HEATHER MATEUS SAPPENFIELD: LYRICS FOR ROCK STARS
On this episode of Big Blend Radio, Heather Mateus Sappenfield discusses “Lyrics for Rock Stars,” her prize-winning short story collection. Listen to her interview here in the YouTube player or download the podcast on PodBean or SoundCloud.
Tracing the complex unfolding of generations throughout history, paying particular attention to women’s stories, and children who are often wise beyond their years, Heather Mateus Sappenfield brings dynamic characters to life in a bold collection of stories.
“Lyrics for Rock Stars” is a collection of seventeen stories―some historical, some contemporary—all set in the West. Involving skiers, ranchers, cyclists, suffragettes, tourists, super models, dead pigs, burro racers, religious beet farmers, immigrant miners, scorned lovers, penitent centenarians, and musicians, these stories are as varied as the region’s landscape. Funny, poignant, and resonant, each tale explores how society’s values clash with our individual desires, and the ways we weave our lives through these opposing forces. This collection will make you cry. It will make you laugh out loud. Above all, it traces hope through the long unfolding of generations and time.
Each story is compelling in its own right, and together, they rise in harmonic commentary on the West’s past and present, on its women who populate both, each straining desperately to find her own song.
Heather Mateus Sappenfield’s writing explores the adventures that fill life, often in the Rocky Mountain landscape that has been her lifelong home. She’s fascinated by the many selves each of us becomes in our varied roles throughout the day (some we like, some we do not), and her writing often delves into the internal adventure of juggling those multiple selves. Among the many accolades her fiction has received are the Danahy Fiction Prize, the Arthur Edelstein Prize and three Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has also been recognized as a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award, the Kraken Prize, and the Colorado Book Awards. “Lyrics for Rock Stars” is her first short story collection. To learn more about her life and work, visit: https://heathermateussappenfield.com.
