Helen Phillips grew up in the foothills of Colorado in the United States, along with her three siblings. When she was eleven years old, she lost her hair due to the autoimmune condition alopecia, which was pretty hard at the time, but now she thinks there are some major advantages to not having hair (no shampoo in the eyes). Soon after she lost her hair, she (like Mad in Upside Down in the Jungle) made the New Years Resolution to write a poem a day, a tradition she continued for over eight years.
Helen attended Yale University, and then went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Brooklyn College. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, artist Adam Douglas Thompson, and their child.
Voyagers (2026) Meg Charlton "In Voyagers, Meg Charlton explores the connections between memory, storytelling, and truth. Against the backdrop of a global crisis, her characters contend with the lasting pain and confusion of a personal crisis. This novel grapples with the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but even more so with the possibility of friendship that is generous and forgiving. A delightful and moving debut."
Sympathy Tower Tokyo (2025) Rie Qudan "Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan is unlike any book I've ever read. This brief, mesmerizing novel explores the ways we shape our spaces and the ways our spaces shape us. I was struck by its wit and its wisdom, its structure and its subversiveness, and I consumed it in a single gulp."
Metallic Realms (2025) Lincoln Michel "A marvelous romp of a book, a tragicomic interweaving of tales, a kaleidoscopic journey that takes place simultaneously in a city apartment and in the vast reaches of space. With his characteristic wit and intellect, Lincoln Michel unearths all sorts of truths about loneliness, community, creativity, and fan culture. I couldn't put this book down, and it delighted me at every turn."
Bad Nature (2025) Ariel Courage "Wicked and wickedly funny, Ariel Courage's debut Bad Nature is a dark romp of a book, a road-trip novel propelled by a revenge plot. Nihilism and optimism collide in this story featuring a woman who is simultaneously confronting her childhood and her death. Hester is a caustic yet irresistible narrator, and this evocation of her journey across America reads as both hate mail and love letter to a complex country. Bad Nature is raw, intense, and absolutely mesmerizing."
Tilt (2025) Emma Pattee "An epic natural disaster adventure story starring a pregnant woman on a mission. A nuanced, stark, tender portrait of a marriage. A tale of destruction and loss punctuated by surprising moments of empathy. Emma Pattee's debut novel Tilt manages to be all of the above, and more. Equal parts heart-wrenching and life-affirming, this riveting book made me laugh, cry, and think. I couldn't put it down."
Love Can't Feed You (2024) Cherry Lou Sy "In Love Can't Feed You, Cherry Lou Sy keenly and compassionately evokes a vivid cast of characters. Queenie is an irresistibly honest and wise narrator who carries the reader along as she navigates her many identities - Filipina, Chinese, New Yorker, immigrant, daughter, sister, student, worker, woman, friend, lover. Rich with emotional nuance and deeply absorbing, Love Can't Feed You is a potent debut from a powerful new voice."
The Invisible World (2023) Nora Fussner "In The Invisible World, the fake reality of reality TV bumps up against other realities and other realms. The book's characters teeter on a tightrope between disbelief and belief, between disconnection and connection. Nora Fussner delivers an innovative structure and a riveting read. Part ghost story, part love story, part exploration of a woman's relationship to the powerful force of her thwarted creativity, The Invisible World is an eerie and virtuosic debut."
The Centre (2023) Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi "The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi is a propulsive and profound read. I was gripped by the mystery haunting the core of the book - and equally gripped by Siddiqi's exploration of the power of language, particularly for those pulled between multiple mother tongues. This is a debut of dazzling wit and insight."
The Empire of Dirt (2022) Francesca Manfredi "In Francesca Manfredi's intense, mesmerizing novel, cosmic forces intersect with the domestic life of a girl and her mother and grandmother. With deceptively simple sentences, Manfredi brilliantly evokes the deep mysteries that lurk within everyday interactions. I couldn't put this book down."
The Verifiers (2022) (Claudia Lin, book 1) Jane Pek "The Verifiers is both witty and profound, at once a propulsive read and a meditation on our moment. Jane Pek delivers an intricate murder mystery, a portrait of fraught family dynamics, and an interrogation of algorithmic matchmaking. Claudia Lin is a memorable and magnetic protagonist, and this debut is riveting, a twinkle in its eye even as it takes on deep questions about how technology enhances and intrudes on our lives."
The Very Nice Box (2021) Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman "A satire of contemporary corporate culture. An exploration of how vulnerable we become in grief. A surprising romance. A cautionary tale. Somehow The Very Nice Box manages to be all of the above. Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett have a wicked sense of humor and a keen view on our current moment. This is a delightful and propulsive read."
The Recent East (2021) Thomas Grattan "Thomas Grattan explores the complex forces at work within families, forces that can both impede and facilitate the formation of individual identity. In this multi-generational, multi-continent journey, the threads of a family fray and interweave against the backdrop of immigration and political change, yielding moments of profound isolation and profound intimacy. Grattan has an enthralling voice and a deep understanding of the subtleties of human relationships. The Recent East is a bold and tender debut."
The Fourth Child (2021) Jessica Winter "In this compassionate and riveting novel, Jessica Winter raises some of the hardest questions about motherhood, daughterhood, and personhood. In rich and insightful prose, The Fourth Child explores, with ravishing complexity, the inner lives of girls and women."
The Prophets (2021) Robert Jones Jr "In The Prophets, Robert Jones, Jr.’s lens is at once epic and microscopic, equally capable of evoking historical crises and interpersonal ones. Painfully harsh and painfully tender, this inventive, kaleidoscopic love story is a marvel."
These Ghosts Are Family (2020) Maisy Card "In this fascinating debut, Maisy Card reveals her spectacular range and scope. Part immigrant narrative, part ghost story, part historical fiction, part family drama, These Ghosts Are Family explores and illuminates the complexities of race and lineage in Jamaica and the United States. This is a bold, gripping, compassionate book."
The Floating World (2017) C Morgan Babst "In The Floating World, C. Morgan Babst masterfully, hauntingly, evokes the devastated and devastating landscape of post-Katrina New Orleans with images that are at once surreal and painfully real."
Fever Dream (2017) Samanta Schweblin "Samanta Schweblin is a magician, and reading her work is an intense, almost physical experience."
(b.1981)
