Underrated Writers 2006

Introduction

More lists than ever these days, we know.

Time Magazine declared "You" to be the most influential person of the year, the one who most shaped the way information is gathered, organized, and disseminated. Without going too deeply into the weeds on this statement, one that predicates "your" access to computers, a speedy connection, and—most important—the time to make use of these things, "we" think it's critical to use "our" powers for good, and not for banal repetition of what's already been deemed "popular."

So, one thing "we" can do is shine a light into some dustier corners of literature.

Vasily Aksyonov

The Millions contributor Garth Risk Hallberg recommends Vasily Aksyonov: "The Russian novelist Vasily Aksyonov isn’t exactly obscure here in the States, but given the quality of his work, I feel he should be a household name. Generations of Winter is simply the finest novel of the last twenty-five years. It is a kind of Stalin-era War and Peace, following a fictional family placed at the center of real historical events. Like War and Peace, it is intellectually brilliant, morally irreproachable, aesthetically beautiful, and ultimately life-changing. I will never forget its conclusion, and I hope to read it many times in my life. A sequel, The Winter’s Hero, is less transcendent, but it’s a pleasure to be able to stay in the world of Generations of Winter. And I hear good things about The New Sweet Style, which is on my reading list."

More about Vasily Aksyonov

+  Two audio interviews with Aksyonov at Wired for Books
+  Short biography at PEN Russia site
+  Excerpt of his novel The New Sweet Style

Mohammed Naseehu Ali

James Tata believes that Mohammed Naseehu Ali deserves more recognition:  "Mohammed Naseehu Ali, had a story in The New Yorker in 2005, 'Mallam Sile,' that has stayed with me since, and in researching him for this piece, I was excited to see that he has a story collection out, called The Prophet of Zongo Street."

More about Mohammed Naseehu Ali

+  AfroToronto.com interview with Ali
+  James Tata's analysis of Ali's story "Mallam Sile"
+  Ali on the Leonard Lapote show

Chris Bachelder

Traver Kauffman of Rake's Progress recommends this writer. Kaufmman tells us that Bachelder's first novel, Bear v. Shark, was "promising, if a little 'DeLillo, Jr.'" in a time, post-9/11, "which was not a good time for junior DeLillos."  Bachelder's current release, U.S.!, "seemed to garner some good buzz, but for the most part I heard a few chuckles over the wacky upfront premise of the book--Upton Sinclair keeps getting resurrected and assassinated--and not much of depth." Kauffman continues, "I hate to label something a '9/11' or 'post-9/11' novel, but when you have a lefty muckraker stirring the pot and getting killed for it over and over, and when his right- and Red State-leaning assassins are frankly much more popular and celebrated than he is, well, it's not hard to see this as a commentary on Our Life and Times. (Not that this is a black & white, Red v. Blue polemic--it isn't.)

"Bachelder handles his wacky premise well and without falling into the slough of hysterical realism (so-called). In other words, he's not just spitballin'--he uses the wacky mode to break hearts (paraphrasing Donald Barthelme), and that's something to celebrate."

More about Chris Bachelder

+ Bookslut interview with Bachelder
+ Bachelder's hilarious "Lessons in Virtual Tour Photography"
+ Bloomsbury bio page on Bachelder
+ Bachelder's (fitting) review of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle for Mother Jones
 

Grant Bailie

Darby Dixon had this to say about Grant Bailie:  "He wrote this book, Cloud 8, about a guy who dies and heads to an afterlife where people dress up like Abraham Lincoln, there's cigarette butts ground into the cracks of the sidewalks, and angels request cardboard wings. From that potentially absurdist premise he spins an understated book that's funny and sad and pretty and quiet all at once. I'm looking forward to his next book--he's posted the beginning of it on his public blog, and it's got a very promising opening paragraph."

More about Grant Bailie

+  Bailie's Blog Junk Drawer Drunk
+  Bailie's myspace page
+  Night Train interview with Bailie
+  Bailie was part of the Flux Factory project which asked three novelist to product a novel in a month while the writers were on public display
+  Darby Dixon's review of Cloud 8

Iain Banks

Iain Banks, according to Terri Saul, "is not underrated in Britain, but is not well read in the US. Most of his books are not available in the States, except in used bookstores where one can find used copies of British editions. My favorite Banks fiction is The Bridge."

More about Iain Banks

+  Banks's official site
+  Guardian profile
+  "The Banksonian", an Iain Banks fanzine
+  Culture Data Repository FAQ
+  Spike Magazine interview with Banks

Henry Baum

Susan Tomaselli of dogmatika nominated Heny Baum: "The mind boggles as to why Henry Baum was forced to self-publish his second novel. He has previous [publications] (Oscar Caliber Gun [Soft Skull, 1997], and in the UK as The Golden Calf [Canongate/Rebel Inc, 2000]), was reviewed favourably in the mainstream press and North of Sunset is a marketable book and an extremely well-written piece of work. An accomplished literary novel, North of Sunset deals with Hollywood, celebrity and the zeitgeist of LA. In a nice piece of irony, it was selected as the best self-published book in Entertainment Weekly."

More about Henry Baum

+  An excerpt from North of Sunset on Storyglossia
+  Baum interviewed by Cesar Torres
+  Henry Baum performing "Down the Rabbit Hole" on NPR
+  "My Cherry: A story" on Identity Theory
+  Baum interviewed by Martha O'Connor
+  Henry Baum: An A to Z

Elizabeth Bowen

Anne Fernald (Fernham) writes, "I know. Everyone knows the name of this midcentury Anglo-Irish novelist. And they see her as the worst kind of inheritor of Woolf: that is, polite, domestic, outdated, elite. I think she's a really great tough-minded political novelist whose stories of love affairs during WWII deserve to be considered alongside and ranked as highly as the best of Graham Greene."

More about Elizabeth Bowen

+  Biographical Sketch and collections list at the University of Texas
+  Bowen listing at the Princess Grace Irish Library
+  "Elizabeth Bowen:the house, the hotel, & the child" by Richard Tillinghast at New Criterion
+  Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post reconsiders Bowen's The Death of the Heart

Jay Cantor

Jay Cantor was nominated by The Millions contributor Garth Risk Hallberg:  "Here in America, I can think of several somewhat overlooked writers—Harold Brodkey, Kathryn Davis, Stanley Elkin, Charles Portis, my old teacher William H. Gass (whose fiction gets short shrift). But I think I’d like to focus on Jay Cantor, whose novels have been in and out of print. Cantor is a generation younger than Barth, Coover, et al., and consequently his innovative fiction is free from some of the programmatic excesses of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Krazy Kat manages to combine metafictional pyrotechnics with some serious, serious anger about the state of the world. I’m really excited to read Great Neck, his most recent, and most personal (I hear) novel."

More about Jay Cantor

+  Literature Map for Cantor
+  NYT review of Great Neck
+  Cantor on the Leonard Lapote show
+  BeyondChron review of The Death of Che Guevera

Patrick Chamoiseau

From Garth Risk Hallberg: "Patrick Chamoiseau, of Martinique, is a pioneer in his use of creole French; he has transformed an oral language into a literary one. He has penned two lovely memoirs, Childhood and School Days, and a fun, Rashomon-like detective novel. His long novel Texaco, though, is his supreme achievement; it won the Prix Goncourt in the Nineties. Chamoiseau draws on some of the storytelling strategies of Garcia Marquez to weave a tale of Martiniquan history. Chamoiseau’s writing, in a fine translation, is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Many of the political concerns of a postcolonial world are dramatized here, but the incredible voices of Chamoiseau’s characters—particularly the heroine, Marie-Sophie Laborieux—ground his politics in local realities."

More about Patrick Chamoiseau

+  Biography and bibliography
+  Chamoiseau Literature Map
+  Salon review of Childhood
+  Chamoiseau's story "The Zombie Afoukal's 16 Dream Words" at the Village Voice

Eileen Chang

Bookdwarf Megan Sullivan says this about her nominee, Eileen Chang: "One of the best books I read this year was by Eileen Chang. The NYRB Classics published a book of stories called Love in a Fallen City earlier this year. She's apparently big in China, but unheard of here in the US. Everyone should read this book. All about failed dreams and what ifs, her work remains powerful 50 years later."

More about Eileen Chang

+  Wikipedia entry for Chang
+  "Stalemate", a story by Eileen Chang
+  China Culture biography of Chang
+  Review of Written on Water
+  Ang Lee's next movie is based on a story by Chang

Joshua Clover

From Terri Saul:  "Joshua Clover is a highly regarded poet. But, poetry is never well read outside the world of poets. Everyone should read his poems. Despite a list of honors such as these, he may never be a known name. I’d like that to change. I don’t care if poets are celebrities, but wouldn’t it be nice if their work were part of our everyday existence? His most recent book is The Totality for Kids.

·  Best American Poetry, 2003, 2001, 1997
·  Robert D. Richardson Award for Non-Fiction Writing, 1999
·  Pushcart Prize for Poetry, 1997, 1998
·  Walt Whitman Award for First Book of Poetry, Academy of American Poets, 1996
·  National Endowment for the Arts individual fellowship, 1994
·  Michener/Engle Fellowship in Poetry, 1993-1994
·  Resident Fellow in Poetry, Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown, 1992-1993
·  University Prize For Excellence in Teaching, 1991"

More about Joshua Clover

+  Clover's faculty page at UC-Davis
+  YouTube video of Clover reading from The Totality for Kids
+  Poets.org profile of Clover
+  "Chance Encounter": an essay at the Village Voice

Trevor Cole

Andrew Saikali, a contributor at The Millions nominates Trevor Cole:  "While I have yet to read this Canadian author's latest, Cole's previous novel Norman Bray, In The Performance of His Life is a comic tale of Confederacy of Dunces proportions. A fully-formed Norman Bray leaps off every page, as this stage actor--aging but childish--deals with the chaotic mess of life that he has created for himself."

More about Trevor Cole

+  Trevor Cole's Web Site
+  Cole reading from his novel The Fearsome Particle
+  Audio interview with Cole at Bookninja

Elizabeth Crane

In recommending Elizabeth Crane for this project, Darby Dixon wrote, "I learned about All This Heavenly Glory from the Litblog Co-op, and though I'm not a member and haven't read all the nominated titles, I wouldn't hesitate to call this one my favorite of those titles that I have read so far. I'm not even sure what to say about it, other than that it opens with one of the coolest ten page sentences ever, and that the stories constantly reminded me of other writers while always remaining distinctly themselves. I used the word cool already, but I'll use it again, because it's a good word: what a cool book."

More about Elizabeth Crane

+  Elizabeth Crane's home page
+  Crane's blog, standBy Bert
+  Discussion of All This Heavenly Glory at the Litblog Co-op
+  Bookslut interview with Crane
+  "On the Subject of Influences Blatant, Less Blatant, Random or Otherwise": an essay at Powells
+  Three questions for Crane at the Gapers Block
+  Crane's appearance on Book Lust with Nancy Pearl

Tsitsi Dangarembga

Anne Fernald recommends Tsitsi Dangarembga:  "This Zimbabwean novelist and filmmaker scored a big hit years ago with her first novel, a bildungsroman, Nervous Conditions. Seal brought it out and it's been read (and taught at college) A LOT. Her second book is out with a very small press in the UK and I don't think there are currently any plans to publish it here. Even if it's not as good, I think it deserves a shot. The film of hers I saw was amazing, too. She writes with blistering passion against racism, colonialism, and sexism. And she writes beautifully."

More about Tsitsi Dangarembga

+  Dangarembga biography
+  Profile of Dangarembga
+  Rick Moody, Tsitsi Dangarembga & others (PEN American)
+  Dangarembga's IMDB page
+  Literary Enclycopedia entry

Elizabeth Ellen

From Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network: "Elizabeth Ellen is rapidly becoming the quintessential writer giving us stories and poems about fucked up relationships.  She has the ability to capture both characters and mood within a 30-word piece, or successfully plot a 20-page story, and has a great ear for devastating one-line character takedowns, and for dialogue in general."

More about Elizabeth Ellen

+  Ellen's Web Site
+  TothWorld Podcast featuring Ellen
+  The Eyeshot Literary Service interview with Ellen
+  Ellen's poem "blue/black #119" at 3AM Magazine

Steve Erickson

Carolyn Kellogg of Pinky's Paperhaus fame renominates one of last year's nominated writers:  "Sadly, he also made this list last year. His language is achingly beautiful; he moves from real to surreal and back again without ever becoming ungrounded; he even plays with narrative form without being overly clever. Seven novels, two books of nonfiction, and way overdue for a National Book Award Nomination."

More about Steve Erickson

+  Last year's Underrated Writers Project nomination for Erickson, containing numerous links

Marc Estrin

From Scott Esposito:  "I'm putting Marc Estrin here on the strength of Golem Song. His writing in this book reminds me of [David Foster Wallace]--madcap comedy, characters that are utterly crazy, but somehow believable (because maybe the world just is that crazy). He writes with a lot of energy, but there's also a lot of thought behind Golem Song--it's carefully structured, and it explores many realms at once: myth, contemporary Judaism, lonely Americans tripping toward pathology."

More about Marc Estrin

+  Marc Estrin's home page
+  Robert Birnbaum's interview with Estrin
+  Unbridled Books podcast (mp3)
+  Dan Wickett's interview with Estrin
+  Estrin explains the origins of his novel, The Education of Arnold Hitler, at Beatrice

Brian Evenson

Brian Evenson is one of two writers to receive multiple nominations.  Of him, Matthew Tiffany (Condalmo) writes:  "Were I to write a review comparing one widely-reviewed, big press 'thriller' and one certain little-known small press thriller, I would start it with a sentence something like this:  'Stephen King tries mightily, marshaling everything, to reach literary readers with his new novel; had he read The Open Curtain first, he probably wouldn't have bothered.'  Brian Evenson puts the literary in literary thriller, and then he turns around and makes it truly damn thrilling.  What starts off feeling like Fright Night without the unintended humor--and yes, this is a good thing--turns in its second part to a deep examination of a Mormon wedding ceremony, and in the third part turns the whole thing - and the reader - upside down.  The Believer raved about it recently ('The final fifty pages of Brian Evenson's new novel, The Open Curtain, contain some of the most stunning and virtuosic fiction I have ever read. Seriously. The ending is so perfectly executed that I'm not even going to review it for you for fear of compromising your enjoyment of unforgettable artistic achievement.') and the book has gotten more plaudits around the web, but Evenson still somehow is flying under the radar.  Not for long."

David Gutowski (largehearted boy) adds: "After reading his psychological thriller, The Open Curtain, this year, I tracked down every book he has written and added them to my 'to-read' pile. Evenson should be a household name, ruling the bestseller lists and critics' year-end lists."

More about Brian Evenson

+  Evenson's home page
+  Evenson is a Web del Sol featured writer
+  Matthew Tiffany's review of The Open Curtain and interview with Evenson
+  Bookslut interview with Evenson
+  Condalmo's write up of a recent Evenson reading

Edward Falco

Scott Esposito of Conversational Reader recommends Edward Falco: "The first book I read by Edward Falco--Wolf Point--was almost read all in one sitting. The man is a master of taut plots that don't let you go, and he structures his stories like nobody's business. Each time he passes by metaphorical objects and ideas, they pick up another layer of meaning and grow more nuanced until you're left with a nice meaty hunk to digest, which is a pleasure in itself. Unbridled published two excellent works by him: Wolf Point, a novel, and Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha, a collection of short stories."

More about Edward Falco

+  Edward Falco's home page
+  Falco's Sabbath Night discussed at the Litblog Co-op
+  Falco interview at the Quarterly Conversation
+  "Typing with Edward Falco"
+  Falco profiled at Unbridled Books

Jeffrey Ford

For the second straight year, Jeffrey Ford is recommended as an underrated writer.  Kassia Krozser of Booksquare says:

My choice would be Jeffrey Ford, an author I wouldn't have discovered on my own. During this past year, the [Litblog Co-op] has chosen books by authors that feel like writers' writers (I'm using the LBC more as an example of general biases that I'm seeing, not limiting myself to books chosen by the LBC). The literary fiction community is, from what I see, heavily skewed toward writing and MFA-types, so, naturally, that would be the bias (I am not judging this as I am clearly guilty on this point). Books like Michael Martone and Firmin feel largely geared toward fellow writers rather than readers. So often, reading literary fiction feels like an exercise in self-indulgence -- which I can appreciate, but it's really hard to recommend books that have such limited appeal -- because it's about the writing, not the storytelling.

Since reading Ford, I find myself "hand-selling" his work to friends and family, and I think it's because he puts effort into storytelling. He is an incredibly skilled writer -- and, more importantly, an incredibly skilled storyteller. I do not think the two necessarily go hand in hand. Sometimes we are blinded by sheer talent for the sake of talent...to the point that we forget about story. I think the more I know about writing, the more I appreciate someone who can tell a good story.

Ford strikes me as underrated because he's largely working in a small community -- I'm not seeing how those who aren't in the know can discover his work. I'm doing my part by pushing his books on friends...

More about Jeffrey Ford

+  The Litblog Co-op's discussion of Ford's The Girl in the Glass
+  More links can be found at last year's post about Jeffrey Ford

Sesshu Foster

From Scott Esposito:  "I'm recommending Sesshu Foster on the strength of Atomik Aztex. This book is Pynchonesque in the best way--the amphetamine-driven, over-the-top way that some parts of Gravity's Rainbow attained. It's about a world where Aztecs are superpowers, and it switches back and forth from some mad mission in World War II's Eastern Front and a current-day Aztec who slaughters pigs at a Farmer John plant. It's powerfully written and dense, and some of the sentences don't stop for pages."

More about Sesshu Foster

+  Foster's blog, Little Dog
+  Foster's Modern American Poetry page
+  Interview with Foster at City Lights
+  Two mp3s of Foster reading can be found in the Salon archives
+  Scott Esposito's review of Atomik Aztex

Kirby Gann

Pete Anderson nominates Kirby Gann, who made our list in 2005:  "Gann's Our Napoleon in Rags was one of the best books I read in 2005, a moving tale about a lost and lonely soul on a valiant but utterly misguided quest to save the world from itself. The book was an LBC nominee last year, so while it may be known amongst litbloggers it seems much less so among the reading public at large. Gann gets bonus points for editing, as managing editor at Sarabande Books, Ander Monson's terrific debut Other Electricities.

More about Kirby Gann

+  Gann's listing from last year's Underrated Writers Project

Richard Grayson

From Pete Anderson (Pete Lit): "[Richard] Grayson is a veteran short story writer who is a master of first-person narrative, deadpan humor and inventive structure. Although he has published more than ten books, many of his earliest works are long out of print. He self-published his latest book, And To Think That He Kissed Him On Lorimer Street, a very fine story collection which he describes as 'part fictional memoir, part memorish fiction.' Grayson also recently self-published four of his early story chapbooks as a single volume titled Highly Irregular Stories. While the decision to self-publish is primarily his, as an effort to exert personal control over his work, it also reflects the publishing world's inexplicable shunning of his iconoclastic talent."

More about Richard Grayson

+  {Editor's note:  As you can see by all of the other entries in this project, we usually try to link to several items relating to each author.  In this case, all I need to do is link to Grayson's home page where you can find pretty much anything and everything you need to know about him.  Be sure to stop by, drop him a note, and by all means, buy one of his books.}

Joyce Ballou Gregorian

Gwenda Bond sends along a nomination for Joyce Ballou Gregorian:  "This is my obscure pick. She published a wonderful trilogy of fantasy novels for children--The Broken Citadel, Castledown, and The Great Wheel--back in the '70s and '80s that absolutely hold up upon rereading. In fact, I only read them as an adult, after Kelly Link gave me copies a few years ago. They're out of print, but easily accessible. Anyone who has a soft spot for stories of children exploring fantastical worlds should hunt these down."

More about Joyce Ballou Gregorian

+ Gregorian biography

Elizabeth Hand

From Gwenda Bond:  "Elizabeth Hand is an amazing writer and a fabulous reviewer. I don't think her work as either is recognized nearly often enough. A collection of her stories, Saffron and Brimstone, was just released and it's a great starting point for the uninitiated. Each story is a perfect little gem. Next year, Small Beer Press will release a hard cover of her new novel Generation Loss (with a paperback edition to follow in 2008 from Harcourt). To say I can't wait would be an understatement. Christopher [Rowe] always tells people her early work is like: 'Anne Rice for adults. With taste.'"

More about Elizabeth Hand

+  Winterlong, Elizabeth Hand's Website
+  Strange Horizon's interview with Hand
+  Hand's Wikipedia entry
+  "The Least Trumps", a story by Hand at Conjunctions
+  Hand's Literature Map

Kenneth J. Harvey

The Millions contributor Andrew Saikali recommends Kenneth J. Harvey:  "This Newfoundland writer is beginning to get the press he deserves, but still lacks the name recognition that many of his contemporaries have. His latest novel Inside is a powerful, stylistically daring, first-person narrative of a man, freshly released from prison, cleared on DNA evidence. As he tries to reconnect with his family, we realize that while not guilty of the charges that put him away, he is far from innocent, and all too human."

More about Kenneth J. Harvey

+  Harvey's blog
+  Danforth Review interview with Harvey
+  The Believer review of Harvey's The Town That Forgot How to Breathe
+  "The Facts. Don't Give Me the Facts"

Cristina Henríquez

David Gutowski of largehearted boy recommends Cristina Henríquez: "Henríquez's debut short story collection, Come Together, Fall Apart, was simply my favorite short story collection of the year. Based mostly in Panama, the stories weave the interpersonal relationships of common people into truly magical tales of the heart. In due time, this talented author will garner the critical praise she is due."

More about Cristina Henríquez

+  Henríquez's home page
+  Herríquez's story "Drive" at the Virginia Quarterly Review  and "Ashes" in the New Yorker
+  Book Note's feature at largehearted boy
+  Henríquez discuss her favorite short stories at Beatrice
+  Henríquez penned a guest post for Maud Newton on setting her stories in Panama
 

Laird Hunt

Laird Hunt received two nominations this year.  Matthew Tiffany had this to say about him:  "Laird Hunt is doing the things that we wish Paul Auster would be doing, particularly if he merged with David Lynch, and breathed life into Faulkner--just long enough for one more book--and Dashiell Hammett.  And then shed them all like a snake loses its skin to become something that is the same, and yet entirely new, because Laird Hunt is his own writer, and he dances all over the edges of what fiction can do, without crossing over into absurd oddity.  Between exciting, brave noir New York fiction (this year's The Exquisite) and touching, heartfelt midwest ache (his previous Indiana, Indiana), as well as The Impossibly (which I'm saving like that last piece of dark chocolate) - there's so much to recommend, in just three books."

And Darby Dixon adds, "I'm assuming someone else will do a good write-up about him, since it seems like a number of us litbloggers fell in love with The Exquisite this year. I've yet to read his other stuff but I can safely say that The Exquisite deserves a far larger audience than I imagine it currently has. It's weird and disturbing and disquieting, and it says things about our world and how we perceive it. But it's also simply great entertainment."

More about Laird Hunt

+  Laird Hunt's home page
+  PopMatters' review of The Exquisite
+  Interview with Hunt at Chekhov's Mistress
+  Hunt explains "the Hat"
+  Book Notes feature at largehearted boy
+  Excerpts of The Exquisite and Indiana, Indiana

Christina Kallery

Christina Kallery receives a recommendation from Dan Wickett: "Christina falls more into the unknown category than that of underrated, and it is partially due to not having a huge list of publications to date, though those that have been published are excellent and from what I’ve heard at recent readings, will be followed in the near future by another crop of even better poems.   In fact, I had the pleasure of introducing two more recent Kallery efforts in this year’s EWN Holiday Gift Email, and was probably more excited about their inclusion than any of the 27 works that I was able to send out this year.

"I believe this will all lead to either a chapbook published in 2007 or a full collection in 2008 – she’s too good to not see that happen.  Kallery has an amazing ability to take a very unique situation, begin to write about it, and mutate it into something extremely universal, while not removing it from the unique situation she began with.  Of the many great Michigan area poets I began to read and listen to heavily in 2006, she is my favorite, and considering the competition those like Robert Fanning, Norene Cashen and Vievee Francis gave her, that’s a big statement."

More about Christina Kallery

+  Her poems, "The Magic Pool," "The Web," "Adult Night at Skate World," and "Parking in Chinatown"

Caitlín R. Kiernan

From Gwenda Bond:  "Caitlín R. Kiernan has been writing the most unsettling short stories and novels out there for years now. With each book, I expect her to become known to a larger readership. Her voice is like no one else's and her evolution as a writer over the past several novels has been nothing short of jaw-dropping. These novels are set in a shared world, but in a way more Jonathan Carroll than series; each one stands completely alone, but together they enrich and comment on each other, revisiting themes, and sometimes even stories. Her next novel, Daughter of Hounds, comes out in January -- let's all cross our fingers that this is the one that makes people "discover" her unnerving and lovely body of work."

More about Caitlín R. Kiernan

+  Kiernan's livejournal
+  Kiernan's wikipedia entry
+  Jeff VanderMeer interviews Kiernan
+  Bookslut interview with Kiernan
+  Kiernan's Literature Map

Chuck Kinder

Carolyn Kellogg of Pinky's Paperhaus suggests Chuck Kinder for the list: "How ignominious to be best known as the guy Michael Douglas played (in the movie Wonder Boys). Kinder taught--and inspired--University of Pittsburgh undergrad Michael Chabon. But apart from smart mentoring, the man can write--he's a grand storyteller, funny and wicked and with enough heart so you know he means it. His Last Mountain Dancer is a great big jukebox of a book, packed with hundreds of real and unreal tales of West Virginia and a man returning, sort of, home."

More about Chuck Kinder

+  Moby Lives interview with Kinder
+  Kinder's faculty page at the University of Pittsburgh
+  Interview with Kinder at Hobart
+  2001 profile of Kinder from the SF Chronicle
+  "The Girl with No Face" at Open City

Christopher Koch

From Genevieve Tucker of Reeling and Writhing:  "I would like to nominate a book which won the Miles Franklin award for its author when it was published in 1996 (his second)--he is well known here, has had a film made of one of his other books, The Year of Living Dangerously, in my opinion not nearly as fine a book as his account of Australian, British and US photographers in Vietnam and Cambodia, Highways To A War. His name is Christopher Koch. He inclines to use flawed, sometimes annoying narrators--in Highways To A War the narrator is less prominent and the book is all the better for it. Very good indeed."

More about Christopher Koch

+  Koch's profile at the Australian Authors Website
+  Koch's entry at the Literary Encyclopedia

László Krasznahorkai

From David Auerbach (Waggish):  "László Krasznahorkai's novel War and War was published in translation this year by New Directions. While he has achieved some fame for having collaborated with Bela Tarr on several films, his fiction has not gotten the attention it deserves. Krasznahorkai has taken up the gauntlet of insular, ruminative European writers from Musil to Kafka to Bachmann to Bernhard and brought it violently into the political and social present. War and War is baffling and frightening, but no other book this year felt closer to the world as I know it. Many thanks are due to George Szirtes for his excellent translation."

More about László Krasznahorkai

+  Krasznahorkai's home page
+  PEN American Center page for Krasznahorkai
+  Waggish's reviews of The Melancholy of Resistance and War and War
+  Krasznahorkai's IMDB page
+  ReadySteadyBook's review of War and War
+  Excerpt from The Melancholy of Resistance

Benjamin Kunkel

James Tata makes the case for Benjamin Kunkel:  "How can a writer who has been as widely praised as Benjamin Kunkel, and whose critical writings have been included in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The Nation be considered "underrated?" Simple: as long as he is considered less influential than the well-known writers who are fifteen to twenty years older than he is, he will continue to be underrated. His novel, Indecision, reminds me of a Bellow novel in its comic mix of high and low diction, its mix of the vernacular with the intellectual. Kunkel is a very funny man. The journal that he co-edits, n+1, is not just pretty much the only literary journal that I can tolerate, but one that I actually like.

More about Benjamin Kunkel

+  Archive of Kunkel's writing for The Nation and The Believer
+  NPR interview with Kunkel; site has an excerpt from Indecision
+  Interview with Kunkel in The Observer
+  Austinist interview with Kunkel
+  Metacritic page for Indecision

Paul La Farge

Darby Dixon recommends Paul La Farge:  "Another writer so underrated I haven't even read everything he has written. Paul La Farge's translation of The Facts of Winter by Paul Poissel was published by McSweeney's concurrently with a book by one of last year's underrated writer nominations (Salvador Plascencia). Truth is, I liked Plascencia's book, but I loved La Farge's. The dreams collected by Poissel in Paris in 1881 (though published in 1904) and La Farge's own narrative afterword combine, in a small package, to create an intriguingly lucid-yet-elusive metafictional/metaphysical conceit. Life is like a dream, indeed."

More about Paul La Farge

+  La Farge article about Benjamin Tammuz for Nextbook
+  La Farge's The Believer contributor page
+  La Farge won the 2005 Bard Fiction Prize
+  Village Voice profile of La Farge

Halldór Laxness

From Terri Saul:  "Halldór Laxness is not underrated. But he is under read. Most people have no idea who he is, even though he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.  I loved both Independent People, and Iceland’s Bell. William T. Vollmann recommends reading World Light. From my interview with Vollmann:

TS – What do you like most about Laxness’ works?

WTV – It’s kind of funny, but at the same time it’s just brutally true, and really, really sad.

TS – This drawing of a hanged person reminds me of Jon Hreggvidsson, in Iceland’s Bell. His life was ruined because he was caught stealing a piece of cord, fishing line. He’s imprisoned over and over again, and never quite escapes.

WTV – Oh, Iceland’s Bell. That’s a cheerful one.

TS – He’s a survivor. He has these songs, the Icelandic Sagas, which soothe him, and help him think about ways to get out of his horrible situations.

WTV – That’s true, Terri.

TS – How about Independent People?

WTV – That’s a wonderful one. 

TS – That one’s my favorite.

WTV – Yeah, that’s probably his best. I like World Light a lot, too. That one’s about this guy who is a poet, and he can really appreciate the world and see the beauty incredibly well. But, he’s a terrible poet. So, it just comes out as… nothing. Nothing. He’s got a very sad life."

More about Halldór Laxness

+  Nobel Prize page for Laxness
+  "Coffee with Halldór Laxness"
+  Laxness' wikipedia entry
+  Laxness' Literature Map

Heather Lewis

Jenny Davidson had this to say about her nominee, Heather Lewis:  "The American writer whose first novel blew my mind when I read it last year & who should be far, far better known and more widely read: Heather Lewis.  The book is House Rules, and it's staggeringly dark; she wrote two other novels (one published posthumously after her suicide in 2002)."

More about Heather Lewis

+  Jenny Davidson's blog entry on House Rules and a second post about Lewis
+  Dale Peck article on Lewis
+  Alan Gurganus's "Terror, Eros and Animal: The Fiction of Heather Lewis" originally published in Lewis’s novel Notice
+  Hackwriters review of Notice

Tao Lin

From Susan Tomaselli: "The scourge of literary magazine editors the world over, Tao Lin has very clear ideas about his work and how it should be treated. Nothing wrong with that, but you need talent to back the attitude up. Thankfully, Lin has plenty. He writes prose as well as poetry, but it is in the latter were his strength lies: deceptively simple poems that get right under your skin, prime example being his recent collection, you are a little bit happier than i am, published by Action Books."

More about Tao Lin

+  Tao Lin's blog, Reader of Depressing Books
+  this emotion was a little e-book: A chap-book of poetry
+  Anorexic Chlorine Sex Toy Museum interview with Tao Lin
+  Ass Hi Books: Tao's and Ellen Kennedy's press for children's books
+  Luna Negra interview
+  Today The Sky is Blue and White with Bright Blue Spots and a Small Pale Moon and I Will Destroy Our Relationship Today: Stories on Bear Parade
+  Lin's Book Notes feature at largehearted boy

Daithidh MacEochaidh

Susan Tomaselli of dogmatika recommends Daithidh MacEochaidh: "The so-called unsaleable forms of poetry and short stories have never had a better champion than  Daithidh MacEochaidh. As Dai Vaughan says, MacEochaidh writes "prose as raw as a manhir, designed to skin your knuckles." Poet, novelist, short story writer and one-man publishing house, MacEochaidh brings energy and humour to every form he turns his hand to. Should be right up there with Bukowski."

More about Daithidh MacEochaidh

+  Skrev Press: Daithidh MacEochaidh's independent press
+  A profile in the York Evening Press
+  Travels With Chinaski on Wrecking Ball Press
+  Review of Like a Dog to its Vomit
+  Poem: "2 Sugars but No Milk"

Randall Mann

From the Kenyon Review Blog's Liz Lopatto: "I'd like to nominate Randall Mann. Poets in general never get enough attention, and this one in particular is quite good. I've heard him read and talked to him a bit; he's engaging, funny and smart. Oh, and did I mention his poetry is excellent? I'm looking forward to his follow-up to Complaint in the Garden."

More about Randall Mann

+   Mann interviewed by The Kenyon Review
+   Mann profile at Queer Writers
+   "N": poem at Poetry
+   "The Last Dinner Party":  poem

Peter Markus

Dan Wickett nominates Peter Markus:  "Peter has been writing what one might call The Book of Mud for years now.  Hundreds of short fictions, written and re-written obsessively.  In doing so, Markus has developed what I’d refer to as a popularity-be-damned, honest-to-goodness unique style.  These are stories to be read aloud and have the language enjoyed.  They also, when read in large quantities, show how Markus has truly developed a little world in this unnamed city with a muddy river running alongside it.

"Peter is also poet-in-residence at two Detroit schools, one a high school, the other an elementary school.  These are performed in his role as Senior Writer for InsideOut Detroit Literary Arts Project.  He has also recently taken over as the Fiction Editor for Marick Press."

More about Peter Markus

+  Interview with Markus at Writing Classes
+  Two stories by Markus
+  Review of The Singing Fish
+  "Our Father Who Walks On Water Comes Home With Two Buckets Of Fish":  story
+  Interview with Markus at Tarpaulin Sky

David Markson

Ed Champion had this to say about David Markson:  "I notice that he didn't make your list last year and I'm happy to include him among distinguished company.  Markson is that rare experimental novelist, like the late great Gilbert Sorrentino (who probably also belongs on the list, given the NY Times' failure to write a retrospective of the man), who entertains and dazzles, even as he uproots the novel's form.  His books, mostly composed of one-sentence paragraphs, are wry commentaries upon the American preoccupation of navel-gazing.  How much of the gossipy information that we pick up is truly valuable?  Does it offer any substantive meaning?  Or do we end up going to the grave with our heads drunk on pedantic facts?"

More about David Markson

+  An Introduction and Bibliography at MadInkBeard
+  Bookslut interview with Markson
+  Markson books available at Dalkey Archive Press
+  Complete Review's review of Vanishing Point

Michael Martone

From Scott Esposito:  "I'm not really sure how to classify Michael Martone's works. That could be either really good, or really bad, but in the case of Martone it's good. He writes books constructed of "fictions" that impersonate other things. For instance, his book Michael Martone, is a collection of contributor bios, all for Michael Martone. These aren't just concept-books--the writing is fresh, often humorous, and Martone skillfully probes the logic behind the fictions he creates. Check out Michael Martone and The Blue Guide to Indiana."

More about Michael Martone

+  Martone's page at Web del Sol
+  FC2 interview with Martone
+  The Litblog Co-op's discussion of Michael Martone
+  Conversational Reading's review of The Blue Guide to Indiana
+  "The Death of Derek Jeter," a story by Martone which appeared in Esquire

Heather McGowan

Terri Saul had this to say about Heather McGowan: "Heather McGowan has been reviewed positively both in the blogosphere, and in print media, such as the  New York Times. While she’s not really underrated, I think she’s under-read. I don’t meet many people who know her novels. I’d also place her in the category of 'about to break wide.' I have a hunch she will soon be a well-known writer."

More about Heather McGowan

+  Powells Q&A with McGowan
+  Excerpt of Schooling
+  The Brooklyn Rail review of Duchess of Nothing
+  McGowan was named a "Writer on the Verge" by the Voice Literary Supplement
+  A 2001 interview with the BBC (audio)

Heather McHugh

James Tata nominates this poet. He describes work as "funny, intellectual, and full of beauty." One poem, "What He Thought," Tata asserts is "a work of genius." Her 1994 collection of poems, Hinge & Sign, was nominated for a National Book Award.

More about Heather McHugh

+ McHugh's personal site with links to poems and anagrams
+ McHugh's faculty profile at UW with list of publications
+ Peter Turchi's consideration of McHugh for Ploughshares

Pankaj Mishra

James Tata calls this writer "one of the leading intellectuals of our time. His essays in the New York Review of Books, his memoir, An End to Suffering, and his novel, The Romantics, follow literary territory first charted by V. S. Naipul, but with considerably more sympathy and, perhaps, acuteness." Most recently, Mishra edited an anthology of fiction, essays, and poetry about his homeland titled India in Mind.

More about Pankaj Mishra

+ Columbia's comprehensive site full of links about Mishra
+ Audio interview with Mishra at the Times
+ List of articles written for Outlook India
+ Review of Mishra's memoir in the Times

Jeff Noon

This writer comes to us via Darby Dixon, who says: "(Noon) had a bit of a hit with Vurt, a high-energy story of twisted virtual reality, dance music, broken glass, droidlocks, and brightly colored dream-feathers . . . (H)is most recent novel, Falling Out Of Cars, was never published in America, which is a damn shame, because it is a fantastic turn by Noon: he takes the bold strokes of his Vurt series and his ever-present concern with reality-gone-askew and weds it to a darker tale, a road narrative set in an England where mirrors are forbidden because everybody's losing their grip on who they are and what's what around them. You just might argue it's his best book yet."

More about Jeff Noon

+ Noon's personal website
+ Noon's "favourite fluid fiction," a top-10 list of sorts
+ An extensive consideration of Noon and his work
+ A glossary of terms appearing in Vurt

Lance Olsen

Scott Esposito brings this writer to our attention: "Olsen seems driven to never write the same book twice. . . . He's experimental in the sense of creating unique structures for his stories, finding entirely new approaches to the concept of a plot, but he also gives you some good old traditional writing--well-defined characters, interesting situations, gripping plots. Try reading 10:01 and Nietzsche's Kisses."

More about Lance Olsen

+ Olsen's personal website
+ Esposito's review of 10:01
+ Esposito's interview with Olsen
+ Now What, a blog to which Olsen contributes