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Patricia Henley
Inaugural title member, #readatpenparentis
- Group:Authors
Patricia Henley
Inaugural title member, #readatpenparentis
Patricia Henley’s first novel, Hummingbird House (MacMurray & Beck, 1999), was a finalist for The National Book Award and The New Yorker Fiction Prize. Filmmaker John Sayles called Hummingbird House “. . . deeply felt. . . a heartbreaking book.” Pantheon published her second novel, In the River Sweet, and it was widely praised in newspapers and magazines. In the River Sweet was a Borders Original Voices selection and was translated into Polish and published in Poland in 2004. In addition, she is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, four short story collections, a stage play, and numerous essays. Her first book of stories, Friday Night at Silver Star (Graywolf, 1986), was the winner of the Montana First Book Award. Her second collection of stories, The Secret of Cartwheels, was also published by Graywolf. In 2000 MacMurray & Beck published Worship of the Common Heart, New & Selected Stories. Engine Books published her fourth collection of stories – Other Heartbreaks – in 2011. Of Other Heartbreaks, novelist Robin Black wrote: “Other Heartbreaks is now my go-to gift for all the readers I know — and what a gift it is. These stories braid elegance, wisdom, and a certain raw quality to stunningly moving effect. Patricia Henley writes with the clear advantage of knowing more than seems possible about how human beings love, lose, and continue to live. A brilliant, important collection of stories.” In November 2019 Haywire Books will publish a 20th anniversary edition of Hummingbird House. The new edition will contain a guide for book clubs, an interview with Patricia, and an introduction by Steve Yarbrough. Patricia lives in Maryland.