Citation

“With compassion and a dancer’s skill, Debra Mattson’s nonfiction makes us look deeply at the world and even more deeply at ourselves. Her work is both playful and profound — sliding between a child’s wonder at the world, to growing confusion with the pain and struggle of her body, to an adult’s wistful recollection of the past in layered, difficult complexity. Mattson’s eye is gentle but unflinching, locating hurt both external and internal and seeking not to turn away from what is difficult but instead to uncover all its shadowed secrets. This is bold writing from a relentlessly brave writer, one that we are lucky enough to call our own.”—Amanda Leduc, 2024 Nonfiction Mentor