The Sea Gives Up the Dead

Debut author Molly Olgun brings us The Sea Gives Up the Dead, a collection of stories sprinkled into the soil of fairy tales, left to take root and grow wild there.

'Witty, witchy, darkly brilliant' Andrea Barrett

'A wunderkammer of beauty and sorrow.' Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House

A lovesick nanny slays a dragon. The devil tries to save her mother. A girl drowns and becomes a saint. Three kids plot to blow up their dad, a grieving mother sails the sea to find her son's grave, a scientist brings a voice to life, and a mermaid falls into the power of a witch. Here, historical fiction, horror, and fantasy tangle together in a queer garden of love, grief, and longing.

Winner of Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction 2023 (United States)

“Olguín brilliantly queers more traditional tales and the conventional roles that women often play in fiction...Olguín is a transporting writer whose stories are gripping from the opening sentences to the last lines. Stories that affirm the value of truly being alive.”
—Kirkus Reviews 

"This debut short story collection bears echoes of Angela Carter and Shirley Jackson, with its dark, occasionally surreal fantasies that interweave elements of history, sci-fi and horror, fairy tales and advice columns. Dragons and mermaids, those picturebook stalwarts, make appearances in some of these stories but, then, so does a pervasive sense of dread and horror that's rather less suited to the library storytime set. This slim volume contains multitudes, in other words."

—Colin Dwyer, NPR

“I could not be more excited by this haunting, lush, genre-leaping collection—reading it, I am reminded of how I felt when I first encountered Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Gorgeously written, imaginative, startling—The Sea Gives Up the Dead is a wunderkammer of beauty and sorrow.”
—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House 

“Witty, witchy, darkly brilliant, Molly Olguín’s metamorphic tales radiate insight and intelligence, exploding into visions as fresh and surprising as those of Angela Carter or Octavia Butler, Jeanette Winterson or Kirstin Valdez Quade.”
—Andrea Barrett, author of Natural History and Ship Fever 

“A fantastical collection of stories that mix the wildness of fairy tales with horror to create otherworldly stories about love, grief, and yearning in a different way. So good!”
—Kim Brock, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH

“A mouthwatering ride of interesting twists and explosive characters. The Sea Gives Up The Dead has just the right amount of intrigue to suck you in further with each story you read.”
—Desirae Wilkerson, Paper Boat Booksellers, Seattle, WA

“The Sea Gives Up the Dead offers readers a delectable assortment of fantastical, queer, wildly inventive stories with much to say about the intersections of gender and race. If you’ve been looking for a jewel box of tales a la Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, then this is for you!”
—Austin Carter, Pocket Books Shop, Lancaster, PA

“There is no getting away from death here. However, there’s a subtlety that resonates throughout the wonderfully smooth and lithe prose that makes these tales a joy to read. Absolutely fantastic!”
—Randy Schiller, Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO

Molly Olgun is a queer writer, educator, and monster aficionado. She has stories in magazines like Quarterly West and the Normal School. She was the recipient of the Loft Mentor Series Fellowship in 2019. With Jackie Hedeman, she is the creator of the audio drama The Pasithea Powder. She teaches English and creative writing to high school students in Seattle, Washington.

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