Our final episode of our fifth season is a special holiday episode. It's part of a continuing series we like to call "Found Fiction." We present a story first published in 1903: "The Fur Coat: The Story of a Matrimonial Difference" by Ludwig Fulda. It was discovered on Project Gutenberg in an anthology published in 1907 by P. F. Collier & Son - The third volume in a series titled Short Story Classics, which was devoted to international fiction, gathering together stories from one featured country in each book.

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Nebraska author Anna Monardo joins me to talk about her books After Italy: A Family Memoir of Arranged Marriage and The Courtyard of Dreams (both from Bordighera Press). She reveals the unique connection shared by these books - one CNF and the other fiction - and the writer's journey that made them both possible.

https://annamonardo.com/

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Author Vishwas R. Gaitonde started life in India, and then made his way to England and finally the US, having lived in many states before settling in North Carolina. His short story collection On Earth As It Is In Heaven won the 2023 Orison Prize for fiction, and was published by Orison Books in 2025. We read "The Wrath of Allah," a story from On Earth As It Is In Heaven that was first published in The MacGuffin.

https://www.vishwasgaitonde.com/

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Author Ian Forth divides his time between Bordeaux, France and Wales. His debut story collection Hazlitt and the Mobility Scooter (Hard Travelling Books) was released this year. He's also a memoirist, with two published titles: Water Under the Bridge: Recollections from an Only Life, and Canal Conversations: Cycling on the Canal des Deux Mers. We read "Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright," which was first published in Syncopation Literary Journal.

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Wisconsin author Michael Hopkins is an award-winning writer whose debut collection Never Stop Exiting (Cornerstone Press) was released this year. It has been called "stealthily complex and persistently compassionate" by Phong Nguyen, author of Bronze Drum. We read "Foreclosure," a story from the collection.

https://www.michaelhopkinswriter.com/

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Washington DC author Lauren D. Woods discusses her debut collection The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe, winner of the 2024 Autumn House Fiction Prize, with her husband and SST alum Andrew Bertaina (Ep. 10). We read her story "Clementine," which was first published in The Antioch Review.

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Missouri author David Haynes's long-awaited debut story collection Martha's Daughter has finally arrived after seven novels and five books for young readers. It is the sixth volume in McSweeney's OF THE DIASPORA series. SST alum Stanley Stocker (Ep. 42) interviews David about his life and work, and we read "That's Right, You're Not From Texas," which was first published in the anthology The Story Behind the Story: 26 Stories by Contemporary Writers and How They Work (W. W. Norton).

https://hayneswrites.com/

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In her debut collection Some Final Beauty and Other Stories (University of Nevada Press), California author Lisa Alvarez writes about her home town of Los Angeles with deep affection. These compelling stories chronicle lives that are indelibly affected by pivotal moments in the history of the city and of the world beyond, honoring the courageous people who chose to fight for peace, justice and civil rights.

https://www.lisaalvarez.com/

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