The Archivists Stories
The Archivists Stories by Daphne Kalotay, published by Northwestern University Press on April 15, 2023, is a collection of short stories that explores the lives of everyday characters facing personal losses and historical upheavals. With 231 pages, this edition presents a vibrant narrative that captures the connections and liberations found in unexpected moments, reflecting on events such as the 2008 economic crash and the fallout from the 2016 presidential election.
Readers will encounter a range of deeply moving stories that ingeniously address themes of identity, history, and memory. The characters include a hardheaded realist confronted with mortality, a thirteen-year-old girl navigating the corporate world of 1950s Toronto, and a ninety-nine-year-old woman who seems invincible. Through these narratives, Kalotay delves into the absurdities and catastrophes of life, offering insights into the shared human experience in an off-kilter world.
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Winner of the 2021 Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction
Longlisted for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
Longlisted for the 2024 Massachusetts Book Award
The characters in The Archivists are everyday people, but when private losses or the shocks of history set their worlds reeling, they find connection and liberation in surprising, buoyant ways. Winner of the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, this vibrant collection brings transcendence, wry humor, and a touch of the uncanny to life’s absurdities and catastrophes—whether the 2008 economic crash, fallout after the 2016 presidential election, gentrification, pandemic lockdown, illness, or the intergenerational impacts of the Holocaust and Communist occupation of Eastern Europe.
A hardheaded realist is confronted by both her mortality and a would-be wizard. A thirteen-year-old girl in 1950s Toronto infiltrates the ranks of Bell Canada. A ninety-nine-year-old woman appears to be invincible. A group hikes in Germany, and a solitary woman is pursued on a walk in New Mexico. These deeply moving stories ingeniously consider issues of identity, history, and memory and our shared search for meaning in an off-kilter world.
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