Listen to this conversation with Marguerite Sheffer about her new short story collection, The Man in the Banana Trees. Spanning the Gulf South to the far reaches of space, these inventive tales introduce us to teachers and ghosts, aliens and ice cream consultants, each grappling with the uncanny edge between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Tune in as we talk with Marguerite about blending the familiar with the fantastic, bending genres, and exploring the strange wonders that shape our lives.
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About the Guest
Marguerite Sheffer’s collection, The Man in the Banana Trees, won the 2024 Iowa Short Fiction Award, was named a “Best Debut Book of 2024” by Debutiful and a “Most Exciting Debut Story Collection” by Electric Literature and a finalist for the 2025 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Epiphany, BOMB, LitHub and others. At Tulane University she teaches courses in design thinking and speculative fiction as tools for social change.
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About the Book
PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection 2025, Finalist A Debutiful "Most Anticipated Debut Book of 2024" One of Electric Literature's Most Exciting Debut Short Story Collection of 2024 Named a Best Book of 2024 by Debutiful and Electric Literature.
The stories in The Man in the Banana Trees take place in the past, present, and future--from the American Gulf South to the orbit around Jupiter. We meet teachers and students, ghosts and aliens. An ice cream consultant in the year 2036 predicts a devastating flavor trend and a disgruntled New England waiter investigates a mysterious tanker crash. Although wildly varied in setting, length, and genre, a thread of the fantastic unites these stories, as characters struggle to understand that thing lurking at the edge of their perception: something sinister, or maybe--miraculous.
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🎧 Book Banter is a cozy conversation series with authors, illustrators, and other literary creators. Let’s talk books!
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