The George Garrett Fiction Prize: Judge's Choice, selected by Kaveh Akbar Eight jeweled hauntings . . . the disappeared and disappearing, the once-longed-for, the self, the empty door . . . each story immerses you in an intimate, propulsive life that will lodge in your bones. Devastatingly comedic and heartbreaking, together, this collection offers an expansive portrait of South Indian life in today's 21st-century, global world--an unsettling ode to all that modern life takes from us, and brings to bear on, our heritages and human relationships. Through the rich colors and sounds of vivid rural and urban South India--eight people, across class, gender, and generational barriers, set out alone in search of someone or something missing. When strange, perhaps supernatural, occurrences interrupt: an unlucky cloud; a magic fairness cream; a fortunetelling parrot, a chance meeting with a guru "godwoman"; a massive citywide power outage; a giant talking moon bird; national rumors of milk-drinking Ganesh idols; even objects in a house after a divorce--what price will each person pay for choosing to believe in them?
KAVI YAGA lives in Hyderabad, India. The Vanishings was selected by Kaveh Akbar as The George Garrett Fiction Prize: Judge's Choice. Her travel memoir, Walking in Clouds (HarperCollins) was nominated for the "AutHer"Award and recognized by Conde Nast Traveler, India--and still ranks #3 in its "Amazon.in's" category. Co-compiler and co-author of the anthology Work, Wisdom, Legacy: 31 Essays from India (Orient Blackswan 2025), a 2023 Yaddo Residency Fellow, and recipient of the Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction's 2nd-Place Award selected by Matt Bell, Yaga's stories and essays have appeared in One Story, Swamp Pink, River Teeth Journal, and elsewhere.
I love what The Vanishings makes of empty space, of the disappeared and disappearing, the once-longed-for, the self, the empty door. Kavi Yaga has a mighty ear and these propulsive stories grip you with lines that sing, leaving you big-eyed and better-made. --Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award Finalist --Kaveh Akbar Stories that capture the subtle erasures in women's lives . . . bringing to vivid life all the rich colors and sounds of South India. --Sheela Reddy, author of Mr. and Mrs. Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India --Sheela Reddy These eight jeweled hauntings are unsettling odes to all that is taken from us. Long after their final words, Kavi Yaga's stories lodge in your bones and catch each other's light. --Mishi Saran, author of The Other Side of Light --Mishi Saran
