Debut Books

Tender Points – Amy Berkowitz

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In this short but expansive book which reads sometimes like poetry, sometimes like philosophy, and always like resistance, Berkowitz encourages us to become authoritative about our own experiences.

Sometimes I Lie and Sometimes I Don’t – Nadja Spiegel

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There is always the sense that Spiegel’s narrators are learning and relearning the rules of propriety; that they are struggling to negotiate public expectations.

Vanished – Ahmed Masoud

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Vanished [is] a treatise on the responsibilities we have to confront the legacies of occupation, of lies, and to insist on the disclosure of history’s truths.

The Beautiful Bureaucrat – Helen Phillips

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The Beautiful Bureaucrat revels in its playful and dark take on contemporary life, and yet never loses sight of its commitment to the brazen, and perhaps stupid, curiosity of the human.

The Room – Jonas Karlsson

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However, it’s not long before Björn discovers a problem with the room: he is the only one who can see it.

A Book So Red – Rachel Levy

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Desire expands, complicates (to staples, to other women) when you fuck with clichés.

Ismael and His Sisters – Louise Stern

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Stern has brilliantly found a way for her words to tell, and not just show.

Viper Wine – Hermione Eyre

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Viper Wine whispers beyond its pages, reappearing in glossy advertisements of Elle and in strange-tasting rouged lips.

The University of Pennsylvania – Caren Beilin

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Suffused with the unwieldy body historically associated with femininity, Beilin’s work is evasive, unruly, nonsensical.

Find Me – Laura van den Berg

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Unlike other stories about the apocalypse, this book is tender.