GennaRose Nethercott

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-09-02

GennaRose Nethercott is an American author, poet, and folklorist based in the woodlands of Vermont. She works across multiple literary forms, including fiction, poetry, and performance, and serves as head writer for the popular folklore podcast Lore. Her debut novel, Thistlefoot, blends contemporary fiction with Jewish folklore and puppetry-inflected storytelling, and her short story collection Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart won the Vermont Book Award for Fiction and was also honored by the Jewish Fiction Award. Her poetry collection The Lumberjack's Dove, a narrative poem selected by poet Louise Glück, won the National Poetry Series in 2017. Her other works include Lianna Fled the Cranberry Bog, an interactive story format, Modern Ballads, narrative poetry set to music, and A Ghost of Water, a collaborative art book created with printmaker Susan Osgood. Nethercott is known for touring extensively to perform her narrative works live, frequently incorporating puppetry into her presentations, blurring the line between literature and folk performance art. Her writing has received 'best of the year' recognition from outlets including NPR, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Independent Review of Books, and BookPage. Her fiction and poetry are distinguished by their grounding in American folklore traditions and their attention to ghost stories, migration, and inherited memory.

Universe(s)

Books

• Thistlefoot (2022) · Thistlefoot Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 1 book
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 nomination)

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