***SHORTLISTED FOR THE MIRAMICHI READER'S 'THE VERY BEST!' SHORT FICTION AWARD***

***2020 RELIT AWARDS: SHORT FICTION WINNER***

With birth, death, contemplation, and close calls, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious explores how we respond to the weight of social expectations. From the hidden pressures of wall paint and tarot card predictions, to the burden of phone numbers and the dismembering of saints, Waddleton takes us on a surrealist road trip through the missteps of her vivid characters with honesty and compassion. These are stories of survival. Unafraid, dreamy, and downright weird, these stories cross boundaries of geography, gender, and generation with an eye to the transient nature of human life

Tracey Waddleton was raised in Trepassey, Newfoundland, and now splits her time between St. John’s and Montreal. She was a finalist for the 2013 NLCU Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, and in 2014 her stories won both second and third place in the Cuffer Prize Competition. She was the recipient of the Lawrence Jackson Award in 2015. Waddleton’s work has been published in Riddle Fence, The Telegram, NQOnline, Paragon 6, and various Cuffer Anthologies.

Tracey Waddleton's profile page

• Short-listed, The Relit Award
• Short-listed, The Miramichi Reader's 'The Very Best!' Book Award, Short Fiction Category
• Winner, Canada Book Award

"...a sense of being trapped – by gender, mental illness, duty, class, or indeed, a town so small that everyone knows you – is palpable in many of the stories in Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious, her debut fiction collection... Waddleton often uses humour and a business-as-usual tone to undercut her characters’ desperation. The book’s cheeky title is a prime example."

Montreal Review of Books

“If you like your literature commanding and sharp, unadorned, defiant, startling, at times even shocking, with just the right touch of the absurd—stories whose characters often twist and wreathe hilariously in their all-too-human shells as they cling with tragic conviction to the ghostly, bygone ideals they were born into—then you’ll devour this inspiring debut. This is simply a fantastic collection, rendered with such fiery, passionate authority, a reader can only assume it marks the beginning of a rich and colourful literary career.”

Joel Thomas Hynes, winner of the Governor General's Award for "We'll All Be Burnt in our Beds Some Night"

"The book’s title is a great tell, both of Waddleton’s wicked sense of humour, and that reading these stories takes you on a trip."

The Telegram

“I love the sharp originality of this collection! I’m going to dub it kickboxer grit lit – and make no mistake, this is lit – very fine lit – lit that will scour your sensibilities and tickle your funny bone at the same time. There’s joy as the upper cut of the stories catches you off guard and you fall to the mat laughing so hard that you wouldn’t have it any other way. The sheer energy is marvelous and there’s so much poignancy too. Yep, I love these stories!”

The Minerva Reader

“Savage, inventive and very, very funny, Tracey Waddleton’s Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious are stories of murder, monsters and chicken nuggets; of cats, infidelity and bank heists; of sex, love and loneliness. They’re stories about what happens when you get what you want—and what happens when you don’t. Showcasing whip-smart dialogue, artful storytelling, and fresh, melodic prose, they reveal a writer with a stunning depth of talent. A moving, ferocious, confident debut that’ll stay with you.”

Brooke Davis, international bestselling author of "Lost and Found"