Planet Claire

The second release from Akashic's imprint Gracie Belle, which is curated by best-selling author Ann Hood. The imprint is named for Ann Hood's daughter Gracie Belle who died tragically and unexpectedly at age five from a virulent form of strep.Hood's own memoir, Comfort: A Journey through Grief, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and one of Publishers Weekly 's top ten nonfiction titles. Hood's experience writing and publishing her own grief memoir inspired her to create an imprint focused on grief memoirs. Hood will be very active in helping to promote Planet Claire, and she is very well-connected within the grief community. The author teaches English at the University of Iowa. In addition to two nonfiction books Porter authored and an anthology he coedited, Porter's essays and articles have appeared in Antioch Review, Northwest Review, Shenandoah, Missouri Review, Contemporary Literature, the Seneca Review, etc.