Derek Palacio

Biography

Derek Palacio is the author of the novel The Mortifications (Crown, 2017) and the novella How to Shake the Other Man (Nouvella, 2013). A National Endowment for the Arts 2024 Creative Writing Fellow, he serves on the faculty of the UNCG MFA program.

Headshot by Jennine Palacio

See Work

FICTION / Fiction 2024

Churches

By Derek Palacio ,  Illustration by João Fazenda

Back then, I spent my hours at church studying the trails of His varnished blood and the seepage of His emaciated gut. The crucifix hung high above the celebrant’s chair, and the ribs looked so sharp they could cut. 

Illustration by João Fazenda