Fire & Water: Six Stories

by Elisabeth Stevens

Overview

In this remarkable collection of short fiction, Elisabeth Stevens captures the singular moment in the lives of her characters when the past invades the present, when they contemplate where they have been and negotiate their future. Stevens immerses the reader in the inner life of each character, exploring the dreams and nightmares that shape individual behavior and the desire that is overwhelmed by society's demands.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940015672862
Publisher:	Goss Press
Publication date:	01/01/1983
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	99
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

I was born in Rome, NY but now live in Sarasota, FL. I am a writer artist: I have designed and illustrated many of my books of short stories and poems. I suppose I am what is called a literary writer: I think in words AND pictures. I SEE what I write--whether it's real or imaginary. This may be because, in my "day Jobs" as a journalist I have usually written about and reviewed art. I have been art critic of THE WASHINGTON POST, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE TRENTON TIMES and THE BALTIMORE SUN, and here in Sarasota, I've written about art for the SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNE and a now-defunct magazine called SARASOTA ART & CULTURE.
Sometimes, when I am circulating my poems and stories to various little magazines (with only intermittent success) I wonder if I am the only American writer left who doesn't teach "Creative Writing." Yes, I did teach Freshman English in various colleges around Manhattan when I was getting an M.A. in Contemporary Literature at Columbia, but truly, I would rather teach someone to diagram a sentence than teach creative writing. What could I say? My stories and poems come to me unexpectedly--like uninvited guests. There is someone/something at the door, and I have to answer. This isn't an experience that can be taught.
I have always been a graphic, figurative artist, but many of my works are imaginary--not real. My graphic works used to be separate and independent from my writing, but now there is often a union, a blending. I am particularly happy to have been able to bring words and pictures together in my just published SIRENS' SONGS. SIRENS' SONGS consists of 48 poems and 13 original, copper plate etchings published loose leaf in a beautiful, cerulean blue clamshell box by Goss Press. I could only afford to do an edition of 20, but the work, which follows the example of ERANOS, short story with five etchings published in 2000, makes me very happy. The correct name for this sort of art work is the French term: "livre d'artiste." I have been looking for a small press to publish a paperback facsimile of SIRENS' SONGS next year, but so far, no luck. The poems are romantic and erotic--perhaps too frank. The thirteen etchings are beautiful. They will be exhibited in Sarasota later this year at Stakenborg Fine Art.

Editorial Reviews

"Fire and Water is really an extraordinary first collection of short stories....The book is solid, and very very good."

The Chariton Review