UPDATE: This session is now streaming. Watch the full panel here.

Since the debut of her revered short story collection, Bad Behavior—which included the story adapted into the 2002 film Secretary—Mary Gaitskill has lent brutal honesty and formal daring to the literary scene. “She catches cruelty and inexplicable desire, what she has called ‘the dirt within,’ as well as any writer we have,” as Dwight Garner of the New York Times has put it. Gaitskill’s new book, The Devil’s Treasure, is no less audacious than her previous work. Linked together by the story of a girl named Ginger who discovers a portal to hell in her own backyard, Gaitskill’s latest, richly illustrated work presents excerpts of her previous novels, including 2005’s Veronica and 2015’s The Mare, as well as a memoir—all of it stitched together with authorial commentary.

This session is available in person on October 31 at the Austin Central Library or live-streamed.

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 Fresh Ink Fiction Contest! This year’s theme was “Thrive in a Hybrid World” and we were blown away by the submissions we received. We are very proud of all these talented young authors and are thankful that they chose to share their work with us!

Congratulations to the 2021 winners:

Middle School

Sara T. – The Princess and the Maid

Tiffany J. –  Hold My Hands in the River of Wishes

Dhwani N. – The Power Within

High School

Kayla H. – Ultranet

Thanh-Lan N. – Devotion

Reyna T. – Painting the Future

All Fresh Ink Fiction Contest participants will be awarded a Literati Kids gift card or subscription and invited to our creative writing workshop with featured speakers and authors. The Fresh Ink Fiction Contest is sponsored by AT&T . Thank you to partner Austin Bat Cave for providing workshops and Austin based book subscription company Literati for providing contest prizes!