Myriam profile picture

Myriam

Enter Dahlia Season, a world of trannies, tics, and tortillas: Coming in May...

About Me


MySpace Layouts
Praise for Myriam Gurba and Dahlia Season:
Winner of the Edmund White Award
Shortlisted for Lambda Literary Award
An "All Girl Action" Notable Book 2007
Q Syndicate Top 10 Fiction Book for 2007
Best Short Fiction on The Latinidad List, a roundup of 2007’s best Latino books
"Bursting with street language and dangerous detail, [Dahlia Season] gives equal play to the audacious, the introspective, and the comedic and [Gurba's] apparent lust for literary risk-taking fills the collection with twists and shocks, jolting the reader with unexpected instances of violence, sex, cruelty, or honesty...[This collection] may become a touchstone for aspiring queer writers looking for their culture within the pages of a book as well as the impetus to get their own freaky lives into print."
Michelle Tea for the San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Finally, a book about high school weirdos that doesn't feature outcasts pining to be in the popular crowd...fresh...hilarious."
Bust
"In honest prose peppered with sardonic humor, Gurba transforms her misfits into people who...are not much different from the rest of the world...a strong, sincere literary voice."
Daniel Olivas for El Paso Times
"[E]xplosive...Dahlia Season [is] for all of us, in our manifest weirdness."
Venuszine
"Myriam Gurba's sensual, precise prose is addictive. The four short stories that open Dahlia Season seduce and hit hard...This collection lavishes love, recognition, and respect on anyone with Tourette's or other behavior disorders; it also kicks down relief and acceptance for the parts in all of us that misbehave."
Bitch
“A fresh, edgy voice.”
The Advocate
"Gurba is obviously a fearless writer, who is willing to chart new terrain...[her] collection provides a glimpse into a truly original collection of characters and their lives."
Lambda Book Report
"Comic and warm and redemptive."
The Austin Chronicle
“Stunning...[With] her frank, moody prose, [Gurba] manages to take an almost ludicrously specific set of circumstances and make them feel universal.”
Portland Mercury News
"Captivating...[Gurba has] genetic artistry in her blood."
Dot Newsmagazine
"Dahlia Season is an angry, amped up, visceral playground."
Oxford Town
"Fierce...so different and real."
La Gente de Aztlan (UCLA)
"[Desiree Garcia is] an endearingly weird young lesbian, and a delightful avatar for contemporary queer heroines in immigrant-nation America...Gurba’s debut collection is caustic, observant, and a comic dazzler."
Richard Labonte for Book Marks
"Freud would be twitching in his grave if he got his hands on Myriam Gurba's Dahlia Season...[Her] Chicano/a teenage characters are fleshed out, believable people, each of them imperfect and beautiful in some way. These gender-bending stories are gritty and edgy, packed with tender and humorous moments throughout."
tatiana de la tierra for REFORMA
“Definitely a writer to watch out for.”
Books to Watch Out For
"Masterful...Anyone with an appreciation for honest, humorous, true-to-life writing will adore Dahlia Season."
Girlistic
“Myriam Gurba is a writer in love with the world. Her stories breathe with a rare innocence that only comes with a desire that is sure-footed and bravely aware of its place within the world-a revelation.”
Bett Williams, author of Girl Walking Backwards and The Wrestling Party
“Scrupulously honest and suffused with suspense, Myriam Gurba’s tales are like Russian nesting dolls, each revealing a subculture within a subculture. Dahlia Season is the kind of book that forever changes the way you view the world.”
Marc Acito, author of How I Paid for College
"Gurba rocks the Latina goth undercover-teenage-dyke world with a spirit of ferociousness, outrage, sultriness, pure punk rebellion, and joy."
Matthue Roth, author of Never Mind the Goldbergs
"Dahlia Season is a fantastic book filled with stories of sexy badass girls we rarely get to see in literature."
Ali Liebegott, author of The IHOP Papers
"Fantastic...[Gurba's] got a voice all her own. A must-read."
Zoe Trope, author of Please Don't Kill the Freshman
"Leaves you hungry for her first novel."
Editor Marcela Landres

My Interests

RABBITS, Neurological "disorders," maladie des tics, L'hopital Salpêtrière, Trastorno obsesivo compulsivo, Words, Books, Mammals both marine and terrestrial, Thrifting, Reading fiction and non, Art that costs less than $20, White Trash Ethnography, Snooty photography, DIY, Soft arts & crafts, Education, Linguistics, Primatology, Anthropology, Forensic Science, Slavic pride, Guadalajara, Regional histories and lore, Tagger krews, Queerness, Lemki people of Poland, Indie Publishers, Confessional poetry, Deer, Does, Bucks, Tattoos, Little people, my Mexican geneaology, Nordic names, Dueling unicorns, Mark Ryden, Liz McGrath, Saelee Oh

I'd like to meet:

Morrissey and the guy who cut Elizabeth Short in half. I also would like to someday sit down to a celestial dinner with my dearly departed fellow legionnaries: Howard Hughes, Samuel Johnson, Andre Malraux, Gilles de la Tourette, Charcot, Itard, La Marquise de Dampierre or the "Cursing Marquise," Tesla, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Music:

The Kooks, Morrissey, Morrissey, The Smiths, Morrissey, The Smiths, Morrissey, Moz, Morrissey, The Shins

Movies:

For starters, stuff by Todd Solondz, Harmony Korine, John Waters, Billy Wilder, and campy things like Mommy, Dearest. ..aries like Stoked are rad. Gator was a bad man.

Television:

Junk food reality shows. My current addiction is Charm School starring the Flavorettes...

Books:

Carson McCullers' Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Michelle Tea's memoirs, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, James Ellroy's LA Noir, Matthue Roth's Yom Kippur a Go-Go, Oliver Sacks' Neurological Studies, Amy Wilensky's Passing for Normal, Jennifer Traig's Devil in the Details, Trinie Dalton's Wide-Eyed, Felicia Luna Lemus' Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties, Barbara Gowdy's short stories, T Cooper's Lipshitz 6..., Ali Liebegott's The IHOP Papers, Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat books, Emily Colas' Just Checking, Bett Williams' The Wrestling Party, Alice Sebold's Lucky, Fred Penzel's guides to understanding OCD spectrum disorders

Heroes:

TJ my wusband, mom, dad, abuelita, Paul Reubens, Morrissey, Amy Sedaris, Dan, folks from Wednesday night knitting circle, open-minded doctors and clinicians, Al Shapiro, Oliver Sacks, Fred Penzel, Professor Bob Brentano (R.I.P.), rabbit rescuers

My Blog

Sister Spit/Bob Barker/Dead Rabbits

Today was super sad. I had to turn down an invite to go on the road with Sister Spit during the fall. I've got work stuff that's impossible to sort out which makes this a big time bummer. I really, re...
Posted by Myriam on Thu, 17 May 2007 09:03:00 PST

Schyek Neolitu I Wczesna Epoka Brazu W Polsce srodkowowschodniej: Materiay Z Konferencji

The subject header is the title of a book my uncle wrote. It translates to "The French Suck Poontang." J/k. "The French Suck Poontang" is actually a delightful bit of graffiti I found etched onto a de...
Posted by Myriam on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 08:41:00 PST

Open House/TS Interview/Like Son reading

Last week I had Open House. I cleaned my classroom, put up some brightly colored student work, and set out a leviathan bowl of candy as a distraction. All the parents were very nice to me. None of the...
Posted by Myriam on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:06:00 PST

Pacific Northwest

I went to Portland and Seattle to read at Powell's and University Books. These events officially kicked off my Dahlia Season tour. I was in a diseased haze the whole time I was in the Pacific Northwes...
Posted by Myriam on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:45:00 PST

Powell's Essay

I'm really proud to have an essay up on the Powell's site. Kevin, one of my publishers, wrangled me the spot. The essay is about my book and about my conditions: OCD and Tourette's. I was diagnosed wi...
Posted by Myriam on Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:01:00 PST

A Father's Wisdom

My dad is always happy to dispense advice. I asked him for some 'cause we're thinking of getting a new car, and here are a few things he shared with me: "You don't need GPS. When was the last time yo...
Posted by Myriam on Mon, 19 Mar 2007 05:49:00 PST

Bitch Mag/Koo's/Rad Blurb

Yesterday, I went down to Border's at the Pike to pick up the new copy of Bitch Magazine. Manic D placed an ad for Dahlia Season in it and it's great and amazing. I feel so funny having an ad. Really ...
Posted by Myriam on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:43:00 PST

Anna Nicole Smith/Bett Williams/Pineapple

Yesterday, I did a lot of book chores in the city (LA). I hit a bunch of bookstores and talked up the book and at Y-Que, the store famous for making the Free Winona shirt, me and TJ found an awesome A...
Posted by Myriam on Tue, 06 Mar 2007 05:50:00 PST

Wicked and Dahlia Season Tour Stuff

I saw Wicked today, and I really liked it. Thanks Jenna. My favorite characters were the flying monkeys. I wish I had one. My students love my new Patty Hearst poster. It's above my desk. I wish some...
Posted by Myriam on Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:02:00 PST

Reading Today and dahliaseason.com

Reading today in Beverly Hills at Backstage Cafe and Bar 9433 Brighton Way, B.H. @3:30. Yay! dahliaseason.com went live today! Yay!
Posted by Myriam on Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:45:00 PST