I Was Alive Here Once - (Calico) by Sarah Coolidge (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"As surprising as it is unsettling--I Was Alive Here Once overflows with eerie pleasures."--Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House

Ghost stories from Korea, Yemen, Poland, Japan, Uzbekistan, Iceland, Tanzania, and Thailand

A water ghost and a forest ghost fall in love as developers destroy the only world they know. A midwife helps a jinn give birth. When an ancient tree is cut down, it unleashes a family's dark secret along with a vengeful spirit. Through eight contemporary stories exploring a range of genres, from fantasy and horror to eco-fiction and romance, this collection breathes new life into the ghost story, foregoing familiar tropes to speak to today's unique political and ecological horrors. Both lighthearted and menacing, I Was Alive Here Once will lead you into the haze where the living and the dead meet.

Review Quotes

"These Calico books are a total joy, both in form and in content. The books come in a curious trim size (or rather a couple curious trim sizes, although I think they've stabilized in their square format now after a few larger-sized volume) that fits nicely in the hand and every single one of them promises a wealth of discovery for the internationally-curious reader: Ukranian poetry, Swahili fiction, queer Brazilian stories, Latin American horror, and so much more."

--Lit Hub, "A Small Press Book We Love"

"Unbelievably exciting...These are poems to read and reread, repeating the lines as though they were a secret between yourself and the page."

--The Paris Review on Home: New Arabic Poems

"This eclectic bilingual anthology from queer Brazilian writers, both living and dead, is as expansive and full of life as the country itself...enticing and poignant."

--Publishers Weekly on Cuíer: Queer Brazil

"Visible approaches translation as an act that occurs not only between languages but also between media and disciplines...Thoughtfully curated...Past and present come together in a refreshingly collaborative spirit."

--Brooklyn Rail on Visible

"An absorbing sampler of the literary feast available in Africa's most widely spoken language, No Edges should leave readers eager to discover more Swahili writers."

--Shailja Patel, author of Migritude on No Edges

"For the women highlighted in this collection, the act of writing is one of critical defiance that gives voice to voiceless women and, further, engages in the creation of a redefined Caribbean femininity that defies patriarchal or colonial coercion....Elektrik translation operating as good translation should: as a megaphone for writers who might otherwise remain unheard in the Western canon."

--Barrelhouse on Elektrik