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Author

Lauren Alwan

Lauren Alwan

Lauren Alwan’s fiction has appeared in the O. Henry Prize Stories, the Southern Review, the Alaska Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, in the Bellevue Literary Review. She is the recipient of a First Pages Prize, the Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, and.a citation of Notable in Best American Essays. Her essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Catapult, World Literature Today, The Rumpus, The Millions, Writer's Digest, and others. She is a prose editor at the museum of americana, an online literary review. Follow her on Twitter at @lauren_alwan and learn more at www.laurenalwan.com

  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Barbarian Days & A Taste of Honey

    by Lauren Alwan 23 March, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 23 March, 2017

    Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan William Finnegan’s 2016 memoir begins with an …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Bridge & The Ballad of Black Tom

    by Lauren Alwan 9 March, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 9 March, 2017

    Bridge, by Robert Thomas “Welcome to the prayer-strewn pews of my brain,” Alice, the narrator …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: The Places In-Between & Vicious

    by Lauren Alwan 23 February, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 23 February, 2017

    The Places In-Between, by Rory Stewart In 2002, Rory Stewart made a walk across Afghanistan …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Out of Place & Dead Lands

    by Lauren Alwan 16 February, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 16 February, 2017

    Out of Place: A Memoir, by Edward Said Edward Said, the prolific author, political activist, …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Manhood for Amateurs & Low Town

    by Lauren Alwan 9 February, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 9 February, 2017

    Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son, essays by …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: The Death of the Heart & The Story of Ferdinand the Bull

    by Lauren Alwan 2 February, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 2 February, 2017

    The Death of the Heart, by Elizabeth Bowen Dig out your angora muffler and your …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStaff Recs: This Boy’s Life & Kiss & Tell

    by Lauren Alwan 26 January, 2017
    by Lauren Alwan 26 January, 2017

    This Boy’s Life: A Memoir, by Tobias Wolff  First published in 1989, Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Far From the Madding Crowd & The Lost Child of Lychford

    by Lauren Alwan 15 December, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 15 December, 2016

    Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy Hardy’s novel of romantic entanglements and farming …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Nora Webster & Santa 17

    by Lauren Alwan 8 December, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 8 December, 2016

    Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín At the heart of Colm Tóibín‘s new novel is the story …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures & Alif the Unseen

    by Lauren Alwan 17 November, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 17 November, 2016

     Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub Readers captivated by Old Hollywood are sure …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStack Recs: Dreams From My Father & A Fort of Nine Towers

    by Lauren Alwan 10 November, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 10 November, 2016

    Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama Stories that center on fathers have a distinct …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: The Good Soldier and Planetfall

    by Lauren Alwan 20 October, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 20 October, 2016

    The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford If this novel had been published under the …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Spielberg, Truffaut and Me & Feed

    by Lauren Alwan 13 October, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 13 October, 2016

    Spielberg, Truffaut and Me – An Actor’s Diary, by Bob Balaban In the summer of …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: The Foxfire Book & The Echo

    by Lauren Alwan 6 October, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 6 October, 2016

    The Firefox Book, by Elliot Wigginton (editor) A perfect book for #throwbackthursday, this compendium of …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Barbarian Days & Pride’s Spell

    by Lauren Alwan 11 August, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 11 August, 2016

    Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan William Finnegan took his time writing this …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStaff Rec: Blood Will Out & Zombie Baseball Beatdown

    by Lauren Alwan 21 July, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 21 July, 2016

    Blood Will Out, by Walter Kirn In Preston Sturges’  romantic comedy, “The Palm Beach Story,” …

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  • LitStack Recs

    Litstack Recs: Blue Nights & Lustlocked

    by Lauren Alwan 14 July, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 14 July, 2016

    Blue Nights, by Joan Didion Joan Didion’s books have had a titanic effect on me, …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: The Lesson of the Master & Ordinary Grace

    by Lauren Alwan 30 June, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 30 June, 2016

    The Lesson of the Master, by Henry James Colm Tóibín, in his introduction to the …

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  • Creative WritingLitStack Toolkit

    LitChat Interview: Peg Alford Pursell, WTAW Press

    by Lauren Alwan 22 June, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 22 June, 2016

      LitStack recently sat down with writer, editor—and now indie publisher—Peg Alford Pursell, a literary …

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  • LitStack RecsShort Stories

    LitStack Recs: Paris Stories & Javelin Rain

    by Lauren Alwan 26 May, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 26 May, 2016

    Paris Stories, by Mavis Gallant In this month of celebrating the short story (#ShortStoryMonth), there …

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  • Literary FictionLitStack RecsShort Stories

    LitStack Recs: Who Do You Love & Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

    by Lauren Alwan 19 May, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 19 May, 2016

    Who Do You Love: Stories, by Jean Thompson May is #ShortStoryMonth, and this is third …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: The Love of a Good Woman & The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

    by Lauren Alwan 12 May, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 12 May, 2016

    The Love of A Good Woman, stories by Alice Munro The short story has few …

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  • LitStack RecsUncategorized

    LitStack Recs: Thunderstruck & Other Stories & Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

    by Lauren Alwan 5 May, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 5 May, 2016

    Thunderstruck & Other Stories, by Elizabeth McCracken With April declared National Poetry Month, May is …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Changing My Mind & Tor.com

    by Lauren Alwan 7 April, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 7 April, 2016

    Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays Zadie Smith This collection of essays came about by accident, …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: How to Read a Sentence… & The Butcher of Anderson Station

    by Lauren Alwan & Sharon Browning 24 March, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan & Sharon Browning 24 March, 2016

    How to Read a Sentence and How to Write One, by Stanley Fish The sentence …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: The Empty Family & The Last Witness

    by Lauren Alwan 10 March, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 10 March, 2016

    The Empty Family, by Colm Tóibín  Colm Tóibín’s story collection, The Empty Family (released January …

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  • LitStack Recs

    Litstack Rec: Spielberg, Truffaut & Me and Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere

    by Lauren Alwan 25 February, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 25 February, 2016

    Spielberg, Truffaut and Me: An Actor’s Diary, by Bob Balaban In the summer of 1976, …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Far From the Madding Crowd & The Lives of Tao

    by Lauren Alwan 18 February, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 18 February, 2016

    Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy First published in 1874, Hardy’s novel of …

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  • Uncategorized

    LitStack Rec: The Films in My Life & Planetfall

    by Lauren Alwan 11 February, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 11 February, 2016

    The Films in My Life, by Francois Truffaut This past week, Francois Truffaut would have …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Bridge & A Tale for the Time Being

    by Lauren Alwan 4 February, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 4 February, 2016

    Bridge, by Robert Thomas “Welcome to the prayer-strewn pews of my brain,” Alice, the narrator …

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  • Literary FictionLitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Stoner & Speak Easy

    by Lauren Alwan 21 January, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 21 January, 2016

    Stoner, by John Williams John Williams’ 1965 novel went out of print after selling only …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Examinations of Hitchock & Fangirl

    by Lauren Alwan 14 January, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 14 January, 2016

    A Definitive study of Alfred Hitchcock, by Francois Truffaut, trans. by Helen Scott (1966) & …

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  • LitStack Recs

    2016 Pushcart Prize XL: Best of the Small Presses & John Saturnall’s Feast

    by Lauren Alwan 7 January, 2016
    by Lauren Alwan 7 January, 2016

    2016 Pushcart Prize XL: Best of the Small Presses, edited by Bill Henderson with Pushcart …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStack Rec: Bird Cloud: A Memoir of Place & Moon Girl

    by Lauren Alwan 3 December, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 3 December, 2015

    Bird Cloud: A Memoir of Place, by Annie Proulx The memoir by this award-winning novelist (The …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoirNonfiction

    LitStack Rec: Havanas in Camelot & A Crayon’s Story

    by Lauren Alwan 19 November, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 19 November, 2015

    Havanas in Camelot: Personal Essays, by William Styron Though William Styron is best know for …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStack Recs: Patrimony – A True Story and Cloud Atlas

    by Lauren Alwan 12 November, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 12 November, 2015

    Patrimony: A True Story, by Philip Roth Roth’s 1991 memoir charts the illness and death …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople & Wayward Saints

    by Lauren Alwan 5 November, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 5 November, 2015

    A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople, by Patrick Leigh Fermor A classic of …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Cutting Teeth & Back Roads and Frontal Lobes

    by Lauren Alwan 29 October, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 29 October, 2015

    Cutting Teeth, by Julia Fierro When October comes, I’m always caught off guard by how …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: A Writer’s Notebook & The Glamourist Histories

    by Lauren Alwan 15 October, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 15 October, 2015

    A Writer’s Notebook by Somerset Maugham Somerset Maugham’s A Writer’s Notebook was first published in …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    Litstack Recs: The Places In-Between & The Silmarillion

    by Lauren Alwan 24 September, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 24 September, 2015

    The Places In-Between, Rory Stewart In 2002, Rory Stewart made a walk across Afghanistan from …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStack Recs: Blue Nights & Beautiful Ruins

    by Lauren Alwan 17 September, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 17 September, 2015

    Blue Nights, by Joan Didion Joan Didion is an author I’ve long revered, whose books …

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  • LitStack RecsUncategorized

    LitStack Recs: Vanity Fair & The Cage

    by Lauren Alwan 3 September, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 3 September, 2015

    Vanity  Fair William Makepeace Thackeray The mid-nineteenth century didn’t have reality television, but it did …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitStack Recs: Presidential Summer Reading List & Take Away the A

    by Lauren Alwan 20 August, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 20 August, 2015

    The Presidential Summer Reading List As The Hill reported last week, President Barack Obama chose …

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  • LitStack RecsMemoir

    LitStack Recs: A Brief Look at Father Memoirs & Blueberry Girl

    by Lauren Alwan 13 August, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 13 August, 2015

    A Brief Look at Father Memoirs Stories that center on fathers have a distinct place …

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  • LitStack RecsUncategorized

    LitStack Rec: The Empty Family & Baseball’s Great Experiment

    by Lauren Alwan 9 July, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 9 July, 2015

    The Empty Family, by Colm Tóibín  The Empty Family, Colm Tóibín’s most recent collection of …

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  • LitStack Recs

    LitstackRecs: The Best American Essays & World’s Collider

    by Lauren Alwan 21 May, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 21 May, 2015

    The Best American Essays, 2013, edited by Cheryl Strayed The Best American series, which in …

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  • LitStack RecsPoetry

    LitStack Recs: my name on his tongue & Never Let Me Go

    by Lauren Alwan 23 April, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 23 April, 2015

    my name on his tongue, by Laila Halaby In her first book of poetry, published …

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  • Creative WritingOpinionShort Stories

    Traveling Light: Unpacking a Story

    by Lauren Alwan 22 April, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 22 April, 2015

    So there I am, in a small hotel between the Costa Brava and Sitges, once …

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  • LitStack RecsPoetryUncategorized

    LitStack Recs: Without & Three Parts Dead

    by Lauren Alwan 19 March, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 19 March, 2015

    Without Donald Hall This book is the one of the few that, when I pick …

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  • Historical FictionLitStack Recs

    LitStack Rec: Wolf Hall & In Ashes Lie

    by Lauren Alwan 12 March, 2015
    by Lauren Alwan 12 March, 2015

    Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Mantel’s novel, which appeared in 2012 and has gone on to …

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