Newswise — Babson College rhetoric instructor Michael Gerhard Martin has authored Easiest If I Had A Gun, a heartbreaking and hilarious collection of short stories published by Braddock Avenue Books.
Easiest If I Had A Gun is Martin’s first book, a semi-finalist for the Hudson Prize and a finalist for the prestigious Iowa Prize. The title comes from a line in the first story, in which a boy who is bullied brings a gun to school. That story won the James Knudsen Prize for Fiction from the University of New Orleans.
According to the publisher, “Martin’s tales give dignity and grace to adults caught in the cold grip of poverty and to their children, who struggle mightily with broken homes, bullying, racism, and the constant hum of anger, violence, and resentment that is their lives.”
Richard Hoffman, an Emerson professor and author of Love & Fury, states, “Martin can make you wince and laugh and tear-up and cringe all in the same moment. The stories in this collection map the joy and cruelty and defeat and stoic perseverance of characters who bear, in their daily lives, burdens they only partly understand but carry with resilience and dignity.”
Of his own writing, Martin says, “I often write really dark, so I also try to make my readers laugh. If you don’t laugh, you’ve probably had it too easy.”
The book is currently available at Braddock Avenue Books and on Amazon.
For info, visit http://bit.ly/1wzpC9w
About Michael Gerhard Martin
A native of rural Pennsylvania, Michael Gerhard Martin holds an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh and teaches writing for Babson College and The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. He won the 2013 James Knudsen Prize from University Prize from the University of New Orleans and Bayou Magazine for his story about bullying and gun violence, Shit Weasel Is Late For Class. His fiction has been shortlisted for the Hudson Prize, The Nelligan Prize, and the Iowa Short Fiction & John Simmons Prizes. His work has appeared in Bayou Magazine, The Ocean State Review, Junctures, and on Salon.com.
About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society—while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu
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