The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic. It’s supposed to be every day except Sundays during the month of April but I find that too busy and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.
My topic, like the last three times, will be writing genres.
This genre:
Magical Realism
Definition:
depicts the real world as having an undercurrent of magic or fantasy
Tips
- The world must be grounded in reality, but with fantastical elements that are considered normal.
- Feel free to blur the line between fantasy and reality.
- Present these magical elements as though they are accepted, common.
- Leave the magic unexplained to normalize it and reinforce it as part of everyday life
- Magical realism does not follow a typical narrative arc. This makes the reading experience more intense because readers don’t know what to expect.
- The heroes are ordinary people, not fairies or magical characters.
- Include lots of details.
- The prose leans more toward poetic than narrative.
Popular Books
Here are books by some of my favorite blogging authors and others recommended as good examples of magical realism. Books #5-10 are from a list provided by MasterClass who offers an excellent class on writing magical realism: 
- Last Stop: Storyville by Sharon Cathcart (blogs here)
- Song of the Sea Goddess by Chris Hall (blogs at Luna’s on line)
- The Sorcerer’s Garden by D. Wallace Peach (blogs at Myths of the Mirror)
- Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
- The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
BTW: If the book you’ve written fits into any of these genres, let me know in the comments and I’ll include you, the book title, and where to purchase it. If you write Magical Realism, add a comment below so others can find you.
Click for complete list of these 26 AtoZ genres
Click for a complete list of all genres I’ve written about
More M Genres:
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection, Spring 2022.
worddreams.wordpress.com 
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This was so helpful, Jacqui – I had trouble understanding it before. Toni x
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Me, too–about the before. Researching it, I found I really liked it!
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Here I was thinking it’s more Fantasy! Thank you for sharing 🙂
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I know! Me, too before I researched it. Pretty interesting.
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It certainly is. I may include it in my promos to students.
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I’m a huge fan of this genre, Jacqui. Thanks for writing about it!
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I had no idea how many people love this genre, Damyanti, until I wrote this post. Just amazing.
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I enjoy Magical Realism, but have found there to be a lot of debate over what it is and is not. Even why I tried to put magical realism into one of my novels my publisher flatly rejected the changes because he did “hold with” magical realism. Interesting that it stirs up so much “controversy.”
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That is interesting. It sounds pretty straightforward–of course, I don’t read it much and don’t write it at all!
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I like this genre. It’s nice to think we can get a little ‘magical’ help now and then 🙂
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Me, too. It’s like a miracle, but a tad different.
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Hi Jacqui, how lovely to see Chris, Sharon, and Diana’s books listed here. I am a fan of this genre.
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I was glad they all added them to this list. They are perfect. I’m going to have a new list coming mid-March. If you see any genres you fit, add your books!
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I think I would enjoy reading this genre very much. Thank you for listing the examples of the style so I can dive in! 😀
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I think vampires would fit this genre done in an organic way. Would you call your genre graphic novels? Or something else?
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Well, it’s playfully called SimLit or SimsLit. But I think graphic novel fits in a way, too.
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I wish there was a bit of magical realism in real life. 🙂 Great post, Jacqui.
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I do too! Maybe there is, in miracles.
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Thanks Jacqui, useful tips especially as my WIP falls into this category ..
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I didn’t know that. How’s it going? I don’t see updates on your blog.
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That’s a fun one for sure. Even adults like to believe there’s a little magic in this world. 🙂
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That is surely true. Sometimes, I think there is!
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🙂
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Finally, a genre I’m familiar with.😊 I’ve been reading more of it lately. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite, but I have an appreciation for anyone who can.
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It makes miracles seem possible.
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I loved reading “The House of the Spirits.” Not my genre really but I’ll look into your list. Cheers.
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It’s fun to think that magic exists, blended into our real life.
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I’ve heard of it before, but haven’t read much of it. Who knows, someday I might read it.
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I like to believe in miracles and this gives me a path to how that could happen.
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Do do enjoy this genre, Jacqui. Good information on it and examples.
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It’s definitely not fantasy which is what I thought it was a cousin to before I did my research. I like this genre.
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This is one of my favorite genres to read, Jacqui. I love all the books you listed, especially D Wallace Peach. Thanks for this wonderful post!
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When I researched this (this past weekend), I realized I really like this approach to fiction. I knew I loved Diana’s books, and Chris Hall’s, but the idea of magic being part of life is very appealing.
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A great description of magical realism, Jacqui. It’s a fun genre to write, and I’d like to do more of it. Thanks for adding The Sorcerer’s Garden to the list! Your shout-out is always a treat. Happy Writing!
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My pleasure, Diana. I haven’t read most of the books on the list (yours and Chris’ aside) but I am intrigued by this genre. Maybe it can replace my addiction to Westerns!
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Or offer an alternative! Variety is the spice of reading. 🙂
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Huge thanks for the mention, Jacqui! In such exalted company as well. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of my most favourite books, along with Like Water for Chocolate and The House of the Spirits which first introduced me to MR and the great Isabel Allende. I’m going to grab a copy of Diana’s book too – I so enjoyed the Ferryman and the Sea Witch!
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I really enjoy your voice in your books, Chris. Glad for the chance to promote you.
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That’s a lovely thing to say, Jacqui! Thank you. 🙂
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I don’t write it but I do read some.
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Got a good tip from your blog today, Alex. A farming show? It must be good if you’re recommending it. And I ticked your upcoming book on Goodreads!
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Great list of reads—thanks, Jacqui.
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Thanks, Grant! It constantly amazes me how many thematic books are out there that I’ve never heard of. It’s probably why I keep going back to this series I write, about genres.
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I’ve dabbled at breaking down mysteries and thrillers, but never magic. Excellent summary! Tomorrow I’ll start a series on L. Frank Baum’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I’m focused on the scene beats, but in the genre realm of action fantasy, it rocks.
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Action fantasy–I love that. I wonder if I have an A genre for my next list…
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I was surprised by some of the titles included here, but as I think about this genre, I wonder if some of Scripture might fall into this realm (thinking particularly about the cosmic battle behind Daniel 10).
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What an interesting thought, Jeff. You have my mind working.
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Here’s a very good novel that I think fits into this category: Local Girls, by Alice Hoffman.
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I haven’t heard of that one, Neil. I’m off to DDG it.
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I think, though, that some of her other novels have more magical elements in them than does Local Girls.
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The last novella I wrote (as yet unpublished) is in the magical realism genre, Jacqui. As soon as I finish the supernatural horror novel I’m revising now, my next project is also MR.
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That’s interesting. It seems a challenge to write in this genre. When you get back to it, I’d love to be an early reader (not a Beta reader–I’ll miss all the mistakes). I loved Diana’s book and the concept of this–magic as just a part of the world–is appealing.
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I’ve read a lot of magical realism short stories but not that many novels. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is my absolute favorite.
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What a title! Dead and handsome really don’t go together but if it’s magic, why not?
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His name was Estaban . . .
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I don’t know that one, Liz. I’ll have to look it up!
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I hope you’ll read it. It’s a wonderful story.
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I definitely will if I can find a copy!😊
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You can find a pdf if you Google it. (Probably a violation of copyright.) You can borrow the collection in which it appears from Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/collectedstories0000garc_a1u5/page/n7/mode/2up
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Thanks so much for this, Liz! I’ve found a pdf copy 🙂
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You’re welcome, Chris! I’d love to hear what you think of the story.
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It’s a brilliant story, Liz. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation. Now I want to revisit some more of the Latin American literature I once studied.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed the story, Chris!
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I’ll let you know, Liz! Hope to read over the weekend.
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Dear Jacqui
It seems to us that the magical realism is the typical genre of modern south American literature. But we liked reading Murakami’s The Wind Up Bird Chronicle too. We have no idea how popular magical realism is in Japanese literature.
Wishing you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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I love Murakami’s stories. My favorite is Kafka on the Shore.
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I’d never heard of him before this, Grace. Kafka is definitely too complicated for me, though! Taylor Moore’s story–and yours–those are as busy as my brain likes getting.
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I love that as well. 🙂
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Very interesting about being typical to South American literature. And I love the name of Murakami’s book. The Japanese have some unique genres I’ve enjoyed learning about as part of this series I write.
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Good to know about the master class. I really enjoy this genre so glad you picked it for this A-Z challenge.
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I stumbled upon it looking for an M–I’d never heard of it before. It is definitely a keeper.
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I just picked up One Hundred Years of Solitude. I didn’t realize it was a magical realism book. It’ll be interesting to read!
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I read One Hundred Years of Solitude years ago and highly recommend it!
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Good to hear. I wonder if my library carries it…
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It’s considered a modern classic, so I expect that your library would carry it.
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I haven’t read it. I hope you review it. That title keeps nagging at me!
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I love magical realism. There was a day (way back in my younger years) when it was all I wrote. I recently released a collection of short stories called Things Old and Forgotten that has several stories that fit into the genre, but a few are also pure fantasy, so it wouldn’t fit your list. Still, it was great experimenting with this genre again.
Great share today, Jacqui!
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Who doesn’t benefit from a little magic in their lives, even if it’s considered the norm? I’d sure like some.
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Hi Jacqui – the ‘Master Class’ sounds interesting – noted via the 5 books you’ve listed, some I’ve read – but I definitely need to read the others, and the one Darlene mentions by Neil Gaiman. Cheers Hilary
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There were several Master Class options on that website. It’s a pretty affordable option that looks decent quality.
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Thanks for your persistence , Dan .
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My pleasure. And this list of genres–I’m already creating the next one. I can’t believe how many there are!
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Thanks for the education, Jacqui. It’s nice to see Diana’s book on the list.
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I still have fond memories of where my brain went while reading her book!
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I am not keen on fantasy but I love magical realism, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is the best example I´ve read. I just picked up a copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman at a used book table. Can´t wait to get into it.
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We are like you, we find fantasy quite boring. But we like magical realism. We loved reading One Hundred Years of Solitude too and The House of Spirits.
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It’s appealing to make magic a natural part of the world. With so much of the human brain unused, who’s to say what we could accomplish if we knew how?
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I didn’t even know what magical realism was before I dug into it for this article. It is very appealing!
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