Tag Archives: Joselyn Takacs

Fall 2024 News Round-Up

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2024 has seen the publication of two BookEnds novels: Nora Decter’s What’s Not Mine (ECW) was published in April, and you can watch the BookEnds BookClub featuring Nora in conversation with her mentor and program co-founding director Susan Scarf Merrell here. Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby Books) was published in July, and Joselyn was in conversation with her mentor and other program co-founding director, Meg Wolitzer, at the BookEnds BookClub in September. Check out their conversation here.

2022 Fellow Giano Cromley’s BookEnds novel American Mythology is forthcoming with Doubleday in Fall 2025, while 2023 Fellow Miranda Shulman’s BookEnds novel Harmless is forthcoming with Dutton in Spring 2026. Another BookEnds novel is under contract and will be announced soon, while several other BookEnds novels are out on submission, and we expect more happy news to come! Several Fellows from our recent and incoming cohorts have also signed with agents this spring. 

Further doings, honors, and publications:

Jeanne Blasberg (2022) published her BookEnds novel Daughter of a Promise with SheWrites Press. 

Elisabeth Chaves (2022) received the Nancy Zafris Short Story Fellowship from The Porches. 

Sheena Cook (2019) was longlisted for the World of Interiors writing contest.

Sam Corradetti (2024) had a short story published in this summer’s issue of Fourteen Hills.

Vanessa Cuti (2018, author of BookEnds novel The Tip Line, and a BookEnds mentor) has a short story forthcoming in The Harvard Review. 

April Darcy (2020) has a short story forthcoming in Water~Stone Review. Another story was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Disquiet International Literary Program, and the CRAFT Short Fiction Prize. 

Kathleen Gibbons (2019) was longlisted for the Granum Foundation Prize in 2023 with a novel-in-progress, and two stories from her BookEnds linked story collection have received Pushcart Prize nominations. She will be in residence at the Ragdale Foundation in 2025. 

Sarah Haufrect (2022) was published in June by West Trade Review, and the story will be coming out this month as an audio exclusive on the magazine’s Youtube channel. 

Maggie Hill (2019) published her BookEnds novel Sunday Money with SheWrites Press earlier this year. 

Craig Holt (2023) has a short story forthcoming in MicroLit Almanac. 

Suzanne LaFetra Collier (2023) attended both Community of Writers and Bread Loaf earlier this year. 

Rachel León (2021) is editing an anthology about Rockford, Illinois, with Belt Publishing, and has just been named Managing Editor for The Chicago Review of Books. 

Sue Mell (2020, author of the BookEnds novel Provenance) published her short story collection A New Day with SheWrites Press. 

O. Edwin Ozoma (2024) published a short story in Harpur Palate.

Melanie Pierce (2021) has a short story forthcoming in Moon City Review. 

JP Solheim (2020, BookEnds Associate Director) was in residence at the Ragdale Foundation this summer. They were longlisted for the Granum Foundation Prize in 2023. Their short stories have recently been published at MQR: Mixtape and on the Midwest Weird literary podcast.

Hannah Thaggard (2024) had a short story published in Harpur Palate. 

BookEnds alums are also busy and active in their communities, with new works in progress; supporting one another through daily and weekly Zoom writing sessions; giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process; and—of course—through our BookEnds blog. Check out this new post from 2024 Fellow Caitlin O’Neil on cutting characters with her mentor Meg Wolitzer (and remember to check out Meg  as the host of Selected Shorts!)

We look forward to bringing you more great news soon. To learn more about BookEnds, check out our Fall 2024 Open House!

Spring News Round-Up

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Following the publication of several novels last year, 2024 sees the publication of two BookEnds novels: Nora Decter’s What’s Not Mine (ECW) was published earlier this month, and you can watch the BookEnds BookClub featuring Nora in conversation with her mentor and program co-founding director Susan Scarf Merrell here. Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby Books) is available for preorder now. Joselyn’s novel will be featured at the BookEnds BookClub in September, in conversation with her mentor and other program co-founding director, Meg Wolitzer.

We are proud to announce that 2022 Fellow Giano Cromley’s BookEnds novel American Mythology is forthcoming with Doubleday, Summer 2025! Several Fellows from our recent and incoming cohorts have also signed with agents this spring. 

BookEnds alums are also busy and active in their community, with new works in progress; supporting one another through daily and weekly Zoom writing sessions; giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process; and—of course—through our BookEnds blog. Check out this recent post from 2023 Fellow Suzanne LaFetra Collier on serving as a BookEnds selection committee reader.  

We’re also delighted to remind everyone to check out program co-director Meg as the host of Selected Shorts! 

We look forward to bringing you more great news soon. To learn more about BookEnds, check out our Fall 2023 Open House!

Fall News Round-Up

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Please join us to learn more about the BookEnds novel revision fellowship at our annual Open House on Monday, October 16, 2023, 4-5 pm EST. Register here!

Following the publication of several novels last year, 2023 has seen the publication of two BookEnds novels: Daisy Alpert Florin’s My Last Innocent Year (Holt) was a New York Times’ Editors’ Choice Selection, as well as the subject of the Times’ Group Text Discussion and an Alma Award nominee. Vanessa Cuti’s The Tip Line (Crooked Lane) has been received to high critical praise, most recently from Library Journal in an audio book review: “An unnerving psychological suspense about compulsion and corruption.” 

We are proud to announce these forthcoming novels from our BookEnds Fellows!

  • Nora Decter’s What’s Not Mine (ECW, April 2, 2024) 
  • Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby, July 2024)
  • Giano Cromley’s American Mythology (Doubleday, Summer 2025)

This coming spring, we will announce BookEnds BookClub events for Nora’s and Joselyn’s books, along with an event for BookEnds mentor Eve Gleichman’s new co-authored novel Trust & Safety (Dutton, May 2024). In the meantime, you can always watch our first book club events here, featuring mentor Paul Harding’s This Other Eden (longlisted for the Booker Prize), in conversation with his BookEnds mentee Caitlin Mullen; Daisy Alpert Florin’s My Last Innocent Year, in conversation with her BookEnds mentor and program co-director Susan Scarf Merrell; and Vanessa Cuti’s The Tip Line, in conversation with her BookEnds cohort member Alison Fairbrother. 

BookEnders are busy with new works in progress, supporting one another through daily and weekly Zoom writing sessions; the alumni meetings and Alumni Visiting Writers events, this fall featuring Lucy Ives, Melissa Chadburn, and Laura Warrell; giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process; and—of course—through our BookEnds blog. 

We’re also delighted to remind everyone to check out our co-founding Director Meg Wolitzer as the host of Selected Shorts! 

We look forward to bringing you more great news soon.

Summer News Round-Up: Forthcoming BookEnds Novels

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We are proud to announce these forthcoming novels from our BookEnds Fellows!

  • Nora Decter’s What’s Not Mine (ECW, April 2024)
  • Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby, Summer 2024)
  • Giano Cromley’s American Mythologies (Vintage/Anchor, Summer 2025)

BookEnders are also busy with new works in progress, supporting one another through Zoom writing sessions and #1000wordsofsummer, the alumni meetings and author events, giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process, and—of course—through our BookEnds blog.

We look forward to bringing you more great news soon!

Spring News Round-Up: New Novels, Acclaim, and the BookEnds BookClub!

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The past months have seen the publication of several BookEnds novels to great acclaim: Alison Fairbrother’s The Catch (Random House), which was Selected as an Editors’ Choice in the New York Times and a Best New Book of the Week at People Magazine; Sue Mell’s Provenance (Madville), winner of the Blue Moon Novel Award, a 2022 Great Group Read Selection by the Women’s National Book Association, and a 2022 Best Indie Fiction Pick by the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses [clmp]; Coco Picard’s The Healing Circle (Red Hen Press); and most recently, Daisy Alpert Florin’s My Last Innocent Year (Holt, 2023), a New York Times’ Editors’ Choice Selection, as well as the subject of the Times’ Group Text Discussion in February 2023. 

We are proud to announce these forthcoming novels from our BookEnds Fellows!

  • Vanessa Cuti’s The Tip Line (Crooked Lane, April 18, 2023)
  • Nora Decter’s What’s Not Mine (ECW, April 2024)
  • Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby, Summer 2024)

We are also thrilled to announce the launch of the BookEnds BookClub!

  • Check out our inaugural event featuring Paul Harding and Caitlin Mullen, in conversation about Paul’s This Other Eden (Norton, 2023).
  • Daisy Alpert Florin will be in conversation with her BookEnds mentor and program co-director Susan Scarf Merrell on April 5 for our BookEnds BookClub. You can order signed copies of both Daisy’s and Susie’s books by the event date by following the link on our BookClub page. 
  • Vanessa Cuti will be in conversation with her BookEnds cohort member Alison Fairbrother on May 24 for our BookEnds BookClub. You can order signed copies of both Vanessa’s and Alison’s books by the event date by following the link on our BookClub page.

BookEnders are also busy with new works in progress, supporting one another through daily and weekly Zoom writing sessions, the alumni meetings and author events, and giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process, and—of course—through our BookEnds blog. 

We look forward to bringing you more great news soon!

Fall News Round-Up: Forthcoming BookEnds Novels and More!

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This past summer saw the publication of three BookEnds novels: Alison Fairbrother’s The Catch (Random House), which was Selected as an Editor’s Choice in the New York Times and a Best New Book of the Week at People Magazine; Sue Mell’s Provenance (Madville Publishing), winner of the Blue Moon Novel Award and just selected as a 2022 Great Group Read by the Women’s National Book Association; and Coco Picard’s The Healing Circle (Red Hen Press), recipient of The Women’s Prose Award. 

We are proud to announce these forthcoming novels from our BookEnds Fellows: 

  • Daisy Alpert Florin’s My Last Innocent Year (Holt, February 14, 2023)
  • Vanessa Cuti’s The Tip Line (Crooked Lane, April 18, 2023)
  • Joselyn Takacs’ Pearce Oysters (Zibby Owens, 2024)

Our alumni and fellows are actively publishing stories, essays, book reviews and author interviews—and as BookEnds novels are published, they are writing about one another’s work and interviewing each other! BookEnders are also busy with new works in progress, supporting one another through Zoom writing sessions, the alums monthly meetings and author events, giving each other advice, feedback and support on query letters and the query process, and through our BookEnds blog. This vibrant, supportive community extends to our Alumni Group and Visiting Writers Series, which hosts talks this fall with Matt Bell, Courtney Maum, and Peter Ho Davies. 

Finally, we are thrilled to announce that 2023 will bring The Lichtenstein Center Presents: The BookEnds Book Club! The first events will discuss This Other Eden, by longtime BookEnds mentor and MFA director Paul Harding, in conversation with his BookEnds mentee and Edgar Award-winning novelist Caitlin Mullen; My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin, in conversation with her mentor and program co-founder and director Susan Merrell; and The Tip Line by Vanessa Cuti, in conversation with her BookEnds podmate from the first year of the program, Alison Fairbrother.