Stories of the New West (2021, Main Street Rag Press)
Evan Morgan Williams’ third collection, Stories of the New West, takes new risks with language and form, but the characters in these realistic fictions take the larger risks. Set mainly in the Mountain West or along the Pacific shore (one story even occurs at the conjunction of the two), these stories depict characters struggling with risks; we read to learn their aftermath.
“In American mythology, the West may be the Promised Land, but in his latest collection, Williams scratches the surface of this myth to reveal the rust beneath the promise. With his gift for ratcheting tension in all that’s unspoken, Williams’ characters discover the milk and honey of the New West are just fumbled confessions and irrevocable mistakes as they do their best to survive terrains—inside and out—at turns hideous and holy.”
~Armin Tolentino, author of We Meant to Bring It Home Alive
Stories of the New West was selected for publication by Meagan Lucas, author of Songbirds and Stray Dogs (Main Street Rag Press).
Canyons | Older Stories is just that: a collection of older stories, cutting deep into the land and the lives of the people who live there.The book won the 2019 gold medal in the Next Generation Independent Book Awards (short story collection category).
“In Canyons, you enter an earth-dream that is both claustrophobic and beautiful. In these stories we are taken to the edge of a world where trees, rivers, caves, mountains, and rocks are active, breathing, immanent beings. People spend lifetimes being schooled by them, sometimes dreaming of escape but more often devising intricate paths through worlds of ever-deepening threat. For many of the characters in Canyons, human language is a kind of rusted tool they use only in times of grave necessity—they are much more in tune with the singing of stones tumbling down around their heads, the shifting of a house built leaning out over a bay, the “rumbling in the belly of the earth.” … Canyons is a book that will terrify and thrill you and leave you changed.
-Toni Hanner, author of The Ravelling Braid
Evan Morgan Williams’ book of short stories, Thorn, won the 2013 G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize at BkMk Press (University of Missouri-Kansas City). The judge was Al Young. His preface states:
“The seductive beauty of these subtle, troubling fictions reflect their author’s dreamy, voice-drenched visions of underdog lives.”
These stories portray hardships of characters who come from a variety of backgrounds, especially Native Americans and others from the Pacific Coast. With his vivid descriptions of these characters and their experiences, Williams explores their psyches and personal struggles, but common themes tie these stories together, inviting readers to see their own struggles and relationships in new ways.
The book received several honors after publication, including a gold medal from the Independent Publishers Book Awards. The book was long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize.
Hand-bound editions of Thorn: Short Stories
The cover is a vintage BLM file folder, the endpapers are vintage topographical maps, and each title page is individually stamped with a vintage BLM counter. All tied together with hemp string using a Japanese technique. All of these choices are aesthetically relevant, and when you read the stories, you’ll see why.
