Megan Mayhew Bergman presents Birds of a Lesser Paradise ($15.00). A beautifully written, hugely appealing collection from a writer to watch, Birds of a Lesser Paradise examines how women’s choices and relationships are shaped, mitigated, and inspired by the pull of our biology. Stories unfold in roadside zoos, urban gardens, prison farms, endangered lemur centers, southern swamps, and, of course, veterinary clinics. Like the writer herself, these female characters confront evolving roles, maternal instincts, the loss of parents, and the sweet burden of caretaking.
Megan Mayhew Bergman grew up in Rocky Mount, NC and attended Wake Forest University. She has graduate degrees from Duke University and Bennington College. Her stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and New Stories from the South and have appeared in numerous journals including Ploughshares, Oxford American, One Story, and Narrative. She lives in Shaftsbury, VT with her veterinarian husband, two daughters, three dogs, four cats, one horse, and several goats and chickens.
