This edgy, stunning collection deftly examines the underbelly of the human condition through a cross-section of fascinating characters—a correctional officer fixated on a juvenile offender, a Goth teenager and her werewolf boyfriend, a pyromaniac by happenstance, and a set of twins haunted by an unconfirmed death. Pushing beyond the norms of daily life and into the sometimes morally lawless worlds of her characters, Ford explores the eccentric, the perverse, the disenfranchised, and the darkly comic possibilities at play in us all. (Santa Fe Writers Project, 2015)
“Our gaze is held on the lives of children who demand our empathy but will not tolerate our sentimentality. In this hard-edged debut, Ford shows promise of a brilliant career.” —George Hovis, New Madrid Journal
“Brutal and brilliant. Ford inhabits deeply the voices of teenage protagonists who must carve out destiny and identity from a paucity of resources—what they fashion is terrifying—and thanks to Ford’s masterful insight and prose—a must-read.” —Alice Lichtenstein, author of Lost
“It’s possible to keep moving through the darkness of the stories because the electricity of Ford’s language keeps giving off sparks.” —Ginnah Howard, author of Night Navigation
“Ford’s language is raw and startling. Literary beefsteak tartare.” —Nina Shengold, Chronogram
“The stories are akin to the best collection of live songs. They hum with the anxieties of adolescence, and cover issues both big and small for the main characters.” —Brad Windhauser, Philadelphia Review of Books
“You’ll find a lot to like here: an unblinking and sometimes surprisingly poetic look at the seedy underbelly of the American spirit, right up the alley of existing fans of Kathy Acker.” —Jason Pettus, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
“Ford’s prose is a sort of nimbus about darkness. She deals with painful subject matter in an unflinching manner reminiscent of some of Cormac McCarthy’s early books. A compelling, brave, and original debut.” —Naeem Murr, Man Booker Prize nominee & author of The Perfect Man
“From the amazing first sentence of Ford’s debut collection, The Poor Children, I was hooked. This is a rarity: a compellingly original voice and vision.” —David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author & creator of “Rambo”
“Ford’s stories are a scorching corrective to kneejerk sentiment; they remind us that youth, while it has its pleasures, is essentially a battleground. A memorable debut.” —Jonathan Dee, Pulitzer Prize nominee & author of The Privileges
Reviews:
Ottawa Review of Books | Philadelphia Review of Books | Chronogram | Five Writers | New Madrid Journal | Kirkus Reviews
Interviews:
Out of Bounds Radio Show | Red Dragon Reading Series, SUNY Oneonta | The Story Prize | Authorlink | SmokeLong Quarterly | Black Heart Magazine | Best New Fiction | RKVRY Quarterly
Bonus Material:
Letter from Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand | State Times, SUNY Oneonta | Oneonta Daily Star (2015) | Oneonta Daily Star (2013)
April Ford — author et cetera 