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Jennifer Baker, Jason Reynolds & Hasanthika Sirisena: Everyday People

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The editor and two contributors come together to discuss Everyday People: The Color of Life, a dazzling collection of contemporary short fiction.

Everyday People is a thoughtfully curated anthology of short stories that presents new and renowned work by established and emerging writers of color. It illustrates the dynamics of character and culture that reflect familial strife, political conflict, and personal turmoil through an array of stories that reveal the depth of the human experience.

Representing a wide range of styles, themes, and perspectives, these selected stories depict moments that linger—crossroads to be navigated, relationships, epiphanies, and times of doubt, loss, and discovery. A celebration of writing and expression, Everyday People brings to light the rich tapestry that binds us all.

The contributors are an eclectic mix of award-winning and critically lauded writers, including Mia Alvar, Carleigh Baker, Nana Brew-Hammond, Glendaliz Camacho, Alexander Chee, Mitchell S. Jackson, Yiyun Li, Allison Mills, Courttia Newland, Dennis Norris II, Jason Reynolds, Nelly Rosario, Hasanthika Sirisena, and Brandon Taylor.

Some of the proceeds from the sale of Everyday People will benefit the Rhode Island Writers Colony, a nonprofit organization founded by the late Brook Stephenson that provides space for speculation, production, and experimentation by writers of color.

“Showcases the truth and fullness of people of color.” —Book Riot

"“A delight and highly recommended.” —Booklist

Jennifer Baker is a publishing professional, the creator and host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and a contributing editor to Electric Literature. She also works with the nonprofit I, Too Arts Collective. She is a 2017 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow and Queens Council of the Arts New Work Grant winner. Her writing has appeared in Newtown Literary, where her story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize; Poets & Writers magazine; the Other Stories podcast; The Offing; and The Female Complaint anthology from Shade Mountain Press.

Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. The American Booksellers Association’s 2017 spokesperson for Indies First, his many books include When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black SuitAll American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (GhostPatinaSunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Hasanthika Sirisena is associate fiction editor for West Branch literary magazine and a visiting professor at Susquehanna University. Her stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, Epoch, StoryQuarterly, Narrative, and other magazines. Her work has been anthologized in The Best New American Voices and twice named a distinguished story by Best American Short Stories (2011, 2012). Sirisena has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo, and was the winner of the 2015 Juniper Prize for Fiction. Her debut short story collection The Other One was published in 2016.

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