Larissa Shmailo

Poetry. "In these visceral wanderings into Larissa Shmailo's narratives, we venture through the teeming back alleys of Brooklyn on through the poet's labyrinthine youth until we reach the trepidatious poetic psyche of a woman who has lost in love but keeps on gambling with a strength to envy and behold. IN PARAN is not here to soothe--this is a book willing to discomfit and excite anyone who has grown too comfortable, inciting them to `forget the right answers/consult necromancers/allow the forbidden/ignore the guilt ridden/unlearn all the learning/embrace this new burning'"--Amy King.

In Paran

A Cure for Suicide

How about: Dora/Lora is a harrowing account of the Ukrainian holodomor (mass starvation of the 1930s) and the role of Ukrainian collaborators in the Nazi death camps seen through the lens of one family's experience. The personal is political in this gripping collection.

Dora / Lora

Medusa's Country

The Writing Resilience Workbook is a book of prompts specially designed for people who are affected by trauma, addiction, and/or mental illness. The prompts elicit elements of the writer's personal story. Telling one's story can be empowering and contribute to greater coping and resilience. Upon completion of the prompts, the writer may have the basis of a memoir which can be further developed. The Workbook is a companion to the Writing Resilience Workshop, but can be used as a stand-alone text.

For People Affected by Trauma, Addiction, And/or Mental Illness

Writing Resilience Workbook

Fiction. Women's Studies. "Larissa Shmailo's PATIENT WOMEN tells the story of Nora, a gifted young woman who comes of age in New York against heavy odds. Her Russian mother is demanding; the young men around her are uncaring; and her dependence on drink and sex leads her to a shadowy life filled with self- made demons. Yet Nora's intelligence pulls her through the difficult times there are even moments of (very) dark humor here. As well, an appendix of poems attributed to Nora lets us into the corners of her heart and mind." Thaddeus Rutkowski "Larissa Shmailo's novel, PATIENT WOMEN (and the title is absolutely meaningful, in so many ways), is a brutally honest wrestling match of truth-telling and sex. I had to put this book down and walk away from it more than once; it was a bit like holding a hot coal in my hands. And even though the subject matter is over the top, the writing is stylistically brilliant. Absolutely recommended " Ron Kolm "Larissa Shmailo's PATIENT WOMEN explores the intersection of mind and body, posing several compelling philosophical questions to the reader: Is gender biological or do we inscribe these social categories through our use of language? Is it possible to separate one's intellect from one's physical being? To what extent is language itself tactile and embodied? As Shmailo teases out possible answers to these questions, she utilizes a variety of literary forms, which include diary entries, appendices, poems, and vignettes. Formally adventurous and engaging, Shmailo's book is as artfully written as it is thought provoking, offering us stylistic innovation that is both daring and meaningful." Kristina Marie Darling "Christ-figures are likely to be cross-dressers in this engaging bildungsroman, which takes us on a wild ride through NYC nightclubs of the 1970's, rock-bottom blackouts, a whorehouse, and the slogan-filled rooms of recovery. Surreal and lyrical, then bawdy and riotous, then plainspoken and tragic, PATIENT WOMEN had me rooting hard for its lovable, drowning heroine to keep her head above water and let in grace." Anne Elliott "Nora, born to a holocaust survivor mother, finds herself, at the threshold of adolescence in 'boring Queens'. Lying about her age, her first transgression from her mother's iron rule, she begins a series of ill-fated attempts to put distance between herself and the familial web she so desperately wants to disentangle from. She reels from one dysfunctional relationship to another, druggies, pimps, losers and masochists, searching for her lovable self. This novel unfolds in a whirlwind that is sometimes dream, sometimes nightmare yet, at it's core, is an honest tale of one woman's coming to terms with her past in order to claim her present. Be ready to have your heart broken and then made whole." Bonny Finberg "Larissa Shmailo's newest work, PATIENT WOMEN, is an unflinching exploration of the lasting damage some people can inflict on their children. Nora, Shmailo's protagonist, evolves as she struggles to understand and heal her own self- hatred and her on-going self- destructive choices. Slogging one's way through a morass of denial and repression is a strong trope throughout this raw, honest book. Nora is fiercely vulnerable and the sympathetic hero of her own salvation. This novel is dark, but there is hope that even the pain one lives through can cause one to create, finally, lasting and beautiful art." Joani Reese"

Patient Women

Larissa Shmailo's Sly Bang is a futuristic hallucinogen of a novel that pervades your consciousness. Our heroine Nora could be the love child of Barbarella and Hunter S. Thompson if she grew up to be a telepathic FBI agent. Her story will make you wonder if all wars are truly fought on the battlefield of the psychosexual female libido. Cecilia Tan, author of Slow Surrender

Sly Bang

“This is a thrilling book of femininity and magic. When it comes to capturing the intimacy of pain, Larissa Shmailo is among the most daring poets of her generation. When speaking of human rights, she is a human flame. She is subtle and provocative, fresh and out of bounds. You will fall in love here, and you will be loved right back.” —Philip Nikolayev, editor of Fulcrum: an anthology of poetry and aesthetics

Larissa Shmailo

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