Out There

Jamie McKendrick's sixth collection starts from the far flung ('out there' is the nothing - or the something - of outer space), ascertaining the mood of an observer on Uranus, or the perils of medieval travel, or listening for the speech of alien landscapes. Closer to home, the poems adopt an outsiderish stance as they ponder the business of non-belonging and draw up wry inventories of marginality - finding room for those whom history has forgotten (the inhabitants of a drowned valley in Wales) or equally for the outcasts of natural history (the northern bald ibis, the hyena, the moa), whose skeletons are 'cairns to their own extinction'. But the poems themselves are stubborn survivors and vividly realised individuals: they take short views, make canny distinctions and tread carefully. Invoking paintings and artefacts and facades, they also add to an ongoing portrait of the artist - caught for example amidst the patiently-observed flotsam of a repeatedly flooding house -which becomes more finely drawn with each of Jamie McKendrick's collections.

'Wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful' Karen Joy Fowler FROM THE AUTHOR OF SKY DADDY Uncanny, creepy and off-kilter' Daily Mail 'For readers who consider body horror to be a love language' New York Times 'Captures the lunacy of the moment we're living through' San Francisco Chronicle A woman uses dating apps to find a partner, despite the threat posed by 'blots', artificial men more interested in stealing data than dating. A sculptor, trapped in a skyscraper restaurant when a violent coup erupts below, creates a perfect model of the town as it is destroyed. A curtain of void obliterates the world at a steady pace, leaving one woman to decide with whom she wants to spend eternity. Haunting and darkly inventive, the stories in Out There deftly combine science fiction and horror to uncover an unforgettable vision of the absurdity of life in the digital age. 'The literary love child of Kafka and Camus and Bradbury penning episodes of Black Mirror ' Chang-Rae Lee, author of Native Speaker

Jamie McKendrick's sixth collection starts from the far flung ('out there' is the nothing - or the something - of outer space), ascertaining the mood of an observer on Uranus, or the perils of medieval travel, or listening for the speech of alien landscapes. Closer to home, the poems adopt an outsiderish stance as they ponder the business of non-belonging and draw up wry inventories of marginality - finding room for those whom history has forgotten (the inhabitants of a drowned valley in Wales) or equally for the outcasts of natural history (the northern bald ibis, the hyena, the moa), whose skeletons are 'cairns to their own extinction'. But the poems themselves are stubborn survivors and vividly realised individuals: they take short views, make canny distinctions and tread carefully. Invoking paintings and artefacts and facades, they also add to an ongoing portrait of the artist - caught for example amidst the patiently-observed flotsam of a repeatedly flooding house -which becomes more finely drawn with each of Jamie McKendrick's collections.

'Wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful' Karen Joy Fowler FROM THE AUTHOR OF SKY DADDY Uncanny, creepy and off-kilter' Daily Mail 'For readers who consider body horror to be a love language' New York Times 'Captures the lunacy of the moment we're living through' San Francisco Chronicle A woman uses dating apps to find a partner, despite the threat posed by 'blots', artificial men more interested in stealing data than dating. A sculptor, trapped in a skyscraper restaurant when a violent coup erupts below, creates a perfect model of the town as it is destroyed. A curtain of void obliterates the world at a steady pace, leaving one woman to decide with whom she wants to spend eternity. Haunting and darkly inventive, the stories in Out There deftly combine science fiction and horror to uncover an unforgettable vision of the absurdity of life in the digital age. 'The literary love child of Kafka and Camus and Bradbury penning episodes of Black Mirror ' Chang-Rae Lee, author of Native Speaker

A thrilling new voice in fiction injects the absurd into the everyday to present a startling vision of modern life, "[as] if Kafka and Camus and Bradbury were penning episodes of Black Mirror " (Chang-Rae Lee, author of My Year Abroad ). "Stories so sharp and ingenious you may cut yourself on them while reading."--Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble With a focus on the weird and eerie forces that lurk beneath the surface of ordinary experience, Kate Folk's debut collection is perfectly pitched to the madness of our current moment. A medical ward for a mysterious bone-melting disorder is the setting of a perilous love triangle. A curtain of void obliterates the globe at a steady pace, forcing Earth's remaining inhabitants to decide with whom they want to spend eternity. A man fleeing personal scandal enters a codependent relationship with a house that requires a particularly demanding level of care. And in the title story, originally published in The New Yorker, a woman in San Francisco uses dating apps to find a partner despite the threat posed by "blots," preternaturally handsome artificial men dispatched by Russian hackers to steal data. Meanwhile, in a poignant companion piece, a woman and a blot forge a genuine, albeit doomed, connection. Prescient and wildly imaginative, Out There depicts an uncanny landscape that holds a mirror to our subconscious fears and desires. Each story beats with its own fierce heart, and together they herald an exciting new arrival in the tradition of speculative literary fiction.

A thrilling new voice in fiction injects the absurd into the everyday to present a startling vision of modern life, "[as] if Kafka and Camus and Bradbury were penning episodes of Black Mirror " (Chang-Rae Lee, author of My Year Abroad ). "Stories so sharp and ingenious you may cut yourself on them while reading."--Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble With a focus on the weird and eerie forces that lurk beneath the surface of ordinary experience, Kate Folk's debut collection is perfectly pitched to the madness of our current moment. A medical ward for a mysterious bone-melting disorder is the setting of a perilous love triangle. A curtain of void obliterates the globe at a steady pace, forcing Earth's remaining inhabitants to decide with whom they want to spend eternity. A man fleeing personal scandal enters a codependent relationship with a house that requires a particularly demanding level of care. And in the title story, originally published in The New Yorker, a woman in San Francisco uses dating apps to find a partner despite the threat posed by "blots," preternaturally handsome artificial men dispatched by Russian hackers to steal data. Meanwhile, in a poignant companion piece, a woman and a blot forge a genuine, albeit doomed, connection. Prescient and wildly imaginative, Out There depicts an uncanny landscape that holds a mirror to our subconscious fears and desires. Each story beats with its own fierce heart, and together they herald an exciting new arrival in the tradition of speculative literary fiction.

Into the queer new yonder! To conclude the trio of anthologies that started with critically acclaimed All Out and Out Now , Out There features seventeen original short stories set in the future from fantastic queer YA authors. Explore new and familiar worlds where the human consciousness can be uploaded into a body on Mars...an alien helps a girl decide if she should tell her best friend how she feels...two teens get stuck in a time loop at a space station...people are forced to travel to the past or the future to escape the dying planet...only a nonbinary person can translate the binary code of a machine that predicts the future...everyone in the world vanishes except for two teen girls who are in love. This essential and beautifully written collection immerses and surprises with each turn of the page. With original stories from: Ugochi M. Agoawike K. Ancrum Kalynn Bayron Z Brewer Mason Deaver Alechia Dow Z.R. Ellor Leah Johnson Naomi Kanakia Claire Kann Alex London Jim McCarthy Abdi Nazemian Emma K. Ohland Adam Sass Mato J. Steger Nita Tyndall

Into the queer new yonder! To conclude the trio of anthologies that started with critically acclaimed All Out and Out Now , Out There features seventeen original short stories set in the future from fantastic queer YA authors. Explore new and familiar worlds where the human consciousness can be uploaded into a body on Mars...an alien helps a girl decide if she should tell her best friend how she feels...two teens get stuck in a time loop at a space station...people are forced to travel to the past or the future to escape the dying planet...only a nonbinary person can translate the binary code of a machine that predicts the future...everyone in the world vanishes except for two teen girls who are in love. This essential and beautifully written collection immerses and surprises with each turn of the page. With original stories from: Ugochi M. Agoawike K. Ancrum Kalynn Bayron Z Brewer Mason Deaver Alechia Dow Z.R. Ellor Leah Johnson Naomi Kanakia Claire Kann Alex London Jim McCarthy Abdi Nazemian Emma K. Ohland Adam Sass Mato J. Steger Nita Tyndall