what people are saying about The Ballad of Cherrystoke & Other Stories, available at www.blackwaterpress.com
“She’s telling you these stories because you need to hear them.”
— Steven Dunn, author of Potted Meat
“Extraordinary and haunting”
— Adam Clay, author of To Make Room For the Sea and A Hotel Lobby at the Edge of the World
“The best debut collection I’ve read in years.”
— Meagan Lucas, author of Songbirds and Stray Dogs
Melanie McGee Bianchi is a fiction writer, poet, and journalist based in North Carolina.
Her debut book, The Ballad of Cherrystoke & Other Stories, is published by Blackwater Press and available in the U.S. and the UK. It was named a “Distinguished Favorite” in the Short Story category of the NYC Big Book Awards, Sept. 2022. The title story of the book appeared in the Mississippi Review Summer Prize Issue 2020. Her article “Orphan Girl” appears in the 25th Annual Music Issue of Oxford American magazine (Winter 2023/24). Melanie is the third-prize winner in the international Moth Short Story Contest for 2024 for her story “Gertrude’s Favorite Pfeffernüsse”
About
I’ve been a features editor for print magazines and newspapers for more than 25 years and have published articles, fiction, poetry, and essays locally, nationally, and internationally since I was a teenager.
Publications
Oxford American, Mississippi Review, Chattahoochee Review, Moth Magazine, Blackwater Press, Asheville Made (Editor), Bold Life (Managing Editor), Carolina Home + Garden (Managing Editor), Sassy, Mountain Xpress (Arts & Entertainment Editor), Flower, Our State, WNC Magazine, VERVE Magazine for Women (Editor), Asheville Poetry Review, Citron Review, Scary Mommy, Gateways, Kudzu Review, Florida Times-Union, St. Augustine Record, Moog Music (Big Briar Instruments), Cricket.
Cover illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon with interior illustrations by Giuseppe Monterisi. Available at select bookstores in North Carolina and in the UK and online. Order here: https://www.blackwaterpress.com
Contact