"Voices of the Lost Year" is West Warwick Public Library's first published anthology. Eight exceptionally creative teen authors underwent weeks of a writing camp to brainstorm, draft, and polish their unique short stories.
 

In this collection, you'll find tales from eight Rhode Island teens across a variety of genres. Join a young woman in a technologically advanced utopia who has to make a big choice, or discover the dark secret of an artist's touch. Will you accept an invitation from an estranged father with a disturbing secret, or join a bold young woman in a fight for justice? Perhaps you'll find the beast within amid a crumbling kingdom or lift an ancient curse below the waves. Walk a ways down quiet suburban streets, but are you sure you're alone? A bargain is waiting for you in the deep, dark woods if you'll pay the price.
 

Author Credits:

Kaia Dahlin | Toshiro Brooks | Theresa Katin | Nathan Moone  Kerith Fontenault

Brianna Timpson | Linden Philo | Ali Bryant

Edited by Amber Bliss


This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services using funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

An Anthology of Indigenous Voices

In this collection, you’ll find tales and poetry from six Indigenous authors from tribes across the United States. The passions and stories of these young writers span a variety of genres, from psychological horror and science fiction to fables and fantasy. Join a young academic as her eyes are opened to the truth buried in the bones of an institution, or find out what really happened on the night of a troubled woman’s last drive. Gather your family for a fable about an unlikely friendship, or adopt different perspectives through poetry. Perhaps you’ll accept an unusual stranger’s invitation to a night at a gallery unlike any other, or take up arms with a soldier who stands between a vicious enemy and the last of the human race. No matter which world you turn to, whether it's inhabited by familiar woodland friends, a terrible contagion, or unquiet bones, each one is sure to weave the familiar with the new in a cover to cover the experience of fear, heartache, family, and hope.
 

Author Credits:

Abi Bentium | V.N Keane | Rachel Gruner | Leah Olson 

Madeliene Hutchins | Gola Yona

Edited by Amber Bliss

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services using funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

Just as a prism splits white light into color, the nine Rhode Island authors in this collection break fiction into a spectrum of genres. From romance to horror, these tales cover a range of styles, themes, and experiences.

Join a reluctant hero with a big heart on a dangerous quest, or navigate the cruel halls of high school with a young witch. Remember love found and lost over the course of a lifetime, or battle with dead men and addiction. Punch in at the Office to make sure the Product flows on time, or grab your gear and cross the galaxy to save beautiful creatures on strange worlds. You may even discover the dark secret of Begonia Drive...if you dare.

Celebrate the colors that shape our lives with Voices of the Prism.

Author Credits :
Lou Blair (ey/em/eir) | Sarah DeCataldo  |  A.M.H. Devine | Theresa Katin | C. H. Kim | Nathan Moone | K. Parr | Charles Reis | Lauren Starnino
Edited by Amber Bliss

This Project was funded by the RI State Council for the Arts.
K. Parr

What exactly does home mean when you've moved from one country to another, fled everything you once knew, or witnessed the destruction of the place you loved? The Shape of Home explores themes of place, motherhood, community, and identity through the stories and poetry of seven Middle Eastern and North African women. The tales within this book cross regions and countries and span time and space, but they seek community-whether through found family in a new place, lifelong neighbors pulling together despite adversity, or the resolve to build something new. These are stories that walk the lines of duality between connection and isolation, tradition and innovation, acceptance and rejection, and in the end they teach us that some of the most rewarding choices are not either or, but both. The true shape of home is what you make it.

Author Credits:
Maryam Ghatee | Gizem Zencirci |  Jowan Nabha | Koloud Fawzi Omar Abdul Aziz Tarapolsi | Malack Jallad | Nayiri Baboudjian Bouchakjian |  Alizeh Farhad.

Edited by Amber Bliss and K. Parr

This project was made possible by an American Rescue Plan Humanities Grant. American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) made possible with
funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.