Laura Moriarty

Laura Moriarty received her master’s degree from the University of Kansas and was awarded the George Bennett Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy. She is the author of The Center of Everything, The Rest of Her Life, and forthcoming in August 2009, While I'm Falling.

Late last month I asked her what she was reading. Her reply:

I'm currently reading Living With Saints by Mary O'Connell. It's an amazing collection of short stories, all connected by the clever idea of alluding to the lives of Catholic saints while narrating the struggles and griefs of modern young women. I wouldn't recommend it to conservative Catholics (the first story is about a pregnant teen making her way through protesters to get an abortion), but the larger themes of connection and compassion for the suffering will appeal to fans of Flannery O'Connor. I just love the way Mary O'Connell writes. Her heroines are funny and tough, and the pages turn themselves.

Visit Laura Moriarty's website.

Among the advance praise for While I'm Falling:

“While I’m Falling deftly captures the moment a child realizes that growing up means being responsible for your parents’ mistakes—and preventing yourself from making the same ones. Laura Moriarty keeps getting better and better.”
—Jodi Picoult, author of Handle with Care

See which book most influenced Laura Moriarty's life.

The Page 99 Test: The Rest of Her Life.

--Marshal Zeringue