Kiley Reid earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship and taught undergraduate creative writing workshops with a focus on race and class. Her short stories have been featured in Ploughshares, December, New South, and Lumina. Reid lives in Philadelphia.
Famous Men (2026) Julie Buntin "Haunting and knife-bright, Famous Men renders womanhood with unsettling clarity and reckons with the absolute ache of becoming."
Lucky Girl (2025) Allie Tagle-Dokus "An absolutely killer debut. Lucky Girl is remarkably precise in its meditations on art, youth, sacrifice, and obsession. It is a tart, manic, and exhilarating read. Tagle-Dokus has created a haunting account of Hollywood horrors told with the thrill of a reality show binge."
The Other Wife (2025) Jackie Thomas-Kennedy "Extraordinary. A story about belonging in liminal spaces, and longing for things seemingly just out of reach. A searing, beautiful book."
The Tiny Things Are Heavier (2025) Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo "A gracefully told and sharply observed debut. Okonkwo has produced a beautiful study and story of what we owe to our families, friends, lovers, and ourselves. Complex characters, wild intimacy . . . this one doesn't shy away from the truth of devastation."
There's Nothing Wrong with Her (2024) Kate Weinberg "Funny and painfully true. A book of revelations. This is a beautiful capture of what it means to live with a chronic illness. The best thing you'll read this year."
This Summer Will Be Different (2024) Carley Fortune "What a dreamy and sexy summer novel. Carley Fortune knows how to tug at your heart. This is a book filled with great food, lots of charm, and a young woman navigating the tricky question of how she wants to live her life."
Worry (2024) Alexandra Tanner "What a biting and brilliant novel. I couldn't put it down. Worry writes toward truth in the time of the internet, it uncovers the absolute horror of 'buying things,' and it does what novels are meant to do: hauntingly display the dark and familiar sides of human behavior. Worry is the best thing I've read in a very long time."
Idlewild (2023) James Frankie Thomas "dlewild toes the delicate line between darkly biting and empathetic. It's loud and funny and raucous, and yet, it sneaks up on you. With truths about living in the 2000s, the searing pain of looking back, and the absolute madness of having a best friend, James nails the heartbreak of being a theater kid and the humiliation of growing up."
The Weight (2023) Jeff Boyd "The Weight is filled with haunting observations about romance, isolation and the daunting task of believing in something greater than yourself. Boyd has a grounded and capable hand. This is dialogue that you can actually hear. Powerful, dreamy, and altogether very true."
Old Flame (2023) Molly Prentiss "A stylish and sharp look at one woman's attempt to balance the competing interests of her work and life. A balm for anyone overwhelmed with contradictory desires."
Life Ceremony (2022) Sayaka Murata "These stories laid complete claim to me. Ominous and charming. Brilliantly sad. There is not one word wasted here. I lost significant sleep over this collection."
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (2021) Dawnie Walton "Lovely and lyrical; a warm and wonderful intersection between journalism and fiction. This is a novel you'll want to read out loud. It's made for readers and music lovers who find themselves wishing that Behind The Music was still on the air."
