Cyn Vargas
Born:
Connection to Illinois: Vargas lives in Chicago. Biography: Cyn Vargas is an accomplished author and faculty member in short fiction at StoryStudio Chicago. Her short story collection, "On The Way," has garnered rave reviews from notable publications such as Shelf Awareness, Library Journal, Heavy Feather Review, and Necessary Fiction. The book has received several accolades, including being named one of Book Scrolling's Best Short Story Collections of All Time and earning recognition from Chicago Book Review and the Chicago Writers Association. Cyn's writing has been featured in esteemed literary magazines including Split Lip Magazine, Word Riot, Chicago Reader Fiction Issue, Allium Magazine, and Hypertext Magazine, among others. She has been honored as a Top 25 Finalist and received Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers contests. Additionally, Cyn's work was selected as a Symphony Space Selected Short and was produced live on stage and made available as a podcast. Beyond her writing accomplishments, Cyn is an esteemed member of the literary community. She serves on the Curatorial Board for the Ragdale Foundation and holds a position on the Board of Directors for Hypertext Studio. In recognition of her teaching excellence, she was voted Stories Matter Foundation's 2022 Instructor of the Year. Cyn holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago and takes great pride in her heritage as a first-generation American with El Salvadoran and Guatemalan roots.
Awards:
- Nothing's Ever the Same Starred Review - Booklist
- On the Way Best Short Story Collections of All Time, Book Scrolling; Top 5 Fiction Books by Chicago Authors, NewCity Lit; Chicago's Favorite Books of 2015, Chicago Book Review; Honorable Mention, 2015 Book of the Year, Chicago Writers Association; 11 Short Story Collections Your Book Club Will Love, Bustle;
Web: https://www.cynvargas.com
WorldCat: http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Cyn++Vargas
Selected Titles
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Nothing's Ever the Same (New Chicago Classics, 9) ISBN: 1948954877 OCLC: 1433630386 Tortoise Books 2024 Itzel’s 13th birthday party starts in just about the unluckiest way possible—with her dad having a heart attack. In those frantic moments, the piñata and the frosted sheet cake and the Styrofoam cups of orange soda are forgotten; the day’s highlights end up being CPR, an ambulance ride, and angioplasty. But when her father gets home from the hospital, his problems are far from over—and Itzel’s are just getting started. Nothing’s Ever the Same chronicles a young girl’s coming of age in Chicago—growing up as her family grows apart. In masterful fashion, Cyn Vargas gives us a touching and memorable and universal story about a marriage on the brink and a teenager looking for love. It's a short book that packs a wallop; it’s also a beautiful meditation on dysfunction and forgiveness, and all the times in life to which we can never return. The New Chicago Classics are a disparate set of titles united around a common theme: showcasing the city's up-and-coming literary talents as they produce enduring works. These excellent titles are destined to stand in the first rank of literature about the second city. |
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On the Way: Stories ISBN: 1948954559 OCLC: 1268130769 Tortoise Books 2021 Cyn Vargas's debut explores the whims and follies of the heart. When a mother disappears in Guatemala, her daughter refuses to accept she's gone; a divorced DMV employee falls in love during a driving lesson; a young girl shares a well-kept family secret; a bad haircut is the last straw in a crumbling marriage. This elegant and lovely set of stories by a master of the craft won widespread praise in its first printing; this revised new edition promises to bring her work to the wider audience she deserves. Join us on this trip from the frozen north to the tropical south, and through the hopes and fears and dreams and visions that keep us cycling through new destinations and old. |