Tags
A Year of Magical Reading, Aimee Bender, Goodreads, Hold That Thought, Isabel Allende, Karen Rusell, Kelly Link, Kevin Sloan, magical realism, Magical Realism Blog Hop, magical realism in YA, middle grade magical realism, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Ted Gioia, The Bat Segundo Show, The House of the Spirits, Tin House Writer's Workshop, Tomek Setowski, Women on writing, Zoe Brooks
from Polish painter Tomek Setowski‘s “Magical Realism” series
I first came to magical realism through Isabel Allende‘s absorbing novel The House of the Spirits, which features a haunting cast of star-crossed misfits, including the green-haired, golden-eyed ‘Rosa the beautiful’ and her strange, also clairvoyant, younger sister Clara. My paperback has endured so many readings that it has developed its own, almost biblical sheen. It remains one of my all-time favorite books and is definitely on my desert island list.
Recently
, I’ve fallen in love with the work of Karen Russell, whose skill with a sentence is breath-taking, both as a short story writer and a novelist. If you haven’t become acquainted with her work just yet, click on over to this Sunday Sentence post for a delicious short from her collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.
Then tune up your ears for her fab Writer’s Workshop podcast over at Tin House, where she shares tips on building up impossible worlds and makes it sound easy.
Aimee Bend
er also has some helpful craft tips and thoug
hts on the genre in an interview at The Bat Segundo Show. Your next must-listen is then Hold That Thought’s “A Conversation with Kelly Link and William McKelvy” hosted by Washington Univ.
Next, you’ll want to block off some time to wade through all the goodies at Zoe Brooks‘ Magical Realism blog. Besides a massive reading list with some reviews, she has Facebook & Goodreads groups and a kicking bloghop/linkup just begging for your perusal.
You might also want to read up on:
painting by “Magical Realist” artist Kevin Sloan
Trends in Middle-grade Magical Realism.
Also interesting is a 2012 blog project called A Year of Magical Reading in which Ted Gioia explores “non-realism” in fiction.
And last but not least, visit the Women on Writing (WOW) blog for a handy shortlist of resources, including links to books on craft and scholarship for those who want to delve deeper.
**Tell me about your favorite Magical Realism reads or share your resources and finds in the comments section. Love hearing from you. Happy reading!!!!!
Bonespark~ 