The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County has awarded Carol Solomon an FY21 Artists and Scholars Grant to publish her recent short fiction collection Substitutes:  Tales of Love, Loss, and Ghosts, which has particular resonance during this time of Covid-19.  The collection, scheduled for publication in Fall 2020, features fifteen stories, seven of which have been previously published in literary magazines.  Time passes, yet our love, loss, and ghosts linger–sometimes trapping us in our sadness, sometimes offering a path forward.  

I have been writing extensively during this time of the virus, some of which I have self-published on Facebook.  Persimmon Tree just selected one of my favorite short pieces–“Under the Cherry Blossoms”–for its special issue Love in a Time of Corona.  For diversion and inspiration, I urge you to read the short prose pieces and magnificent poetry selected for this issue.

Pen-in-Hand, the literary journal of the Maryland Writers Association, has published “Thief,” a short story about a young boy with an obsession for Skittles and the CVS clerk who catches him stealing.  The July 2019 journal is available from Amazon and at the MWA site by clicking the story title.

“Passover Pilgrimage” appeared online in the May 2019  Jewish Literary Journal.  Foods and places evoke memories of Passover spanning fifty years.

In “The Fixer,” registrar Louise Krauss, who has a talent for repairing students’ lives, faces a situation that defies easy fixing.  Carol will read from “The Fixer” at the Bethesda Magazine Awards Ceremony on April 26, 2019.  To read the entire story, see the Winning Works page.

In my latest short fiction, “Playoffs,” Stone and Becca face off, as the Caps fight for their lives in the NHL playoffs.

“Sheara’s Beautiful People” and “Driving Aunt Dellie” have been honored by the writing contests sponsored by Bethesda Magazine and the Bethesda Urban Partnership.  Both works appear on the Bethesda Urban Partnership website and the Bethesda Magazine website   In the short story “Sheara’s Beautiful People,” two lives intersect in an unexpected way at the local hair salon.  In the essay “Driving Aunt Dellie,” a trip to the cemetery becomes a family reunion.

Both works can also be found under the category “Winning Works” on this website.

The Montgomery Writes Contest, sponsored by Montgomery Magazine and Novel Books, just named “A Recipe for Tzimmes” third-prize winner for Creative Non-Fiction.  This memoir piece explores the significance of a baffling recipe for tzimmes, a beloved dish at our family seders.  To see more, click other publications at www.carolwsolomon.com.

“Wading in the Water” was recently published in the July 2017 issue of Pen-in-Hand, the literary journal of the Maryland Writers Association.  Wading in the Water” is the third story in the Poolesville trilogy, which focuses on White’s Ferry and the ferry store.  In this story, Elsie pulls Mo from the Potomac River and attempts to salvage two stunted lives.  You can read my story online at the Pen-in-Hand website or in hard copy from Amazon.