Fiction

Fiction

Misty’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in international and national journals both in print and online, and in several anthologies. Her debut collection A LESSON IN MANNERS won the Serena McDonald Kennedy Award and was published by Snake Nation Press.

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Scholarship

Scholarship

Misty holds a Ph.D. in Old and Middle English Literature from Cornell University and has published articles on medieval romance, medieval women, world literature, and European history. Her scholarly books focus on monstrous women like the legendary half-fairy, half-snake Melusine.

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Bio

Bio

Misty Urban wrote her first story at age 5 for the benefit of her younger sister. It was, sources say, a rather conventional piece involving cats, mats, and possibly bats (the work is no longer extant). Her next venture, a journalism/reportage

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Autofiction & Micromemoir Workshop

Learn how to Write Your Life in Very Short Bursts at the Midwest Writing Center, October 19, 2-4 pm, Rock Island Public Library

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Other publications

Other Publications

In addition to historical and contemporary fiction and medieval scholarship, Misty writes creative nonfiction on the subject of motherhood and regular reviews for Publishers Weekly, the Historical Novel Review, and femmeliterate. Creative Nonfiction “Making Humans” in Cleaver Magazine Issue 27

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What readers are saying about THE NECESSARIES:

“ . . . prose so keen and almost unbearably lovely that it feels both mysterious and familiar . . . readers feel compelled to keep turning the page to find out what's going to happen.”

Christiana Langenberg author of Half of What I Know

“Her stories explore the tenuous threads of her characters’ relationships with humor and grit, humility and abandon.”

Sarah Gerkensmeyer author of What You Are Now Enjoying

“Vividly drawn characters speak their minds and reveal their desires on these pages as their journeys lead to quiet, stunning possibilities: love in all its varieties, romance without sentiment, gratitude as a kind of happiness, a buoyant grace.”

Mary Howard author of Discovering the Body and The Girl With Wings

“This author has an uncanny ability to explore relationships, love, and loss in a fresh and original way.”

Publisher's Weekly starred review of A LESSON IN MANNERS

I want A LESSON IN MANNERS