Writer Heidi Julavits will read excerpts from her newest novel, "The Vanishers," when her book tour for the work hits campus today.
Julavits is the founding editor of The Believer, a monthly literary magazine, and has written four novels to date. She divides her time between New York City and her hometown of Portland, Maine.
Brock Clarke, associate professor of English, organized the reading. Clarke is a longtime friend of Julavits, whom he met at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in 1997.
"I know she's always eager for the chance to come home," he said. "Also, I knew she was on tour for this book, and was going to be somewhat nearby already. Basically, I took advantage of her weakness for all things Maine and her proximity."
Clarke said "The Vanishers" is a tale of "a young woman whose mother has killed herself; but it's also about the young woman's possible psychic powers, which land her in a school that resembles a Hogwarts full of students and faculty who also might or might not have psychic powers and who also might know something about her mother..."
Julavits' reading will take place today at 4:30 p.m. in the Faculty Room of Massachusetts Hall.