Photo: Jesse Fox
Marjorie Celona’s Y and Leah Stewart’s The History of Us are more than just novels by writers who happen to be female; they’re sensitive, psychologically complex works that deal the nature of identity in ways both singular and incisive. Each book features an addictive narrative driven more by compellingly rendered characters than grandiose plot pyrotechnics. Each is also a humane, often humorous account of the ways in which family is both essential and a pain in the ass. And, as such, each has rightly garnered strong reviews and far-reaching attention from a variety of publications and readers.
Celona and Stewart might have landed in
the Queen City via different routes, but each found their way here for
one overriding reason: to take part in the University of Cincinnati’s
well-regarded creative writing program (Stewart as a professor; Celona
as a Ph.D. student). It should then come as no surprise that they both
live in Northside, the eclectic neighborhood where CityBeat recently met with each author to discuss the outsize role literature plays in their lives.
Leah Stewart’s love of the written word goes way back
First-time novelist Marjorie Celona delves deeply into her characters
