Rhonda Zimlich: Raising Panic

Set in 1978, a time of Ditto jeans and rabbit’s foot keychains, Raising Panic captures the bond of sisters struggling to find security in an alcoholic home and their attempt to escape. PJ McCormack wants nothing more than to leave her rural valley and alcoholic mother, the way her father did years earlier. But she cannot leave behind her nine-year-old sister, Panic. Instead, she teaches Panic about survival, hoping to prepare her to someday leave. After Panic witnesses the historic PSA 182 jetliner crash (the first televised mass-casualty event in the U.S.), the family is thrown into crisis, solidifying the sisters’ plan to leave. As their situation spins out of control, they’ll learn the reason behind their father’s disappearance, the source of rabbit’s foot keychains, and the origin of Panic’s name.

Rhonda Zimlich teaches writing at American University in Washington, DC. Her debut novel, Rasing Panic is the winner of the 2023 Book Award for Prose Award from Steel Toe Book. Her writing focuses on history, grief, and intergenerational trauma, with an occasional ghost story. She is the recipient of the 2020 Literary Award in Nonfiction from Dogwood, a Journal at Fairfield University, and the 2021 Fiction Award from Please See Me. She received an honorable mention in America's Best Essays, 2021, and she was awarded a 2023 grant from Maryland State Arts Council. Works appear in Brevity, American Story Review, Past-Ten, and more.

Arielle Bernstein is a writer and cultural critic who focuses on film, TV, art, and culture. Her work has been published in The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Week, Salon, AV Club, and many other publications. She has edited two essay columns at The Rumpus and is the co-founder of Together, Alone, an online publication that explores TV, film, and pop culture. She was selected as a 2023 finalist for the CINTAS Foundation's Creative Writing Fellowship. She teaches writing at American University, where she also co-directs the MA in Literature, Culture, and Technology.

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