Fiercely protective of his writing time, Joshua Cohen (Four New Messages) makes no apologies for keeping his interview answers pithy: “The book is the oil painting above the grand piano of the future. Certain households have them. We/they know who they are.”

Love, darkness and the long shadows of myth haunt the American Southwest in Battleborn, a debut collection from Claire Vaye Watkins.

Howard L. Anderson’s debut novel features a peculiar amalgam of talking wallabies, action-packed shoot-outs, and timeless Old West themes repackaged under an unforgiving Australian sun.

Critics compare her to Canada’s native short story master, Alice Munro, but Johanna Skibsrud has a charm—and a voice—all her own.