“For all the variety in this outstanding essay collection, for all the instances you’ll be moved to contemplation, or to laughter, or to anger, or to tears, one unvarying constant is its breathtaking lyricism. Read Girl/Thing the first time to admire Anna Vodicka’s deft craftwork as she tackles topics such as the suicide of a teenaged classmate, the stigma of being a ‘townie,’ a stalker ex-boyfriend, the power of sibling bonds, high-school shooter-drills, and assorted travails and triumphs of girlhood. And then read it a second time—more slowly—to be re-astounded by the beauty of the prose.”
—Jerald Walker, author of How To Make a Slave and Other Essays
Anna Vodicka is a Seattle- and Dublin-based writer, editor and instructor whose essays have appeared in AFAR, Brevity, Electric Literature, Guernica, Harvard Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Longreads, Ms., and Paste. Her work has been selected for Best of Brevity, Best Women's Travel Writing, The Missouri Review Audio Prize, and shortlisted for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Essays, and Best American Travel Writing. Anna has earned residencies to Hedgebrook, PLAYA, Vermont Studio Center, and the Seattle Film School, and received grant support from 4Culture, Artist Trust, the Barbara Deming Money for Women Fund, and the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies.
Together with Colleen Kinder, Anna co-founded The Incubator, an intensive program for advanced writers looking to make radical headway on a book-length manuscript. She served as editor for All Classical Radio’s Artist Anthology (2025), and moonlights as a carpenter.
"[H]igh-quality tales from John Berendt, Cheryl Strayed, Tim Cahill, and Anna Vodicka are enough to keep readers paging through this enjoyable collection."
- Publisher's Weekly, An Innocent Abroad: Life-Changing Trips from 35 Great Writers
The
ANTHOLOGY
Curated and edited by Anna Vodicka, All Classical Portland’s Artist Anthology features original profiles of forty of the Pacific Northwest’s trailblazing contemporary artists-–the culture bearers of the region’s thriving arts community—with original profiles and portraiture created by leading regional authors and photographers. Order the limited-edition book online or in select PNW bookstores.
