Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Winner, 2025 Fred Kerner Book Award
Award–winning author Jen Currin presents remarkable and sometimes magical new stories of queer friendship and love, against the backdrop of city life.
The stories in Disembark feature queer characters navigating new worlds, new circumstances, and new methods of relating to the people around them. With resonant imagery and clear, lyrical prose, Jen Currin weaves vibrant narratives showcasing queer relationships—be they platonic, romantic, or somewhere in between. A banshee shacks up with a lesbian couple in a rocky relationship, a lonely teen is gifted a knife by their mother’s boyfriend, a queer woman finds herself heartbroken when her best friend fails her at a crucial moment, and a young alcoholic hashes things out with their mother in the afterlife. In modes both realist and fantastic, the profound and eloquent stories in Disembark provide a glimpse into the unexpected, offering insight into the ways we relate in this world and in worlds beyond.
"Disembark is profoundly resonating, sometimes humorous, but always satisfying in its astonishing, fantastical scenarios. Currin is a remarkable writer whose stories examine how characters navigate the unexpected and find new meaning and emotion in places where us ordinary mortals dare not go. A terrific collection." — Lindsay Wong, author of The Woo-Woo and Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality
"Disembark is a deliciously sensual collection of stories. From haunted love to the last gasp of the patriarchy, each tale is imaginative and compelling—like watching the queerest season of Black Mirror. How does Currin do it? How can a chronicle of such achingly human complexities still feel like a heart salve? Shhh, friends, just read on!" — Carleigh Baker, author of Last Woman and Bad Endings
“Nimble, irreverent … [Currin delivers] results that are delightful and artful and clever.” — EVENT Magazine
“Readers are fortunate: these stories not only chronicle our despair, but also gesture towards what lies beyond.” — British Columbia Review
“With profound insight, Currin’s writing draws readers into the spaces of human connection as we meet characters falling in and out of love and friendship. Through these unique stories, Disembark illustrates the universal complexities of intimacy and Currin is able to capture the nuances of multifaceted relationship dynamics.” — West Trade Review