Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin

by
Staff
From the January/February 2016 issue of
Poets & Writers Magazine

There was a time, and it was many years ago now, when I had to stay in a hospital for almost nine weeks.” My Name Is Lucy Barton (Random House, January 2016) by Elizabeth Strout. Fifth book, novel. Agent: Molly Friedrich. Editor: Susan Kamil. Publicist: Maria Braeckel.

“I follow him in the trees // not realistic but real / the fleeting pressures of // one creating silence [listening closely to the silence]” Daryl Hall Is My Boyfriend (Barrelhouse Books, December 2015) by Erica Lewis. Fourth book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Dan Brady. Publicist: Dan Brady.

“This is what I am trying to say: I was in no condition to have paid closer attention to plot development.” Fake Missed Connections: Divorce, Online Dating, and Other Failures (Soft Skull Press, January 2016) by Brett Fletcher Lauer. Second book, first memoir. Agent: Lindsay Edgecombe. Editor: Dan Smetanka. Publicist: Megan Fishmann.

“The match struck and sputtered.” Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist (Little, Brown, January 2016) by Sunil Yapa. First book, novel. Agent: PJ Mark. Editor: Lee Boudreaux. Publicist: Nicole Dewey.

“I haven’t Lord I haven’t You I have- / n’t praised enough You Lord....” The Animal Too Big to Kill (Persea Books, December 2015) by Shane McCrae. Fourth book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Gabriel Fried. Publicist: Gabriel Fried.

“Every few Sundays, Segundo, the very short superintendent who lives in the basement at 223 East 32nd Street, opens the back pages of the Village Voice and orders two very tall call girls.” Poor Your Soul (Soho Press, January 2016) by Mira Ptacin. First book, memoir. Agent: Lisa Bankoff. Editor: Mark Doten. Publicist: Abby Koski.

“Wasn’t night what lingered where sweat left / salt, where breath touch-expired?” Thief in the Interior (Alice James Books, January 2016) by Phillip B. Williams. First book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Carey Salerno. Publicist: Alyssa Neptune.

“Our feet are warm.” The Narrow Door (Graywolf Press, January 2016) by Paul Lisicky. Fifth book, second memoir. Agent: None. Editor: Fiona McCrae. Publicist: Alyson Sinclair. 

“That my first encounter with Mitko B. ended in a betrayal, even a minor one, should have given me greater warning at the time, which should in turn have made my desire for him less, if not done away with it completely.” What Belongs to You (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 2016) by Garth Greenwell. First book, novel. Agent: Anna Stein. Editors: Mitzi Angel and Christopher Richards. Publicist: Brian Gittis.

“As usual I’d hung myself with snappy necklaces, but otherwise had given my appearance no further thought, even though I anticipated the love of a dark person who will be my source of prosperity and emotional pleasure.” Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine (McSweeney’s Books, January 2016) by Diane Williams. Eighth book, story collection. Agent: Alexis Hurley. Editor: Andi Winnette. Publicist: Ruby Perez. 

“Twelve thousand envelopes wanted stuffing, there were twelve thousand labels to affix.” Good on Paper (Melville House, January 2016) by Rachel Cantor. Second book, novel. Agent: None. Editor: Taylor Sperry. Publicist: Julia Fleischaker.

“Suddenly I found the only stirring in the fields.” Sea Summit (Milkweed Editions, January 2016) by Yi Lu, translated from the Chinese by Fiona Sze-Lorrain. Fifth book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Daniel Slager. Publicist: Patrick Thomas.

For author podcasts and excerpts of books featured in Page One, visit us at www.pw.org/magazine.