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BOOKS

Vanessa's feminist experimental novel, The Flat Woman, won FC2's Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize. It will published by the University of Alabama Press and FC2 in fall 2024. 

Description 

 

In The Flat Woman, women exclusively are blamed for the climate crisis. Seagulls drop dead from the sky, and the government, instead of taking responsibility, scapegoats a group of female ecoterrorists.

When a girl’s mother is incarcerated for climate crimes, she is forced to raise herself alone. As a young woman, she begins a romance with an environmental activist whose passion makes her question her own role in the world.

By turns hilarious, deadly serious, and completely absurd, The Flat Woman asks who gets the right to call themselves a good person in a world ripe with disaster.

The Flat Woman is certain to appeal to fans of feminist and experimental literature, as well as fans of Margaret Atwood, Renee Gladman, Bhanu Kapil, Maggie Nelson, Kelly Link, and Anne Carson.

You can pre-order the book on Amazon here.

Press

"The idea of a “feminist magic-realist ecological dystopia” sounds didactic, but Saunders deftly avoids preaching, instead showing us a simplified and constrained view of a world undergoing collapse in a way completely familiar. By the end, I was turning pages as fast as I could click." -Chris Turner-Neal, Country Roads Magazine. Read full review here.

"This book packs a punch in only 160 pages. Provocative, engaging, and informative. We need this book more now than ever." -Debutiful, "Nine Noteworthy Books to Read This November"

"Surreal, funny, repulsive, and brilliantly thought-provoking, The Flat Woman is an example of what bold and original climate writing can do." -Electric Literature, "The Flat Woman Asks What Came First: Climate Change or Sexism?"

"Saunders could give a master class on how to effectively use humor to explore serious issues," -Trampoline Poetry 

"Using elements of magical realism, Saunders creates a world that highlights societal issues in which women are held responsible for the implications of the climate crisis" -Loyola Maroon

“With deft efficiency, Vanessa Saunders lets a mini-matrix of motifs and characters mirror a society's worth of ecological, political, and personal crisis. A beautifully constructed work of feminist realism.” —Nell Zink, author Avalon
 

“Richly textured and chillingly poetic, The Flat Woman is filled with pure enthrallment. A mother, a child-like woman, an Elvis impersonator, and an aunt—all caught in an intricate web of seagull terrorism, spattered with ash and feathers—plunges the reader into an intricate and inscrutable collision of forces.”
—Vi Khi Nao, author of Swimming with Dead Stars

"I wanted to create a world that wasn't quite dystopian; not quite ending, but on the edge," an interview with Minor Literature

"I don’t believe in art as an object of emotional catharsis. For that reason, I don’t write about my personal life in my work," an interview with Rob Mclennan 's blog

 

Select online publications

HYBRID FICTION 

Excerpt from "The Flat Woman" in the Los Angeles Review

Excerpt from "The Flat Woman" in A Velvet Gian

 “THE MAN IS ON STAGE…” published in Poor Claudia 

“THE MAN AND THE WOMAN ATTEND A…” published in Poor Claudia 

“THE WOMAN IS ANSWERING…” published in Poor Claudia 

POETRY 

“YOU CAME ALL OVER,” published in Sycamore Review

“In the logic” published in Heavy Feather Review 

“Speculative” published in Heavy Feather Review

“You feel” published in Heavy Feather Review

“Are my hands” published in Heavy Feather Review 

“Blame It On A Woman”… published in Heavy Feather Review

"My Fake Mom,​" published in Prelude

CRAFT BLOG POSTS

“The Case for Hybridity” published by Dallas Writers Workshop

Select print publications

POETRY

“YOU GOT RAILED,” published in Sycamore Review

“Limos On Fire” published in Tammy

“THE WOMAN WALKS INTO THE MULTI-CAR GARAGE…” published in [PANK] 

“Are you an environmental activist: a prospective questionnaire,” published in [PANK] 

“Cola Does Not Have A Perennial Relationship With Violence (A Note From Our President)”… published in [PANK]

“Government Advice on Curing a Cola Addiction,” published in [PANK]

HYBRID FICTION

“THE GIRL SITS IN…,” published in The Seneca Review

“THAT EVENING, HIDING….” published in The Seneca Review

“THE GIRL IS SEVENTEEN….” published in The Seneca Review

“TWO NIGHTS LATER….” published in The Seneca Review

“THE MAN TEXTS…” published in The Seneca Review

“IN THE BANQUET ROOM…” published in Passages North 

“THE WOMAN GETS HOME BREATHLESS...” published in Passages North

“IN HIGH PLAINS COLA HOTEL…” published in Passages North 

"Excerpt from the Grief Pattern of Birds" published in Western Humanities Review

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