About
Valerie Nieman's debut historical novel, Upon the Corner of the Moon, is the story of the young Macbeths, destined to unite Scotland in the tumultuous 11th century. A second book, The Last Highland King, will appear in 2027. She is the author of a short fiction collection, three poetry books, and six other novels, including In the Lonely Backwater, winner of the 2022 Sir Walter Raleigh Award, which was called “not only a page-turning thriller but also a complex psychological portrait of a young woman dealing with guilt, betrayal, and secrecy.” Her novel Blood Clay won the Eric Hoffer Prize in General Fiction. To the Bones, a horror/Appalachian/ecojustice novel, was a finalist for the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award, and now has a sequel, Dead Hand. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, she has held state and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and was a founding editor of two literary magazines. Now professor emerita of creative writing at NC Agricultural and Technical State University, she teaches at writers’ workshops.
Featured Work
Upon the Corner of the Moon
It is the dawn of the second millennium. Two royal Scottish children are swept away from their families—Macbeth to the perilous royal court of his grandfather, Gruach to the remnants of the goddess-worshiping Picts. Macbeth learns that blood bonds are easily severed while Gruach finds her path only to lose it when she’s summoned back to the patriarchal world. They struggle with gaining and losing power, guided and misguided by prophecy and politics as their paths converge in a fiery bid for royal succession. Upon the Corner of the Moon separates literary legend from reality, immersing readers in a story about the real rulers who changed the face of Scotland. Some legends are true, and the truth sometimes becomes a legend—or a lie. This novel masterfully dovetails the Macbeth legend and the truth without sacrificing either.
Deeply researched and thoughtfully constructed around themes of women's lives and spirituality, the power of storytelling, and the complex politics of northern Europe between the invasions of the Vikings and the Normans, Upon the Corner of the Moon is the first of two books telling the story of real people who’ve been rewritten into emblems of evil. “Steeped in the myth, mystery, politics, and culture of Celtic Scotland, Upon the Corner of the Moon presents the world of the young Lady Macbeth and Macbeth with authenticity, a deft hand, and a poet’s voice,” says Susan Fraser King, author of Lady Macbeth: A Novel.
Other Works
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Dead Hand
2024
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In the Lonely Backwater
2022
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To the Bones
2019
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Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse
2018
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Hotel Worthy
2015
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Neena Gathering
2013
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Blood Clay
2011
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Wake Wake Wake
2006
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Fidelities
2004
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Survivors
2000
Awards and Recognition
- National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship
- North Carolina Arts Council poetry fellowship
- Kentucky Foundation for Women fellowship
- West Virginia Commission on the Arts fellowship
- Greg Grummer Prize in Poetry
- Elizabeth Simpson Smith prize in fiction
- Emma Bell Miles Prize for the Essay, Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, 2019
- Runner-up, Brockman-Campbell Book Prize, 2019
- Winner, Flyleaf Books annual poetry contest, 2017
- Winner, Seven Hills annual contest, YA fiction, 2017
- Willie Parker Peace History Book Prize (NC Society of Historians), for Mens Et Manus: A Pictorial History of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 2016
- Winner, Sir Walter Raleigh Award, 2022 (Best work of fiction by a North Carolina writer)
- American Writing Awards thriller/suspense category winner 2023
- Finalist, Robinson Jeffers/Tor House Poetry Prize, 2023
- Finalist, Forewords Review book prize, 2023