Rebecca Fish Ewan’s Illustrated Memoir By the Forces of Gravity Wins Memoir Magazine Prize for Innovative Storytelling
With more than 300 entries in this year’s Memoir Book Prize from Memoir Magazine, the annual contest created new award categories in place of honorable mentions.
We’re pleased to share that Rebecca Fish Ewan’s illustrated memoir By the Forces of Gravity — Books by Hippocampus’ first title! — won the award for Innovative Storytelling.
The judges’ comments included: “Your book is a literary phenomenon that raises the bar on what the memoir genre can become. It is simply a masterwork and we want everyone to read it.”
[blockquote2] “Your book is a literary phenomenon that raises the bar on what the memoir genre can become. It is simply a masterwork and we want everyone to read it.” — Memoir Magazine [/blockquote2]
Books by Hippocampus is delighted at this recognition. Publisher Donna Talarico says, “I’m thrilled for Rebecca and her beautiful approach to storytelling — and that this book is getting the attention it so well deserves.”
Published in June 2018, By the Forces of Gravity is an illustrated coming-of-age memoir set in 1970s Berkeley, California. Told through illustrations and free verse, the story reflects on a childhood friendship cut short by tragedy. In an era of laissez-faire parenting, Rebecca drops out of elementary school and takes up residence in a kids commune — no parents allowed! — and we follow her, bestie Luna, and their hippie cohorts as they search for love, acceptance, and cosmic truths. Full of adventure and heartache, By the Forces of Gravity promises to pull you in.
Fish Ewan is also the author of a second title from Books by Hippocampus, the creative writing craft book, Doodling for Writers. Learn more about the poet, writer, and cartoonist Rebecca Fish Ewan at her website.
We’d also like to congratulate Hippocampus Magazine contributor Suzanne Roberts (“Odds Are,” Dec. 2019) for taking home second place in the overall 2022 memoir contest for Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties from University of Nebraska Press.
If you’re looking for a new memoir (or two), consider browsing the complete list of winners for ideas for your TBR pile!
[notification type=”normal”]P.S. You can purchase this memoir wherever books are sold (your local store might have to place an order for it), including directly from us. Already read it? Share a review of By the Forces of Gravity on Amazon or Good Reads.
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