Coal Miner's Holiday (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781889330709)

Like a seam of coal, that mineral she knows so well, Kiki DeLancey is a valuable find, and a rare one as well: the self-taught writer who seems to have sprung fully formed out of nowhere. In the pages of Coal Miner's Holiday (mining jargon for a forced layoff), DeLancey introduces us to the culture and characters of coal-mining towns bordering the Ohio River. Though she has a B.A. in political science and English, DeLancey never took a writing course, never had a writing mentor. She learned to write by reading such masters as William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson, then writing, and rewriting her own stories. And DeLancey is, first and foremost, a storyteller. She tells the stories of unseen American immigrants-Polish, Greek, Irish, and others-who worked under the earth, in the dark and dangerous heart of the heart of the country. The result is a revelatory new voice in American fiction.

Marketing Plans:
Author tour in Northeast (New York City, Boston) and areas of Kentucky and Ohio
National radio campaign
Newsletter, brochure, catalog, and postcard mailings
Advertisements in key literary and trade magazines
Reader copies available to booksellers through participation in Book Sense Advance Access Program

Born Kiki Nicolozakes, Kiki DeLancey was brought up with close ties to the Greek community, with four grandparents from the island of Crete. DeLancey spent fifteen years in the coal industry, beginning as a permit clerk and finally, as Executive V.P. of Marietta Coal Company. Her stories have been published in literary magazines since 1987. She still lives where she was born and raised, in Cambridge, Ohio, now with her husband and children, where she works part-time as an investment manager, and is at work on a new collection of stories and a novel.

Author: Kiki Delancey
ISBN-10: 1889330701
ISBN-13: 9781889330709
Publisher: Sarabande Books
Language: English
Published: 05/01/2002
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.00w x 0.65d
Award: Independent Publisher Book Awards - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/01/2002 pg. 1303
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2002 pg. 526
Publishers Weekly 04/22/2002 pg. 50
New York Times 07/14/2002 pg. 20