Rooted in a Chicana/Latina/indigenous geographic and cultural sensibility, the stories in 6th Gift of Freedom Fiction Finalist ire’ne lara silva’s debut short story collection flesh to bone take on the force of myth, old and new, giving voice to those who experience the disruption and violence of the borderlands. In these nine tales, silva metes out a furious justice—a whirling, lyrical energy—that scatters the landscape with bones of transformation, reclamation, and healing.
…An original and authentic voice…with a unique vision. A blend of indigenismo and folktales retold in a modern vein…these stories come from the clouds, from spirits of ancient ancestors, from the oblique corners of the human consciousness…A new and engaging duende is born.
—Alejandro Murguia, author of This War Called Love
If Chagall had written, he would have painted words in the fierce brushstrokes of ire’ne lara silva’s stories. If Remedios Varo had told stories, she would have wound the tendrils of her magic the way ire’ne lara silva paints her world.
—Cecile Pineda, author Devil’s Tango: How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step
ire’ne lara silva writes about what’s between dark shadow and daylight, when, as on the Day of the Dead, we are so aware of the sacred. Though fiction, ire’ne’s prose seems to transform into chanting verse.
—Dagoberto Gilb, author of Before the End, After the Beginning: Stories
