“Baby’s on Fire” Short Stories Discussion | Oakland

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland welcomes Liz Prato to the store to discuss and sign her new collection of short stories,” Baby’s on Fire”, on Tuesday, June 30th at 6:30pm. Joining her in discussion will be author Ellen Sussman.

In “Baby’s on Fire”, Liz Prato pulls off the ultimate balancing act: the stories are simultaneously beautifully written and compelling, and filled with characters so full of life that they feel as real as people we may know. They are typically on the edge of despair—a twenty-something suffering from depression who moves back home to find her childhood home has just burned down, a teen exploring her boundaries and her sexuality while stranded with extended family, and a woman dealing with the shock of her father’s death. Despite their situations, it’s not all discouraging as their struggles add to the sweeping rip current of prose.

Liz Prato’s short stories and essays have appeared in over two-dozen literary journals and magazines. Her awards include the 2010 Minnetonka Review Editor’s Prize and first place in the 2005 Berkeley Fiction Review Sudden Fiction Contest. She began teaching at the Attic Institute in in 2008, and has taught creative writing for several literary organizations throughout Oregon. Liz lives with furry feline friends and her best friend/husband, who is a bookseller, musician, and writer. And, yes, she dreams of palm trees. Every day.

Ellen Sussman is the author of four national bestselling novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons, and On a Night Like This. Ellen is also the editor of two critically acclaimed anthologies, Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia Of Sex and Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave. She was named a San Francisco Library Laureate in 2004 and in 2009. She has taught at Pepperdine, UCLA and Rutgers University. Ellen now teaches through Stanford Continuing Studies and in private classes out of her home. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area

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