Kim Suhr, Heidi Bell

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Adam Burke

A close-up of Heidi Bell.

Heidi Bell

Kim Suhr and Heidi Bell, two authors with Madison ties, are celebrating the publication of their short story collections by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Cornerstone Press (which is one of five undergraduate, student-staffed presses in the country). Both titles feature tales set in the Midwest, and they experiment with form and highlight unconventional subject matter and point of view. Suhr’s Close Call: Stories features storytelling by text messages and emails, play scripts, social media posts and even an obituary. Meanwhile, the characters in Bell’s Signs of the Imminent Apocalypse and Other Stories are yearning for answers or, in some cases, simply relief.

media release: Kim Suhr and Heidi Bell in Conversation

In her latest collection of short fiction, CLOSE CALL, Kim Suhr experiments with form—redefining story through text messages and emails, play scripts, social media posts, and even an obituary. These stories unveil emotion in tight spaces, hearts in turmoil, and the searching soul of the Midwest. Maggie Ginsberg, author of STILL TRUE, says, "There's not a single wasted page."

Kim Suhr holds an MFA in fiction from the Solstice Program in Boston, where she was the Dennis Lehane Fellow. She is originally from Madison. Now she writes and works in Southeastern Wisconsin. CLOSE CALL is her second collection.

The Midwestern men and women, girls and boys who populate Heidi Bell’s SIGNS OF THE IMMINENT APOCALYPSE AND OTHER STORIES are united by a yearning—for answers or simply for relief—that is often twisted by their baser impulses. Often unconventional in subject matter, form, or point of view, these stories examine the human condition with lyricism, humor, and searing clarity.

Heidi Bell got her bachelor’s degree from UW–Madison and went on to get her MFA in fiction from Western Michigan University. SIGNS OF THE IMMINENT APOCALYPSE is her first book.

Both Kim’s and Heidi’s day jobs involve helping other writers—Kim as the director of Red Oak Writing and Heidi as an editor of books and educational products.