Part of our Voices of Today Series

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” -Mark Twain

Amity Gaige, acclaimed author of Sea Wife and Schroder, returns with Heartwood, a gripping novel of suspense and survival. When experienced Appalachian Trail hiker Valerie Gillis vanishes deep in the Maine woods, a relentless game warden, a determined birdwatcher, and Valerie herself—through poetic letters to her mother—reveal the tangled mystery of her disappearance. Inspired by a real-life case, Heartwood explores longing, loss, and the will to endure. Gaige will discuss the novel’s origins, its themes of bravery and connection, and the real-life disappearance that haunted her for years.

REGISTER HERE

Books are available for purchase, and the author will sign copies following the discussion.

The Voices of Today Series invites some of the most celebrated and diverse voices in contemporary literature to engage with our audience.

_____________________________________________________________

About the Author:

Amity Gaige is the author of four previous novels, O My Darling, The Folded World, Schroder, and Sea Wife. Sea Wife was a 2020 New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Mark Twain American Voice Award. Schroder was also a New York Times Notable Book and a best book of 2013 according to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others, and was shortlisted for UK’s Folio Prize in 2014. Her work has been translated into eighteen languages. In 2018, Amity was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, with her family and teaches creative writing at Yale.

About the Moderator:

Ethan Rutherford’s fiction has appeared in BOMB, Tin House, Electric Literature, Ploughshares, One Story, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, and The Best American Short Stories.  He is the author of two story collections—Farthest South and The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories—and for these works has been named a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, a finalist for the John Leonard Prize and CLMP’s Firecracker Award, received honorable mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and was the winner of a Minnesota Book Award. Born in Seattle, Washington, he received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota and now teaches Creative Writing at Trinity College.  He lives in Hartford, Connecticut with his wife and two children.

His first novel, North Sun, or the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther, was published by A Strange Object / Deep Vellum in March, 2024.