Rebecca Chace
Books
New York Times Editor’s Choice, New England Books Award Finalist, Indie Notable Book
"An irresistible read in part because its protagonist, Frankie Ross, seduces us on the first page and never surrenders our affection, but also because fictional Rock Harbor feels as real as she does."
Richard Russo, author of That Old Cape Magic and Empire Falls
Film Adaptation by Rebecca Chace and Lisanne Skyler received the Tony Cox Showtime Award for best screenplay (Short Film) at the Nantucket Film Festival in 2010.
"First novels about growing up in the seventies can be relied upon to chart a trail of fumbling sex, catholic drug appetites, and wake-up call pregnancies leading, inevitably, to a loss of innocence; Chace, however, has committed a refreshing apostasy by suggesting that innocence can be extravagantly difficult to kill off"
The New Yorker
"June Sparrow and the Million Dollar Penny is an accessible, classic tale that has plenty to say about how we find family, and how we find home. Readers of all ages will love this book."
Two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer
New York Times Editor’s Choice and Pick of Summer
"Ms. Chace describes the fear, the thrill, the catharsis of a fine performance, without self-aggrandizement or the use of cheap tricks. She achieves this through deceptively simple description, in the voice of a professional. Here, for instance, she looks back on her first performance: "I rushed some of the moments, not allowing the audience enough time to applaud. You have to stop very clearly in the circus and acknowledge them in order to give them permission to acknowledge you. Later, I learned to lengthen and enjoy these moments."
New York Times Book Review
Recent Work
Selected Essays:
Outside the Frame, an interview with artist Massinissa Selmani for Two Coats of Paint
Books and Maps and Getting Lost, an art review and essay for Two Coats of Paint
We are Committing Suicide as a Species, a conversation with Ariel Dorfman for the L.A. Review of Books
A House Made of Books, the books my parents left behind, for Bookpost
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, a reflection on the classic novel on Bookpost USA
The Vixen, by Francine Prose, my review of the novel for BookPost
And Finally I'll Say Goodbye remembering my mother, Jean Valentine, for the Yale Review
Two Coats of Paint interview with artist Julie Heffernan.
The City We Became A review of the novel by N.K. Jemisin for Book Post
#Campus Clear A short essay on teaching in the time of Covid from Scoundrel Time Magazine
Writing the Virus: an anthology of writings in the time of Covid from StatORec Magazine
An interview with editors of StatORec Magazine in the Brooklyn Rail
"The View from My Bed" A meditative essay on life in the time of Covid for Scoundrel Time magazine
"Mask and Gloves" a consideration of the present moment, Spring 2020, for StatORec
Reflections on Wyoming and Gretel Ehrlich for Bookpost USA
The legendary downtown performer, Edgar Oliver, for The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Looking for Katalin Street" on Magda Szabo’s novel for Guernica Magazine
“Regarding the Pain of Trump” On Susan Sontag and Donald Trump The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Why Three Generations of My Family Are Marching in Washington,” in LitHub
“Looking for Robinson Crusoe,” memoir, The Literary Review
“Three Books Explore the Minds Behind Movie Magic” on NPR’s All Things Considered
“The Scale of the Beast” an essay which grew out of my research on taxidermy and dioramas for The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Mapping the Belly of the Whale” an essay on teaching creative writing in prison for The Common Magazine
New York Times Obituaries:
Video Links and Events:
House of Speakeasy at Joe's Pub: An evening of acclaimed writers telling stories about their work. I was part of their first LIVE show in two years. Check it out.
Mini Desk Tour for BookPost: A writerly tour of my workspace at the artists residency in Italy, Civitella Ranieri, for BookPost.
You Speak by Jean Valentine: My reading of a poem by my late mother in The Night Heron Barks.
#Still Here with StatORec
Rebecca Chace at the Bryant Park Reading Room
Writerly States: A Series of Interviews on the Writing Process
Check out the podcast of my reading with NoYOU TellIt (episode 48)
Simon and Schuster author interview for "Leaving Rock Harbor"
Bio
Rebecca Chace is the award-winning author of Leaving Rock Harbor (novel); Capture the Flag (novel); Chautauqua Summer (memoir); June Sparrow and The Million Dollar Penny (middle readers). Her fifth book, Talking to the Wolf, is forthcoming from Red Hen Press. Plays: Colette (Theatre for the New City, NYC, 1993); The Awakening (adaptation of the novel by Kate Chopin) premier, Book-It Repertory Theatre at Seattle Rep; third production, Voices of the South, Memphis, TN. Ms. Chace adapted her novel, Capture the Flag, for the screen with director Lisanne Skyler; the Showtime Tony Cox Screenwriting Award (short film), Nantucket Film Festival. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, New York Times Sunday Book Review, the Huffington Post, The LA Review of Books, Guernica Magazine, Lit Hub, NPR’s All Things Considered and other publications. She has been awarded numerous fellowships and residencies including the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, MacDowell, Yaddo; Dora Maar House, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the American Academy in Rome(visiting artist) and many others. She is the program manager at the Institute for Writing and Thinking at Bard College and a member of the core faculty of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
