Snow in May: Stories

Acknowledgments

It would take another long short story to name every person who has helped or inspired me in some way over nearly ten years it took to write and publish this book. I remember and am eternally grateful for advice, encouragement, support, and critical insight to all of you, especially:

My amazing and generous teachers: Jennifer Vanderbes, John Reed, Darin Strauss, David Lipsky, Jonathan Lethem, E. L. Doctorow, Lawrence Weschler, Jonathan Safran Foer, as well as Deborah Landau and everyone at the NYU MFA program.

My smart and tireless early readers: Mariah Robbins, Amy Bonnaffons, Sativa January, Boris Fishman, Brock Tellier, Conor Robin Madigan, Sam Beebe, Axel Wilhite, Nitin Das Rai, and everyone in the workshops and writing groups I’ve been a part of over the years.

My excellent agents, Simon Trewin and Dorian Karchmar, as well as Zoë Pagnamenta. My astute and patient editors: Sarah Bowlin, Olly Rowse, Clare Reihill, and everyone at Henry Holt in the United States and Fourth Estate in Britain. Also, thank you for early support to the editors who published my work in literary journals: Ollie Brock, John Freeman, Ellah Allfrey, Ted Hodgkinson, Ted Genoways, Michael Koch, and Natalie Young.

The biggest gratitude and —a deep bow — goes to my family. For their support and belief in me. For hours of conversations about the beauty and horror that is Russia. To my father, for bringing me to a country where I am free to write and publish anything I want, for helping me research, and for remembering the most minute details about life in the Soviet Union. To my mother, for sharing her sharp observations about people, love, literature, and art. To my grandfather, my aunt, and my late grandmother, for sharing memories of their youth. To my sister, Maria, my brilliant partner in crime, for keeping me on my toes. And to my husband, Ben, for everything.