Montgomery, Alabama, she grew up between the South and Los Angeles before moving to New York City to attend Barnard College. She earned a master’s in secondary English education from Stanford University and taught high school English for six years. Eckstine lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their cats. Junie is her debut novel.
At Electric Lit "seven works of speculative fiction [that] are a few of my favorite examples of the genre’s limitless possibilities to examine power, race, and oppression." One title on the list:
Boys of Alabama by Genevieve HudsonRead about another entry on Eckstine's list.
This queer coming-of-age tale set in the heart of evangelical Alabama focuses on Max, a German immigrant with the ability to resurrect the dead. Hudson uses a Perks of Being a Wallflower-esque narrative to slice into the dark underbelly of Southern culture, from the cult-like football obsession to the charismatic politician/pastor known only as The Judge. The novel uses all the elements of Southern Gothic to great effect to explore identity, religion, queerness, and masculinity, all building to a compelling commentary on power and violence in religious communities.
--Marshal Zeringue
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