Tag Archives: horses

HORSE SHOW is an Editor’s Choice @ The Historical Novel Society!

Bonnie DeMoss over at the Historical Novel Society wrote a lovely review of HORSE SHOW, naming it an Editor’s Choice title!

DeMoss writes: “I was so impressed by “Two on a Horse,” set on the Steeplechase ride at Coney Island in the early 20th century. Although the horses were made of wood, they were part of a harrowing ride, and Bowers describes the personal stories of the riders in vivid detail. From the first lady to attempt to ride the Steeplechase astride to a sexual assault occurring during the ride itself, the story has a strong impact, and the reader can see and feel the violence of the ride as well as the trauma of the riders. Equally fine is “Of Course, Of Course,” which on the surface is about a young newlywed couple who discover a horse abandoned on their new property. However, underneath lurks a saga of a wife awakening to her own abandonment, abuse, and neglect in 1960s California. These perfectly crafted tales create a tragic picture that will have an emotional impact on the reader. Highly recommended.”

Click here to read the rest of the review over at the Historical Novel Society!

Then, click here to order your very own copy of HORSE SHOW!

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Happy New Year, HORSE SHOW!

HORSE SHOW is galloping into 2025 by appearing on a slew (a Seattle Slew?) of “best of” and “year end round-up” lists!

Thank you to everyone who added my curious little book to your Goodreads in 2024, shouted it out via social media, reviewed it on Amazon, or otherwise shone your spotlight in its general direction. When you’re published by a small-but-mighty press like SFWP, word of mouth is priceless!

A Victorian New Year’s greeting card.

First up, the Jackson Center for Creative Writing at my alma mater Hollins University named HORSE SHOW its “Winter TBR” title on Instagram, writing:

“In her striking debut collection, Jess Bowers ’03 leads us into a museum of the forgotten and the extraordinary: the world of horses in American history. Through thirteen vivid and unrelenting tales, Bowers unpacks the intricate bond between humans and their equine companions, a relationship marked by care, exploitation, and awe. From the mare who defies scientific reason to the television palomino whose charm holds a strange power, HORSE SHOW is an exploration of obsolescence, grief, and nostalgia. Bowers’s prose is arresting, her humor sharp, her imagery unforgettable.”

>blushes fiercely<

Next, the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), included HORSE SHOW in its “Fiction of 2024” round-up, alongside my pressmates Tara Campbell and K.E. Semmel. Check out CLMP’s whole reading list here!

Also, Wendy J. Fox’s July 2024 list of “15 Small Press Books You Should Be Reading This Summer,” including HORSE SHOW, was just named one of Electric Literature’s “Most Popular Articles of 2024,” which is so cool.

More exciting HORSE SHOW adventures are already on the books for 2025, including AWP in Los Angeles (!!!) and a virtual February reading at Goucher College, another beloved alma mater.

Watch this space!

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HORSE SHOW Reviewed @Barrelhouse! New Interview @Bold Journey!

Washington D.C.’s mighty mighty Barrelhouse showed HORSE SHOW some love on 7/18 with a stellar review by fellow fiction writer Emily Webber! Click here to read her review in its entirety!

Webber writes: “In many stories, Jess Bowers often plucks an actual incident involving a horse from history and re-imagines the surrounding people, resulting in lively and innovative storytelling. Along with these lesser-known horse stories, she includes artifacts and photographs that sent me searching the internet for details on the real story. For many, there isn’t much information readily available except confirmation that the horse did exist. It turns out Bowers’s horse stories also entail examining grief, our complicated relationships with each other and with animals, and humanity’s insatiable need for dominance. No matter how much technological progress occurs, it seems like the darkest parts of the human heart remain.”

Thank you, Barrelhouse!

I was also interviewed by Bold Journey, an online magazine that talks with creative people about the many challenges that can stand in the way of creative practice. You can read the interview, where I compare creative risk-taking to jumping horses over scary obstacles, right here!

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New Interviews at JMWW & Horse Nation!

The Horse Show publicity wagon keeps on clip-clopping along, with new interviews at JMWW and Horse Nation this month, and spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle…

First up, fellow fictioneer, SFWP pressmate, and translator K.E. Semmel and I weighed in on the recent Literary Discourse (tm.) about book promotion in the 21st century at JMWW. It turns out that many writers signed at Big 5 and indie presses alike are feeling considerable pressure to hire outside publicists to get the word out about their titles, sometimes even when their publisher already has a dedicated marketing team!

K.E. Semmel and I both have professional backgrounds in public relations and debuted small press books this year. (FYI, his trippy novel THE BOOK OF LOSMAN is out 10/1/24, and available for preorder now!) So, we felt uniquely positioned to say some useful things about what it’s like to sell a book sans marketing budget in 2024. Read our conversation, “On Book Promotion (When You Don’t Have The Money To Hire a Publicist)” right here!

Meanwhile, over at Horse Nation, I had an absolute blast chatting with fellow fiction writer-who-rides Siân Griffiths about HORSE SHOW for their “Barn Aisle Chats” series, because it meant getting to really geek out about the transition from horses to automobiles, writing what you know (when what you know is horses), and our own beloved animals. You can read our conversation here, then go buy Siân’s debut novel, Borrowed Horses!

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HORSE SHOW @ Art On The Saddle, 6/8/24!

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be returning to Columbia, MO this June for another reading, this time with a real live horse in attendance!

This one’s at a much earlier hour, and for a most excellent cause: I’m joining the program for Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center‘s first-ever Art On The Saddle Fundraiser at Ozark Mountain Biscuit Company‘s outdoor “Bullpen” on 6/8/24!

The party starts at 4 PM. And when we say party, we mean it! There will be food, craft beer from Logboat Brewing Company, live music by Mr. Fun, a real live therapy horse on-site for cuddles and photos (who will it be?!), and an auction of nine saddles repurposed into one-of-a-kind works of art by local Columbia artists! Check out my favorite below–Lisa Bartlett used found objects to transform an English saddle into a whimsical moth that’ll look incredible on someone’s wall!

Lisa Bartlett’s “Moth,” one of nine objets d’art on offer!

I’m not sure when exactly I’ll be reading, but it’ll be something “family friendly” from HORSE SHOW. I’ll also have copies on hand for sale and signing, with all proceeds going to CCTRC!

Cedar Creek was founded in 1988 and provides comprehensive equine-assisted therapy to more than 150 individuals per year. All classes include instructors that are certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH). Cedar Creek is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and does not receive any United Way, state or federal funding, but instead relies on the generosity of the community to help children, adults, and veterans with special needs experience the benefits of horsemanship.

Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center is my favorite place on the entire planet, my new cat’s name is literally “Ozark Mountain Biscuit Company” (Oz for short), and it’s cicada summer in Missouri, so if you’re local, I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t come have a beer in the sun for my very favorite cause: connecting humans who need horses with horses who need humans!

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New Interview @ Speaking of Marvels and Review @ Automachination!

With just three days until my debut HORSE SHOW officially bursts out of the starting gate, I’m happy to share this interview I did for Speaking of Marvels. This delightful blog features “interviews with authors of chapbooks, novellas, and books of assorted lengths” run by poet, fiction writer, and generally excellent human being William Woolfitt.

The concept behind Speaking of Marvels is novel (at least to me!) with each interviewee leaving behind a question for the writers to come, like a guestbook signature. This makes for surprising and varied conversations that go places other interviews might not. Check out my contribution to the Speaking of Marvels palimpsest right here.

Behold! Su Zi’s gorgeous block printed logo for The Red Mare chapbook series.

In other news, Zoeglossia fellow and founder/creator of the Red Mare chapbook series Su Zi kindly read HORSE SHOW and wrote a review for Automachination!

We cannot stand next to a horse and be blithe to their extermination; however, so many of us have not, and might not ever stand next to a horse, we might not ever feel their subtle vibration next to our own physical selves, we might not get a sense of some ancient memory. Thus, in our obliviousness to the extinction of horses, to their barbaric treatment, we are missing both their ancestral place in our collaborative relationship, and the symbolic nature of our brutality now. If we can be so cruel towards horses, then there’s no surprise at our cruelty towards each other.

I’m grateful to receive such a thoughtful and insightful review from a fellow writer/equestrian! After you’re done reading, make sure to check out Will and Su’s incredible eco-conscious work!

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HORSE SHOW Launch Party @ Atomic Books! 4/14/24! Plus Pre-Order Signed Copies From Anywhere!

I’m ridiculously stoked and grateful that my friends at total Baltimore icon Atomic Books will host my East Coast launch party from 4 PM – 5 PM on 4/14/24!

My Baltimorean friends have an inkling about what this bookstore (and city!) means to me. When I was moonlighting as an arts/music/books critic for Baltimore City Paper (R.I.P.), booksellers and general badasses Rachel Whang and Benn Ray welcomed this cocky twentysomething writer kid who dreamed aloud about publishing a book cool enough to be sold at Atomic Books someday.

That day has come! And I’m so excited! Because it’s been forever, Baltimore!

I hope you’ll all come on down, bring your friends, and buy a hot-off-the-press copy of HORSE SHOW from the greatest bookstore on Earth. I’ll even sign it for you!

There’s good news for everyone who isn’t anywhere near Atomic Books, too. Since I’ll be at the store to sign books just a few days after release, you can now pre-order a signed copy of HORSE SHOW from Atomic Books, and they’ll ship it right to your door! Click this link to get yours!

More book tour-ish news to come soon! I have a few readings in the works for St. Louis and more to come elsewhere later this spring/summer. Am I coming to your town? Watch this space!

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AWP Recap & A New Interview

AWP ’24 was my favorite AWP ever, I must say.

It wasn’t my first AWP, but it was the first where I had a book to sell, a press to represent my work, and an off-site event to read it at, which made a huge difference in how being at the conference felt. I had things to do beyond wandering around aimlessly searching for my friends and something to eat! Though I did a fair amount of that, too, natch–it’s the AWP way.

Santa Fe Writers Project‘s booth, shared with the incredible Whiskey Tit Books, was hopping with signings by fellow SFWP writers Monica Prince, Steve Eoannou, Charles Jensen, Lilly Dancyger, Wendy J. Fox, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Ted O’Connell, and Andrew Gifford.

HORSE SHOW on the SFWP table!

I sold all 50 advance copies of HORSE SHOW (!!!), signed a bunch, and met many fellow introverts who are excited about books, specifically my book, which was a joy and a shock, like being plunged into an ice bath after a long hot day. Thank you to everyone who came by to say hello!

The good people at Laurel Review and SEMO Press (which is being shut down, along with Big Muddy, in a shortsighted and stupid blow to arts and letters) hosted an off-site reading at Cinder Block Brewery in North KC. I read part of “Based On A True Story,” which is probably the finest short story you’ll read all year about the 1976 John Travolta vehicle The Boy In The Plastic Bubble.

The cherry hard cider was delicious, the crowd was great, and I had a blast hearing fellow Midwest fictioneers Luke Rolfes, Ron Austin, James Brubaker, Khem Aryal, and Robert Long Foreman rock the mic, even if Travis Kelce and T-Swift skipped our party for some “big game” I heard was happening in Las Vegas. Their loss!

HORSE SHOW’s out 4/9/24, so advance press is coming out. Here’s an interview with me by A.A. Balaskovits in Full Stop earlier this week–we talked about women and violence and animals, as well as how the order of the stories in HORSE SHOW came to be.

HORSE SHOW is still, of course of course, available for pre-order wherever books are sold–but if you have to choose, might I recommend bookshop.org or direct from my press at SFWP?

Book tour updates soon!

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HORSE SHOW is “A Small Press Book You Should Be Reading This Winter” @Electric Literature, AWP Shenanigans, And More…

With HORSE SHOW’s release date of 4/9/24 rapidly approaching, lots of irons are in the fire!

Over at Electric Literature, Wendy J. Fox included HORSE SHOW on her list of “15 Small Press Books You Should Be Reading This Winter.” She writes, “Horse Show has a sweeping, cinematic quality to it, and a thematic cohesion that tightly ties the stories together. A distinctive accomplishment.”

The Associated Writing Programs’ annual conference is being held in Kansas City this year, from February 7-10 at the Kansas City Convention Center. I’ll be camped out at Santa Fe Writers Project’s booth, which we’re sharing with Whiskey Tit Books.

AND I’ll have 50 special preview copies of HORSE SHOW with me for sale and signing!

I’ll be at Booth #3124 from 11:00-1:30 CST on Thursday, 2/8, and from 1:30-2:00 CST on Friday, 2/9. Come say hi and nab your copy of HORSE SHOW months before its official release!

AWP is also all about the nightlife, baby, and the good people at Laurel Review, SEMO Press, Braddock Avenue Books, and Puerto Del Sol have put together an off-site reading at Cinder Block Brewery that all the cool kids are going to attend on Thursday, 2/8 from 6:00-8:00 PM CST.

Come out for tall beers and short readings by some up-and-coming Midwestern authors, including Khem Aryal, James Brubaker, Luke Rolfes, Ron A. Austin, Robert Long Foreman, and yours truly!

The full lineup is listed above. I can’t promise that Taylor Swift will be there, but I also can’t promise she won’t be! I bet she and Travis Kelce love independent literary presses and craft beer!

Last but not least, folks in and around St. Louis should mark their calendars for April 9th!

This is, of course, HORSE SHOW’s global release date, and Maryville University’s ready to celebrate with a reading/Q&A at 3:30 PM in the Morton May Gallery on campus. This event is free and open to the public, so come on down!

More news to come soon. Stay tuned…I may be coming to a bookstore (or horse barn!) near you this spring/summer!

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