On Monday, The New Yorker published the most anticipated listicle of the year: the 20 under 40 list, a grab bag of the best fiction writers under 40 in the country. It's a veritable who's that of the literary world, which includes such noted page-turners as David Bezmozgis and famous wife Nicole Krauss.
And, there's also Karen Russell, a local girl we profiled two years ago.
How big a deal is this? Well, we've wondering for a while if this merited a post, or not. After all, it's not even trending. Does Miami care about who's on that list? Seems like people outside don't.
Let's call this an experiment: if this post doesn't attract those page views, we'll assume Magic City would rather hear Disco Rick's top 40 strippers under 20 list. Frankly, that's a list we'd climb over a paywall to see.
But back to Karen Russell. The 27-year-old is a graduate of Coral Gables Senior High School, whose other notable alumni include Jimmy Arguello, a dancer on So You Think You Can Dance, and Paul Jennings Hill, the first person to be executed for killing an abortion provider. Go Cavaliers!
Her stories bear some of that trademarked technicolor South Florida wackiness. "I see a couple of my stories as set on some imaginary key," Russell said in 2006, listing Dave Barry, the Everglades, wild parrots, torrential downpours and "Dr. Seussical foliage" as her inspirations.
She's currently at work on her next novel, which is set in the Everglades and is tentatively called Swamplandia. Gators can also be proud that University of Florida alum Chris Adrian made is one of the chosen top 20 under 40.
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