Imaginary Museums

In this collection of compact fictions, Nicolette Polek transports us to a gently unsettling realm inhabited by disheveled landlords, a fugitive bride, a seamstress who forgets what people look like, and two rival falconers from neighboring towns. They find themselves in bathhouses, sports bars, grocery stores, and forests in search of exits, pink tennis balls, licorice, and independence. Yet all of her beautifully strange characters are possessed by a familiar and human longing for connection: to their homes, families, God, and themselves. • A truly Soft Skullian debut voice, Polek is for fans of Jen George's The Babysitter at Rest, Juliet Escoria's Juliet the Maniac, or Yukiko Motoya's The Lonesome Bodybuilder, as well as for readers who love the writing of Leonora Carrington, Diane Williams, May-Lan Tan, Noy Holland, Amelia Gray, or Angela Carter

• Imaginary Museums is a collection of stories set in both the American Midwest and Eastern Europe. These stories explore weirdness and melancholy, wonderment and entrapment

• Heartland Fall Forum appearance and ARC giveaway

• Special focus on outreach in greater Washington, D.C., area, where the author is located

• Lexile Measure: 980L