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Fragile Night
Short Fiction. Latino/a Studies. Stella Pope Duarte was born and raised in South Phoenix in the barrio of Sonorita. The world of the barrio offered her a daily pageant of characters that filled her imagination, and she began to tell stories about them even before she entered school. "It is usually a good idea when you wake up in the middle of the night to have some warm milk sprinkled on top with a little cinnamon to help you get back to sleep. That is, unless you have other reasons for staying awake, in which case the cup of milk will not help you, not one little bit." ("Fragile Night"). The stories in FRAGILE NIGHT explore the hearts and minds of women and men facing once-in-a-lifetime decisions, grappling with the consequences of flawed choices and struggling against their own weakness, fear, and anger. Duarte lives in Phoenix.
- GenresShort Stories
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Stella Pope Duarte
11 books14 followersStella Pope Duarte began her literary career in 1995 after she had a dream in which her deceased father related to her that her destiny was to become a writer.
Her first collection of short stories, Fragile Night, (Bilingual Review Press, 1997) won a creative writing fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and was named a candidate for the prestigious, Pen West Fiction Award.
In 2001 Ms. Duarte was awarded a second creative writing fellowship for her current novel, Let Their Spirits Dance. (HarperCollins, 2002). Harper Collins has described Ms. Duarte as a major, new literary voice in America.
Ms. Duarte's work has won awards and honors nationwide, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature. Let Their Spirits Dance is on the Book Sense List, and was awarded the AZ Highways Fiction Award for 2003, and nominated as a ONEBOOKAz in 2004. Ms. Duarte won the 2003 Excellence in Latino Arts & Culture Award, presented by Valle del Sol.
In 2004, she received the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award for an excerpt from her current work, If I Die in Jurez, (2008 Spring release), and in 2005 she was honored with the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award by the American Association of Community Colleges. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Ms. Duarte as a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2006, and her term will run for three years. Ms. Duarte is also on the Artists Roster for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, serving as a resident artist in creative writing for students in elementary through high school. She is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for audiences of all ages, on topics related to her work, as well as on issues related to: women's rights, culture, diversity, leadership, education, literacy, Chicano/Latino history, writing, and storytelling. Ms. Duarte was born and raised in la Sonorita Barrio in South Phoenix."
Her first collection of short stories, Fragile Night, (Bilingual Review Press, 1997) won a creative writing fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and was named a candidate for the prestigious, Pen West Fiction Award.
In 2001 Ms. Duarte was awarded a second creative writing fellowship for her current novel, Let Their Spirits Dance. (HarperCollins, 2002). Harper Collins has described Ms. Duarte as a major, new literary voice in America.
Ms. Duarte's work has won awards and honors nationwide, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature. Let Their Spirits Dance is on the Book Sense List, and was awarded the AZ Highways Fiction Award for 2003, and nominated as a ONEBOOKAz in 2004. Ms. Duarte won the 2003 Excellence in Latino Arts & Culture Award, presented by Valle del Sol.
In 2004, she received the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award for an excerpt from her current work, If I Die in Jurez, (2008 Spring release), and in 2005 she was honored with the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award by the American Association of Community Colleges. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Ms. Duarte as a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2006, and her term will run for three years. Ms. Duarte is also on the Artists Roster for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, serving as a resident artist in creative writing for students in elementary through high school. She is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for audiences of all ages, on topics related to her work, as well as on issues related to: women's rights, culture, diversity, leadership, education, literacy, Chicano/Latino history, writing, and storytelling. Ms. Duarte was born and raised in la Sonorita Barrio in South Phoenix."
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2015
Perhaps because she is a local author and the settings seem so real to me – I really enjoy Duarte's short stories. Fragile Night deals with a greater variety of subjects than her second book of short stories, Women Who Live in Coffee Shops and Other Stories, but are equally powerful, dark, sometimes gritty, depressing, heart-lifting, heart-breaking and memorable.
August 27, 2016
A beautiful sharing of a series of short stories of life experiences ubiquitous to us all but defined by the Mexican culture. Each short story was a trip through a world at once the same as my own yet through different eyes. My life long familiarity with the Mexican culture made each moment a personal remembering.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews