Among Animals 3
The Lives of Animals and Humans in Contemporary Short Fiction
The third edition of the pioneering book series
Animals speak. But humans are, with few exceptions, ill-equipped to understand them. Fortunately, we have writers.
Writers play the critical role of interpreter, positioned between humans and the billions of nonhuman animals with whom we share this planet. In Among Animals 3, you will meet some of these writers, as well as the animals who inspire them.
The writers of these stories have made the most of their talents in writing about species ranging from dogs and cats to chickens and pigs. In one story, we meet a donkey. In another, a jaguar. In still others: pumas, primates, and myriad birds. We even encounter a species or two not yet formally identified. This collection of stories takes us back in time and into the future; some stories are set in the often unsettling and still-evolving present.
These stories, whether haunting or humorous, realistic or speculative, all challenge us to see what we have tried to avoid seeing. It’s only by looking straight on—and acting upon what we witness—that we can ensure a better future for animals and the planet.
Instructor Resources
The Among Animals books have been adopted by numerous writing and animal studies programs.
Request an exam copy here.
Reviews
“Any animal lover or connoisseur of high-quality fiction will appreciate this collection and the artistry of its contributors.”
—Booklist
“Very fine literary fiction.”
—The Chattahoochee Review
“Among Animals is as provocative as it is urgent, and as accessible as it is emotional.”
—The Goose: A Journal of Arts, Environment, and Culture in Canada
Contributors
Elizabeth Benjamin
Author of “Everything That Can Go Wrong with a Body”
J. Bowers
Author of “One Trick Pony”
J. Bowers has published fiction in national journals, including StoryQuarterly, The Indiana Review, and Guesthouse. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Bowers won The Laurel Review’s 2014 Midwest Short Fiction Prize and the 2016 Winter Anthology Prize. She is an assistant professor of English at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Setter Brindle Birch
Author of “For the Animals”
Janay Brun
Author of “Separation”
Janay Brun relates better to an outside world devoid of humans rather than an inside one full of them. At present she roams the saguaro-studded mountains and cottonwood arroyos of southern Arizona. She is the author of Cloak & Jaguar: Following a Cat from Desert to Courtroom.
JoeAnn Hart
Author of “Flying Home”
JoeAnn Hart is the author of the crime memoir Stamford ’76: A True Story of Murder, Corruption, Race, and Feminism in the 1970s (University of Iowa Press, 2019). Her novels are Float (Ashland Creek Press), a dark comedy about plastics in the ocean, and Addled (Little, Brown), a social satire.
Gwen C. Katz
Author of “The Curious Case of the Cave Salamander”
Gwen C. Katz is an author, artist, game designer, and former mad scientist who lives in Pasadena, California, with her husband and assorted chickens and cats (but currently no salamanders). Her first novel, Among the Red Stars, is about Russia’s all-female bomber regiment known as the Night Witches.
Diane Lefer
Author of “Survival Skills”
Diane Lefer is delighted to appear in another ACP anthology. Animals often figure in her novels. Confessions of a Carnivore was inspired by her relationship with a baboon at the LA Zoo. In Out of Place, scientists become suspect after 9/11 while characters include rattlesnakes, bears, one good dog, and many cats.
Charlene Logan
Author of “Brothers”
Charlene Logan’s work has been published in West Marin Review, About Place Journal, Witness Magazine, Blackbird, Pembroke Magazine, and other magazines and journals. She received a writing fellowship from MacDowell and earned an MFA in playwriting from UC Davis. She is a volunteer with NorCal Collie Rescue.
Nadja Lubiw-Hazard
Author of “The Art of Dying”
Nadja Lubiw-Hazard is a Toronto-based writer and veterinarian. She is the author of the novel The Nap-Away Motel; her short stories have been published in Understorey, Room, Canthius, The Dalhousie Review, Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, and more. Nadja is a lifelong animal lover and longtime vegan. (www.nmlhazard.com) Read an interview with Nadja here.
Marilyn Moriarty
Author of “Ass of Otranto”
Marilyn Moriarty is a professor of English and creative writing at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She is the author of the textbook Writing Science through Critical Thinking and the creative nonfiction book Moses Unchained. She has won prizes for her writing, and her essays and short stories have been published in a number of literary magazines.
James Edward O’Brien
Author of “Last of the Sasquatch Wilds”
James Edward O’Brien hails from Bloomfield, New Jersey. Jim’s short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and speculative fiction magazines, both online and in print, as well as on the StarShipSofa and Tales to Terrify podcasts. He currently resides in Queens, New York, with his wife and three rescue dogs.
Helia S. Rethmann
Author of “The Pet Project”
Helia S. Rethmann grew up in Germany. Her fiction has appeared in River and South, Breakwater Review, and others, as well as in anthologies published by Pure Slush, Virgins, Between the Lines, and Two Sisters. Helia lives on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee, with her wife and too many animals.
Denise Rettew
Author of “Ava”
Denise Rettew studied creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and has been teaching yoga since 2003. She leans on these two practices for inspiration, understanding, and equanimity. Denise lives in North Carolina near the ocean, where, after twenty years in the area, she is finally breaking away from everyday life and getting her feet on the sand.
Ingrid L. Taylor
Author of “Liftoff”
Ingrid L. Taylor is an award-winning poet, writer, and veterinarian whose work has appeared in Southwest Review; FERAL: A Journal of Poetry and Art; Horse Egg Literary; and others. She’s received support from Playa, the Horror Writers Association, and Gemini Ink, and she received her MFA from Pacific University.
Jacquie Vervain
Author of “Behind the Chokecherry”
Jacquie Vervain holds a BA in English literature with a minor in classical studies, an MEd in secondary education, and an MFA in fiction. She writes dark fantastical mysteries and runs The Mad Girl’s Guide to Animal Liberation, a website designed to connect teen girls with the fight for animal rights.
Kipp Wessel
Author of “Brasita de Fuego”
Kipp Wessel loves animals, wilderness, and writing. His debut novel, First, You Swallow the Moon, is about heartbreak and grizzly bears. He earned a fiction fellowship and his MFA from the University of Montana. He’s taught fiction writing there, the Loft Literary Center, and elsewhere. He lives in Minnesota.