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Litquake on Lockdown: Nerd Novels — A Different Kind of Escape
May 26, 2020 @ 6:00 pm PDT
Free – $5
As society grinds to a halt around us, many readers find themselves at home with time on their hands, yearning to think about something—anything—beyond the daily drama of the pandemic. In this conversation, authors Jean Hegland & Susan M. Gaines discuss “nerd novels,” those books whose characters, plots, and themes depend on some specialized body of knowledge. Examples include Barbara Kingsolver’s “Flight Behavior” (2012), Karen Joy Fowler’s “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” (2013), Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead,” and most of A.S. Byatt’s and Richard Powers’ novels. Tonight’s conversation covers the concept of the nerd novel, as well as the special challenges and rewards of reading and writing them, and invites questions and discussion from the virtual audience. FREE, $5 suggested donation
Streamed live on Crowdcast and Facebook Live!
Books are available from your favorite indie bookstores, or order from bookshop.org!
Speakers
Jean Hegland
Jean Hegland is the author of three novels and a book of creative nonfiction. Her first novel, “Into the Forest,” has been translated into 17 languages, adapted as a film starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood, and a French graphic novel. Set in a near future that bears an eerie… Read More →
Susan M. Gaines
Susan M. Gaines is the author of the nerd novels “Accidentals” and “Carbon Dreams,” as well as the science narrative “Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal About Earth History.” Her stories have appeared in the “North American Review,” “Missouri Review,” “Best of the West… Read More →