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When the title character of Richard Farrell’s debut novel, “The Falling Woman,” survives a plane crash, she lands on an epiphany. Farrell knows how that feels. The epiphany part, anyway.
In the case of the fictional Erin Geraghty, the change of heart comes when the plane that is supposed to take her from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco explodes in midair. Everyone on the plane dies except for Erin, who uses her second chance to rethink her whole life.
In the case of the man who created Erin, the miracle also happened in midair. In 1992, the Massachusetts native had begun Primary Flight Training at the U.S. Navy’s flight school in Pensacola, Fla., making good on his childhood dream of becoming a pilot. But after he had an epileptic seizure during training, Farrell was told he would never be able to fly again.
May 06, 2021
J. Albert Mann (l.) is the author of several books for young readers, including Scar: A Revolutionary War Tale
, What Every Girl Should Know
, and The Degenerates
. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults. Her new novel, Fix
, tells the story of two teen girls with physical differences, exploring themes of disability, addiction, and friendship. Here, Mann and her editor, Lisa Yoskowitz at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, talk about their collaboration on Fix and their personal connections to the novel.
Jennifer Albert Mann: Hi, Lisa! I think we should dive in by talking about how my very personal novel,
Contributors’ Notes
Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist. His poems and translations are featured or forthcoming in
Poetry,
AzonaL,
Sara Backer’s first book of poetry,
Such Luck (Flowstone Press, 2019), follows two poetry chapbooks:
Scavenger Hunt (dancing girl press, 2018) and
Bicycle Lotus (Left Fork, 2015). Her honors include the 2019 Plough Poetry Prize competition, eight Pushcart nominations, and fellowships from the Norton Island and Djerassi Resident Artists Programs. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, lives in New Hampshire, and reads for the
Maine Review. Point,
Marianne Boruch’s tenth book of poetry is
The Anti-Grief (Copper Canyon Press, 2019). She has written three essay collections about poetry, most recently
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Angela Patten
Vermont poet Cora Brooks (1941-2018) would sometimes begin her public readings with a one-line poem: Forgive these words they are not birds.
While ruing the meagerness of human artifice compared with nature s wonders, in a quietly melodic way Brooks was also offering a bit of birdsong of her own not only an apology but an emulation.
Angela Patten would likely concur, and heartily, with Brooks sense of fellowship with the feathered ones. Her new chapbook,
The Oriole & the Ovenbird, includes 21 poems, with a bird (or several) appearing in each. The book s cover image is an ecstatic avian painting by Vermont artist Adelaide Murphy Tyrol.