Description

Helene Wecker, winner of the 2014 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for The Golem and the Jinni, reads from her book and is then joined by her agent for a discussion of the evolution of the book from original idea to first draft to published work. A book sale, signing and reception follow the presentation.

The event is free and open to all, but please register. Parking is available for a fee in the West Broad Street, West Main Street and West Cary Street parking decks. If special accommodations are needed, or to register offline, please the VCU Libraries Events Office at (804) 828-0593.

Sponsors

This event is sponsored by the VCU Department of English, the James Branch Cabell Library Associates, the Friends of VCU Libraries, the VCU Honors College, Barnes & Noble @ VCU Bookstore and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

About the Book

Chava, a mythical golem, arrives in turn-of-the-century New York City without a master or purpose, while elsewhere in the city, Ahmad, a jinni, is released from his long sleep inside a flask and made to serve as apprentice to a tinsmith. In this bustling metropolis far from their original countries and cultures, both Chava and Ahmad make their way, until one night when they happen to meet. The relationship that develops between them will either save them or be their undoing.

The Golem and the Jinni, a New York Times best seller, has been named for several awards, including the Nebula Award for "Best Novel" from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and two Goodreads Choice Awards, "Best Debut Goodreads Author" and "Best Fantasy." Entertainment Weekly calls the novel "An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction...Wecker's storytelling skills dazzle...The book's magic, filtered through the old-time hustle and bustle of the Lower East Side, lingers long after the final page."

About the Author

Helene Wecker grew up in suburban Chicago and received her bachelor's degree in English from Carleton College in Minnesota. After college, she spent a number of years in marketing and communications before returning to her first love, writing prose fiction. In 2007 she received her master's degree in fiction from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in Catamaran and the online magazine Joyland. She has read from her stories at the KGB Bar in Manhattan and the Barbershop Reading Series in San Francisco. After a dozen years spent moving around between both coasts and the Midwest, she is finally putting down roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Image: Helene Wecker, by Sheldon Wecker/The Golem and the Jinni book cover, courtesty of HarperCollins