Bark is an inventive and multifaceted short story by School of the Arts alum and author, Tania James, that explores the mysteries of motherhood and nature.

When I first read Tania James’ Bark for an English class last semester, I simply could not stop thinking about the enchanting modern fairytale-like story. The story follows a mother battling postpartum depression in the aftermath of the birth of her son, Kish. Yet, as the mother’s skin starts to turn into bark as she prepares her family for a big move, a metamorphosis occurs, changing the course of her family for years to come. 

Bark is written by Tania James, an acclaimed novelist and short story writer. James graduated from Columbia’s School of the Arts with her MFA in 2006. Since then, she has gone on to win several accolades and awards, like being shortlisted for both the Dylan Thomas Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novels Loot and Aerogrammes. Currently, James lives in Washington D.C. and teaches in the creative writing program at George Mason University. 

Set in James’ hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, the story blurs modern fiction with traditional motifs of folktales and mythology. As the mother undergoes a transformation in the middle of the story, Bark explores the cataclysmic effects of such on both her family and the surrounding natural landscape of the Kentucky city. 

Though Bark is a short story and not a novel, the fast paced flash-fiction makes the reader hold their breath for the whole duration of the story. Between vivid descriptions that are evocative of the domestic sphere the mother is confined and storybook-like incorporations of Indian folktales, Bark is an illuminating story on the often unpredictable journey of motherhood. 

Image via Author