People Magazine Calls Freak Weather Stories “Imaginative, Unpredictable”

“Freaky weather—or the kind of weather that brings out freaks? Either interpretation makes sense for this imaginative, unpredictable debut short story collection.” — PEOPLE, November 6, 2017

Freak Weather Stories L.A. Book Launch, Nov. 11, 2017, 5 p.m.

Mary Kuryla reads from her collection Freak Weather Stories, with Brenda Wehle, at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on November 11, 2017.

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Brenda Wehle performs stories from MARY KURYLA’S prize-winning collection Freak Weather. Saturday, November 11 @ 5pm. Skylight Books. 1818 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027

Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction

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Mary Kuryla is the winner of this year’s AWP Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction for her collection, Freak Weather Stories.

In her comments, judge Amy Hempel writes,

There is a feral quality to some of these stories, an attitude that is truly startling. The language is perfectly matched to the not-so-conflicted women living off venison, weed, and their husband’s paychecks. The territory here is sometimes disturbing; the treatment of these people who are in over their heads is always both tough and surprisingly moving. The “action” resides as much in the brisk, fresh language as in what these people conjure in a crisis. Ultimately, the author delivers stories unlike anyone else’s.

See the announcement here.