In the Event of Contact by Ethel Rohan

In the Event of Contact by Ethel Rohan, Winner of the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize. In the Event of Contact chronicles characters profoundly affected by physical connection, or its lack.

Among them, a scrappy teen vies to be the next Sherlock Holmes; an immigrant daughter must defend her decision to remain childless; a guilt-ridden woman is haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend; a cantankerous crossing guard celebrates getting run over by a truck; an embattled priest with dementia determines to perform a heroic, redemptive act, if he can only remember how; and an aspirational, angst-ridden mother captains the skies.

Amid backgrounds of trespass and absence, the indelible characters of In the Event of Contact seek renewed belief in recovery, humanity, and the remains of wonder.