“Love, Life & Death on the Oregon Trail: A Play by Krista Robinson, Age 11 2/3,” a short story, appears in The Hudson Review.
Two new stories published: “The End Plays Itself Out” in Split Lip Magazine (found here), and “Gold Digger” in Delmarva Review (reprinted here).
“Lucky Duck,” a short story, published in the final print issue of Gettysburg Review.
Webinar about family stories & writing, hosted by the Polish American Historical Association.
PEARS ON A WILLOW TREE helps represent Detroit in this L.A. Times listing: “A Map of 1001 Novels to Show Us Where to Find the Real America” by author Susan Straight.
Interview on The Creative Independent: “It’s more challenging to write something that asks hard questions. I’ve always believed, as a writer, you can ask hard questions without having to have the answer. Asking the questions is more than enough.”
“Headstrong,” a short story, published in The Iowa Review.
Conversation about Silver Girl at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC: February 2023.
New story in Pangyrus, “Slow Children Playing.”
Interview in “Advice to Writers.”
Flash fiction in JMMW, “Who Else Would You Be?”
Interview about ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE in Scoundrel Time: “Thinking deeply about this book as I wrote got me wondering if any relationship is free of some sort of embedded power dynamic or ongoing power struggle, though it’s probably a bit taboo to say so.”
STARRED REVIEW of Admit This to No One in Kirkus! “A collection of stories set in Washington, D.C., full of scandal and insider details…An exciting collection bristling with intelligence, political awareness, and psychological complexity.”
The Washington Post names ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE one of “10 Books to Read in November.”
ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE named in Washington Independent Review’s “Best Books I Read” column.
ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE selected by Washington Independent Review of Books for “Our 51 Favorite Books of 2021”
Radio Program: “Leslie Pietrzyk, Admit This to No One | WGCU PBS & NPR for Southwest Florida”
Starred review in Shelf Awareness!
ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE included on DC Trending holiday book gift guide.
Washington City Paper interview: ~~ “The challenge of the political novel interested me. How to find an arc that feels true without falling prey to the stereotypes? What is the arc, or the cycle, of someone immersed in official D.C. life? How does power become a currency, and what happens to the people who view their life through the lens of power structures? What are the unspoken rules that govern lives here, and what happens when those rules are broken?”~~
ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE on the National Book Review’s “5 Hot Books” list.
The Millions includes ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE in “November Preview: The Millions Most Anticipated”
Watch ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE book launch event via Politics & Prose on YouTube.
Writer Beth Kephart interviews me for The Rumpus. ~~ “I wanted the reader to feel distance from this uncomfortable exchange at the grocery store and through that distance, my goal was to push the reader into examining their own actions. One can feel superior to Christine until one can’t.”~~
Interview with Deborah Kalb. ~~“I would love readers to think about the complications of family, about the myriad unwritten rules surrounding us, about how layers of power inform even simple encounters of daily life as in the quick trip to the grocery store in “Green in Judgment.”~~
I interview myself! ~~ “[Mary-Grace] showed me the value of hiding one’s power and reminded me that yielding is sometimes the more powerful move.”~~
Interview with Cathy Alter for Washington Independent Review of Books. ~~ “My job as a writer is to pay attention, especially to small details that may feel insignificant — typically that’s where the stories are.”~~
Brief YouTube interview with writer Kathy Flann about craft.
Conversation with podcast host Laura Zam about “How to Heal Thru Writing Prompts”; 11-minute teaser on YouTube.
Instagram’s @TaylorSwift_as_Books pairs the book cover for ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE with a classic Taylor Swift look!
Interview about ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE in District Fray: ~~Taking on the topic of power can be a sensitive topic, especially when talking about its inextricable link to politics, race and sex. What drew you to want to explore these topics for this book? ~~Probably that very idea of discomfort. I like to write in a way that challenges established lines of thinking. I like to take a broad subject—say, power—and examine the tricky angles, the truths we don’t always want to acknowledge. When I was writing and felt stuck, I always asked myself, “How can this character’s plight be made more uncomfortable, either for them or for the reader or—especially—for me, the writer?” Ultimately, I wanted the rigor of examining my own hypocrisy.~~
ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE named in “9 Books Set in DC to Watch for in 2021”
Interview on AuthorLink.
Read a short excerpt of the title story, “Admit This to No One” (scroll down).
October 26, 2021, interview of Leslie Pietrzyk with Sara Abbas for West Virginia University (via YouTube).
Review of Admit This to No One on the Weekly Reader podcast (less than a 4-minute listen).
Admit This to No One listed on Identity Theory’s November list of new releases.
“Stay There,” a story first published in The Southern Review, has won a 2020 Pushcart Prize! (Information about the prize here. Order the anthology here.) This story appears in my new collection, ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE, available November 9, 2021.
The Polish American Historical Association has honored me with its 2020 Creative Arts Prize, “established in 1999, recognizes contributions in the field of creative arts by individuals or groups who have promoted an awareness of the Polish experience in the Americas.” Read more (scroll down) here.
“Keep Your Dead Close,” an essay, in Alan Squire Publishing Bulletin.
“Hat Trick,” a short story, in STORY magazine.
New story, “Solving for X” in Welter Journal.
At-home reading of “A Quiz” from THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST, recorded for the students I missed due to coronavirus shutdown at Chadron State College on my March 2020 writing/residency drive through Nebraska
Publishers Marketplace, August 27, 2020: Author of SILVER GIRL Leslie Pietrzyk’s ADMIT THIS TO NO ONE, a collection of interconnected stories about political players and those affected by their secrets and actions, set in a tumultuous, present-day Washington, D.C. and the surrounding areas, to Olivia Taylor Smith at Unnamed Press, for publication in fall 2021, by Kerry D’Agostino at Curtis Brown (NA). UK/Foreign: Sarah Perillo Film: Holly Frederick
Short story in Southern Indiana Review
Writing (or trying to) during a pandemic, in Washingtonian magazine.
New short story in Hobart.
STARRED review for SILVER GIRL from Publishers Weekly, for “a profound, mesmerizing, and disturbing novel” that “brilliantly depicts the push-and-pull dynamics between the two women.”
SILVER GIRL reviewed in Kirkus Reviews! (“A dark, intense novel on a hot subject: female friendship complicated by class and privilege.”)
Review in The Millions: “Even through all her mistakes, even though she lets no one into her mind and heart all the way, not even the reader, this central character is compelling and unforgettable. As is this novel. It’s a novel in the finest, most challenging sense of the word.”
Try the Absolut-ly Silver Girl cocktail!
Watch my reading at Gettysburg College (April 4, 2019).
Video interview on the writing life in quarantine, prompt writing, and Pop-Tarts.
New story in Winter 2018/2019 issue of Ploughshares:“Wealth Management.”
New story in River Styx 102, “Green in Judgment.”
“How We Leave Home,” a chapter from SILVER GIRL, selected for New Stories from the Midwest 2018, guest edited by Antonya Nelson.
“#how2Bsuburbanwhite19 #DMV,” a short story, published in Little Rose Magazine.
“People Love a View,” short story published in Arts & Letters, receives a special mention from the 2019 Pushcart Prizes.
SILVER GIRL is now available on audio, through Audible.com. You can access an audio version on Amazon or directly from Audible.
FB Live! My reading and conversation with Patricia Smith at Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA.
Interview with writer Beth Kephart.
Interview in Writer’s Bone with author Kayla Rae Whitaker. Named by Writer’s Bone as one the best books of the year!
Rumpus interview with writer Rachel Hall.
Interview with writer Paula Whyman in Read Her Like an Open Book.
Essay about writing in The Delmarva Review and the Eastern Shore’s Spy.
“The End of My Book Hangover: Silver Girl,” interview with Emily Moses.
“Happy Birthday in a Week,” short story, cited in “100 Distinguished Stories” in Best American Short Stories 2018, edited by Roxane Gay
Flash fiction in Cleaver.
Interview on flash fiction.
Audio review of SILVER GIRL, starting at 2 minutes.
Interview with Cathy Alter in Washington Independent Review of Books.
“The Sample Podcast,” an interview about my books and reading of “Jinx,” a chapter from SILVER GIRL.
“Snowflakes in a Blizzard” interview.
How’s this for crazy!? Silver Girl is a #2 regional best-seller, says Bethesda Magazine!
“Cooking Origin Stories: How (Not) To Make Pork Chops,” essay in Entropy.
Review in L.A. Times.
Review in Washington Independent Review of Books.
Review in Shelf Awareness.
Hot book of the week, The National Book Review.
Interview in Chicago Review.
Essay in L.A. Review of Books about the Tylenol murders.
Essay about researching the 1980s in AWP’s The Writer’s Notebook.
Q&A with Deborah Kalb.
The Chicago Review of Books has named SILVER GIRL one of the best books of February 2018.
Essay about comfort food in the 1980s (with recipes) in The Refresh.
Interview in The Gettysburg Review (where a chapter of SILVER GIRL first appeared).
On balancing technology & writing: interview on Madam Mayo’s book blog.
Author interview.
“What, Why, How: Leslie Pietrzyk”
Review on The East Bay Review.
Flash fiction in Shenandoah, “Valentine’s Day.”
Flash fiction in Four Way Review, “Leftovers.”
5 star review of SILVER GIRL in Foreword.
Story in The Southampton Review: “We Always Start with the Seduction.”
“People Love a View” (short story) in Arts & Letters.
“Give the Lady What She Wants,” a chapter from SILVER GIRL, listed as a “notable story” for 2018 Pushcart Prizes.
Flash fiction in The Rupture ( formerly The Collagist): “What We Know of the Animal”
“My Big Little Break,” an essay on Barrelhouse about my first publication.
“The Door of No Return” published in The South Carolina Review, 50th anniversary issue; story based on this painting.
New story in Southern Indiana Review: “Happy Birthday in a Week.”
Flash fiction in Phoebe: “Anything You Want.”
“What He Wanted,” an essay in Widow Confidential.
“Eight Things This Fiction Writer Learned about Historical Research,” in AWP’s Writer’s Notebook.
Kirkus Reviews names THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST as one of the best books of fiction in 2015.
THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST, selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of 16 best short story collections in 2015. (click on “best of 2015” link)
2016 Library of Virginia Literary Award finalist.
Short story wins second place in The Hudson Review fiction contest.
The Saturday Interview in The Rumpus.
The Rumpus, READING MIXTAPE #26: FICTION I READ AND LOVED THIS SUMMER.
Review of This Angel on My Chest in Gandy Dancer.
Interview with the UMSL Current, student newspaper.
Seven Sisters Award: Best Book of the Year, 2015
Interview in The Rupture (formerly The Collagist) about “One True Thing,” found in THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST (and online).
“what we see, or what we know,” short story, on Great Jones Street [note: this story was written as part of THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST and later cut]
Book Q&A’s with Deborah Kalb.
The Quivering Pen, on creating community as the co-founder of Folio.
Read about how prompt writing can inform your writing practice.
Howlarium, “Perform Your Loneliness, Please.”
Feature in Snowflakes in a Blizzard.
THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST featured on Story366, a blog examining short stories.
Interview on The Story Blog.
Modern Loss features my short story “I Am the Widow.”
Review in New York Journal of Books.
Review in Washington City Paper.
Profile in Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Interview in Fiction Writers Review.
Interview in The Daily Northwestern about returning to Northwestern University for a reading.
Review on Book Browse.
New short fiction forthcoming in The Hudson Review.
Essay in Washingtonian magazine.
9 Books You Shouldn’t Overlook, Kirkus Reviews
Interview with Barrelhouse literary journal.
Interview in Café American.
Accepting help and giving help after a death in Psychology Today.
Bookriot: The books I read while grieving.
Article in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Essay about truth in fiction on Literary Hub.
Guest blog post: Love, and Welsh Rabbit (another recipe!)
Interview, by writer Caroline Leavitt.
Favorite books and other bookish opinions on Shelf-Awareness.
“Bad Girl,” a short story, published in River Styx 94: The Revenge Issue
Interview on AndiLit.com: Exploring What It Means to Live a Life of Words.
“Give the Lady What She Wants,” a short story, published in The Gettysburg Review, 29:2.
“How We Leave Home,” a short story, published in The Cincinnati Review, 12.2.
“Easy Love,” a short story, published here in The Greensboro Review, #98.