Hartford, Conn. — The Mark Twain House & Museum will host PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction–winning novelist Joseph O’Neill for a talk and book signing on Wednesday, February 12, 2026, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., featuring his new novel, Godwin. The evening will include a moderated discussion followed by an opportunity for attendees to have books signed.
In Godwin, O’Neill explores the legacy of colonialism through the lens of family love, global capitalism, and sport. The novel follows Mark Wolfe, a technical writer living in Pittsburgh with his wife and young daughter, whose life is upended when his half-brother Geoff, a struggling soccer agent in the United Kingdom, draws him into an international search for a mysterious teenage prospect known only as “Godwin.” Narrated in alternating voices, Godwin is both a family and migration story and a fast-moving international adventure that confronts the beauty and ugliness of soccer, the perils and promises of transatlantic business, and the darker history of money-making across borders.
“Joseph O’Neill is one of the most incisive contemporary writers working today,” said Jeffrey L. Nichols, Executive Director at The Mark Twain House & Museum. “Godwin uses the global game as a powerful entry point into questions of ambition, ethics, and belonging. We’re excited to bring this conversation to Hartford.”
O’Neill will be joined in conversation by Omar Acevedo, Literary Program Coordinator at The Mark Twain House & Museum. Acevedo organizes the museum’s author talks, writing workshops, and public literary programs, and is a Hartford-based writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications. He has also taught at the MFA Winter Residency at Western Connecticut State University.
Event Details
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2026
Time: 7:00–8:00 p.m. (book signing to follow)
Location: The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT
Tickets: General Admission $10; Bundled Ticket (includes book + admission) $40
Registration: GODWIN with Joseph O’Neill (In-Person) – Mark Twain House
About the Author
Joseph O’Neill was born in Ireland and grew up in Mozambique, Iran, Turkey, and Holland. His previous novels include Netherland, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and The Dog, which was long-listed for the Booker Prize. His short fiction appears regularly in The New Yorker, and his political essays have appeared in The New York Review of Books.
Coming Up Next
The museum’s 2026 author events continue with Ibram X. Kendi in March. Details will be announced soon at marktwainhouse.org.
Press images available upon request.
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About The Mark Twain House & Museum
The Mark Twain House & Museum is the restored Hartford, Connecticut home where Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote many of his most iconic works there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The museum continues to honor Twain’s literary legacy through tours, educational programs, and cultural events.
For general information about the Mark Twain House, please visit:
Media Contact:
Albinko Hasic
albinko.hasic@marktwainhouse.org
(860) 280-3152