Underrated Writers

Maggie Dubris

Biographies of Maggie Dubris (nominated by Andrew Gallix) describe her as a poet, a musician, a former ambulance driver, and a practicing musician.  Of her latest novel, Skels, about a paramedic in 1979 New York, Dubris writes:

When I wrote Skels, I was thinking about what would happen if the ambulance world really was permeated with the works of past writers, and the skels were carrying the consciousnesses of the writers themselves. What would I have done if I had met the greatest poet of all, and been granted the chance to save him. Not from dying, but from his own life.

I want people to read my book and see what I saw. Not what I literally saw but the way it felt in my soul, magical and violent and funny, filled with passion, and like it contained some ancient element that was invisible from the outside. I want them to think about how people who are considered the lowliest by our society can have something wonderful hidden inside them.

More about Maggie Dubris
+  Dubris books and CDs
+  Popmatters' review of Skels
+  Gothamist interview with Dubris
+  dogmatika interview with Dubris

Tom Gidley

Andrew Gallix suggested British writer Tom Gidley, author of the novel Stunning Lofts.  From publisher Metronome's biography:  "Tom Gidley was born in 1968 and lives in London. A co-founder of frieze magazine and former member of all-electric bass guitar band Big Bottom, he has exhibited widely over the past fifteen years. His work encompasses a broad range of media, including film installation, sculpture, painting, music and literature. Stunning Lofts is his first novel."

More about Gidley
+  Biography

Tom McCarthy

Andrew Gallix of 3:AM Magazine says of Tom McCarthy's novel, Remainder, "It's simply the best thing I've read all year." Hit that last link to French-publisher Metronome Press's site for a plot summary that will astonish you with its brilliance. McCarthy is also the general secretary of the International Necronautical Society, which is dedicated to exactly what their name suggests. Be sure and read the manifesto.

More about Tom McCarthy
+  A review of Remainder at Short-Term Memory Loss
+  Another brief review at The Independent (scroll down)
+  A bio of McCarthy