Marie Manilla

Marie Manilla2021 Appalachian Heritage Writer in Residence

Works by Marie Manilla

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Still Life with Plums book cover 2010

Still Life with Plums

Manilla's award-winning story collection and Weatherford award finalist, Still Life with Plums explores the quirks and depths of the inner thoughts and worlds of human beings attempting to make sense of the world. Manilla gives us an array of Appalachian characters, from Black-Irish West Virginians to a Guatemalan widow, to academics and award-winning novelist. Her humor, magic realism, and depth of understanding sets a rich literary feast and provides food for thought and multi-cultural worlds to ponder, from West Virginia to the Texarkana.

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Shrapnel book cover 2012

Shrapnel

Bing Butler is 77, a war vet and new widower, a man from the far political right and little tolerance for anything out of his narrow sphere of understanding, yet he makes a journey from Texas to West Virgina and from selfishness to acceptance and tolerance, in the process making us yearn to travel with him in this brilliant story of coming to terms with one's intolerance and prejudice.

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The Patron Saint of Ugly book cover 2014

The Patron Saint of Ugly

What is beauty, what is saintliness, what is it that makes us human? Garnet Ferrari is a wonderful, witty, sharp-tongued girl and unwilling saint, who takes us from the volcanic mountains of Sicily to the Appalachian hills of her West Virginia home of Sweetwater. This is a book that regals readers with magic realism, wily wit, and an understanding of what true beauty is and real saintliness. The Patron Saint of Ugly is magic to read and has been selected as the One Book One West Virginia Common Read.

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