Read more
"I'll Give You A Reason is a debut short story collection that explores race, identity, and the pursuit of the American Dream in the Ironbound, an immigrant neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey"--
About the author
Annell López is a Dominican immigrant. She is the author of the short story collection
I’ll Give You a Reason, winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize, forthcoming in 2024 from the Feminist Press. A 2022 Peter Taylor fellow, her work has received support from Tin House and the Kenyon Review Workshops and has appeared in
American Short Fiction, Michigan Quarterly Review, Brooklyn Rail, and elsewhere. López is an Assistant Fiction Editor for
New Orleans Review and just finished her MFA at the University of New Orleans. She is working on a novel.
Summary
The vibrant stories in I’ll Give You a Reason explore race, identity, connection, and belonging in the Ironbound, an immigrant neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. A young widow goes on her first date since her husband’s death and finds herself hunting a bear in the woods with a near stranger. An unhappy wife compares her mother’s love spells and rituals to her own efforts to repair her strained marriage. A self-conscious college student discovers a porn star who shares her name and becomes obsessed with her doppelgänger’s freedom and comfort with her own body.
Annell López’s indelible characters tread the waters of political unrest, sexuality, religion, body image, Blackness, colorism, and gentrification—searching for their identities and a sliver of joy and intimacy. Through each story, a nuanced portrait of the “American Dream” emerges, uplifting the voices of those on its margins.
Foreword
5 city tour around publication: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Newark, New Orleans, Kansas City
Both digital and print ARCs available in September
ARCs to sales reps, as well as select indie bookseller mailing
Both digital and print ARCs sent to media for national print, radio, and online campaign; targeted to outlets focused on the following coverage: literary fiction, Black and Latinx literature, debut authors
Promotion on Feminist Press e-newsletter, website, and social media channels
Social media campaign, with the book promoted by key literary influencers focusing on Black and Latinx literature, and debut literary fiction, as well as Meriwether Prize judges Bridget M. Davis, Nancy Jooyun Kim, Cassandra Lane, and Lupita Aquino, all of whom have provided endorsements.
Blurbs sought from: Camille Acker, Danielle Evans, Jami Attenberg
