"The Life of a Creature is a beautiful and complex book. The stories weave through the emotional terrain of death and love and of the roles that animals play in our lives, their intertwined relationship to us. I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. It's different in the best way--the passion of a singular voice and vision." --Deb Olin Unferth, author of Barn 8 "In Nadja Lubiw-Hazard's haunting stories, humans and nonhumans alike are held captive--by zoos, by family, by grief. Amid the rituals of life and death, the characters in these stories reflect and comfort one another: damaged humans seek solace in the natural world, and animals, both alive and dreamed, provide healing in unexpected and beautiful ways. With Lubiw-Hazard's vibrant language and attention to detail, The Life of a Creature is a powerful book embracing the complexities of life in both human and nonhuman realms." --Midge Raymond, author of Floreana and My Last Continent "A poetic rendering of humans and the animals they encounter, these stories hum with the intimacies of life and death, love and grief, desire, and loss.
The Life of a Creature is a rich and evocative work that speaks to what it is to be alive." --Pamela Mulloy, author of As Little as Nothing "Nadja Lubiw-Hazard writes with a wide-open heart and mind. Every story in this collection is an arrival--bloodied, exquisite, and fierce. Brava." --Alissa York, author of Far Cry "[M]oving, tender, compelling, [these short stories] caught me off guard by how brutal they were at times, that I couldn't put them down . [The Life of a Creature] is a book to be read aloud. It is poetry as much as it is prose, with precise and visceral language and imagery, words chosen not just for their meaning but also for how they sound, embodied language that appeals to all the senses, and characters I care for." --The tmz Review "The Life of a Creature is a haunting and disturbing book rooted in a luminous understory .
[D]espite all the darkness the overall effect is a shimmering reminder of the beauty and the sacredness of all life on earth. In these times when our world seems bent on self-destruction, The Life of a Creature is a collection of stories the sum of which makes you want to be, dare I say it, defiant? Yes!" --Plenitude Magazine "In her collection of short stories, The Life of a Creature, Nadja Lubiw-Hazard showcases the depths of hope, love, and tragedy . [T]here is a drive behind these works that carries the reader safely through the dark corners, not unscathed and much changed, but with a renewed understanding of just how important sharing our lives with animals can be." --EcoLit Books.