St. Pete Resident Wins Quill Prose Award

Chelsea Catherine won the Quill Prose Award through Red Hen Press for her novel Summer of the Cicadas. The book is scheduled for release in August of this year. It follows the narrator, Jessica, as she investigates a strange brood of seventeen-year-old Magicicadas that have infected her rural West Virginian town.

The Quill Prose Award is given annually for a short story collection, a novel, or an essay collection by a queer writer. The award was created to work against the issues that can arise from publishing under the “Gay and Lesbian” label, which can sometimes alienate authors from mainstream funding and opportunities.  

Catherine is a native Vermonter who moved to St. Petersburg in late 2018. The Cicadas book launch will take place in late August with Tombolo Books. This is her second book. She recently signed with literary agent Mary C. Moore of Kimberley Cameron & Associates to work on her third book, Blessed Be, about a coven of queer witches in the south.

The novel is out for pre-sale here: https://redhenpress.org/collections/fall-2020/products/summer-of-cicadas-by-chelsea-catherine

For more information about the author or to follow her book events, check out her website at www.chelseacatherinewriter.com.