Today on the site we’re taking a look inside a new anthology, All the Love Under the Vast Sky, edited by Kip Wilson and releasing tomorrow from Nancy Paulsen Books! Here’s the gist:
Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the highs and lows of love – romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love.
Love can be many things – all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every reader with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.
With the turn of a page, get swept away by unexpected love blooming between two princes from enemy Mesoamerican nations in the 15th century, who’d rather make music rather than war; cheer for a timid bearded lady who was shunned by her family and runs away to find belonging and safety at the circus during the 1800s experience the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a beloved pet; breathlessly watch a myth unfold as a siren bound to the water falls in love with a winged forest spirit, their love seemingly impossible from the start. Root for a girl who emerges from grief and battles with chronic pain to discover how to love herself and life again.
Love is complicated, and this anthology embraces the messiness and the joy of all kinds of love. Contributors include:
- Alexandra Alessandri
- David Bowles
- Melanie Crowder
- Margarita Engle
- Eric Gansworth
- Robin Gow
- Mariama J. Lockington
- Laura Ruby
- Padma Venkatraman
- Jasmine Warga
- Charles Waters
- Kip Wilson
And here are a few words from the authors of the collection’s queer stories!
From Robin Gow, about “All for Annie”:
All for Annie is about a bearded lady and her found family at a circus during the 1800s. I’ve always been fascinated by stories about bearded ladies because I have PCOS, which is a condition a lot of bearded ladies are speculated to have had. Historical accounts of bearded ladies usually focus on their roles as caretakers for other performers exploited by the circuses, so in All For Annie, I wanted to imagine a woman who performed as a bearded lady getting to be the center of the story and maybe even get a little romantic love too.
From David Bowles, about “Borrowed Blossoms”:
In the 1400s, two rival nations dominated what’s now Central Mexico: the Triple Alliance of Anahuac, which we today call the Aztec Empire, and the Republic of Tlaxcallan. Nahuatl was the language of both nations, but while their cultures overlapped, they had very different views on individual freedom and … sexual orientation. Thinking about their brief attempt to reach a peace agreement during the middle of the 15th century, I imagined what would have happened if the teenage sons of leaders from each side had, against all odds and wishes of their fathers, fallen in love. And what would have happened once the boy from Tlaxcallan returned to his country? In a society without a postal system or any reasonable technology for communicating across the mountains that divided them, how would these lovers stay in touch? Then it came to me: through song. The latest poetic compositions were often carried from town to town by traveling bards who crossed borders easily.
The other way the teens might speak … was meeting on the battlefield.
When I placed those ideas side by side, the story blossomed on its own.
From Mariama J. Lockington, about “Love Bomb”:
Love Bomb is ultimately a story about familial love, self love, and mental health— how caring for a family member can sometimes feel overwhelming when coupled with a sense of duty and loyalty. It can often feel really good to be someone’s EVERYTHING— until it doesn’t and you realize you’ve lost your sense of self along the way. I wanted to explore this dymanic— a mother who is struggling to let go of her daughter and grow up, and a parentified daughter who is trying to plan for and envision a future away from the grasp of her toxic mother. When is love just simply not enough? And can it morph into something sinister when wounds are left unhealed? How does one find the courage to leave behind what no longer serves them and try something new? How does self love manifest in the face of others’ pain? These are all questions my story grapples with— told through the eyes of a teen girl just trying to thrive and survive the ghosts that haunt her family.
