Pleasanton, California Mar 11, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - In her powerful new story collection, Moving Stills: A Life in Stories, acclaimed poet and visual artist Marcia Slatkin invites readers into an intimate and transformative journey through 38 strikingly diverse stories that pulse with honesty, humor, and hard-won
wisdom.
At the heart of this collection is Paula, a vibrant and unflinchingly honest fictional narrator whose voice guides readers across decades of emotional terrain. “How did I go from a bold, sassy teenager to a woman afraid to get out of bed?” Paula laments at thirty, desolate, searching, and determined to understand the origins of her pain. Through stories that are fast-paced, forthright, and often startling in their candor, Slatkin explores how wounds form, how scars shape us, and how healing, though neither linear nor easy,
remains possible.
Though inspired by elements of Slatkin’s own life, Paula is a fully realized fictional creation: sharp, witty, vulnerable, and philosophical. The stories move fluidly through moments of raw emotional exposure, startling humor, and poetic reflection. Rich in dialogue yet textured with lyrical imagery, the collection offers a deeply immersive reading experience. Despite the weight of certain themes, there is a prevailing zest and vigor throughout, an uplifting current that carries readers forward.
The stories revolve around a universal human axis: you get hurt, scarring leads to mistakes, and eventually you must choose whether to confront your reality or remain stuck in the mire. As Paula matures, so does her voice, growing steadier, more reflective, and quietly resilient.
Judaism, both as spiritual possibility and cultural inheritance, plays a meaningful role in several stories, sometimes shaping pivotal decisions and motivations. Set primarily in suburban northeastern United States, the narratives reflect the intimate dramas of ordinary lives rendered extraordinary by emotional truth.
Marcia Slatkin brings to this collection a rich and multifaceted artistic background. A former
English teacher, she is now a photographer, photo-collagist, and cellist. She lives in Rhinebeck, New York, with her longtime partner, Dan Maciejak, a farmer and landscape architect. Together they grow vegetables and flowers, cook, create, and engage thoughtfully with the world around them.
Slatkin is the author of three full-length poetry collections spanning two decades. A Woman Milking, Barnyard Poems (Word Press, 2006) reflects on years of goat-milking and cheese- making in suburban Long Island. Not Yet, A Care-Giving Collage (SFA State University Press, 2012) hronicles her experience caring for her mother during four years of Alzheimer’s illness. Cheese After Fukushima: Poems for a Changing Planet (SFASU Press, 2017) calls readers toward ecological awareness and climate responsibility. Her one-act plays, many staged in off-off Broadway theatres in the 1990s, further demonstrate her longstanding commitment to storytelling across forms.
With Moving Stills, Slatkin turns her seasoned poetic sensibility toward fiction, creating a collection that is both deeply personal and universally resonant. Paula emerges as a reliable narrator, open, unjaded, and uided by a questing spirit that refuses easy answers. Readers will recognize themselves in her doubts, her mistakes, her longing, and ultimately, her courage.
Featured at the London Book Fair 2026
Moving Stills: A Life in Stories will be endorsed and featured at the London Book Fair, taking place March 10–12, 2026, at Olympia London. The book will be showcased under the US Books booth, Stand 2D52, represented by Bookmarc Alliance.
Readers, literary agents, publishers, and fairgoers are warmly invited to visit Booth 2D52 to discover Marcia Slatkin’s compelling new collection and explore the diverse catalog presented by US Books and Bookmarc Alliance. This is an exceptional opportunity to connect, discuss rights and distribution possibilities, and experience firsthand the depth and originality of Slatkin’s work.
For those seeking fiction that is honest, lyrical, emotionally fearless, and ultimately life- affirming, Moving Stills: A Life in Stories promises a reading experience that lingers long after the final page.
For media inquiries, rights information, or to schedule a meeting during the London Book Fair, please visit the US Books booth at Stand 2D52.
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