Winner of the 2020 Women’s Prose Prize, Red Hen Press (2022).  

“The Healing Circle asks, with a wry smile, what it means to live, what it means to die.” — Babi Oloko, LA Review of Books

“Seeking a cure at the expense of all else, Picard both beautifully and poignantly captures how the desire to be well becomes a trap all its own.” – Ben Tanzer, Lit Reactor

The Healing Circle showcases Picard’s natural flair for crafting a novel of serious substance with a flair for humor in service to the human condition.” —Midwest Book Review

The Healing Circle is a far-reaching, honest, and funny novel about dying and living, a kind of pilgrimage to wholeness through uncertainty and disorientation. Full of resonance, it asks what it means to heal, to be in pain, to be a person.” —Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy

The Healing Circle is wry, subtle, and daring. Coco Picard has written a vivid novel about living, dying, and remembering.” —Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

Eco-Art Actions and What They Can Yield

The following article was originally published in The Democracy Chain in February, 2023. Eco-art actions in museums appear in the media with increasing regularity, including this platform (see DeWitt Cheng, “Performance Politics”). The publicity follows a codified format, typically featuring an image of an activist or activists… +

Reckless Rolodex at Gallery 400: January 13-March 18, 2023.

Young Joon Kwak, "Brown Rainbow Eclipse Explosion", 2017. Cast aluminum, welded aluminum rods, resin, glass mirror tiles, acrylic mirrors, epoxy putty, acrylic paint, motor, steel chain and hardware, custom LED light, shadow 31 x 31 x 31 inches (installation dims variable). Image courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Photo: Ruben Diaz.

I had the opportunity to co-curate the group exhibition and performance series, Reckless Rolodex, with Matthew Goulish and Lin Hixson. Inspired by the performance artist Lawrence Steger (1961-1999), the show will be on view at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Gallery 400 from January… +

How ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Explains the Mushroom’s Appeal

The following article first appeared in The Daily Beast in August of 2022. My Instagram feed is currently riddled with mushroom advertisements. A mushroom beverage exceeds coffee for focus and health benefits! Mushroom face serums provide youthful, plump-celled, and small-pored complexions! Another mushroom supplement… +