Thursday, September 06, 2001

WILMINGTON,NC – Society misfits and quirky, supernatural relationships are at the core of Phone Calls from the Dead, a new short story collection by Wendy Brenner, assistant professor of creative writing, at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

“Our relationship with the unknown or supernatural can manifest itself in our lives through the most mundane objects,” said Brenner, named one of 25 fiction writers to watch by Writer’s Digest. “These stories illustrate how people, at their most desperate and isolated times, can still find moments of grace in the world.”

Among this collection of 10 stories, published by Algonquin of Chapel Hill, is “Nipple,” a story about a teenage girl who claims to have her uncle’s nipple in an envelope.

Excerpts from this story appear in the current issue of Seventeen, and according to the Sept. 3 edition of People, Brenner’s “offbeat stories” are “worth a look.”

Brenner’s publisher Algonquin said Phone Calls from the Dead is “an extraordinary book about ordinary people (except for the story told by a squirrel) caught in extraordinary circumstances. Brenner’s voice is reminiscent of Lorrie Moore and a bit of Rick Moody with a twist of Woody Allen.”

Brenner, who will be traveling throughout the fall on a book tour to promote the collection, has won numerous awards including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Flannery O’Connor Award for her first collection Large Animals in Everyday Life.

In a joint presentation with UNCW poet Sarah Messer, Brenner will read excerpts from Phone Calls from the Dead at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9, on the university campus. The location of the reading has not been finalized. She will also hold an autograph party at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 21, at Bristol Books, Lumina Station.



Phone Calls from the Dead is scheduled for nationwide release Sept. 14. The book is available on the World Wide Web at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and www.booksamillion.com. For more information on Brenner’s book tour, go to the Web site www.algonquin.com/brenner.

The suggested retail price for this hardcover edition is $21.95 from Algonquin.

To interview Wendy Brenner call 910/962-3782.

A photo of Brenner and the book cover that are suitable for print are available on the Web at www.uncwil.edu/news/releases/september01/brenner_book.html