'In the Event of Contact' by Ethel Rohan is now published in Ireland & the U.K.

 "In the Event of Contact" by Irish writer Ethel Rohan has been published in Ireland and the UK this month!! I'm very familiar with Ethel's brilliant work, so I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!! This series of short stories has already received some amazing reviews, some of which are listed below.

You can order this delight online HERE 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the Event of Contact contains fourteen gripping stories set in Ireland, England, and America. Stories from a singular survivor voice that chronicle crises of contact, various forms of injury, and characters making surprising bids for recovery.

Among them, a scrappy teen vies to be the next Sherlock Holmes; an immigrant daughter must defend her decision to remain childless; a guilt-ridden woman is haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend; a cantankerous crossing guard celebrates getting run over by a truck; an embattled priest with dementia determines to perform a heroic, redemptive act, if he can only remember how; and an aspirational, angst-ridden mother captains the skies.

Amid backgrounds of trespass, absence, and necessity, the indelible characters of In the Event of Contact seek renewed belief in humanity and the remains of wonder. 

REVIEWS

“Terrific, insightful stories…through subtly wrought metaphors and similes, Rohan draws us beyond the accommodations [injured characters] have made in order to survive, and into the heart of their trauma…compelling this reader to marvel at how doggedly so many of us recreate and repeat our trauma…[an] extremely fine collection.” The Irish Times

 

In the Event of Contact is a timely read about the importance of connecting with other people on our own terms.” BITCH Magazine Selected Feminist Reads for 2021 

“Through her brilliant storytelling, Rohan explores the deep desire for human relationships, and the physical or psychological distances that affect them.”  Booklist

 

“Social distancing marked the lonely horror that was this year; paradoxically a demonstration of how affection and empathy for our fellow humans required us to retreat into ourselves, connection now defined by the absence of contact. Ethel Rohan’s book of short stories examines something similar in its evocation of what connection or its lack can do to us. In the Event of Contact is a loving homage to humanity in all its complexity.” The Millions

 

“A striking collection about loners.” Publisher’s Weekly

 

“The stories straddle the faultlines of the lives of their characters and as a collection quietly and subtly accumulate a potency that by the end leaves the reader breathless.” The Westmeath Independent

 

 “A taut and melancholy meditation on human (dis)connection in overlooked places and among underseen people.” San Francisco Chronicle

 

 “Rohan excels in the movement of characters, positioning them as efficiently as a stage manager. She knows at precisely which scene the Peters and the Dohertys of the world should enter, and she understands the limited space she is working with. This control ensures that her stories are never at a loss for momentum…Rohan captures the emigrant experience for what it is, a process of becoming an alien in two countries — and as glad as her characters might be that they left, they understand that everywhere has become, in some way, a separate world, in which there will still also be men.” Necessary Fiction

PANK Literary Magazine - RED RIBBONS BLOG TOUR

After a brief interlude, the RED RIBBONS blog tour travels to San Francisco for an interview with Award winning Irish writer Ethel Rohan for PANK Literary Magazine blog.

 

 

You can read more about Ethel below, but for now, let's go over to San Francisco - sounds good doesn't it! So simply click HERE

 

 

 

ETHEL ROHAN, is the author of Hard to Say and Cut Through the Bone, the latter longlisted for The Story Prize. Her work has or will appear in World Literature Today, Tin House Online, The Irish Times, The Rumpus, Post Road Magazine, and The Los Angeles Review, among many others.

She earned her MFA in fiction from Mills College, California. Raised in Ireland, Ethel Rohan now lives in San Francisco where she is a member of the Writers Grotto.

Visit Ethel at www.ethelrohan.com  http://ethelrohan.tumblr.com
And on Twitter @ethelrohan

Ethel Rohan - Cut Through The Bone

There are lots of great things about Twitter, not least of which is that you connect with some really good, interesting, and darn nice folk.  You all know who you are, so I don't have to list you here (even though I love lists).

Anyhow (favourite blog/email crutch word), one of these said wonderful folk, is Ethel Rohan.  Ethel is originally from Dublin, but now lives in San Francisco, California.  She is an extremely talented, and successful writer, and someone, who had it not been for Twitter, I might have missed.

I ordered a copy of her short story collection, 'Cut Through The Bone' via Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and the first thing I thought when it arrived was if the contents were as good as the cover, then I was in for a great read.  I was not disappointed.

The first story in the collection, 'More than gone', had the effect on me, that great writing sometimes does.  It inspired me to grab a piece of paper and start writing immediately - which turned out to be the beginning of 'Monkey and the Brain Eater', a story many of you were particularly moved by.  When you read wonderful words, something happens in the brain, at least it does to me, as emotions are connected through the written word - it sends you to a place, a kind of sanctuary, that is pure, deep - a place away from all the complicated busy patterns that often eat away at our lives.

Anyhow (told you my fav blog/email crutch word), back to the matter in hand.  The collection, in my opinion is a triumph, and I haven't even finished it yet.  Why, you might ask - well, I'll tell you.  The second night I was reading 'Cut Through the Bone', I realised that I started to eat up the stories, finishing one, then quickly moving on to another, before I had to shout 'stop', an imaginary 'stop' mind, because I didn't want to wake hubby.  I realised that this is a collection which needs to be savoured.  Each short story deserves its own place, and no matter how wonderful, and tempting it might be to read a number of them every evening, it would be the wrong way to approach them. 

So now, I have the book by my bed, and before I retire for the night, having said goodbye to all the daily madness that is life, I know I am in for a treat, as I get to savour the joy of reading another gem from this collection.  For sure, a book that will be on my favourite book shelf.

Brief Intro to Collection:
In this stripped-raw collection, Ethel Rohan's thirty stories swell with broken, incomplete people yearning to be whole.  Through tight language and searching scenarios, Rohan brings to life a plethora of characters -exposed, vulnerable, and achingly human.

You can visit Ethel's blog HERE, or else via MY BLOG LIST in the sidebar.

'Cut Through The Bone', is available to order as a paperback, or kindle ebook via Amazon here @ http://tinyurl.com/6kvg2p5

Go order it, you won't be disappointed!