FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 15, 2003 #161
Contact: Michelle Hopkins
(816) 235-1592*
hopkinsml@umkc.edu
 

BkMk Press to Publish Ron Tanner's A Bed of Nails; Short story collection is winner of first G.S. Sharat Chandra Award in Fiction

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In November, BkMk Press at the University of Missouri-Kansas City will publish A Bed of Nails, Ron Tanner's collection of short stories. Selected by Janet Burroway for the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction, A Bed of Nails is a collection of short stories that portrays the pain people will bear in their search for love, happiness and a life of reasonable expectations.

"At first, I felt this was actually two collections," writes Janet Burroway, author of seven novels and the best-selling textbook, Writing Fiction, "but came to believe that the [stories] are perfectly married through their askew inventiveness and their witty contemporary language."

"In 13 diverse stories Tanner juxtaposes raging tales of war with intense daily dramas where the dangers are more to the spirit than the body," observes author Valerie Miner. "The four war stories--which could be set in many countries--present a grueling, tender, unsentimental portrait of a family fragmented by struggle against dictatorship. In his wry, unblinking style Tanner also writes about a saleswoman looking for love in a shopping mall; a Hollywood monster actor searching for his identity; and a drummer who chooses between human love and artistic devotion. Tanner's approach is always enlighteningly unpredictable as he explores themes of longing, loss, and survival."

Before pursuing a career as a teacher and a writer, Tanner worked for seven years as a musician on the California honky-tonk and Nevada casino circuit. He received an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop and a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Currently, Tanner is an associate professor of writing in the Communications Department at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md. His stories have been published in The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Literary Review, and New Letters. His short fiction has won awards from New Letters, The Literary Review, the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Maryland State Arts Council and the Pushcart Prizes. A Bed of Nails is his first book.

BkMk Press was founded in 1971 and became a part of UMKC in 1983. The press publishes fine literature by contemporary authors. Financial assistance for BkMk Press is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, by UMKC, and by private donations.

BkMk Press established the annual Chandra Prize in memory of author G. S. Sharat Chandra, who taught creative writing at UMKC until his death in 2000.

Media review copies of A Bed of Nails may be requested by calling 816-235-2558.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City, established in 1963, has the following strategic goals: In 2006: We are a national leader in scholarship and creative activity; We attract, nurture, and develop responsible community leaders; We are an essential community partner and resource; We are a workplace of choice; and We have the resources to fuel our vision.

* Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may call Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).

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