New Fiction By Washington-Based Authors
These two local authors place powerful characters amid vivid landscapes
By Seattle Mag March 5, 2015
This article originally appeared in the March 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
Black River by S.M. Hulse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24)
This striking debut novel by Spokane writer S.M. Hulse is a contemporary Western that has earned critical comparisons to the work of Larry McMurtry, Annie Proulx and Wallace Stegner—and deservedly so. Hulse uses spare language to craft a rich portrait of inland Northwest as a backdrop for the story of Wes Carver, a man who has just lost his wife to cancer. Carver journeys from Spokane to his hometown in Montana, where, as a corrections officer, he was maimed during a riot, and where his angry stepson awaits his mother’s ashes. Brimming with grief, guilt and the glorious relief music can provide.
Me and My Daddy Listen to Bob Marley by Ann Pancake(Counterpoint, $24)
Much lauded Seattle-based writer Ann Pancake has a remarkable gift for bringing West Virginia (her childhood home) to life on the page. This new collection of short stories and novellas includes vivid tales of working-class folks living amid the devastation of a type of strip mining known as mountain top removal. She imbues her characters with powerful, poetic voices, and unspools each story—of misfortune, family loyalty, long-held secrets—with a mixture of tension and mystery that unearths many strata of emotion.
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Studio Sessions: Jo Cosme
The Seattle-based multimedia artist and 2026 Neddy Award winner challenges the postcard version of Puerto Rico and centers the persistence of its people.
Jo Cosme knows how seductive a postcard can be. The Seattle-based Boricua (Puerto Rican) multimedia artist works across photography, installation, video, sound, and interactive elements to examine and pull apart how Puerto Rico is seen, sold, and misunderstood from the outside. Trained in photojournalism, with a BFA in photography from Puerto Rico School of Fine…
Seattle’s Drag Brunch Has History
The city’s Sunday shows started long before the mimosas got bottomless.
There was a time not too long ago, when drag performances—now a mainstay of Seattle’s queer scene—were kept under wraps. And when brunches, complete with singing and dancing queens dressed in dazzling drag as you sipped mimosas, weren’t a Sunday staple. During the 1940s and ‘50s, an era largely shaped by restrictive laws and bias…
Studio Sessions: Sangram Majumdar
Working at the confluence of history, culture, and various painting traditions, UW associate professor Sangram Majumdar is one of this year’s Neddy Artist Award winners.
Discover the art of UW professor Sangram Majumdar, a 2026 Neddy Artist Award winner. Learn about his inspiration and upcoming Seattle exhibition at Cornish.
Rearview Mirror: A Georgian Dinner, Sidewalk Sips, and One-of-a-Kind Clothing
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
A new life for old clothes To celebrate one year in its current studio, the FXRY—a clothing repair service available via in-person appointments, home pickup, or mail-in drop off—is dropping its first collection. A small batch of reworked pieces, Second Mark will feature 13 vintage barn jackets, cropped, chain-stitched, and renewed into a completely unique, one-of-one…