ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Johanna Stoberock is the author of the novels Pigs (Forthcoming, Red Hen Press, September 2019) and City of Ghosts (W.W. Norton). Her short stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including Better: Culture & Lit, The Wilson Quarterly, Copper Nickel, Front Porch, and the 2014 Best of the Net Anthology. A 2012 Jack Straw Fellow and 2013 Artist Trust GAP awardee, Johanna has received residencies from the Corporation of Yaddo, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Millay Colony. She lives in Walla Walla, Washington with her husband and two children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In her exquisite new novel, PIGS by Johanna Stoberock (Red Hen Press, October 1, 2019, Paperback Original), a fable for adults, readers visit a desert island populated by giant pigs, parentless children and a few villainous and greedy adults, exploring what happens when the systems in place to dispose of the things we throw away break down.

Four children sort all the world’s trash that washes ashore and feed it to the pigs, but when a barrel arrives with a boy inside, the children must decide whether he is more of the world’s detritus, meant to be fed to the pigs, or whether he is one of them.

Examining questions about community, environmental responsibility, and the possibility of innocence, PIGS asks us to look at the trash we create, the things we throw away without thinking, and how to dispose of it all in a time when the world’s recycling programs are being threatened, refugees are turned away at borders, and climate change is inevitable.