The Barn: A Short Story

By Erin Wilcox

A timely piece of Americana for readers of literary fiction and the Southern Gothic genre, "The Barn" paints a hauntingly vivid picture of a country and a man divided. All proceeds from this project are being donated to the NAACP.

When George lost his wife, it nearly killed him. Now he has also lost his son. His son’s widow, an African American woman, finds George in a state of agitation when she arrives to buy the family farm, to save it from foreclosure. George resists Kanita’s help, seeing her offer as a ploy to take control of the ranch. When an accident forces him to share space with Kanita, George is forced to confront his wife's legacy and the prejudice that has defined his family's past, to choose between nostalgia and the future.

Praise for "The Barn" by Erin Wilcox

"A story full of poetry for the senses and the soul. We are transplanted to a farm and entangled in the inner struggles of a man whose prejudice could disconnect him from his way of life and possibly his unborn grandchild. Wilcox’s thoughtful writing gracefully unfolds the story, pulling us into the heart and soul of humans at their worst and their best."

—Linda D. Addison, award-winning author of How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend

"A beautifully wrought story about racism, not from a political or social perspective, but from a personal and intimate one. Lifelong farmer, George, stubbornly refuses to have anything to do with his daughter-in-law Kanita, despite the bond of blood his new grandchild has created between them. What he sees as virtues—loyalty to his dead wife, to old ways, to tradition—are the very things that lock him into the illusion of distance between himself and the young woman. 'The Barn' poignantly illustrates the tenacity of racism and how insidiously it taps into the fears that separate human beings—a fear so powerful that it trumps the connection between two people who have loved the same person and who both mourn his loss."

—Abigail Samoun, Co-founder, Red Fox Literary

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erin Wilcox
• Release date: May 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370471157

Erin Wilcox

Erin Wilcox is a writer, poet, editor, and musician. Her creative work has been featured in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Praxis: Gender and Cultural Critiques (SUNY One-onta), Cold Flashes (University of Alaska Press), and The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide (University of Arizona Press). Her story “Half a World Away,” published in Crack the Spine, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Erin maintains a vigorous freelance editorial practice and writes for publications such as Copyediting and The Rumpus. The former nonfiction editor of Drunken Boat and copyeditor for Alaska Quarterly Review, she has edited some of the finest talent of our day, from Grace Paley to Pulitzer Prize finalist Martín Espada and 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Gregory Pardlo.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Copyright

Preface

The Barn

About the Author

Erin Wilcox

Copyright 2017 © Family Country Books, Tucson, Arizona

All rights reserved. All inquiries should be addressed to the author at http://wilcoxwrites.com.

The Barn first appeared in Praxis: Gender and Cultural Critiques (Volume 23:1, 2012)

Cover design: Susan Wenger, Cover to Cover, LLC

Cover image: Stringtown Farm, by L. L. Cufr, 1980, courtesy James G. Miller

Family Country Books logo: Sharon K. Miller, Buckskin Books

Pitchfork Clip Art: ClipartLogo.com

Book and Pen image: http://cliparts101.com/free_clipart/6728/Book_and_Pen

Weather vane image (title page and scene break markers throughout): www.freeclipartnow.com/nature/weather

(See Terms of Use http://www.freeclipartnow.com/termsofuse.php.)

ISBN: 978-0-6928259-4-5

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events are imaginary or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.

Preface

Years ago, I wrote a story about a heartbroken old farmer named George. His life is not mine, and much about him is unfamiliar to me, but we share the quality of stubbornness. Through that tether of similarity, I explored and discovered a character whom I have come to care for, difficult though he may be.

The Barn is a story of cultural tensions between city and country,