Creating Space is a project of Anawim Arts. Each month, Karen Hurley Kuchar hosts an online interview and discussion of creativity and the intersection with spirituality. By hearing from and interacting with active artists about their creative practice and its relationship to their spirituality, we inspire, cultivate and expand the creative impulse within each of us.

"Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, was published by HarperCollins in May 2022. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she’s currently missing the mountains in the suburbs of Chicago. Find her at www.shelbyvanpelt.com, on Twitter @shelbyvanpelt, and Instagram @shelbyvanpeltwrites."

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is the rarest of feats: a book that manages to be wry and wise, charming and surprising, and features one of the most intriguing and satisfying characters I’ve encountered in fiction in a very long time—Marcellus the Octopus. I don’t know how Shelby Van Pelt managed to make this uncommon tale sing so beautifully, but sing it does, and I defy you to put it down once you’ve started.”

— Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of Good Company and The Nest

quotes and photo from the author's website