# Mad Prairie

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{{Short description|2021 short story collection}}
{{Infobox book
| image = Mad Prairie (Book Cover).jpeg
| author            = Kate McIntyre
| publisher         = [University of Georgia Press](/source/University_of_Georgia_Press)
| pub_date          = 2021
| pages             = 176
| isbn              = 9780820360744
}}

'''''Mad Prairie''''' is a [short story collection](/source/short_story_collection) by Kate McIntyre, published in 2021 by the [University of Georgia Press](/source/University_of_Georgia_Press).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Mad Prairie |url=https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/reviews/mad-prairie/ |access-date=2025-12-11 |website=Center for Literary Publishing |language=en-US}}</ref> It contains seven short stories and a [novella](/source/novella), focused on McIntyre's home state of [Kansas](/source/Kansas).<ref name=":0" /> The stories are linked by their shared setting and by relationships between the characters, which are sometimes explained belatedly as a surprise reveal.<ref name=":0" />

Kansas is portrayed as a repressive place to live.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=SPLIT ROCK REVIEW — Review of Mad Prairie — SHORELINE |url=https://www.splitrockreview.org/mad-prairie |access-date=2025-12-11 |website=SPLIT ROCK REVIEW |language=en-US}}</ref> Anuradha Prasad describes McIntyre's Kansas as "a dead end to dreams—stunted and stifling, its landscape uninspiring."<ref name=":1" /> According to Patrick Carey writing for the ''Colorado Review'', "ultra-traditional gender and sex relations" are "fundamental" to the collection's depiction of Kansas as "a black hole that binds together people" who know they should actually leave their current situation.<ref name=":0" /> In an interview, McIntyre stated that she did not want the novel to be read as solely a criticism of Kansas, expressing affection for Kansans and for the Kansas landscape.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2021-11-07 |title=Kate McIntyre's gothic stories rise from isolated ranch house settings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-kate-mcintyres-gothic/186614646/ |access-date=2025-12-11 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=N10}}</ref>

Many of the stories focus on violence, especially in the novella.<ref name=":0" /> McIntyre described "the unpredictability of male anger" as a core theme, and said she wanted to show how it can be mingled with love and humour.<ref name=":2" /> The violence of the stories exists in parallel with mundane events that Carey describes as "the endless dopiness of people going through everyday life".<ref name=":0" /> Prasad describes the characters as "a parade of passive, hapless, and sinister characters" who "tread wildly absurd and terrifying paths".<ref name=":1" /> Carey compares McIntyre to both [Shirley Jackson](/source/Shirley_Jackson) (for the [Gothic horror](/source/Gothic_horror) of the violent events) and to [George Saunders](/source/George_Saunders) (for the humorous "dopey couples").<ref name=":0" />

The collection won the [Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction](/source/Flannery_O'Connor_Award_for_Short_Fiction) in 2020, which led to its publication by the University of Georgia Press the following year.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Demuth |first=Gary |title=Salina native wins Flannery O'Connor Award |url=https://www.salina.com/story/entertainment/2020/10/29/salina-native-wins-flannery-orsquoconnor-award/42913055/ |access-date=2025-12-11 |website=Salina Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> It was also selected as a 2022 [Kansas Notable Book](/source/Kansas_Notable_Book_Awards), chosen by the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-06-16 |title=2022 Kansas Notable Books |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/frankfort-area-news-2022-kansas-notable/186614700/ |access-date=2025-12-11 |work=Frankfort Area News |pages=5}}</ref> and longlisted for the [PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize](/source/PEN%2FRobert_W._Bingham_Prize) for a debut short-story collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=Announcing the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists |url=https://pen.org/2022-pen-america-longlists/ |website=PEN America |access-date=11 December 2025 |date=15 December 2021}}</ref>

== Author ==
Kate McIntyre was raised in [Salina, Kansas](/source/Salina%2C_Kansas).<ref name=":2" /> Her mother was the director of the Salina Education Foundation.<ref name=":3" /> McIntyre began writing in elementary school.<ref name=":2" /> She graduated from [Salina Central High School](/source/Salina_Central_High_School) in 2000,<ref name=":3" /> and later attended [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University).<ref name=":2" /> As of 2025, she is an associate professor of creative writing at the [Worcester Polytechnic Institute](/source/Worcester_Polytechnic_Institute).<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.katemcintyrewriting.com/about |access-date=2025-12-11 |website=Kate McIntyre |language=en-US}}</ref> There, she edits the literary journal ''The Worcester Review''.<ref name=":3" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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Category:Books about Kansas
Category:2021 short story collections
Category:American short story collections
Category:English-language short story collections

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mad Prairie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Prairie) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Prairie?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.