Dear friends of the unreal -- In my latest Medium piece, I wax eloquent about my history with a famous foodstuff and how it works in my new novel. Food is love, my husband once told me and food is crucial in my forthcoming novel, Pretend Plumber. I love food. No, seriously, I LOVE food. I’m … Continue reading Let’s talk sandwiches — food matters in my life and fiction
Author: Stephanie Barbé Hammer
Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a magical realist prose fiction writer, novelist, occasional essayist, and a committed, intermittent poet, as well as a passionate instructor of writing. A 7-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize she has published work in Hayden's Ferry, Pearl, CRATE, Rhapsoidia, NYCBigCityLit, the East Jasmine Review, Apeiron, Inlandia, Literary Alchemy and the Bellevue Literary Review among other places. She is the author the fabulist novel THE PUPPET TURNERS OF NARROW INTERIOR (Urban Farmhouse Press), a novelette, RESCUE PLAN (Bamboo Dart Press), a prose poem chapbook collection, SEX WITH BUILDINGS (dancing girl press), and a poetry collection, HOW FORMAL (Spout Hill Press).
Stephanie's new novel PRETEND PLUMBER is available for order from your favorite bookstore, and her poetry chapbook CITY SLICKER will release in July 2022.
Happy Ides of March! — some new writing and I read the big book, part 2
Hi friends -- it's also my half-birthday and in honor of this silly non-holiday, I'm sharing, not just one, but two new items. I posted my latest "Why I write about..." and you can read it here: https://medium.com/@stephaniebarbhammer/why-i-write-about-shakespeare-b6be2b35025c And.... my fun conversation with Don and Tom of WRITING ON WHIDBEY ISLAND went live yesterday and … Continue reading Happy Ides of March! — some new writing and I read the big book, part 2
New “why I write about” on Medium
Another "why I write about" just went live over at Medium! Here's the first question in my self-interview: Q: Stephanie-- What gives with setting your new novel in L.A? You don’t live there, and you aren’t even from that city. In fact, you were born and raised in Manhattan – which is the polar opposite … Continue reading New “why I write about” on Medium
The Life Aquatic: Sailing the Salish Sea with Iris Graville
Friends -- even city slicker magical realists like yours truly, look up from time to time and want to know more about the place where we are currently residing. But, I'm not a scientist, and while I consider myself an environmentalist, I get a bit vague on the details of how my locality might be … Continue reading The Life Aquatic: Sailing the Salish Sea with Iris Graville
“Why I write about. . .” series launching on Medium
Dear friends of the unreal -- I just wrote and published the first of a series called "Why I write about. . . " in conjunction with the forthcoming release of my second novel Pretend Plumber, which will be out sometime this spring. You can read the first little piece here. Speaking of unreal... I … Continue reading “Why I write about. . .” series launching on Medium
Yes, I’ve started sending out a newsletter and you should subscribe!
Friends, is your email box full to the brim with STUFF? Yes, mine is too. And yet, there are a few emails from strangers that I really look forward to. These are writers and thinkers that I admire like Melissa Hart (I actually know Melissa) and leftist outlier intellectual Frederik de Boer. And, I love … Continue reading Yes, I’ve started sending out a newsletter and you should subscribe!
In honor of Meat Loaf, a story about size
A story about being enough, inspired by hearing Meat Loaf on the radio a long time ago. A version of this story appeared in an anthology of short fiction, edited by my friend John Brantingham. It's one of my favorites. Thank you Meatloaf. Encore Plus "Honey, I'll gain today – I just know it," I … Continue reading In honor of Meat Loaf, a story about size
My mother and Anne Rice
It's oddly appropriate that famous author Anne Rice died just a day before my mother's Yarzeit. My mother was an extremely anxious, brilliant, troubled and fascinating person with wonderfully weird, eclectic tastes. She loved mysteries and she loved Wagner (the composer, not the NYC mayor) and she loved science fiction and she loved Agatha Christie. … Continue reading My mother and Anne Rice
Happy Nanowrimo — think you can’t write a novel in a month?
Well, you can't. Or at least I couldn't. But wait! WC Bryant writing https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W_C_Bryant_writing.jpg Nanowrimo is a fantastic way to get a rough draft of something done and it's a wonderful way to experiment, to dare yourself to try to work with something impossible or wacky or both. Take me and my forthcoming novel Pretend … Continue reading Happy Nanowrimo — think you can’t write a novel in a month?
I read the Big Book (part 1?)
Dear friends of the unreal -- I have begun -- kind of without meaning to -- an unreal and at times seemingly impossible reading project. In a May 21 2021 article for the New Yorker francophile Adam Gopnik likens reading all of Proust's A LA RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU (IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME) to … Continue reading I read the Big Book (part 1?)
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 
