult, zombie, wuxia, vampire, allegory, epic, comedy of manners, melodrama, travelogue, creepy kids, splatter, etc. etc. . . .”

“Welcome to the first edition of Ask Adam Anything, a new column where I — Adam Morgan, founder of the Chicago Review of Books and Southern Review of Books, freelance culture critic by night and corporate content strategist by day — answer any questions you might have about books (including reading recommendations) as well as writing and editing careers (whether you’re pursuing freelance opportunities or full-time roles).”  In his first edition, Adam recommends Southern horror and sci-fi.

My story “Erl King,” originally published in the “Candy” issue of Tin House, won a 2020 Pushcart Prize and has been published in Pushcart Prize XLIV: Best of the Small Presses.

I’m thrilled that Pulitzer-prize-winning author Anthony Doerr has selected my story “Hellion,” originally published in The Georgia Review, to appear in Best American Short Stories 2019. My story will also be featured in Selected Shorts: Best American Short Stories with Anthony Doerr at Symphony Space in New York City this Wednesday, October 2. Actor Donna Lynne Champlin (of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) will read “Hellion,” and a recording of the show will be aired by radio stations around the country.

I wrote my very first flash-fiction crime piece for Tiny Crimes, edited by Lincoln Michel & Nadxieli Nieto. I’m psyched that Nylon recommends this killer anthology in their latest hot-summer-reads list: “46 Great Books to Read This Summer.”

I’m stoked, gobsmacked, tickled to death that Book Riot put The Wilds on this list: “100 Must-read Contemporary Short Story Collections.”

After watching Jeff VanderMeer’s weird and mesmerizing novel Annihilation become a New York Times bestseller, inspire an Alex Garland film, and shoot up to #7 on the trade paperback bestseller list today, I’m excited that Bustle put my story collection The Wilds on its list “21 Sci-Fi Books You Need to Read if You Loved ‘Annihilation’.”

I just got this dementedly delicious issue of Tin House in the mail. I’m stoked that my story “Erl King” appears along with work by Steven Millhauser, Emma Komlos-Hrobsky, Rebecca Makkai, and many talented others (lovely cover art by Nicoletta Ceccoli).

In “Discovering the Fabulists: The Value of the Bizarre in Literature,” Hannah Gilham discusses the impact of female fabulists on her writing.

“After workshopping a piece of my fiction last year, a classmate told me encouragingly that I might be writing in the fabulist tradition. She directed me toward the Tin House collection, Fantastic Women: 18 Tales of the Surreal and the Sublime, and I do not say this lightly—everything changed.”

Currently obsessed with Her Body and Other Parties, a brilliant fusion of surreal sci-fi and feminist body horror, I’m happy that Carmen Machado has included my book The Wilds in her list of “6 favorite story collections.”