15 Views of Jacksonville: Stories

The first-ever anthology of stories set in Jacksonville, FL—written by authors with strong ties to the city

15  Views of Jacksonville: Stories From a Bold City is a literary portrait of Jacksonville, FL told in fifteen short stories and one essay by sixteen Jacksonville authors. Sprawling from Atlantic Beach to Orange Park, Northside to Arlington, these stories navigate the city sporadically, capturing Duval County in a way only those who know her can. Story to story, you’ll cross bridges and be introduced to this city’s small pockets of bold absurdity.

Hardcover // 136 pages // 5.25″ x 7.75″

Contributors

Contributors include Iowa Short Fiction Award-winner, Sohrab Homi Fracis; novelist Laura Lee Smith; acclaimed author Mark Ari; Teri Youmans Grimm, and Tim Gilmore, author of 16 books including The Book of Isaiah: A Vision of the Founder of a City about the founder of Jacksonville.

And more. The full list of contributors includes more of Jacksonville’s finest, including Marcus Pactor, Michael Wiley, C.H. Hooks, Hurley Winkler, Solon Timothy Woodward, Duncan Barlow, Tiffany Melanson, Jackie Hutchins, Nan Kavanaugh, Alex Ender and Shane Hinton.

Advance Praise 15 Views of Jacksonville

“15 Views of Jacksonville is such an essential book. It brings humanity and seriousness to a region that too many enjoy dismissing; it forces us to feel something about Jacksonville, and to want to read more, and more, and more.” 

– NATHAN HOLIC, author of The Things I Don’t See and editor of the 15 Views of Orlando anthologies

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[Jacksonville] is a place of ordinary self-conscious weirdness that takes precious pride in itself—but then it is also a place of authentic ineffability and truly strange forces. This book is that.

– Padgett Powell, author of Aliens of Affection and Typical

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“In all 15 [stories] you’ll meet captivating, quirky, outrageous yet somehow familiar characters. Savor intriguing plots from the comfortable to the confounding. Each diverse as their creators. Yet all of them will prod your emotions and poke your psyche.”

– Lynn Skapyak Harlin, Founder of The Shantyboat Workshop

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Bridge Eight elevates the conversation by offering the Jacksonville community a gift — a mirror to who we are right now.

– Barbara Colaciello, Founder and Artistic Director of Babs’ Lab

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Jacksonville is a giant, heterogeneous wonder. Thousands of roads connect our city’s parts and people, but poorly. 15 Views offers more human connections. It reveals the ways in which our people are living–and all the ways we live together.

– Marcus Pactor, Contributor and author of Vs. Death Noises

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There are some glorious stories in this collection—written by authors who revel in the edgy side of living, the edgy side of living that might one day be gone… These writers twist your heart, shock your sense, frighten you… Sometimes the stories make you smile and wonder if you should have smiled… If life in Jacksonville can be grim, it is always vivid.

– Mavis Cheek, author of The Lovers of Pound Hill and Truth to Tell

For Booksellers

Get ordering and contact information below.

The Team Behind the Book

JARED RYPKEMA is the Founder of Bridge Eight Press and Publisher for Bridge Eight Literary Magazine. He believes storytellers have the ability to build bridges and start movements and gave a TED talk about why thinking like one can make a difference. By day he is a Copywriter at On Ideas and is pursuing an MFA in fiction from Sierra Nevada College.

COREY KOLB is a UI/UX designer living in Jacksonville, FL. He holds a B.F.A. in graphic design from UNF, has placed in the AIGA It’s Always Summer Poster Show twice, designed the Jacksonville Jazz Fest poster in 2017, and collaborated with Eric Hinote on the “Rise from the Ashes” mural in downtown Jacksonville in 2013. When Corey’s not creating graphic agitation, you can find him working on short visual experiments. To see more of his work, visit Corey-kolb.com

CASSIE DEOGRACIA is an Art Director at Brunet-Garcia Advertising where she helps produce award-winning campaigns, brands, and collateral in the areas of public health, safety, education, and the arts. She is actively involved in the local design community through her role on the board at AIGA Jacksonville and is also a co-founder of Small Caps Collective, a passion project where she helps create retro-inspired branding and illustration.

UKNIGHTED MEDIA is a local Jacksonville digital media agency specializing in video production, branded content, web development, and more. Uknighted is focused on telling the unique stories behind individual brands and small businesses, and aims to create transparency between said businesses and their customers to foster a sense of community for a more personable, relatable, and human experience.

Funded on Kickstarter

A special thanks to our 195 backers who supported our successful Kickstarter Campaign in 2018. You are the heroes of this book. Thank you.