In a state best known for its tubers and politics, a local author is always worth celebrating. But Idaho writers have long put the Gem State on the map, and we’re lucky to have authors telling stories right here in Boise today.
Local writers like Anthony Doerr have broken onto the international stage, but don’t pass up the breadth of work being written here across genres. Here are some of the best books written by Boise authors in 2023.
Novels & Other Fiction
“Delivery: A Pocho’s Accidental Guide to College, Love, and Pizza Delivery” by Tomás Hulick Baiza
“Delivery” is driven by a core question: “¿Qué tipo de persona quieres ser? What kind of person do you want to be?” and immediately rams into the ways the world pre-determines the answer to that question. This is one of my favorites on this list, and I hope you get to hear Baiza read from it in person. Much of it is inspired by the “slice of life” stories he picked up during his own time as a pizza delivery driver, and it’s as humble, complex, and hilarious as you could hope.
You can find “Delivery” at Rediscovered Books, The Lit Room, and online.
“The Last City” by H.J. Nelson
Nelson was born and raised in Idaho, and set her young adult science fiction/fantasy trilogy in a “post-apocalyptic version of Boise.” She first found success on Wattpad, and has now published this novel, its prequel “The Last She,” and expects to publish the final book next year.
Get a copy at Rediscovered Books or online.
Non-Fiction
“Audience of One: Stories of Stage, Screen, and Solitude” by Jodi Eichelberger
You may know Jodi for his puppeteering, his film work, as the program director of Surel’s Place, or as the artistic director for Story Story Night, but now you know him as an author as well!
Jodi wrote: “[Audience of One] is a collection of personal narratives inspired by experience in London as a theater student discovering myself as the only audience member at a pub theatre for what turned out to be a one man ballet of Wuthering Heights. It left quite an impression!”
You can find copies at The Lit Room and at Story Story Night (tonight!).
“In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child” by Kim Cross
I asked Boise State Public Radio’s George Prentice for his favorite books by Boise authors in 2023, and this was at the top of his list. Cross is an investigative reporter generally opposed to the true crime genre, but she somehow found herself writing this story about how the 1993 killing of Polly Klaas influenced the FBI for decades.
You can find Cross’ work online and in most stores.
Poetry
“12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle” by Heidi Kraay
Heidi is one of the most prolific and thoughtful writers in Boise. I’ve been lucky enough to hear excerpts of her new book in person, and I hope you get the chance to someday. In “12 Lifetimes,” she strings together “centuries” of images or thoughts — in lists by the hundred — to tour millennia and the briefest of experiences. It reads quickly, but will force you to slow down.
This book is available through Modern Mythographer Press.
“all good things yellow” by J. Zahn
Respect to the self-publishers! Zahn sent this work in, which is a poetry collection and memoir centered on coming out and coming-of-age. I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy yet, but I will be soon!
Zahn said that the Flying M occasionally stocks this piece, and it’s also available online.
“April” by Sara Nicholson
This is another of George Prentice’s recommendations, and I endorse it because I love another of Nicholson’s books, “The Living Method.” Nicholson is a professor at Boise State, a “reluctant mystic,” and a true poet’s poet.
All three of her poetry collections from publisher The Song Cave are available online.
