Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die, Harriet Richards’s acclaimed short story collection
Recently re-released in a new edition on September 30 by Shadowpaw Press Reprise
Shadowpaw Press Reprise in Regina, Saskatchewan, is thrilled to announce the release on September 30 of a new edition of Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die, the acclaimed short story collection by Harriet Richards, a finalist for Book of the Year at the 2003 Saskatchewan Book Awards.
“These ten stories summon environs and echoes from as far away as my four-year-old self, and showcase fictional versions of a few of my dearest and not-so-dear fellow travellers in life,” says Richards. “What a wonderful journey this has been to revisit these worlds and bring them to light once again.
“It’s been a joy for me to read these stories for the first time, and I’m thrilled to be able to re-introduce them to the reading public,” says Edward Willett, publisher of Shadowpaw Press. “Shadowpaw Press Reprise exists to bring out new editions of notable, previously published books. Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die is a perfect example of what the imprint was designed to return to life.”
More about Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die
Finalist, Book of the Year, 2003 Saskatchewan Book Awards
“There are forces at play so simple, natural, and accidental that nobody can figure them out and see them coming.”
In a small prairie town, a teenage girl’s unexpected pregnancy upends her family’s quiet rhythms, revealing the tender absurdities of love and loss. In shadowed ravines and forgotten sheds, a child confronts the rats of her nightmares and the fragile bonds of friendship. A boy chasing turtles and salamanders discovers the razor-thin line between joy and oblivion, while siblings navigate a mother’s surreal transformation amid whispers of art, betrayal, and unspoken curses.
In Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die, Harriet Richards weaves ten haunting tales of ordinary lives cracked open by the extraordinary―heartaches, spectral visitations, forbidden desires, and the quiet violence of human connection. From a woman’s escape from a controlling lover to a daughter’s reckoning with her mother’s final romance, these stories pulse with dark humour, poignant insight, and the raw poetry of the everyday, exploring the ties that bind―and break―us, in a world in which “there’s lots more sorrow flying around people’s heads than there is joy.”
Even though that sorrow may be heartbreaking, and occasionally horrific, the reader is constantly reminded, with the quiet, clear-eyed, and sometimes mischievous irony of Harriet Richards’s voice, that in this world―in the least likely places―we may entertain angels unawares.
Praise for Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die
Finalist, Book of the Year, 2003 Saskatchewan Book Awards
“Richards, at her best when she enters psychological terrain, maps psychic contours with chilling accuracy and eerie pulchritude . . . A piano tuner adjusts the instrument’s strings to ensure it sounds harmonious. The same might be said of Richards’s talent for creating organically unified short fictions of the first order.”—The Globe and Mail
“In Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die, Harriet Richards has once again proven her considerable skill as a writer of literary fiction. Her first book, The Lavender Child, a quiet but shimmering novel concerning three generations of one family, showcased Richards’ knack for characterization . . . the author has followed up with a collection of stories that holds its own among the best in the genre.”—Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
“While lyrical and affecting, there is nothing precious, nothing sentimental in this collection. It’s edgy fiction grounded in the flat and vast Saskatchewan landscape: the environments are expansive but the stories dig deep.”―Planet, the Welsh Internationalist
More about the author
Harriet Richards was born in Toronto, Ontario, as the fifth of seven children to a Welsh father and an American mother. Her family relocated to the prairies during her childhood. Initially pursuing a career as a visual artist, her creative focus shifted when an obstinate painting, inspired by a recurring dream, evolved into her first short story.
Richards is the author of three acclaimed works of fiction. The Lavender Child (1998) was a finalist for the Fiction Award and won the First Book Award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Die (2003) was a finalist for Book of the Year, and The Pious Robber (2013) was also a finalist for Book of the Year and won the Fiction Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary journals in Canada and Wales, and her paintings have been featured on book covers in both countries.
Richards has guided emerging writers through the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild and edited numerous works of fiction and literary essays for authors across Canada. She resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
About Shadowpaw Press
Shadowpaw Press, located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, was founded in 2018 by award-winning author Edward Willett. Shadowpaw Press is a member of Literary Press Group (Canada) and the Association of Canadian Publishers and publishes an eclectic selection of books by both new and established authors, including adult fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, nonfiction, and anthologies.
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