Season of Fury and Wonder - Freehand Books

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Season of Fury and Wonder

  • Publication Date: July 15, 2020
  • ISBN: 9781988298740 / 1988298741
  • 5½" x 8½"

Finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award for Fiction

A much-praised collection of short stories about old women, from acclaimed writer Sharon Butala

Writing at the top of her game, Sharon Butala returns to the short story in this astounding new collection. In Butala’s world, the season of fury and wonder is the season of old age. The stories in this book are the stories of women who have had experiences; women who have seen much of life and have felt the joy of success and the sting of shortcomings; women who hold opinions and come to conclusions about the lives they’ve lived.

But Sharon Butala gives us more—not only is each story an observation on aging, each story in Season of Fury and Wonder pays tribute to a classic work of literature that has had an impact on Butala’s writing. Among these writers are Raymond Carver, Willa Cather, Flannery O’Connor, John Cheever, James Joyce, Shirley Jackson, Anton Chekhov, Alan Sillitoe, Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allan Poe. The result of Butala’s effort is a series of deeply felt tributes to these writers, to the creativity and their power to inspire.

“This fearless collection of short stories addresses head-on the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of aging women. The protagonists in these stories do not just rage against the dying of the light; they grab it by the throat, forcing the reader to confront uncomfortable and revelatory truth concerning what it is to age in a female body. Inspired by canonical stories such as John Cheever’s ‘The Swimmer,’ James Joyce’s ‘The Dead,’ and Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery,’ Butala reinvigorates aging myths and the writing craft itself. Season of Fury and Wonder is poetic, flawless, and unflinching.” 2019 Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Jury

Rogers Writers’ Trust Prize for Fiction, 2019 (short-listed)
The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, 2019 (winner)
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction, 2020 (short-listed)

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Season of Fury and Wonder by Sharon Butala wins The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize
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