All about Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 029930194X ISBN 13: 9780299301941

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press, 2014

Synopsis

All about Skin features twenty-seven stories by women writers of color whose short fiction has earned them a range of honors, including John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, the Flannery O'Connor Award, and inclusion in the Best American Short Stories and O. Henry anthologies. The prose in this multicultural anthology addresses such themes as racial prejudice, media portrayal of beauty, and family relationships and spans genres from the comic and the surreal to startling realism. It demonstrates the power and range of some of the most exciting women writing short fiction today.
            The stories are by American writers Aracelis González Asendorf, Jacqueline Bishop, Glendaliz Camacho, Learkana Chong, Jennine Capó Crucet, Ramola D., Patricia Engel, Amina Gautier, Manjula Menon, ZZ Packer, Princess Joy L. Perry, Toni Margarita Plummer, Emily Raboteau, Ivelisse Rodriguez, Metta Sáma, Joshunda Sanders, Renee Simms, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Hope Wabuke, and Ashley Young; Nigerian writers Unoma Azuah and Chinelo Okparanta; and Chinese writer Xu Xi.

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers  

About this title

About the Author

Jina Ortiz is a writer and poet whose works have appeared in many publications, including the Afro-Hispanic Review,Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, and New Millennium Writings. She lives in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she is an adjunct professor of English at Quinsigamond Community College. Rochelle Spencer is a writer who has contributed to many publications, including Callaloo, African American Review, Poets & Writers,Publishers Weekly, and Mosaic. She is completing a doctorate focusing on Afrofuturism and is on the Board of Directors for the Hurston-Wright Foundation.

Review

"All about Skin is electrifying and absolutely necessary. Within you will find the true heart of a literature."―Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao


"There is no other short story collection even similar to All about Skin; it takes an entirely different approach in that all of the contributors are literary-award-winning African, African American, Asian, Asian American, Native American, Latina, and Caribbean women writers."―Sandra Y. Govan, University of North Carolina–Charlotte


"All about Skin takes us above and below the skin of fascinating characters from the inner cities, immigrant enclaves, and academia of the United States, and from Africa to Asia, among many settings."―María Acosta Cruz, author of Dream Nation: Puerto Rican Culture and the Fictions of Independence

“In this intriguing collection of 27 short stories, editors Ortiz & Spencer demonstrate how widely women writers of color range, with stories spanning mother-daughter relationships; forgiveness; the difficulty of being young, insecure, and in an interracial relationship; and issues of nationality.”—Library Journal

“Each candid, creative writer . . . sets taut dramas in motion in which archetypal human pursuits are cruelly and absurdly complicated by gender and race, adding up to a provocative and commanding collection.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist

“Demonstrating the exciting talent emerging from the fringes, this multicultural anthology addresses themes such as racial prejudice, media portrayals of beauty and family relationships.”—Ms. Magazine

“A wonderfully written collection of short stories. . . . Each author is a female, award-winning writer who is either African, African American, Asian, Asian American, Native American, Latina, or Caribbean. . . . Each story offers a view of the world that will make you think about your own life and experiences, as well as a culture you may not know much about.”—Champaign (IL) News-Gazette

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 029930194X
• ISBN 13: 9780299301941
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316
• Editor: Ortiz Jina, Spencer Rochelle