News & Events

 

Interview in Your Impossible Voice

january 4, 2021

In the Nine Books About Your Life series, authors are invited to talk about nine types of books that have had an impact on their lives. Their responses give a glimpse into their relationships with their books and other people’s books. In the first installment of 2021, Nicholas Alexander Hayes speaks with Amanda Marbais about her most cherished, perplexing, surprising, and underrated books. Read more…


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Review in Spring 2020 Issue of MAR

March 2, 2020

Angela C. Kramer reviews Claiming a Body in the newest issue of Mid-American Review:

“A profound, unsettling darkness waits at the center of each story in Amanda Marbais's debut collection. Each narrative hangs on the precipice, sometimes literally, of a life shattering event, echoing the truism that seems ever more present in our psyche: It's the end of the world as we know it.”

Visit Mid-American Review for more.


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New Fiction in SmokeLong Quarterly

December 16, 2019

New flash fiction at the SmokeLong Quarterly. Also, a great interview by Amanda Hadlock.

“You keep the shard of your broken tooth because it looks like an island you want to visit. You thank your mother-in-law for watching your newborn, a child who clings to your shirt and your thumbs, and who winds her hands in lengths of your hair. Your mother-in-law usually has spin class or flatly says “I’ve raised my kids”. Read more . . .


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Reading at Catherine Edelman Gallery

November 9, 2019

Catherine Edelman Gallery will be hosting Art Speaks, inviting local writers and poets to read pieces they have written based on the theme “Acts Without Words” on December 14th, 2019 from 12 - 1 pm at 1637 W. Chicago Ave. Readers will include Carrie Olivia Adams, Susan Aurinko, Amanda Marbais, Jeannette Green, Marya Spont-Lemus, and Lani T. Montreal. RSVP here.


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Claiming a Body Enters its Third Printing

June 22, 2019

Due to incredibly popular demand, Amanda Marbais’ debut collection, Claiming a Body, winner of the the 2018 Moon City Short Fiction Award, is in its third printing! New copies will be available through both Amazon and University of Arkansas Press very, very soon. Thank you to those who have already purchased and supported this wonderful book!


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Claiming a Body Part of Hungry for Stories Book Club at Read/Write Library

June 22, 2019

Amanda will be speaking to the book club on July 24th. “Hungry for Stories is a book club about the Chicago point of view, as constructed (and demolished) by some of the city’s most divergent writers, artists, editors and publishers.” Learn how to RSVP for this month’s discussion here.


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Interview with Leslie Pietrzyk on Work-in-Progress

June 18, 2019

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe! Read More . . .


 

Claiming a Body Featured in New York Times Book Review’s “The Shortlist”

May 28, 2019

May-Lan Tan (author of “Things to Make and Break”, Coffee House, 2018) features Claiming a Body and two other debut short story collections that “unearth the dark underbellies of relationships.” Read More…


 

Casey Smith Reviews Claiming a Body

May 11, 2019

“Whether she is writing about shady drug deals, white collar crime, or the accidental death of a cat named Sparkle-Motion, the plots of these stories whisk us breathlessly from one thrilling conclusion to the next. Through these narratives, Marbais reveals the disquiet that underlies seemingly mundane situations. No event feels completely safe, and no person can be completely known, which causes the palpable eeriness that defines this collection.” Read More…


Interview with Writers on Writing

May 10, 2019

Amanda discusses Claiming a Body with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone. She shares her arduous revision process (confessing that stories often undergo between 25 and 40 revisions), and assembling a collection versus publishing individual stories. Amanda dissects one of her pieces—from original kernel of inspiration to the final revision. She discusses dialogue, the importance of reading your work aloud, and her propensity towards gallows humor.


Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading

May 1, 2019

"Horribilis", one of the stories in Claiming a Body, is featured on Electric Literature. With an introduction by Moon City Press Editor Michael Czyzniejewski, "Horribilis" is a story about being afraid of everything, but living your life anyway.