ABOUT THE BOOK
From Philip K. Dick Award finalist Elwin Cotman, an irresistibly unnerving collection of stories that explore the anxieties of living while Blackโa high-wire act of literary-fantastical hybrid fiction.
A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his loverโs memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn.
In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their obsessions on paths to glory and destruction while around them their worlds twist and warp, oscillating between reality and impossibility. On display throughout is Cotmanโs ability to reveal truths about the human experienceโabout friendship, love, betrayal, bitternessโthrough whimsy, horror, and fantasy. Elegiac in tone, imaginative and humorous in their execution, the character-driven stories inย Weird Black Girlsย challenge, incite, and entertain.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elwin Cotmanย was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the post-industrial landscape greatly influenced his love for myth and adventure. He is the author of three prior collections of speculative short stories:ย The Jack Daniels Sessions EP, Hard Times Blues, and Dance on Saturday, which was a finalist of the Philip K. Dick Award. Cotman holds a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA from Mills College.
ABOUT THE INTERLOCUTOR
Leigh Dana Jacksonย is a writer and Executive Producer for the Emmy-nominated seriesย Foundationย at Apple TV+. Previously, he wrote and Executive Produced the pilotย The Spook Who Sat By The Doorย for FX and also served as Consulting Producer for their Emmy-nominated seriesย The Old Man,ย starring Jeff Bridges. At Netflix, he was a writer and Co-Executive Producer for the Emmy-nominated seriesย Raising Dion, starring Michael B. Jordan. In features, heโs currently writingย Black Samuraiย for Netflix with Chad Stahelski directing. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife.
