SHANTIH contributor Melissa Grunow’s second book, I Don’t Belong Here, was published September 1 by New Meridian Arts Press. Her essay “Fire and Water” appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of SHANTIH and is also included in the book.

Named “One of the Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018,” I Don’t Belong Here is a collection narrative nonfiction essays. I Don’t Belong Here​ ruthlessly investigates alienation during moments of transit and dislocation and their impact on women’s identity. These twenty essays—ranging from conventional to lyrical to experimental in form and structure—delve into the root causes of personal uncertainty and the aftershock effects of being a woman in an unsafe world. Provocative, authentic, intimate, and uncompromising, Melissa Grunow casts light on the unspeakable: sexuality, death, mental illness, trauma, estrangement, and disillusionment with precision and fortitude.

For more information and to order a copy, visit www.melissagrunow.com.