Author to Discuss New Book at UW April 24

Up-and-coming author Stephen Markley will visit the University of Wyoming Wednesday, April 24, to read from and answer questions about his newest book, “Ohio,” beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the McMurry Reading Room in Coe Library.

Markley’s reading is free and open to the public, and his book will be available for purchase afterward.

“We are excited to have Markley visit UW,” says Susan Aronstein, professor of English. “‘Ohio’ has won several awards and been included on a number of national ‘best books’ lists -- and it’s being adapted for television.”

A national best-seller, “Ohio” is described by National Public Radio as “a remarkable debut novel” and “a masterpiece of a book.” It is set in an archetypal small town in northeastern Ohio -- a region ravaged by the Great Recession, an opioid crisis, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- depicting one feverish, fateful summer night in 2013 when four former classmates converge on their hometown, each with a mission and all haunted by the ghosts of their shared histories.

At once a murder mystery and social critique, “Ohio” ingeniously captures the fractured zeitgeist of a nation through the viewfinder of an embattled Midwestern town and offers a prescient vision for America at the dawn of a turbulent new age. Read a review of the novel by the New York Times at www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/books/review/stephen-markley-ohio.html.

Markley also is the author of “Publish This Book” and “Tales of Iceland.” He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, and his essays and short fiction can be found scattered across the internet. He currently lives in Los Angeles. For more information about Markley, visit his website at www.stephenmarkley.com/.

The event is sponsored by UW Libraries, the Honors College and the Department of Visual Arts.

For more information, call Aronstein at (307) 766-2820 or email aronstei@uwyo.edu.