By Gail Hairston, Weston Loyd
(March 18, 2016) — University of Kentucky’s Manuel Gonzales, Hannah Pittard and 2016 writer-in-residence Helen Oyeyemi have been named to Buzz Book’s list of must-read books in 2016. All three are members of the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English.
“These high-profile young authors raise the visibility of our department’s new MFA Program in Creative Writing and act as a magnet for attracting other terrific writers and scholars to the department,” Jeffory Clymer, English department chair, said. “The excitement about their novels is infectious and also really highlights the vibrancy of creative writing at UK.”
Gonzales’ highly anticipated “The Regional Office is Under Attack!” weaves a brilliantly conceived mythology, fantastical magical powers, teenage crushes and kinetic fight scenes in a seismically entertaining debut novel about revenge and allegiance and love. Gonzales is an assistant professor of English at UK.
Pittard, also an assistant professor of English, comes across as an emerging voice in “Listen to Me,” a modern gothic about a marriage and road trip gone hauntingly awry. A young couple's annual drive east to visit family is off to a rocky start. Reeling from a recent mugging at gunpoint, Maggie is not herself, and Mark is at a loss. Forced to stop for the stormy night at a remote inn, Mark is threatened in a dark parking lot, but it’s Maggie who takes control.
Oyeyemi’s notable “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours” is cleverly built around the idea of keys, literal and metaphorical, spanning multiple times and landscapes as they tease boundaries between coexisting realities. Is a key a gate, a gift or an invitation? “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours” captivates as it explores the many possible answers. Oyeyemi is the UK Department of English's inaugural MFA writer-in-residence for the spring 2016 semester.
Every season, readers look for the most exciting newly published titles on bookstore and library stacks. That’s why four years ago, Buzz Books was created as a free, bi-annual eBook filled with excerpts of great reads in literary and debut fiction, as well as nonfiction, that starts provocative, thoughtful conversation.