Kyle Minor's Blog

The Incendiaries
The Incendiaries, by R.O. Kwon

The Third Hotel
The Third Hotel, by Laura van den Berg

The Boatbuilder
The Boatbuilder, by Daniel Gumbiner

Imagine Wanting Only This
Imagine Wanting Only This, by Kristen Radtke

These four books are wonderful, and each of them is singular. You should read them all.

Kyle

The BBC reported today that over 800 people have lost their lives in Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. It is difficult to know how to be helpful from a distance, but those I trust who have lived many years in Haiti always suggest that if you’d like to offer a donation, it is best to give to someone small and local and accountable.

A suggestion from my friend Michael Deibert, who has spent many years living and reporting in Haiti: “I recommend Fonkoze and FOKAL, perhaps not directly hurricane related, but local orgs that work to alleviate the structural ills that lead to so much loss of life at moments like these.”

I did an interview with the Arkansas International, the new magazine out of the MFA program at the University of Arkansas. Check out their debut print issue, too, which features a new excerpt from my not-yet-published novel The Sexual Lives of Missionaries.


 

My first post-Praying Drunk story, “A Kidnapping in Koulev-Ville,” is included in Best American Mystery Stories 2015, edited by James Patterson and Otto Penzler.

I reviewed Kirstin Valdez Quade’s Night at the Fiestas for the New York Times Book Review<>.

Just heard the good news that Praying Drunk was chosen the winner the Story Prize Spotlight Award, by former O. Henry Prize Stories editor Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in New York, at the New School Auditorium, on March 4.

I’ve been battling some nagging health issues the last few months — nothing too serious, promise — and I’m behind on many varieties of correspondence and important work. If I owe you an email reply or even some work, I’m back to work now, rolling up my sleeves, trying to catch up as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and forebearance!