Collage Fiction: Selby Wynn Schwartz

Historian, academic, and writer Selby Wynn Schwartz’ collage novel, “After Sappho” was long listed for the Booker Prize in 2022. It’s a brilliant novel that “collages” the lives of various women, including the ancient Greek poet Sappho, Gertrude Stein, Isadora Duncan, Susan B. Anthony, various Italian feminists of the same time period, in addition to characters she created. It’s a beautiful example of the “collage form.”

An excerpt of the novel is on the Booker Prize page here:

For our class, we are going to read an excerpt from her more recent novella, “A Life in Chameleons”:

‘Il Camaleonte’ by Selby Wynn Schwartz

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