Tonight, Oct. 19, award-winning Irish author Colum McCann will appear at Arlington Central Library to discuss his new short story collection and his two most recent novels.
The appearance is part of Arlington Public Library’s ongoing Arlington Reads lecture series, which, for the past 11 years, has brought on best-selling authors to encourage reading and dialogue in the community. McCann, the author of eight novels and two short story collections, is the latest coup for the program. Tonight, he will speak about his latest release, the 2015 novella and short story collection, Thirteen Ways of Looking, along with two of his critically acclaimed novels, 2009’s Let the Great World Spin and 2013’s TransAtlantic.
Let the Great World Spin earned McCann the National Book Award, and he’s received the Pushcart Prize, Italy’s Grinzane Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and China’s Best Foreign Novel Award. His short story “Sh’khol” was also selected to appear in Best American Short Stories 2015, and his 2004 short film adaptation of his novella “Everything in This Country Must” was up for an Oscar. Currently, McCann is a professor in Hunter College’s prestigious creating writing program.
McCann’s appearance begins at 6:45 p.m. tonight at Arlington Central Library. McCann will read excerpts from his three books and then open up the event for questions. Attendees can also stick around to get their books signed by the author. Seating is first come, first served, and the library expects spots to fill up quickly.