Bold and biting, /CUTS redefines what the novella is and what it can do, opening new doors of possibility. At its heart is Columbian protagonist Lucía Nieto's secret struggle with addiction—her father's and her own. Having relocated to Madrid, Lucia breaks down, each splinter of her identity and self, creating multi-faceted truths and realities she must face. Daring shifts in narrative perspectives and forms elicit meaning from the muscle and the marrow of words. Only in the act of co-creation between reader and writer may magic happen, magic that could save her, if somehow she can believe.

This agile, lyric novella is essential reading for those who believe in the power of the page to transform lived experience. It belongs on the shelf beside genre-defying works by authors who have fused narrative and poetic forms, such as Maggie Nelson, Clarice Lispector, Annie Ernaux, and Anne Carson.

Winner of The 2025 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize
Selected by Fatimah Asghar