All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere: Stories -- Demisty D. Bellinger, Paperback

Winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in Fiction

Fantastical, sensual, and as beguilingly strange as they are insightful and real, the stories of All Daughters Are Awesome Everywhere are centered around intimate familial or romantic relationships, featuring protagonists who make awesome discoveries--from the beautiful to the horrible--in seemingly mundane situations. The protagonists in each story come from marginalized communities, which sometimes exacerbates their problems but always allows for unique perspectives and epiphanies.

A violinist nearly hits a bicyclist with her car on her rush to rehearsal, leading to a blissful affair and speculation about the effect of love on her violin playing. The whispering of schoolgirls leads a teacher to consider her own fears and failings. In the title story the nature of motherhood, fatherhood, and familial pride plays against a backdrop of death and high school theater.

These are stories of human frailty and newfound strengths, with surprising confrontations. The writing is rich and playful, whether the characters are coy or startlingly direct, creating worlds in which the metaphorical might become literal in the blink of an eye. DeMisty D. Bellinger finds magic in the smallest moments and makes the biggest moments resonate with a quiet intensity.


Author: Demisty D. Bellinger
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 09/01/2024
Pages: 188
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 8.51h x 5.46w x 0.47d
ISBN: 9781496241306

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2024

About the Author
DeMisty D. Bellinger is the author of the novel New to Liberty and two collections of poetry, Peculiar Heritage and Rubbing Elbows. She is an associate professor of English and coordinator of the Center of Faculty Scholarship at Fitchburg State University.