WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU WEIRDER (paperback)

Kirsten Reneau received her MFA from the University of New Orleans and lives in the city there. Her work has been anthologized in collections such as “Best Microfiction of 2021” and “The Great Pause: Rearview 2020.” She has been nominated for various prizes and was the winner of the 2021 Reed Magazine Challenge in Nonfiction. She is also the author of “Meeting Gods in Basement Bars and Other Ways to Find Forgiveness” (Ethel Press) and the forthcoming full-length collection, “Sensitive Creatures” (Belle Point Press).

"In ‘What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Weirder,' Kirsten Reneau weaves tales of the strange and fantastical. A story about earthworms nostalgic for lost arms blends seamlessly into ruminations on crying trees. Kirsten's book feels like a gut punch, in the best way. Underneath the weird, there is a tenderness and longing for closeness that the reader can almost touch." 

— Kimberly Wolf, poet and author of “How the Frogs Get Married”

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s the greatest book of them all? Answer: Kirsten Reneau’s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Weirder,’ and it’s not even close. No other book will make you laugh and cry and go: 'Oh damn! Why do you gotta call me out like that?!' in 0-60 seconds. ‘WDKYMYW' is a way of life and you should adopt it immediately."  

— Shawn Berman, author of “Mr. Funnyman" and Editor of The Daily Drunk