alumni books – Page 6

This month, two Wesleyan alumnae writers, Kaitlyn Greenidge ’04 and Simone White '93 received the prestigious Whiting Award. Given annually to only 10 emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry, the award provides recipients with a $50,000 grant and is the largest of its kind. Previous winners have gone on to receive the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships. Some Whiting Award winners include Jeffery Eugenides, Colson Whitehead, Tracy Smith and David Foster Wallace. Greenidge’s 2016 novel We Love You, Charlie Freeman is her most recent work and was published by Algonquin Books. The unconventional story…

In The Done Thing (Tyrus Books, 2016), author Tracy Manaster '01 introduces us to Lida Stearl, a newly retired widow growing more obsessed each day with her ex-brother-in-law Clarence, on death row for the murder of her sister almost 20 years earlier. We watch as Lida strikes up a correspondence with Clarence while posing as a naïve twenty-something in need of a friend. We witness the rawness of Lida’s pain when she realizes that her niece Pamela, whom she raised as her own, has been in contact with the man she has despised for all these years. And we stand…

In The Right’s Road to Serfdom: The Danger of Conservatism Unbound: From Hayek to Trump (Bulkington Press, 2016), Christopher F. Arndt ‘92 argues that conservatism is not what it pretends to be and that the American Right created Donald Trump.

In The Ones, Daniel Sweren-Becker ’06 creates a vision of a not-so-distant future world in which a random group of babies is chosen each year to be the smartest, best looking, most athletic members of society. “The Ones,” as they are called, short for the chosen ones, enjoy the privilege of membership in this exclusive group during the genetic engineering program’s 20-year history until a society-wide backlash marginalizes their status and threatens to even outlaw their existence. Sweren-Becker’s fast-paced YA novel follows two of The Ones (or are they?): 17-year-old Cody and her boyfriend, James, who are forced to decide…

Author Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky ’05 talks to News @ Wes about his new book, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters.

The article in Poets and Writers begins, "From the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program to the New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 list, many organizations make a point of recognizing young, gifted authors at the start of their literary careers. In the November/December 2016 issue of Poets & Writers magazine, we feature five debut authors over the age of 50 ... whose first books came out this past year, and who stand as living proof that it’s never too late to start your literary journey." Highlighted here was Paul Vidich ’72, whose first book, "An Honorable Man" was published in…

Wesleyan University, 1910-1970: Academic Ambition and Middle-Class America, by David Potts ’60 is the winner of the 2016 Homer D. Babbidge Jr. Award “for the best study of a significant aspect of Connecticut history.” The book, published by Wesleyan University Press in 2015, has received critical acclaim from a variety of sources including, History of Education Quarterly and Connecticut History Review. Reviews in American History states, “Wesleyan University, 1910-1970 is one of the strongest institutional histories of an American college or university and covers in vivid detail every conceivable aspect of the institution, from finances and board priorities, to professors’ abilities and student…

Seth Lerer ’76, literary critic and Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, spoke to Slate.com on the complex history of children’s literature. “The earliest kids books…were largely designed to teach moral behavior,” he said. "They were about social decorum and a particular way of being a child, especially in relation to parents and teachers. Some children’s books—many of the early medieval romances, for instance—had an adventure quality to them, but always a moral and spiritual quality too.” He also observed the increasing focus on young women in today’s literature. “When you look at the…

Carolyn Parkhurst (Rosser) ’92 is the author of the new novel Harmony (Pamela Dorman Books, Viking), in which a mother does everything she can to save her family. The Hammond family’s seemingly normal life is disrupted when oldest daughter Tilly shows signs of abnormal development. Her social behavior is considered undiagnosable and she is asked to leave the last school in Washington, D.C. that will have her. To help Tilly, the Hammonds move to Camp Harmony in the New Hampshire woods, seeking the guidance of a child behavior expert Scott Bean and testing the bonds of the family. Parkhurst expertly…

Jeremy Arnold ’91, author, film historian and longtime contributor to Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is the author of The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter, recently published in collaboration with Running Press and Turner Classic Movies. A graduate of the Film Studies Department at Wesleyan, Arnold credits Professor Jeanine Basinger as instrumental in his work, both researching and writing the book. “I took five courses with Professor Basinger and she was the best teacher I ever had. She remains a close friend to this day,” he said. The book serves as a companion to TCM's weekly on-air “Essentials” series, hosted by…

Nagasaki: Life after Nuclear War, by Susan Southard '78, has been awarded the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism and Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. One of three annual Lukas Prizes honoring the best in American nonfiction writing, the Book Prize is given to a book exemplifying "the literary grace, commitment to serious research, and the social concern that characterized the distinguished work of the award's namesake, J. Anthony Lukas." The prize comes with a $10,000 award. "I couldn't be more honored that Nagasaki: Life after Nuclear War has been included among the remarkable books…

The latest book by Michael Fossel '73, The Telomerase Revolution: The Enzyme That Holds the Key to Human Aging . . . and Will Soon Lead to Longer, Healthier Lives, published by BenBella Books, was recently selected as one of the Best Books for Science Lovers in 2015 by the Wall Street Journal. Fossel has been writing about the telomerase theory of aging for 20 years and is considered the foremost expert on the clinical use of telomerase for age-related diseases. “As a doctor, my emphasis has always been on clinical results,” says Fossel in his introduction. “Understanding the nature of aging…

White ‘93, Greenidge ‘04 Win Whiting Awards for Writing

Manaster ’01 Exposes the Messiness of Life in New Book

New Book by Arndt ’92 Explores How the American Right Created Trump

Sweren-Becker ’06 Creates a Brave New World in New Book

Poswolsky ’05 Pens The Quarter-Life Breakthrough

Vidich ’72 Celebrated in Poets and Writers as First-Time Author

Potts ’60 Honored with Babbidge Award for Book on Wesleyan’s History

Lerer ’76 Interviewed By Slate Magazine on the Evolution of Children’s Literature

New Novel by Parkhurst ’92 Tells a Gripping Family Tale

Arnold ’91 Writes Companion to Turner Classic Movies “Essentials” Series

Southard ’78 Receives Lukas Book Prize

Wall Street Journal Names Fossel ’73 Book a “Best Book for Science Lovers”