The Hungry and the Haunted

From the author of The Mercy Seat and Fire in Beulah comes a new collection of six stories troubled by ghosts that linger in our present moment. Set primarily in eastern Oklahoma during the 1970s, The Hungry and the Haunted is Rilla Askew’s testament to young women and other outsiders navigating relationships, social change, and the power of place during increasingly precarious times. Some haunted by ancient wrongs, others yearning to escape or reckoning with primal griefs, each character wrestles with the bonds that wound them and the places that keep them tethered to their roots. This collection is not to be missed by anyone interested in questions of what becomes of our stories as we struggle to write them ourselves.

Known for her award-winning historical fiction, Askew evokes with resonant period detail the lives of earlier generations in these stories that speak to our current era of fragility and change.

Best known for her American Book Award-winning novel about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Fire in Beulah, Rilla Askew has long been telling hidden Oklahoma stories. She’s the author of five novels, a book of short fiction, and a collection of creative nonfiction. She’s a PEN/Faulkner finalist, recipient of the Western Heritage Award, Oklahoma Book Award, Violet Crown Award from the Writers League of Texas, and a 2009 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.