Grit Lit’s not just a quirky regional American genre anymore.

Writer Steph Post really gets the Grit.

 But it wasn’t always that way. In the beginning when she was “batting around” the new-to-her literary term, she wasn’t really sure how to define it. She knew it had something to do with being “authentic and strong, focused usually on outsiders and heavily considered with a sense of place. In short, it seemed something classically American.”

“I can remember talking to Smith Henderson…about…how his novel, set in Montana, slipped into this new genre, this place somewhere between Westerns and Southern fiction, between literature and noir…” – Steph Post

 Then, British author Robert Parker’s 2018 novel Crook’s Hollow came across her desk. Parker had reached out to her, as a fellow Grit Lit fan, by way of Twitter. She read his book, began a dialogue with him, and their interaction gelled into a formal interview.

 That interview became the basis for her article “GRIT LIT: AN AMERICAN PHENOMENON GOES GLOBAL” for Crimereads.com.

 The fascination and enthusiasm that both writers share for the genre comes through loud and clear in the interview.

 “What I can say for sure is that my enjoyment and connection with the genre is solid, and I’m constantly finding myself burrowing further into it and finding great reads all the time.” – Robert Parker

In the interview, Parker speaks of synchronicities that let him stumble across works by Post and other Grit Lit writers; works that dazzled him with “the intimate scale of the stories, with such strong themes of family and responsibility, taking place in settings I felt were so mesmerizing.”

 And what’s a Grit Lit story without some dysfunctional family dynamics thrown in? Or as Parker puts it: “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.”

 These two make great cheerleaders for the genre. Read this interview and see for yourself why Grit Lit has the makings of a global genre.

 About Steph Post

Steph Post is the author of the novels Lightwood and A Tree Born Crooked.

She is a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship for creative writing from Davidson College and the Vereen Bell writing award. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

You can read her interview with Robert Parker at https://crimereads.com/grit-lit-an-american-phenomenon-goes-global/