Back, Belly, & Side

Did you ever wonder what the earth thinks? What’s its favorite song? How she ended up in your heart? Think you can’t fly? Think you have a job you don’t like? How much would you pay for answers?

No, you can’t touch my hair. And yes, I’ve seen your two-toned shoes. Have you seen my father?Did you ever wonder what clouds are really for? Or how I ended up like this? How old is too old for butter and beef?

What’s that one last thing you have to do? And who will help you through?

"Celeste Rita Baker's stories balance heartache and hilarity with poetic, uncompromising prose. This collection sings ancient songs with a modern beat. It is fully alive." — Daniel Jose Older, author of Salsa Nocturna and editor of Long Hidden from History.

"Back, Belly, and Side is full of Celeste Rita Baker's special story magic. With tales of wisdom, wonderment, and new world lore, she creates characters that speak and leap off the page to deliver the best gift of all--deep belly laughter." — Sheree Renée Thomas, author or Shotgun Lullabies: Stories & Poems

Reviews

"...this collection is worth a read. The characters are beautifully drawn and the situations they find themselves in are, simultaneously, real and far-fetched. Wonderful use of language and explorations of parenthood, reality, and love.” — Kate O'Connor, Abyss & Apex

”Celeste Rita Baker's collection of stories…has its own internal rhythm; it's playful and light and then, quite unexpectedly, it turns dark and sorrowful. As with magical realism in the best sense, Baker's stories have feet that are light on the ground. Voices are heard when you least expect it, children who are not yours suddenly just are, and most tenuous and disturbing of all, memories start to gather at the edge of your consciousness. Everything is strange and potentially mysterious, and yet everything is as ordinary as it can be.... Ultimately, Baker’s strong storytelling gifts, her remarkable ear for dialogue and her ability to translate it onto the page make Back, Belly, & Side memorable, both sweet and dark.”

Subashini Navaratnam, Strange Horizons

Celeste Rita Baker was born and raised in the Virgin Islands. Her work has appeared in numerous venues, including Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters, Moko, Abyss and Apex, The Caribbean Writer: The Literary Gem of the Caribbean, and Margin. She lives now in Harlem.