Marshall Klimasewiski, writer-in-residence in The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from The Cottagers, his debut novel, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in Duncker Hall’s Hurst Lounge.
The reading, which is free and open to the public, is part of The Writing Program Reading Series.
Published this spring, The Cottagers is part mystery, part psychological examination and part coming-of-age story.
Set on a remote stretch of Vancouver Island, it follows the complex and often strained relationship between a pair of vacationing American couples — Brooklynites Nicholas and Samina and their longtime friends, St. Louisans Greg and Laurel — and Cyrus Coddington, a local teenager and self-styled “genius” who insinuates himself into their lives.
The New York Times named The Cottagers as an “Editor’s Choice,” praising Klimasewiski’s intricate prose and clever plotting and describing Cyrus as “a hybrid of two very different literary loners, Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) and Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment).”
Klimasewiski is also the author of Tyrants, a forthcoming short story collection. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Tri-Quarterly, The Yale Review, Ploughshares and The Missouri Review. In addition, Klimasewiski’s writing was included in the 1992 edition of Best American Short Stories and was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2001.
Prior to joining the WUSTL faculty in 1999, Klimasewiski taught at Emory University in Atlanta and at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. He earned a master’s degree from the writing program at Boston University and a master’s degree in fine arts from Bowling Green State University.
For more information, call 935-7130.