Half-Light

Fine artist Stephen O’Donnell turns his artist’s eye toward the act of putting story on the page in this debut collection. With lush imagery and poetic turns of phrase, these stories are a moving — at times beautifully melancholy — meditation on the ways we strive to find kinship in the world. Recommended By Gigi L., Powells.com

Half-Light is Stephen O'Donnell’s premier collection of fiction. Ten stories that explore issues of gender and sexuality, aging and youthful striving, resignation and resilience. In settings historical and contemporary. And, more than anything, they tell of the unexpected connections — often fleeting, sometimes profound — that humans make. Trade paperback, 103 pages.

Stephen O’Donnell is a mid-career fine artist. His work is widely collected, both in this country and abroad. Entirely self-taught, his paintings are notable for their exploration of gender, their explicit historicism, as well as for their humor. His work — both literary and visual — has appeared in the literary magazines/journals Nailed, Menacing Hedge, Buckmxn Journal, and Gertrude. He is married to writer and graphic designer Gigi Little. Their book, The Untold Gaze — a collection of Stephen’s paintings paired with short fiction by thirty-three authors — was published in 2018. They live in Portland, Oregon with their dog Nicholas.