Fiction writer Scott Heim will read from his work at 8 p.m. Dec. 1 in Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall, Room 201, for the Writing Program Reading Series.
Heim is the author of the novel Mysterious Skin (1995), recently adapted to film by director Gregg Araki. The story is set in the small town of Hutchinson, Kan., where two boys on the same Little League team unknowingly share struggles and obsession — sex, loyalty, first love and aliens — that direct their adolescent lives.
“With uncommon poetry and clarity, Scott Heim paints a devastating portrait of a new lost generation,” noted essayist and screenwriter Connie May Fowler. “Mysterious Skin will haunt and enrage you. I am awestruck by Heim’s courage. Read this book.”
Heim’s other books include the novel In Awe (1997), winner of the Firecracker Alternative Book Award for fiction; and a collection of poetry, Saved From Drowning (1993). Heim is working on a third novel, We Disappear.
His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Advocate, Paper and numerous anthologies. Major honors include a fellowship from the London Arts Board and a Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellowship for his adaptation of Mysterious Skin.
Born in Hutchinson, Heim earned bachelor’s degrees in English and in art history and a master’s in English literature from the University of Kansas. He earned a master of fine arts degree in writing from Columbia University.
The reading is free and open to the public. For more information, call 935-7130.